Tinian: Seizing the Runways

Battle of Tinian 1944 is a retro boardgame set on the American WWII Pacific campaign, modelling the historical events at battalion level. From Joni Nuutinen: By a wargamer for the wargamers since 2011. Last update April 2026

You are in command of the American WWII Marine forces tasked with carrying out an amphibious assault on the island of Tinian in order to turn it into one of the biggest airbases in the world.

To surprise the Japanese defenders, the American commanders decided, after some lively arguments, to roll the dice and land on the ridiculously narrow northern beach. It was much narrower than what any WWII-era amphibious military doctrine considered sensible. And while the surprise guaranteed an easier first day for the American troops, the narrow beach also severely limited the speed of the future reinforcements and made the supply logistics vulnerable to any storms or other disruptions. Commanders on both sides waited to see if the US Marines could block the inevitable Japanese counter-attack during the first night, to keep the landing beaches open to allow successful continuation of the attack.

Notes: Features flamethrower tanks as a separate unit to take out enemy dugouts and landing ramp units which turn a few hexagons into a road as they disembark.

"In war as in every other phase of activity, there are enterprises so skillfully conceived and successfully executed, that they become models of their kind. Our capture of Tinian belongs in this category. If such a tactical superlative can be used to describe a military maneuver, where the result brilliantly consummated the planning and performance, Tinian was the perfect amphibious operation in the Pacific war."
-- General Holland Smith, Expeditionary Troops Commander at Tinian

Key features:
+ No in-app purchases, so it's your skill and wits that dictate your position in the Hall of Fame, not how much money you burn
+ Follows the real WW2 timeline while keeping the game challenging and fast-flowing
+ The size of the app and its space requirements are very small for this type of a game, allowing it to be played even on older budget phones with limited storage
+ Trusted wargame series from a developer who has been releasing Android strategy games for over a decade, even the 12-year-old games are still being regularly updated


"Be prepared to destroy the Americans at the beach, but be prepared to shift two-thirds of the troops elsewhere."
-- Colonel Kiyochi Ogata's puzzling orders to the Japanese defenders on the island of Tinian