(2nd edition)

Pearl Harbor is a game simulation of the Pacific and Asian theaters of WW2 at the strategic level. Simulated are the major political, military, and economic events of the war from 1941 through 1945, as Japan fought the Allies for mastery of East Asia and the Pacific. Two scenarios and a campaign game chart the course of the war; they may be played by two players or as a multi-player arrangement.

Credits

Publisher: GDW, 1979
Designer: John Prados
Developers: John Astell & Marc Miller
Graphics: Paul Banner
Each Game Turn represents three months.
Each counter represents :

• Land Units, from one regiment to one army
• Air Units, one army or one CV flotilla
• Naval Units, one squadron of CV, Heavy or Light.

Components
2 27½"x22" hexagonal maps
3 Counter sheets of 240 die-cut counters
1 Counter sheet of 120 die-cut counters
1 24 page rule booklet
2 Setup sheets (Allies and Japanese)
3 Player aid Chart

Counter Manifest
72 Imperial Japanese Army
178 Imperial Japanese Navy
53 US Army
117 US Navy
3 US Army Corps
37 British Army
47 Royal Navy
13 ANZAC
5 Communist Chinese (CCP)
32 Nationalist Chinese (KMT)
24 USSR
11 German
2 French 156 Markers

Player’s Value

The main idea of Pearl Harbor, according to its designer, was to simulate the whole War in the Pacific, with simple rules, a multi-player focus and a global scope but with some operational flavor. Initially the game should look like Third Reich, but the result, which needed two editions and major changes to get an acceptable game, was not as interesting as Third Reich.

In defense of the designer, first, it’s more difficult to simulate a war using the three branches across a large ocean with many islands, and so many possibilities for amphibious landings, interceptions and naval interactions. And second, the struggle quickly became more desperate for the Japanese than it was for the German. The result is a strange game with a lot of possibilities and a mix of different scopes depending on the facet viewed: economic, politic, naval, land or air war.

The sequence of play attempts to sort out all the facets in a coherent way. The Japanese plays first, followed by the Allied player. First, the decision segment permits management of the political and strategic aspects and the economic points gathering. Second, the movement segment allows moving the land, air and naval units with mission assignments for the navy. Third, the reaction segment provides some defensive reactions, depending on the economic decisions of the previous turn. Fourth, the combat segment gives all combat possibilities between the three arms. And finally, the reorganization segment returns the naval units to base, removes the different markers and manages some economic activities like activation of new units, repairs, constructions, pay for reaction stacks and strategic redeployment. Two scenarios and a campaign game are provided. One scenario deals with the Japanese onslaught in 1941-42 and the second with the Japanese collapse, beginning in 1943.

The rules are rather long and sometimes complex but, with the second edition, they are more easily readable and provide some novelty for the time. The designer puts the emphasis on the economic aspect with ERP (Economic Resource Points), used to buy all the stuff needed to make war. ERP are earned each turn (of three months) based on country or service inside the country (i.e., Japanese, US and UK, Armies and Navies) plus a bonus for specific geographical points controlled on the map.

At the beginning of each year, new military units are added to a pool, and during the year according to some rules, each service or country can buy new units from the pool. Units built can be infrastructure like bases, half-bases or fortifications, or military land, air or naval units, with a possibility to repair naval units or rebuild destroyed units. It is also possible to spend points to react during the opponent turn, buy a fleet train to stay at sea or even trigger a special war effort to fight more and better.

So a large part of the strategy revolves around how to get and spend the ERP, knowing that it is possible to loan them between allies of the same camp or redistribute them according to the Emperor’s wish.

The land rules are pretty basic, with movement, ZOC, supply and combat classic rules that simulate accurately the global attrition war in Asia. The air rules are rather abstract at the army scale, but give the right feeling to air superiority and its benefits.

Finally, the naval rules are the most complex part of the package with moves by fleets with fleet markers and mission assignments and the interactions between. The different missions are Attack, Support, Patrol and Amphibious. Some leaders are provided for the major camps and arms. They give some bonus or special abilities and add a particular flavor to the game.

To simulate all possible combat between land-air-naval, six CRTs are provided with a lot of DRM and results. The naval and air-naval combats are grossly abstract and the results are not often accurate if you try to redo history, but they are fun and quick. The global interactions between all armies are correct and give the right feel: you need to combine the three arms to progress and keep the victory on your side, building the right infrastructure at the right places and deploying the right armies at the right time.

In terms of history matching, the result is correct: the Japanese can do a lot of things, like grab a lot of land and destroy a lot of enemy units, but allied production is huge and growing. So sooner or later, the Japanese will lose the initiative, and have to see his beautiful Empire collapse.

If the game is played with all optional rules and many players (five is the maximum with US, China, Britain, Japanese Army and IJN), it can be really fun. A lot of options are provided like a possible German intervention in the Middle East, the mandatory gift for the birthday of the Emperor and the Great Asia Militia mobilization.

If you look for a simple game not a real simulation, Pearl Harbor is still an interesting addition to your collection, if not try Pacific War.

Collector’s Value

Boone quotes low, high and average prices of 10/51/17.77 at auction and 9/65/27.67 for sale, but doesn’t differentiate editions.

Support Material

When the first edition of Pearl Harbor was published, there were not many strategic pacific war games, and since it was designed by John Prados, it was heavily reviewed.

In F&M 8, Friedrich Helfferich gave a good first impression of the game. In F&M 9, John Prados provided the real Designer’s Notes on the game in five full pages. In F&M 12, in a general overview of all Pacific War games, Friedrich Helfferich relents and gives a less favorable impression of the game.

Some new rules were proposed in The Grenadier 11. The second edition was dissected in F&M 21 and Moves 50, both agreeing to say that it was better but not perfect. A good review was published in F&M 100 in the classics series. Lastly a capsule review of the three editions was given in F&M 68 in the famous WWII Anthology, The Pacific Theater, part 2 Campaign Games.

Other strategic games on the Pacific War

USN (SPI); Victory in the Pacific (AH); War in the Pacific (SPI); Divine Wind (SimCan); Pacific Fleet (Hobby Japan); East Wind Rain (3W); Pacific War (Victory); Pacific Victory (Columbia).

Other games by John Prados

Kanev (PWG & 3W); Panzerkrieg (AH & OSG); Third Reich (AH); Last Days at Saigon (Basement Workshop); the Army of the Heartland (CoA); the Campaigns of Robert E. Lee (CoA); Crisis: Sinai 1973 (GMT); Pentagon Games (Harper & Row); Von Manstein (Rand); Bodyguard Overlord (Spearhead); Battle of Cassino (SPI); Spies! (SPI & TSR); Year of the Rat (SPI); Monty’s D-Day (TSR); Warsaw Rising (TSR); Campaigns of Napoleon (WEG).