The Emperor’s Sword:
The West Coast Map!
by Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
January 2026

The Emperor’s Sword is a massive, alternative-history expansion set for Second World War at Sea: Midway, part of our Long War setting (the same one that includes Plan Z). In it, the United States, its leaders angered by Japanese restrictions on trade with China, starts the Pacific War.

In this different sort of world, the Japanese Empire is much larger and more powerful than the one that started the Pacific war in our own reality. The Japanese hold the Hawaiian Islands, as well as much of East Asia (Taiwan, Korea, Manchuria, Maritime Siberia, the Philippines), and they have built a powerful fleet to hold the Empire.

A large contingent of that fleet is stationed in the Pearl River Estuary on Oahu, and that’s where the war begins, with an American attack. You get to use the Pearl Harbor display from Midway, just with Japanese targets attacked by American planes. And then the Japanese retaliate, with attacks all along the West Coast: 18-inch shells fall on the Golden Gate, while Kates drop their load on Tacoma and cruisers shoot up Santa Barbara. The Americans defend their homeland with new battleships and carriers of their own. And then they mount an attack on Midway. And then . . . well, we ran out of space.

Central to that story is the new West Coast map. It’s full-sized, extending the operational map from Midway all the way eastwards to the U.S. West Coast. From Seattle to San Diego, you now can add it all to Second World War at Sea.

You can open the image in a new tab to embiggen it.

Order The Emperor’s Sword Here.
Please allow an extra six weeks for delivery.

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Mike Bennighof is president of Avalanche Press and holds a doctorate in history from Emory University. A Fulbright Scholar and NASA Journalist in Space finalist, he has published an unknowable number of books, games and articles on historical subjects. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and three children.

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