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Great game play Yes I think it was made so the allies would never win 😂 Maybe, someone whose Grand Dad was there part of a Banzai attack Always a great viewing channel
Great playthrough! I lost a game today with a score of -25... Just 1 thing: on 46:50 you rotate battalions and say the exhausted one has to take the cohesion reduction but I think it's the opposite: rulebook mentions on page 7: Players choice of which battalion to reduce cohesion but it may not be an exhausted battalion. Anyway, I had fun watching this playthrough, please keep up the good work!
That's correct, thanks for noting! I mixed it up 🙈 It's a hard game, but once you win it's awesome. I hope the next game will have some more options for difficulty adjustment!
Thank you for making this video and sharing your thoughts. Very helpful! Ill be starting my first game after I finish watching this video. Good luck! : o)
I will be happy to hear what you say after you watch this video. I am brutally honest which I know not everyone appreciates, but I have to be able to speak my mind on my own channel.
I agree with you, it is to hard to defeat the game. I have played this game over and over and the closest I ever have come to winning was losing by 15 VPs. It is fun though. It really feels like an invasion. I don’t see how the Marines ever secured this island if it was as hard as this game!!
@@thomasredmond6138 Agree with all your points! It's a really fun game and it's sequel "Iwo Jima" has just been announced. If you watch my follow up video, I actually win 😁
@@WW2SolitaireBoardGameChannel I found a home brew adjustment on boardgame geek that I’m going to try. It tweaks the rules a little and balances out the game so that the odds aren’t so in favor of the Japanese.
The dice rolls (and card reveals) add significant variability to the game. Even though the Marines get 5 dice for their attacks you need no fours and have to gain double fives and sixes which are long odds. The Japanese are either degrading your cohesion or causing you lost battalions on most of their fire attacks. Plus, their Banzai attacks which are frequent do significant damage to the Marine forces. So, easy to play but tough to win. When you do, it will be all the more satisfying. The scoring is also set up so that you really want to push to eliminate the Japanese forces in order to have some of their cards left for victory points. You rolled a lot of fours which didn't help. It is a good thing that this is a relatively quick game once set up. Thanks for the playthrough.
I agree with everything you say! I hope you watch my next playthrough video of this game, where I do a lot better. I can't wait for Iwo Jima, but I hope that the difficulty settings will be improved upon. Cheers Stephen
Yeah it pisses me off. There is no way to counter it. Even if you play a perfect game, with rolls like that you are done. I wish there was a lower difficulty setting and a way to counter the Japanese high rolls. I think I will keep playing untill I beat it but then I will be done with it. With such a small chance of winning, one victory is enough to be satisfied, then I would be put off to play more.
Hi Dan, a thought after the landing phase. You chose to bring on the 6th reg. I would not have. I would have attacked using Naval support to get onto the beach with the 2 - 2. Naval support often can take out 2 and somtimes 3 Japanese markers. Wait for a Command tactic card to bring the 6th in. Push push push those marines forward and onto the beach. You also would have kept your reinforcements card which could be critical. Obviously that would not have guaranteed a win, but to me staying in the water another turn without doing anything to the Japanese is like saying hey keep shooting at me, we will run around and act like targets.
The problem with that tactic is that I would effectively only be able to bring up one battalion from the waters, then it would be at least 6(!) turns until the wave 2 battalions would reach land, so 2-2 would be facing each and every field of fire, banzai, sniper and fire attack alone, they would be anihilated. If I bring in the 6th they are only 2 turns from taking land and helping the 2-2 absorbing some hits. But interesting to see your point of view! Thanks for taking the time to comment
@@WW2SolitaireBoardGameChannel I hear you and good points. But, Command tactic you know is coming, so no rush to bring the 6th in. Right it didn’t change the state of the board any, you still had 1 front you could push with. Hold those guys back until really needed. Make that decision as late as possible, not early.
Helpful comment intended here. You had 2 Japanese markers at #2 red 2 at 29:20 ish. You had 1 battalion marker 3 - 8 I believe on #1 red 1. Attack first with them #2 red 2. Odds are you can eliminate at least 1 Japanese marker. Then attack with the wave 1 marines. They would only need to eliminate 1 and likely get on the beach. Yes there is risk, but the odds are better.
