SOPAC: Naval Action in the South Pacific 1942–1943

About this board game

SOPAC: Naval Action in the Southern Pacific 1942–43 is a two-player naval battle game with an approximately 240-minute playing time, recreating the Solomon Islands Campaign of late 1942.

Part of Avalanche Press Ltd’s Second World War at Sea series, the game combines operational and tactical displays. This approach, similar to the displays used in Avalon Hill’s Midway but more detailed and accurate, supports the mixture of aerial and surface combat that characterized the Pacific theater of operations.

Players write orders and assign missions to task forces before movement. They then conduct aerial searches for enemy fleets and submarines, creating the uncertainty and tension of naval operations in the Southern Pacific.

When opposing forces meet, combat can develop into a surface battle. Damage is tracked hit by hit, reducing ship capabilities and inflicting casualties as the engagement unfolds.

SOPAC includes 20 scenarios, offering different ways to explore the campaign and its possibilities:

• 10 Battle scenarios focused on individual engagements
• 10 Operational scenarios covering broader naval action

These scenarios let players explore the early days of combat as well as try what-if situations that history never explored. With its combination of written orders, reconnaissance, task-force movement, aerial action, submarine searches, and detailed surface combat, SOPAC presents a focused simulation of naval action in the Solomon Islands Campaign.