South Pacific:
Those Beautiful Pieces
by Mike Bennighof, Ph.D.
August 2025

Wargamers are a very particular branch of humanity, and nothing excites their particularness more than the playing pieces (sometimes called “counters”) found in their games. For some time now, we’ve been using what we believe to be the best such pieces in our tiny industry, our die-cut and silky-smooth pieces. But as I was taught long ago, it’s better to show than to tell.

Second World War at Sea: South Pacific is intended as a showpiece, the culmination of more than a quarter-century of game production at Avalanche Press. We’ve lavished it with wonderful artwork, and we’ve stuffed it with maps, scenarios and our wonderful die-cut and silky-smooth pieces.

The secret here is in the cutting: 20th-Century technology used massive force to cut the pieces, as a heavy steel die forced its way through the cardboard core with the force of ten thousand hammers. We’re using pieces cut with 21st-Century methods, microscopically sharp blades that can’t even be touched by human hands, that must be carefully maneuvered lest they fall to the factory floor and drop straight to the Earth’s core, so sharp is their sharpness. Such a blade requires only the touch of a feather to slice through the game pieces.

Why does that matter? Well, it matters for a lot of reasons. Our pieces don’t have those deep impressions on the flip side, the troughs that look like you could water a horse in them. The back side is as smooth as a baby’s back side, so smooth that we have to mark them, because you can’t tell the difference otherwise.

Here, have a look at the flip side of the aircraft sheet (the side that would have been mangled by old-style die-cutting):

Note: Open image in new tab to massively embiggen it.

There’s also much less wobble during the cutting, from the vibration of Thor striking the sheet with Mjolnir, or the micro-bounce of a less-than-perfectly sharp blade. The blades are ultra-sharp, atomically sharp, so they go exactly where the operator wishes them to go.

There are wargame publishers who place blank pieces on their sheets wherever two color come together, because their die-cutter can’t match up with their cutting pattern. Not ours. This is a randomly-selected sample. Let me repeat this – I reached into the shipping carton and pulled out the first one I could work loose. It never even occurred to me to sort through for a perfect sample, because they all look like this.

Here, have a look:

Note: Open image in new tab to massively embiggen it.

The cutting-edge cutting technology is matched by cutting-edge, 21st-Century print resolution. All the artwork from our old games had to be tossed out – it’s just not good enough for the sharp resolution we get now. Matching that are vibrant colors and rich ink coverage (that’s what makes the pieces look so good).

There are a great many pieces in South Pacific: 335 double-sized ship pieces, 75 square ship pieces, 605 aircraft pieces and 50 markers for 1,065 total. That’s enough to cover the naval campaigns in the Solomon Islands from August 1942 through November 1943. That’s a lot of game play.

Here, have a look:

Note: Open image in new tab to massively embiggen it.

South Pacific is the largest game we’ve attempted in the modern era of Avalanche Press. We’ve matched its size with an outpouring of artwork, history and game play that make this an extraordinary game experience. You don’t need to miss out.

Order South Pacific Here.

Order Ironbottom Sound Here.
Includes Solomons Naval Campaign book.

Order Solomons Naval Campaign Here.
Companion piece to Ironbottom Sound, or just read it separately.

Sign up for our newsletter right here. Your info will never be sold or transferred; we'll just use it to update you on new games and new offers.

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 a great many books, games and articles on historical subjects; people are saying that some of them are actually good. He lives in Birmingham, Alabama with his wife and three children. He misses his lizard-hunting Iron Dog, Leopold.

Daily Content includes no AI-generated content or third-party ads. We work hard to keep it that way, and that’s a lot of work. You can help us keep things that way with your gift through this link right here.