Oops, the first troop movement should have been to #2 red beach 2. Higher priority than 5, even the airfield beats 5, so it is a great place to bring the 6th in, just a thought.
That's a good thought. I think I'll start with Red beach 3, then 2 and last 1. Since 1 has highest priority and will always be hit until all adjacent positions are cleared.
To anyone reading, please understand my comments are hopefully helpful. In no way am I being critical. Dan, you chose to move the 1 - 6 onto the beach. I would have left them in the water and attacked with one of the other wave 1 positions. Moves are costly and you know that position is going to be hit hard, it is the priority. Also, the Banza! Would have fallen flat most likely. This is a case where pushing on another front is helpful, in my humble opinion.
No worries John. I hope everyone understands, I did ask you guys for help! All comments are very helpful! I'll do one more video on easy I think and we'll see if I can do better 😏
I just came across your channel and just subscribed. I watched this video concerning this game. Your comment about it being very difficult caught my attention. I’m curious have you thought of creating some house rules to “balance” the game. I know you said that you even tried not discarding any cards at the beginning. What do you think about reducing the victory points for the Japanese in some manner? Because for me, as it is, I don’t think I would buy the game. I don’t mind difficulty, but I don’t want is a game where I know before I start I won’t win.
Hi and thank you for the comment. Sometimes when I want an easier game, I use the following house rules: I don't discard any USMC or Japanese cards. I remove the 2 bad Intel cards from the USMC deck. I do not do the pre landing attack by the Japanese. It is barely a house rules imo. I mean technically, if you restart the game every time they the pre landing bombardment causes a loss to cohesion or a battalion marker, you will eventually have a turn where no loss to cohesion or a battalion marker would happen. I'm just not wasting my time doing that. I let my regiments land at all wave positions, including black beach to the south (top of the map). I use the "Mulligan" rule ONCE a game. If the enemy rolls a triple 6 with a Japanese attack, I reroll. Only once a game. I use a marker on the map which I remove after using the Mulligan rule, knowing it's been used this game and can't be used again. I remove the rule where exhausted USMC battalions give the Japanese 1 VP after the game is over and you do the victory point calculation. I hope that help. Cheers!
@@WW2SolitaireBoardGameChannel - Thank you for your prompt response and sharing your “house rules”. As I get older, and with my old game mates, I find we have less and less chance to play games together, so your channel, strictly for solitaire war games is perfect for me. I like the elegant, streamlined game mechanics, so with some house rules, I feel more positive about buying this game. Thank you. Looking forward to watching your past and future videos.
@@lopezmt5 I have to also say that even though I think the game is a little "too hard" and miss some proper "optional rules", I think this is a VERY good game, I had much fun with it.
Maybe the design of the final victory point calculation is the issue. Too many points awarded to Japanese for casualties. Some sort of alternative Victory point system would work, like maybe a draw if Japanese hold at least one area and an American victory if the island is clear of Japanese. Heavy US casualties were not uncommon in the Pacific.
@@thomaskanyak2888 No, that will drain all your soldiers. The only way to win is to be hyper aggressive. Check out my next video where I will try that out. It's an easy win.
You caught this, my oops. However missed an exhaustion check there, 3 - 2 was a 5 cohesion. You caught that, oops. You played two tactic cards on a USMC action. You removed the bunker then used air support. Oops, the 3-2 was attacking #1 red 1.
Hello Dan, I gave some more thought to this game. It appears the designer(s) wanted a simple and relatively fast game for players. Unfortunately, to me, it is over simplified. While all the components are top notch what difference does it make when the game play is abstracted to the most simplest of elements? Essentially, the game boils down to adding or subtracting die and then rolling until a result is achieved. This game setting could be on Mars for all it matters. While there is nothing wrong with having to roll dice there is nothing really compelling in the gameplay here. Compared to DVG's Warfighter series or Tiger Leader, Sherman Leader, Castle Itter, etc there is no comparison in terms of gameplay. Decision Games offers D-Day at Tarawa and while significantly more complex, it is far more thematic. I congratulate you on playing this game multiple times. After watching the playthrough my interest level went to zero. You recently did a playthrough of Airborne Commander which is what drew me to your channel in the first place. That is a very simple game to learn and while randomness plays a key role that gameplay is dynamic and fun. Neither of which I can attribute to Tarawa 1943. Sometimes you take a chance in Kickstarter and get a stinker. Thanks for saving me from wasting any more of my time on this game.
