SCOPE: (World War II) Pacific Campaign against Japan
TAHGC CATALOG VERBAGE: Pacific theater aerial/naval action
of WWII.
GAME BOX VERBAGE:
YEAR PUBLISHED (EDITIONS): First Edition 1978; second edition
1981. Two rulebook editions were in print by TAHGC. A 3rd edition is available
from the VIP community shortly.
CREDITS
Design & Development: Richard Hamblen
Components Design: Richard Hamblen, Donald Greenwood
Box Art: Jean Baer, from a painting by R. G. Smith
Production Coordinator:Thomas N. Shaw
Playtesting: B. Barr; Seth Carus, Jim Rumpg, James
Stalher, Donald Greenwood
Printing: Monarch Services
Typesetting: Colonial Composition
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 2
WGA COMPLEXITY SCALE (1-10): 5
TYPICAL PLAYING TIME (HOURS): 3-5 hours
MAP SCALE: Eleven sea Areas representing the pacific theater,
numerous ports and bases
UNIT SCALE: Capital Ships, Land Based Air, submarines,
Marines/SNLF.
TIME SCALE PER TURN: Approximately 6 months
NUMBER OF GAME TURNS: Eight; optional turn 9 variant.
GAME INVENTORY: ### unit counters; approximately 14"
x 22" mounted mapboard; rulebook, 1 die; 8 page rulebook. 11"x14"x1.5"
flat game box.
WBC & AVALONCON HISTORY: VIP has been a tournament
title since Avaloncon 1991 and remains one of the strongest events. Glenn
Petroski is the current gamemaster of the WBC VIP tournament. An additional
VIP dedicated tournament is held by Glenn
Petroski, MIDWEST OPEN, the first weekend in March in Kenosha Wisconsin.
It is debatable which is the most prestigious championship. Link to John Sharp's
WBC VIP site World
Boardgame Championships VIP, current WBC GM. Send me any updates
of the Tournament Summary of FTF
and PBEM events.
REMOTE PLAY TOOLS:
A polished VIP application VASSAL
module exists and is posted on the VASSAL site. John Pack's VASSAL
INSTALL & PLAY TIPS was created as VASSAL is now the default interface
for VIP activity managed by John's www.gameaholics.com site.
Earlier generation softcopy tools such as WARGAME PROCESSOR,s or CYBERBOARD,
AIDE DE CAMP; are alternatives to VASSAL however these are not necessarily
free, platform independent, support real time server play or step review
of PBEM turn (all features of VASSAL)..
PBEM OPPORTUNITES: A Boardgamer Players Association (BPA)
single elimination tournament is held annually. Contact BPA
if interested. A continuous King of the Hill WAS PBEM ladder occurs on the
four month cycle. John Pack is the current moderator of the VIP AREA PBEM
Ladder. PBEM ladder guidelines and rule clarifications are found on
John's VIP site. Send me any updates of the Tournament
Summary of FTF and PBEM events.
WARGAME ACADEMY COMMENTS: VICTORY IN THE PACIFIC is one
of my favorite titles as combines both simplicity and ample variations of
strategy. Like WAR AT SEA its predecessor a lot of die are thrown and one
must react to the outcome to the results of the previous rounds of battle.
Different from WAS, two round movement, numerous land based air, marines and
islands/ports are additional keys to victory. Disguised by the volume of die
rolls, many variations of strategy and flexibility are required to marshall
the various resources to obtain a victory. Every time my confidence in my
game ability in this titles rides high, I am consistently squashed by one
of the Masters of this title. The regularity of the same names at the top
of the VIP AREA ratings is a testament that this is game of skill & mind
and not random luck.
WARGAME ACADEMY GAME TOOLS: Softcopy rulebook, word/text
PBEM sheet, trustee of the Vassal module
(Java: free, platform independent, supporting step review PBEM and server
play), extensive article archive converted to PDF. James Eliason and John
Pack's NT1 variant is found at http://www.gameaholics.com/vitp_articles/turn_one.htm.
ACCOLADES: 1977 Charles Roberts Award Best Strategic winner.
