Second World War at Sea:
The Wide, Blue Pacific
by Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
April 2026
 Second World War at Sea is the world’s finest series of World War II naval wargames (okay, it’s also the only series). It began in the Pacific theater, and it’s in the Pacific that most of its games are set. The Pacific war featured every type of naval action seen during World War II (carrier battles, submarine warfare, surface battles, mine warfare, convoy attack and defense), so from the start Second World War at Sea needed to have a comprehensive rulebook.
Wide, Blue Pacific
Four complete games of Pacific War naval action: 123 scenarios, and 2,291 playing pieces (849 of them double-sized).
Read More Here
• South Pacific
• Midway
• Coral Sea
• Java Sea
Retail Price: $488.96
Package Price: $400
Gold Club Price: $320
Storm the Blue Pacific.
Every Second World War at Sea game uses this (now Second Edition) rulebook. One rulebook to rule them all. Once you know how to play one game, you know how to play them all.
Like the rest of the series, the Pacific games are built around their scenario set, in what we call the story-arc format with the scenarios organized into chapters to tell the story of the battle or campaign.
 Second World War at Sea has two types of scenarios: operational scenarios, where the task forces and airplanes look for each other, and battle scenarios, where they fight. In the story-arc format, every operational scenario has at least one battle scenario, based on the battles that either actually did or could have arisen from it. That means that the games have a great many battle scenarios, which is a good thing, because these let you skip right to the fun part.
Most of the games are in Playbook format (Midway comes in a box), with everything you need to play included. Except dice. To repeat: every game uses the same set of rules (Second World War at Sea’s Second Edition); learn to play one game, and you can play them all. Hundreds of scenarios, nearly endless play opportunities. Playing games is fun. Reading rules for them, not so much. Read them once and then play and play and play.
The Pacific games are where the carrier battles take place by day: American and Japanese flattops seek each other out, and strike with their air groups. By night, it’s the time of the surface ships. Between them, the four Pacific games have 123 scenarios, and 2,291 playing pieces (849 of them double-sized).
You can get all four Pacific games in one package, for one sweet price. Let’s have a look at them:
Coral Sea
 Coral Sea is the series introductory game, but I wanted it to be interesting for veteran players, too. On top of the usual stuff, the scenario book tells you about the game and describes how to play it, to help you get into your first play. And then it has 15 scenarios, so you can play it a lot.
The topic is the first clash between aircraft carriers; neither fleet ever sighted the other. But they could have, so we have some surface battles in there, too.
Order Coral Sea Here.
South Pacific
 South Pacific is by far the largest game in the series, and its crown jewel. It’s all about the naval battles around Guadalcanal, August through November 1942. The campaign included two of the four carrier battles fought during World War II (Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz), and its fiercest surface engagements in the waters just north of Guadalcanal that became known as Ironbottom Sound.
We’ve got 42 scenarios to tell those stories. The game includes 1,060 pieces (350 of them double-sized), an operational map of the Solomon Islands and surrounding seas, and a unique special tactical map of Ironbottom Sound.
 The game is tightly focused on the Solomons campaign, from the August 1942 American invasion of Guadalcanal through the last Japanese attempt to force the Americans off their prize in November of the same year. The Japanese committed surface forces by night, and carrier forces by day, while the Americans did their best to counter them. The Japanese had more than one opportunity to overwhelm their enemies but followed their doctrine of committing just enough force to accomplish the mission and thereby limiting their risk. That drew out the campaign and assured that most of the battles would be fought between roughly equal forces.
 It's a big game, but it’s a glorious one. You will definitely get your play value out of South Pacific.
Order South Pacific Here.
Order South Pacific (Anarchy ed) Here.
No rules! You’ll need the Second Edition rules from another Second World War at Sea game. Earlier edition rules will not work with this game.
Tales of the South Pacific
• South Pacific
• Ironbottom Sound (scenario expansion)
• Solomons Naval Campaign (Historical Study)
Retail Price: $236.98
Package Price: $200
Gold Price: $160
Tell the Tales.
Java Sea
 It’s the Japanese “Strike South” offensive through the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies and British-ruled Malaya. In just three months, the Imperial Navy overthrew three Western colonial empires, in a daring series of air and naval attacks and quickly-moving amphibious invasions. While the Japanese had a vast overall superiority in ships and planes, they went after multiple objectives with forces they considered just large enough to accomplish their mission, and no more.
And that’s why Java Sea is an intense game, challenging both sides – all those small “just enough” task forces are vulnerable to the out-numbered Allies, if the defenders can bring their ships and planes together at the crucial point. You get 30 scenarios to try that, on a huge map of the Indonesian/Philippine archipelago, an intricate tapestry of islands and channels.
 It’s a different sort of game, between the rapid pace of the Japanese assault and the intricate patterns of the archipelago channeling movement, the unexpected is always to be expected.
Order Java Sea Here.
Order Java Sea (Anarchy) Here.
No rules! You’ll need the Second Edition rules from another Second World War at Sea game. Earlier edition rules will not work with this game.
Spice Islands Cruise
Java Sea
SWWAS: Islands
Java Sea: Wicked Sisters
Java Sea: Royal Thai Navy
Retail Price: $175.96
Package Price: $140
Gold Club Price: $112.00
Cruise the Islands Here.
Midway
 And then there’s the climactic carrier battle that changed the course of World War II. The Japanese brought four carriers to Midway, the Americans brought three, and when it was all over, the Americans still had two carriers, but the Japanese had none. And while the Americans could replace their losses, the Japanese could not.
Midway is a well-studied battle (said to be second in the historiography of naval warfare only to Jutland), and the game dives deeply into the action. You can play out the entire Midway operation or pick up the action at key moments: when Chuichi Nagumo chose to bomb Midway Island a second time despite the nearby presence of American carriers. When the Americans launched their decisive strike. When Rear Admiral Tamon Yamaguchi decided to carry on the battle with just one carrier. These snapshot scenarios put you right in the thick of the action, where you are in command.
 Midway, the game, includes much more than just Midway, the battle. We have a whole chapter devoted to alternatives to Midway, how the battle might have played out with the full might of the Japanese First Air Fleet deployed (six rather than four carriers), or had the American reinforcements arrived sooner. There’s a chapter covering the abortive American attempt to relieve Wake Island in December 1941, which likely would have resulted in a carrier battle just weeks after Pearl Harbor.
Order Midway Here.
Order Midway (Anarchy Edition) Here.
No rules! You’ll need the Second Edition rules from another Second World War at Sea game. Earlier edition rules will not work with this game.
Wide, Blue Pacific
Four complete games of Pacific War naval action: 123 scenarios, and 2,291 playing pieces (849 of them double-sized).
Read More Here
• South Pacific
• Midway
• Coral Sea
• Java Sea
Retail Price: $488.96
Package Price: $400
Gold Club Price: $320
Storm the Blue Pacific.
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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 countless books, games and articles on historical subjects.
He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and three children.
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