Thanks for watching Stephen! I agree, and these type of games certainly are not for everyone. I hope the designer builds on the design and adds some depth for Iwo Jima! About Airborne Commander. I got the new edition, I will do several videos on it soon! Dan
@@WW2SolitaireBoardGameChannel A new edition for Airborne Commander? Interesting. I certainly look forward to those videos when they come out. Appreciate the feedback as always. Enjoy your Sunday ahead.
@@stephengray3401 yes, it's available on game crafter and it includes the expansion pack. Looking forward to sharing it with you! Two more night shifts to go, then I'm heading home. Have a good Sunday!
Brutal die rolls to start off. The VP calculations make it very difficult to pull of a victory when few or no Japanese cards are left. Definitely not one for me.
Yeah that was bloody! I had some good suggestions from fellow players here and on bgg, so I will do another run on the channel,m and hopefully things will look better!
Hi everyone! If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to my channel and click the "bell icon"! You can also support the channel by liking the video! Have a great day!
Great game play
Yes I think it was made so the allies would never win 😂
Maybe, someone whose Grand Dad was there part of a Banzai attack
Always a great viewing channel
Thank you!
Great playthrough! I lost a game today with a score of -25... Just 1 thing: on 46:50 you rotate battalions and say the exhausted one has to take the cohesion reduction but I think it's the opposite: rulebook mentions on page 7: Players choice of which battalion to reduce cohesion but it may not be an exhausted battalion. Anyway, I had fun watching this playthrough, please keep up the good work!
That's correct, thanks for noting! I mixed it up 🙈 It's a hard game, but once you win it's awesome. I hope the next game will have some more options for difficulty adjustment!
Thank you for making this video and sharing your thoughts. Very helpful! Ill be starting my first game after I finish watching this video. Good luck! : o)
Thank you for commenting and best of luck to you Sir!
Glad you are doing this one So much hype and it seems like it is not my type of game we shall see
I will be happy to hear what you say after you watch this video. I am brutally honest which I know not everyone appreciates, but I have to be able to speak my mind on my own channel.
I just purchased this earlier today. This will be useful.
I hope you have better luck than I did! 😁
I agree with you, it is to hard to defeat the game. I have played this game over and over and the closest I ever have come to winning was losing by 15 VPs. It is fun though. It really feels like an invasion. I don’t see how the Marines ever secured this island if it was as hard as this game!!
@@thomasredmond6138 Agree with all your points! It's a really fun game and it's sequel "Iwo Jima" has just been announced. If you watch my follow up video, I actually win 😁
@@WW2SolitaireBoardGameChannel I found a home brew adjustment on boardgame geek that I’m going to try. It tweaks the rules a little and balances out the game so that the odds aren’t so in favor of the Japanese.
Nice channel! Don't mind the cranks on BGG. You've got a new subscriber here!
Thank you very much Sir
6:25 you mentioned a board game designer but I couldn't catch his last name. Sounded like David Farmsom.
Hehe! David Thompson 😁
The dice rolls (and card reveals) add significant variability to the game. Even though the Marines get 5 dice for their attacks you need no fours and have to gain double fives and sixes which are long odds. The Japanese are either degrading your cohesion or causing you lost battalions on most of their fire attacks. Plus, their Banzai attacks which are frequent do significant damage to the Marine forces. So, easy to play but tough to win. When you do, it will be all the more satisfying. The scoring is also set up so that you really want to push to eliminate the Japanese forces in order to have some of their cards left for victory points. You rolled a lot of fours which didn't help. It is a good thing that this is a relatively quick game once set up. Thanks for the playthrough.
