Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
In June 1942, forces of the Japanese Northern Army occupied Attu Island as part of its Midway campaign. Attu, at the far western end of the Aleutian Archipelago, was American soil.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Grid Movement
Move pieces between adjacent spaces on a regular grid.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Hexagon Grid
Use a hexagonal map where each space connects evenly in six directions.
Simulation
Model a real or imagined system through detailed cause-and-effect rules.
Read the full game description
In June 1942, forces of the Japanese Northern Army occupied Attu Island as part of its Midway campaign. Attu, at the far western end of the Aleutian Archipelago, was American soil. In May 1943, American forces landed on Attu to liberate it. They were unprepared for the tenacity of the Japanese defenders and the brutality of the environmental conditions. What was expected to be a week-long clean-up exercise became a month-long, nose-to-nose meat-grinder whose casualty levels would not be exceeded until Iwo Jima. "War in the Wind: The Battle of Attu Island, 1943" is a low-to-moderate complexity wargame (roughly eight pages of rules) depicting the brutal combat and conditions on Attu. The design focuses on the challenges faced by the American forces in the form of extremely variable weather conditions and logistical hurdles posed by nearly insurmountable terrain. The Japanese must use these conditions to their advantage in order to survive the overwhelming American numbers. In addition to the campaign game covering the entire battle, War in the Wind also includes three smaller scenarios focusing on separate phases of the battle. Game Scale: Turn: 1 day Hex: 400 yards / 366 meters Units: Platoon to Company Game Inventory: One 22 x 34" full-color mapsheet Two dual-side printed countersheets (324 9/16" counters - includes 42 blanks) One 20-page War in the Wind rules booklet Two dual-side printed Player Aid cards Three 10-sided dice Complexity: Medium Solitaire Suitability: High Players: 1 or more Playing Time: 1-10 Hours