The Emperor’s Sword:
Design Notes, Chapter Two
by Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
March 2026

There’s nothing pre-determined about history. Humans are chaotic beings, often acting in ways contrary to their own interests or even their own intent. And so the outcome of many historical events wasn’t even the likeliest, opening the door to questions of alternative history. Evey wargame is, of course, an exercise in alternative history the moment either player does something contrary to the actual event.

Second World War at Sea: The Emperor's Sword is an expansion set for Second World War at Sea: Medway Deluxe edition. You’ll need a copy of Midway to play any of the scenarios in The Emperor’s Sword. It comes with a map extending the operational map from Midway all the way eastwards to the U.S. West Coast. And you get 420 new pieces, adding the drawing-board aircraft carriers, cruisers, battleships and warplanes that never actually saw service. But now they do.

The first chapter of The Emperor’s Sword zeroes in on an American-launched attack on Japanese-held Pearl Harbor, and the Japanese response (in short, chasing the raiders back to their West Coast bases). In Chapter Two, the Empire strikes back. Because you need to play with that new West Coast map, and we get to shape this version of history to let you do that.

For years, the Japanese have planned for such a raid; when the Americans give them the excuse, they know what they wish to do. They’ve received powerful reinforcements from the Combined Fleet: new super-battleships armed with 18-inch guns, and the Second Air Fleet with four more heavy carriers.

One change in this alternative history is that Japan sports a much larger and more efficient aircraft industry, and a much more robust naval air arm. The carrier force is supported by a constant stream of replacement planes and pilots. Unlike the case in the historical battles of Midway or the Solomons, the Japanese carriers go into action with full flight decks. Thus, the same ships seen at Midway (Akagi or Soryu) are more powerful in The Emperor’s Sword even with the same aircraft types, as they’re able to wield their full potential air groups.

There are no light carriers in The Emperor’s Sword, and for the most part you won’t use the light carriers that came with Midway (the converted liners Junyo and Hiyo do see some play). This is a richer Japan, and a world with far less restrictive naval armaments agreements. The Imperial Navy doesn’t need to resort to back-door chicanery to augment its carrier force with poorly-designed converted submarine tenders. Instead, they’ve built classes of large and capable fleet carriers, and these are the ships that fight the battles of The Emperor’s Sword.

The Japanese assault on the West Coast has three distinct targets: two carrier fleets with four heavy flattops each will attack the Pacific Northwest and Southern California. The battleship fleet – the survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor, reinforced from Japan - will bombard San Francisco. Another battleship fleet, this one of the huge, modern super-battleships, stands ready to reinforce whichever of the raiding fleets encounters the main American fleet. Smaller surface action groups of cruisers and destroyers seek to create mayhem, while supporting task forces bring up fuel oil; the Japanese have not perfected complete underway replenishment and the ships must return to Oahu for food and ammunition.

The Americans are not without their own sea power. They likewise have two large carrier forces: one with the three carriers that emerged undamaged from the Pearl Harbor fiasco, including the super-carrier Lafayette. The other, held back just in case the Pearl Harbor attack went sideways, has the disappointing Wasp and four very large, relatively fast liner conversions. Two other conversions support the older battleship fleet at San Francisco. Newer battleships, including all five units of the awesome Montana class, are on their way from the East Coast.

That’s enough firepower to light up the coastline from Seattle to San Diego. And so we have battle scenarios: nighttime cruiser engagements, battleships at night, battleships in the daylight, carrier strikes back and forth. We gave you all of these new pieces, and they’re in there to be used.

The Emperor’s Sword follows the story-arc format that’s become standard for our naval games. The operational scenarios (the ones that take place on the operational map) tell the story, with battle scenarios (the ones that are fought out on the Tactical Map with guns and torpedoes) highlighting the key moments. Every operational scenario is accompanied by at least one battle scenario, to give you plenty of opportunities to fight with your new ships.

And that includes the reason you’ll want The Emperor’s Sword: Yamato vs. Montana. And not just a single-ship duel. Four Yamatos against five Montanas. And even larger combinations of super-battleships. It’s a heavy-metal slugfest and it’s the reason you play wargames. The gigantic battleships are nearly indestructible, but “nearly” is the operative word when their opponents have that much firepower at their command.

The Japanese even conduct a raid on American shores, a propaganda exercise to remind the American public that they are vulnerable, even if the raiders depart quickly. It’s also an effort to bring the Americans back out for battle, and of course the Americans are happy to oblige.

There’s no historical precedent for these operations; other than trivial pinpricks, the continental United States has not been subject to direct foreign attack since 1815 (not counting the threat of global thermonuclear Armageddon). But actions have consequences: when you bring war to an enemy’s land, you can’t feign outrage when he brings it back to yours.

We’ll return to the West Coast map in the future. It’s a swath of ocean that we’ve never explored in any of our naval games, and to the best of my knowledge, no other games have, either (there just aren’t a lot of game like this that we didn’t publish).

But for now, the next chapter (third and final) of The Emperor’s Sword brings the action back to Hawaii. The Japanese have embarrassed the Americans and rained death and destruction on their civilian population. Reinforced by more aircraft carriers, their decks now brimming with the awesome F4U Corsair and TBY Sea Wolf (and the Ryan Fireball!), the Americans launch their own invasion of Japanese territory. And that will bring on still more battle.

Order The Emperor’s Sword Here.

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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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