SWWAStravaganza
It’s been more than 15 years since we overhauled the rules to our two popular naval game series, Great War at Sea and Second World War at Sea. That’s really unusual in the wargame world, and speaks volumes regarding their solid design, easy-to-play systems and historically-sound structure. But even the proudest ship needs an overhaul after a while, and we’re working away on new editions of both core rulebooks.

And we’re bringing out four big new games this year bearing the new rules.

Gold Club members can place Early Orders for them at a 30 percent discount. That’s a savings of $131.99. Plus they get free shipping. Plus they get SWWAS: Islands. Not a bad ROI for a $35 membership.

It’s really good to be a Gold Club member.

Here’s a look at the stuff:

Second World War at Sea: Islands
A set of extra pieces for use with any Second World War at Sea game: like the name says, these are islands. You place them on the Tactical Map where the scenario instructions tell you to put the island marker. The games come with a small island marker; these wonderful new islands take up the entire hex.

You can't buy these: they're free to Gold Club members who order all four of the boxed games below, before this promotion ends.

Second World War at Sea: La Regia Marina
After some months of quiet, Europe’s “soft underbelly” became a brutal theater of war in 1940 when Italy joined the Axis. Italian convoys fought their way south across the Mediterranean, while British convoys tried to cross the Middle Sea from west to east. Each, in turn, tried to stop the other and claim control of these troubled waters.

La Regia Marina is a complete Second World War at Sea boxed game based on the Mediterranean Campaign of 1939 through 1944. It covers the valiant convoy defenses of both sides, such as Operation Pedestal. Battleship clashes like Cape Teulada or the Italian disaster at Cape Matapan. Carrier raids like Taranto. Impossible fights against terrible odds, such as the night battle in which the Italian torpedo boat Lupo took on and defeated three British cruisers.

La Regia Marina includes almost 1,000 silky-smooth, die-cut playing pieces representing the ships and aircraft of Italy, Britain, Germany, France, Yugoslavia, Greece and the United States that fought in the campaign. Two 22x28-inch maps include all of the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins and out a little ways into the Atlantic.

There are over 75 scenarios, organized in our popular “story arc” format that weaves the narrative of the campaign into the scenarios, allowing them to tell the story of this pivotal series of battles.

You can read the Publisher’s Preview right here.

Second World War at Sea: South Pacific
The U.S. Navy began its counter-offensive against the Japanese in August 1942, with landings on the islands of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese struck back in turn, and fierce naval battles raged in “Ironbottom Sound” by night while aircraft carriers dueled by day. The Americans and their Australian allies steadily fought their way up the Solomons chain until the Japanese base at Rabaul was finally isolated in June 1943.

South Pacific is a complete Second World War at Sea boxed game based on the Solomons Campaign of 1942 and 1943. It covers the naval battles of Guadalcanal, the carrier battles of the Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz, the battles of Vella Gulf, Empress Augusta Bay and Kolombangara, and much more.

South Pacific includes over 1,000 silky-smooth, die-cut playing pieces representing the ships and aircraft of the United States, Japan and Australia that fought in the campaign. The 22x28-inch map includes all of the Solomon Islands plus the surrounding seas, and overlaps with the maps from our Strike South game on its western edge.

Unique in the Second World War at Sea series, South Pacific includes not only the standard, generic Tactical Map but also a special Tactical Map showing “Ironbottom Sound” north of Guadalcanal, where so many Japanese and American ships and sailors would be lost.

There are over 60 scenarios, organized in our popular “story arc” format that weaves the narrative of the campaign into the scenarios, allowing them to tell the story of this pivotal series of battles.

You can read the Publisher’s Preview right here.

Great War at Sea: Mediterranean Ultimate Edition
This game is the very centerpiece of Avalanche Press, so we’re not going to let it stay out of stock for long. The Ultimate Edition covers the Mediterranean naval wars from 1911 through 1921, from the Italo-Turkish War through the Russian Civil War, the same campaigns as the former edition.

This time, we have all-new playing pieces that add the Spanish fleet, the would-be Yugoslav fleet, “long-counter” airships, White Russian and Red Russian ships in their new colors and armored cruisers and semi-dreadnoughts rated to match the rest of the series; 280 “long” pieces and 280 square ones, all die-cut and silky-smooth. The all-new, two-piece map runs from the Black Sea out past Gibraltar. And then there are the scenarios: over 100 of them, once again in the “story arc” fashion of our alternative histories, but this time, it’s a story about the real thing. It’s a massive scenario set unlikely to fit in a single book, but one befitting our favorite game.

You can read the Publisher’s Preview right here.

Second World War at Sea: Midway Deluxe Edition
History’s greatest carrier battle and more: the attempted relief of Wake Island, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, earlier Japanese plans to attack Pearl Harbor, and more. This game covers the same campaign as our old Midway game, and adds much more stuff.

Midway Deluxe Edition includes scenarios for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (in a number of variations) and to play them out, there’s a special Tactical Map of Pearl Harbor at its own special zoomed-in scale. Battleship Row is there just as it stood on December 7th 1941.

There are 280 “long” ship pieces and 420 square ones, all of them die-cut and silky-smooth. Two maps covering the Hawai’ian Islands, Midway and the waters around them. And scenarios. Over 50 of them, once again in the “story arc” fashion of our alternative histories, but this time, it’s a story about the real thing.

You can read the Publisher’s Preview right here.

Click here to find out about the Gold Club.