Tinian: The Forgotten Battle

About this board game

Tinian: The Forgotten Battle is a 1–2-player board game with a playing time of approximately 900 minutes, recreating the Battle of Tinian in the Pacific War.

Designed as Volume 3 of the Marianas Campaign, the game offers an introduction to Adam Starkweather’s Company Scale System (CSS). Everything is played on a single map, with three scenarios and three campaign games covering the American landings, the fight for the island, and the final Japanese surrender.

• “Jig-Day”: A short, single-day scenario focused on the initial American landings.
• “Lasso”: A two-day scenario covering the American advance from the north end of the island to Mount Lasso.
• “Final Round-up”: A three-day scenario covering the last days of the battle.
• Historical Campaign: The full nine-day operation, from the landings in the north to the Japanese surrender.
• Hypothetical Campaign: Explore what might have happened if the Americans had landed near Tinian Town, where the Japanese expected them.
• Free-set up Campaign: Choose the defenses and landing schedules for an assault or defense of a Pacific island.

Rules cover the distinctive challenges of the operation, including caves, beach landings, naval and air support, mines, sealing caves, flamethrowers, napalm, and underwater demolition teams. Japanese special rules include tenacity, banzai charges, naval guns, knee mortars, inter-service rivalry, and even drunken admirals.

Additional Japanese troops can also be included to make the American task more difficult. With its range of historical and hypothetical situations, Tinian: The Forgotten Battle presents a focused way to explore a frequently overlooked campaign.