Gato Leader

About this board game

Gato Leader is a solitaire board game for 1 player, with a typical play time of 60 minutes, that puts you in command of U.S. submarines patrolling the Pacific Ocean during World War II.

Your objectives include sinking enemy shipping, carrying out special missions, gaining experience, and managing crew stress. The game challenges you to decide where to deploy your submarines: toward the distant, heavily defended, merchant-rich Japanese Home Waters, or against convoys supplying Japan’s far-flung bases.

At the strategic level, you can spend Special Operations Points to upgrade submarines, focus intelligence resources, and undertake missions such as mine-laying or hunting the Imperial Japanese Navy. When a submarine encounters an enemy force, play moves to a tactical display, where you must close with merchant ships while avoiding their escorting warships.

Combat begins with only an idea of the number and general type of ships present. Closing in reveals their identities and helps you decide which targets deserve torpedoes or gunfire. Your submarines must also contend with dud torpedoes and torpedoes that turn back toward the submarine, adding further danger to every attack.

Gato Leader includes four campaigns covering different stages of the Pacific submarine war:

• Holding the Line: Australia, 1942
• Against the Sun: Pearl Harbor, 1942
• Turning the Tide: Australia and Pearl Harbor, 1943
• Setting Sun: Pearl Harbor, 1944 and 1945

The included submarine types range from S Class and Narwhal Class boats to the Gato, Balao, and Tench Classes. The game contains 165 full-color cards, 352 full-color counters, a Tactical Display Sheet, Ship Display Sheet, and Player Aid Sheet.