A solitaire WWII game is currently up for crowdfunding on Kickstarter for Worthington Publishing. Tarawa 1943, designed by Grant Wylie and Mike Wylie, places the player in command of the U.S. 2nd Marine Division as they look to take the Japanese controlled atoll. This is a solitaire game for ages 14+ and it plays in around an hour. The Kickstarter project is well past its funding goal and you can reserve a copy of the game for a $59.00 pledge through February 6th. Expected delivery is this July.
About the project:
TARAWA 1943 is a solitaire, card driven game on the invasion of Japanese controlled Tarawa by the 2nd Marine Division. Join the 2nd Marine Division as you storm the beaches of Tarawa. Japanese commander Shibazaki and his men have had a year to prepare for this moment in time.
You must adapt, overcome and improvise as the Japanese are going to fight to the end. Japanese defenses, overlapping fields of fire, bunkers, trenches, will present enormous challenges to your Marines. Infiltration of the Marine positions, snipers, and relentless banzai attacks will wear on the cohesion of your battalions as you rapidly try to secure the island.
The game is on a unique underdone topic, island fighting in the Pacific. Using a simple, fast moving system, you’ll be in and fighting within 15 minutes of opening the rules. The game requires minimum setup and breakdown (always a pleasure).
The Battle of Tarawa took place in the Pacific Theater of World War II that was fought on 20–23 November 1943. It took place at the Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands. Nearly 6,400 Japanese, Koreans, and Americans died in the fighting, mostly on and around the small island of Betio, in the extreme southwest of Tarawa Atoll.
The Battle of Tarawa was the first American offensive in the critical central Pacific region. It was also the first time in the Pacific War that the United States had faced serious Japanese opposition to an amphibious landing. Previous landings met little or no initial resistance, but on Tarawa the 4,500 Japanese defenders were well-supplied and well-prepared, and they fought almost to the last man, exacting a heavy toll on the United States Marine Corps. The losses on Tarawa were incurred within 76 hours.