I agree with everything you say! I hope you watch my next playthrough video of this game, where I do a lot better. I can't wait for Iwo Jima, but I hope that the difficulty settings will be improved upon. Cheers Stephen
Your first roll I am almost out. Geez three rolls and game over. I could see me playing this once and selling it.
Yeah it pisses me off. There is no way to counter it. Even if you play a perfect game, with rolls like that you are done. I wish there was a lower difficulty setting and a way to counter the Japanese high rolls. I think I will keep playing untill I beat it but then I will be done with it. With such a small chance of winning, one victory is enough to be satisfied, then I would be put off to play more.
Hi Dan, a thought after the landing phase. You chose to bring on the 6th reg. I would not have. I would have attacked using Naval support to get onto the beach with the 2 - 2. Naval support often can take out 2 and somtimes 3 Japanese markers. Wait for a Command tactic card to bring the 6th in. Push push push those marines forward and onto the beach. You also would have kept your reinforcements card which could be critical. Obviously that would not have guaranteed a win, but to me staying in the water another turn without doing anything to the Japanese is like saying hey keep shooting at me, we will run around and act like targets.
The problem with that tactic is that I would effectively only be able to bring up one battalion from the waters, then it would be at least 6(!) turns until the wave 2 battalions would reach land, so 2-2 would be facing each and every field of fire, banzai, sniper and fire attack alone, they would be anihilated. If I bring in the 6th they are only 2 turns from taking land and helping the 2-2 absorbing some hits. But interesting to see your point of view! Thanks for taking the time to comment
@@WW2SolitaireBoardGameChannel I hear you and good points. But, Command tactic you know is coming, so no rush to bring the 6th in. Right it didn’t change the state of the board any, you still had 1 front you could push with. Hold those guys back until really needed. Make that decision as late as possible, not early.
@@JohnPywtorak Hi Dan what are your thoughts on John's statement that you shouldve made the decision as late as possible
Helpful comment intended here.
You had 2 Japanese markers at #2 red 2 at 29:20 ish. You had 1 battalion marker 3 - 8 I believe on #1 red 1. Attack first with them #2 red 2. Odds are you can eliminate at least 1 Japanese marker. Then attack with the wave 1 marines. They would only need to eliminate 1 and likely get on the beach. Yes there is risk, but the odds are better.
omg..... those 6's right off the bat. a start that bad will never happen again
Haha, at least it made my point 😂
Oops, the first troop movement should have been to #2 red beach 2. Higher priority than 5, even the airfield beats 5, so it is a great place to bring the 6th in, just a thought.
That's a good thought. I think I'll start with Red beach 3, then 2 and last 1. Since 1 has highest priority and will always be hit until all adjacent positions are cleared.
Looks awesome. But also very hard
It's brutal 🙈
To anyone reading, please understand my comments are hopefully helpful. In no way am I being critical.
Dan, you chose to move the 1 - 6 onto the beach. I would have left them in the water and attacked with one of the other wave 1 positions. Moves are costly and you know that position is going to be hit hard, it is the priority. Also, the Banza! Would have fallen flat most likely. This is a case where pushing on another front is helpful, in my humble opinion.
No worries John. I hope everyone understands, I did ask you guys for help! All comments are very helpful! I'll do one more video on easy I think and we'll see if I can do better 😏
John, I was finally able to win. You can read my AAR here: boardgamegeek.com/thread/2785277/road-victory
I just came across your channel and just subscribed. I watched this video concerning this game. Your comment about it being very difficult caught my attention.
I’m curious have you thought of creating some house rules to “balance” the game. I know you said that you even tried not discarding any cards at the beginning. What do you think about reducing the victory points for the Japanese in some manner?
Because for me, as it is, I don’t think I would buy the game. I don’t mind difficulty, but I don’t want is a game where I know before I start I won’t win.
Hi and thank you for the comment.
Sometimes when I want an easier game, I use the following house rules:
I don't discard any USMC or Japanese cards.
I remove the 2 bad Intel cards from the USMC deck.
