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Board gaming has changed. Nowadays, you open a box and find a hundred plastic miniatures, three rulebooks, and enough cardboard tokens to fill a bathtub. It’s a lot. But back in 1977, Victory in the Pacific changed everything without needing a single piece of plastic. Published by the legendary Avalon Hill, this game took the entire Pacific Theater of World War II and boiled it down into a strategic chess match that you could actually finish in an afternoon. Honestly, if you call yourself a wargamer and you haven't stared down a Japanese carrier task force in the Coral Sea while playing this, you’re missing out on a fundamental part of the hobby’s DNA.
It’s fast. It’s brutal. It’s surprisingly simple.
Most people see a "wargame" and think of hexes and counters. They think of "Zone of Control" and "Movement Points." Victory in the Pacific (often just called VitP by the die-hards) threw most of that out the window. It uses an area-movement system. Instead of counting individual miles, you’re moving fleets from the Central Pacific to the Hawaiian Islands in one go. You aren't worried about a single platoon; you're worried about the Akagi and the Enterprise. It’s about grand strategy. It’s about the terrifying moment you realize your opponent has more land-based air power in the Marshalls than you anticipated.
The Mathematical Beauty of the "Lather, Rinse, Repeat" Strategy
New players usually make the same mistake. They try to win every single sea zone every single turn. You can't. The game is basically a giant exercise in resource management and calculated risk. Because the Japanese start with a massive advantage in carrier strength, the Allied player has to play a "bend but don't break" defense. It’s stressful. You’re watching the IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy) steamroll through the Dutch East Indies and wondering if you'll even have a Navy left by 1943.
The game works on a 10-turn clock. Early on, the Japanese are the hunters. By Turn 4 or 5, the tide shifts as the American industrial machine kicks in. If you’re playing the US, you’re basically just trying to survive until the Essex-class carriers start showing up in droves.
Kinda like the real war, right?
The core of the game is the "Control" mechanic. To control a sea zone, you need to have more ships there than your opponent at the end of the round. But here's the kicker: land-based air (LBA) is the silent killer. You can have the biggest fleet in the world, but if the Japanese have a couple of air units on an island nearby, they can negate your control. This leads to the "Lather, Rinse, Repeat" style of play where players spend three turns fighting over the exact same patch of water just to deny the opponent a few victory points. It feels repetitive until you realize that one lucky dice roll in the Midway zone can literally flip the entire game on its head.
Why the Combat System Still Frustrates (and Thrills) Players
Let’s talk about the dice. Oh boy, the dice.
In Victory in the Pacific, combat is handled with standard six-sided dice. It's binary. You hit or you miss. Most ships hit on a 6. If you have "Point" fire, you might hit on a 5 or 6. That's it. This leads to what the community calls "swingy" games. You can plan the most perfect tactical engagement, trap the Japanese fleet in a corner, and then proceed to roll ten 1s in a row. It happens. It’s infuriating. It’s also why people are still playing this game fifty years later.
There’s a legendary story in the VitP community about a tournament final at the World Boardgaming Championships (WBC) where a single die roll determined the fate of the entire Pacific. The Japanese player needed one hit to sink the last US carrier and win the game. He missed. The US player counter-attacked and won. That’s the drama of the system. It simulates the "fog of war" and the sheer luck involved in naval engagements where a single bomb hitting a flight deck full of fueled planes—like at the actual Battle of Midway—changes history.
The Problem with "The Opening"
If you go onto BoardGameGeek or the old Avalon Hill forums, you’ll see endless debates about the "perfect" Turn 1 for the Japanese. Because the game is so scripted at the start, some critics argue it's "solved." They say if the Japanese player does X, Y, and Z, the Allies have no chance.
That’s mostly nonsense.
While there are optimal moves, the game allows for "bidding" for sides. In competitive play, players bid Victory Points to see who gets to play the Japanese. If you think the Japanese have a 5-point advantage, you bid 5. If your opponent bids 6, they get the Japanese, but they start the game -6 points down. This single mechanic keeps the game perfectly balanced regardless of how "solved" people think the strategy is. It turns the pre-game into a high-stakes auction.
