In June 1944, American Marines and soldiers stormed ashore on Saipan, a large island in the Central Pacific whose possession would put Allied heavy bombers in range of Japanese cities. Three weeks of savage fighting would finally see the island secured, as places like Death Valley, Hell’s Pocket and Purple Heart Ridge entered the U.S. Marine Corps’ lexicon. The campaign saw the largest tank battle of the Pacific war, and also its largest banzai charge as almost the entire Japanese garrison (and much of the island’s Japanese civilian population) chose death over surrender.
Panzer Grenadier: Saipan 1944 is a complete boxed game in the Panzer Grenadier series based on these fearsome battles. Designer Jay Townsend has provided 40 scenarios. There are four new mapboards by artist Guy Riessen showing the jungles, hills, beaches and cane fields of Saipan. And 495 playing pieces: 330 superb die-cut counter combat units and 165 die-cut markers.
The U.S. Marines have awesome firepower – every third man wields an automatic rifle – and bring tanks, flamethrowers and heavy artillery to the battlefield. The U.S. Army is present, along with the Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Navy’s elite Special Naval Landing Forces.
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