I do not do the pre landing attack by the Japanese. It is barely a house rules imo. I mean technically, if you restart the game every time they the pre landing bombardment causes a loss to cohesion or a battalion marker, you will eventually have a turn where no loss to cohesion or a battalion marker would happen. I'm just not wasting my time doing that.
I let my regiments land at all wave positions, including black beach to the south (top of the map).
I use the "Mulligan" rule ONCE a game. If the enemy rolls a triple 6 with a Japanese attack, I reroll. Only once a game. I use a marker on the map which I remove after using the Mulligan rule, knowing it's been used this game and can't be used again.
I remove the rule where exhausted USMC battalions give the Japanese 1 VP after the game is over and you do the victory point calculation.
I hope that help.
Cheers!
@@WW2SolitaireBoardGameChannel - Thank you for your prompt response and sharing your “house rules”. As I get older, and with my old game mates, I find we have less and less chance to play games together, so your channel, strictly for solitaire war games is perfect for me.
I like the elegant, streamlined game mechanics, so with some house rules, I feel more positive about buying this game. Thank you. Looking forward to watching your past and future videos.
@@lopezmt5 I have to also say that even though I think the game is a little "too hard" and miss some proper "optional rules", I think this is a VERY good game, I had much fun with it.
2 nd battalion 8th Marines.
What?
Maybe the design of the final victory point calculation is the issue. Too many points awarded to Japanese for casualties. Some sort of alternative Victory point system would work, like maybe a draw if Japanese hold at least one area and an American victory if the island is clear of Japanese. Heavy US casualties were not uncommon in the Pacific.
Yeah it feels like it. My best score so far is 12 points while the japanese had 36 points.
I think you have to play very conservatively as the losses kill you
@@thomaskanyak2888 No, that will drain all your soldiers. The only way to win is to be hyper aggressive. Check out my next video where I will try that out. It's an easy win.
You caught this, my oops. However missed an exhaustion check there, 3 - 2 was a 5 cohesion. You caught that, oops. You played two tactic cards on a USMC action. You removed the bunker then used air support. Oops, the 3-2 was attacking #1 red 1.
Ops 🙈
Hello Dan, I gave some more thought to this game. It appears the designer(s) wanted a simple and relatively fast game for players. Unfortunately, to me, it is over simplified. While all the components are top notch what difference does it make when the game play is abstracted to the most simplest of elements? Essentially, the game boils down to adding or subtracting die and then rolling until a result is achieved. This game setting could be on Mars for all it matters. While there is nothing wrong with having to roll dice there is nothing really compelling in the gameplay here. Compared to DVG's Warfighter series or Tiger Leader, Sherman Leader, Castle Itter, etc there is no comparison in terms of gameplay. Decision Games offers D-Day at Tarawa and while significantly more complex, it is far more thematic. I congratulate you on playing this game multiple times. After watching the playthrough my interest level went to zero. You recently did a playthrough of Airborne Commander which is what drew me to your channel in the first place. That is a very simple game to learn and while randomness plays a key role that gameplay is dynamic and fun. Neither of which I can attribute to Tarawa 1943. Sometimes you take a chance in Kickstarter and get a stinker. Thanks for saving me from wasting any more of my time on this game.
Thanks for watching Stephen! I agree, and these type of games certainly are not for everyone. I hope the designer builds on the design and adds some depth for Iwo Jima!
About Airborne Commander. I got the new edition, I will do several videos on it soon!
Dan
@@WW2SolitaireBoardGameChannel A new edition for Airborne Commander? Interesting. I certainly look forward to those videos when they come out. Appreciate the feedback as always. Enjoy your Sunday ahead.
@@stephengray3401 yes, it's available on game crafter and it includes the expansion pack. Looking forward to sharing it with you! Two more night shifts to go, then I'm heading home. Have a good Sunday!
Brutal die rolls to start off. The VP calculations make it very difficult to pull of a victory when few or no Japanese cards are left. Definitely not one for me.
Yeah that was bloody! I had some good suggestions from fellow players here and on bgg, so I will do another run on the channel,m and hopefully things will look better!