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Logistics vs. Luck: The Deep Strategy
Don’t let the simple rules fool you. There is a layer of deep strategy here regarding ship speeds and "raiding."
Fast ships (speed 2 or 3) can move further and react to enemy movements. Slow ships (the old battleships) are basically floating fortresses but they’re easy to avoid. A smart player uses their fast carriers to pin the enemy down, then brings in the "slow pokes" to finish the job. But if you miscalculate your movement, you might find your precious carriers caught in a surface engagement against Japanese battleships like the Yamato. In this game, if a battleship gets close to a carrier, that carrier is usually toast.
The game also forces you to think about "Patrol" vs. "Raiding" status.
- Patrolling: You’re there to stay. You want to control the area.
- Raiding: You’re just passing through to cause trouble.
If you send the US fleet to raid the Japanese home waters, you’re not going to take control, but you might sink a couple of tankers or a light carrier. It’s a game of attrition. Every ship the Japanese lose is a ship they can't easily replace. The US, meanwhile, just keeps building. By Turn 8, the US player usually has so many ships they literally run out of room on the map to place them.
The Avalon Hill Legacy and the Modern Scene
Avalon Hill isn't what it used to be. After being bought by Hasbro, many of their classic "wargame" titles were mothballed. But Victory in the Pacific refused to die. It’s a staple at the World Boardgaming Championships every year. There are digital versions, fan-made modules for VASSAL (a digital tabletop engine), and even "painless" versions of the rules that clarify some of the 1970s-era ambiguity.
It’s the "little brother" to War at Sea (the Atlantic version of the game), but most enthusiasts agree VitP is the superior design. It’s more complex, the map is more interesting, and the stakes feel higher. You aren't just hunting submarines; you're fighting for the fate of an entire ocean.
Common Misconceptions That Kill Your Game
- "I need to save my battleships." No. Battleships are meant to soak up damage. If your carriers are taking hits while your battleships are pristine, you’re losing. Use the big guns as shields.
- "Pearl Harbor is the most important turn." It’s important, but it's not the game. A "bad" Pearl Harbor for the Japanese player isn't a death sentence. It just means they have to be more aggressive in the South Pacific.
- "The game is too old to be fun." This is the biggest lie. The "Area Movement" system pioneered here is still used in modern hits like Maria or Quartermaster General. The DNA of modern gaming is all over this board.
How to Get Started with Victory in the Pacific Today
If you want to play, you have a few options. You can scout eBay for an original 1977 box. They usually go for anywhere from $40 to $100 depending on the condition. Make sure the "Order of Appearance" cards are included—they’re essential.
Alternatively, look into the L2 Design Works edition. They did a "deluxe" reprint years ago with updated graphics and a larger map. It’s beautiful, though harder to find now.
Actionable Steps for the Aspiring Admiral:
- Read the "Table of Battleships": Before you play, memorize which ships have a speed of 1 vs. 2. It’s the difference between being able to retreat or being sunk.
- Download the VASSAL Module: It’s free. You can find players online who will walk you through a "learning game" in a couple of hours.
- Focus on the "Day of Infamy" Rule: The first turn has special rules for the Japanese air strike. If you’re the Japanese player, do not waste this. You need to cripple the US Pacific Fleet immediately or Turn 5 is going to be a nightmare.
- Watch the "POC" (Points of Control): The game is won on points, not just sinking ships. Sometimes it’s better to let a ship escape if it means you secure control of the Central Pacific.
This isn't just a game. It's a time machine. It takes you back to an era of gaming where the rules fit on a few pages but the strategy lasted a lifetime. Grab a copy, find a friend, and see if you can change the course of history. Just don't blame me when you roll a 1 on your critical attack against the Saratoga. That's just the Pacific for you.