Japan in WW2: Pacific Expanse

Japan in WW2: Pacific Expanse is a turn-based strategy board game set around the Pacific ocean, modelling the nearly impossible Japanese attempt to grow their empire while squeezed between 3 increasingly hostile great powers (Britain, the U.S. & the USSR). From Joni Nuutinen: By a wargamer for the wargamers since 2011. Scenario last updated on March 2026.

"In the first 6-12 months of a war with the U.S. and Britain, I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if the war continues after that, I have no expectation of success."
— Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of Imperial Japanese Navy Combined Fleet

You are in charge of the Japanese expansion strategy in WWII - the fate of the Pacific hangs in the balance. As the architect of Japan’s imperial ambitions, the choices are yours to make: Declare war on mighty empires, command the production of industries, deploy the Imperial Navy’s awe-inspiring fleets - battleships that cut through the waves like blades, and aircraft carriers bristling with sea planes ready to rain fire from the skies.

But beware: the clock is ticking. Japan’s almost total lack of natural resources is a sword of Damocles hanging over your strategy. The oil fields of the Dutch East Indies glisten like forbidden fruit, ripe for the taking. Yet, seizing them will not go unnoticed. The British Empire, with its far-reaching naval dominance, the industrial might of the United States, and the relentless Soviet war machine will not stand idly by. One misstep, and the wrath of the world will descend upon you.

Can you outmaneuver the impossible? Can you dance on the razor’s edge, balancing the demands of land and sea warfare, production and natural resources, to emerge as the undisputed master of the Pacific? Will you rise to the challenge, or will your empire crumble beneath the weight of its own ambition? The stage is set. The pieces are in place. The Pacific awaits its ruler.

Main elements of this complex scenario:

— Both sides carry out multiple landings, each playing out almost like its own mini-game. Trust me: bailing out of Sumatra in panic after landing there with too few units and supplies is not fun
— Tensions & War: At the start, you are only at war with China—everything else depends on military threats and appeasement acts.
— Economy: Decide what to produce & where, within the limits of natural resources like oil & iron-coal. A handful of carriers would be great, but without plenty of fuel to power them, maybe settle for few destroyers and infantry?
— Infrastructure: Engineer units can build railway networks in mainland China, while funding science and victories unlocks quicker naval shipping lanes. Should engineer units be in China to build dugouts on the border vs the USSR, or in pacific fortifying the islands closest to the U.S.
— Long-Term Logistics: The farther away the islands you seize are, the harder it becomes to maintain supply lines as hostile empires ramp up their military. What if you secure Papua-New-Guinea, set the industry there to make a battleship, but then a rebellion breaks out and the U.S. fleet wipes out your local warships? Can you project enough power at the end of the world to retake control, or should you accept the loss of this island for now?
— Fuel & Supply: Oil fields, synthetic fuel production, tankers avoiding enemy submarines, fuel-dependent units on land, at sea, and in the air—including aircraft carriers and sea-bases—all need masterful planning to come together.

What will you do if the British land on Java and threaten the key oil fields, but Americans just seized Saipan & Guam, meaning their next target might be the home islands?

"In order to make room for survival, sometimes one has to fight. The opportunity has finally come to dispose of the U.S., which has been a barrier to our national existence."
— Japanese PM's speech to military leaders, November 1941, prior to Pearl Harbor attack