Pacific Command

Between December 1941 to August 1945, a sea war was fought in the Pacific unlike any before, as the long-range striking power of aircraft carriers ended the 250-year reign of the battleship.

Pacific Command is a tabletop wargame of WWII naval combat in the Pacific which puts you in control of dozens of warships and hundreds of aircraft; fighting battles as much about bluffing and surprise as strength of arms. The game has a particular focus on fog of war and aircraft carrier logistics, and zooms out to a grand scale to let players tell stories as full of dilemmas, uncertainties and double-blind gambits as the battles of Coral Sea, Midway and Leyte Gulf.

Pacific Command is available from Osprey Games.

Free Downloads

Here’s some attractive (and free) downloads to help you get the game to the table.

• Quick Reference Sheet (PDF)
• Blank Task Force Sheet (PDF)
• Starter Fleet Force Sheets (PDF)
• Fleet Builder Spreadsheet (Google Sheets)
• Print and Play Pacific Islands Terrain (PDF)

What Do You Need To Play?

Pacific Command is my most ‘make-do-and-mend’ game so far. It terms of components, you basically need a case of poker chips, a handful of miniatures, a deck of cards and a fist full of D6.

To share between the players:

• A set of poker chips in at least four colours. A standard 300-piece ‘poker night’ set is ample.
• Printed or modelled terrain (print-and-play islands can be downloaded right here) and a blue sheet or sea mat.
• A single pack of playing cards

Each player will need:

• A small number of miniatures to represent their flagships
• A tape measure in inches.
• ~30 six-sided dice.
• A Task Force Sheet for each of their Task Forces (a handy “three-up” Task Force sheet can be downloaded right here, or you can play using the Starter Fleets).
• A pencil, to record sunk ships and adjusted stats.

What’s Unique About Pacific Command?

Pacific Command is my first historical-based tabletop wargame. I am fascinated by the stories that we tell about the naval war in the Pacific in WWII. and I want to design a game that provide players with the ability to tell stories at the table as full of dilemmas, uncertainties and double-blind gambits as the battles of the Coral Sea, Midway and Leyte Gulf.

Exciting things about Pacific Command:

1. Task Forces. Units in Pacific Command represent a group of potentially dozens of ships, often centred around a small number of aircraft carriers. Task Forces behave as individual war machines on the table, with the various capabilities and weaponry of each ship contributing to the overall fighting strength of the Task Force. The game is zoomed out, with a normal table representing an area hundreds of miles across, an area big enough to hide multiple carrier groups in.
2. Fog of War. At the start of the game, each player controls a small number of stacks of poker chips, containing a mix of chips that represent Task Forces, and chips that are blank. Some stacks will contain only blank chips, and act as bluffs. These chips move around the play-area ‘face-down’, with all information hidden, until an enemy aircraft flys over and is lucky enough to spot it.
3. Aircraft Carrier Logistics. The player’s skill and luck in managing their carriers’ aircraft will play a large part in their victory. As in the Pacific sea war, the decision of which aircraft squadrons to stage for launch is not one that can be immediately overturned. The game uses a pack of standard playing cards. which represent squadrons of aircraft.