Turning the Tide of World War Two– in Thirty Minutes (Battle of Midway game review)

Battle of Midway: The Board Game by Cobi/Bored Games

(Created by Sebastion Srebro and Przemyslaw Kot-Rembowski)

A game review

by Howard Shirley

Dakka Dakka Dakka! Li’l Godzilla takes on the Japanese at Midway!
 (Boy, that would have been a different battle!)

I recently came across this little gem in my friendly local toys and games store (Phillip’s Toy Mart of Nashville). Priced at $16 (give or take a buck), Battle of Midway: The Board Game fell into my “What The Heck, I’ll Buy It” category of game pricing. Opening it at home I found a tight little light “air war” game with some clever tactical elements and interesting strategic choices. No, it’s not a simulation of the battle, or anything close, but it’s got a “feel” that fits the subject, and some clever nods to history in the mix. On the downside, the components are a little fiddly, and the rules— translated from Polish to English— are unclear in places. Despite that, I really liked the game, and though it was on the “family games” shelf of my store, it’s got challenges adult gamers will appreciate, and the value is hard to beat. The box suggests it’s for ages 8 and up, but I would suggest 10 or older with adult guidance to resolve the translation and clarity issues (my feeling is that younger players would become easily frustrated with the level of detail in the game).

And now for the heavy details:

One board game, hold the olives.

A game with all the toppings!

Box: An unusual square design in a sturdy, self-lidded box (similar to a take out pizza box), which I’ve never seen for a game before— not that it really matters to the game itself. Nice cover art featuring a WW2 US Navy Grumman F4f Wildcat fighter being pursued by a Japanese “Zero”, with a Japanese aircraft carrier in the lower background and other planes dogfighting in the distance. Lots of action here which any boy or man (or military-minded girl) will love! The back/bottom of the box features a “photo” of the game itself (though I suspect it’s CGI or heavily Photoshopped, as the actual components vary slightly). The box side calls this a “Cobi Block Game”— Cobi being best known for snap-together building block kits similar to (and compatible with) a well-known Danish building block company.

Components

What’s in the box.

Stuff de-bagged. Cool little planes…

Everything, plus Li’l Godzilla (not included).

Board: The battle consists of 7 large tiles and 2 smaller tiles (the latter used as temporary board expansions during play). The tiles are divided into small hexagon spaces, and fit along side each other like puzzle pieces to make the full playing area. 

Two tiles depict either a US Aircraft Carrier (possibly the Enterprise, which survived the battle), and a Japanese Carrier (possibly the Akagi, which did not). A central tile provides an excellent “Flyer’s” eye view of Midway Island (with runways, etc..) Some other pieces have clouds, which have no bearing in play. 

The tiles are two-sided for use in the optional “Domination Mode” (which has no carriers). Unfortunately the map spaces are tight for included planes, and these risk being knocked askew in play (more on this later).

Cards: Good quality, with great “action” paintings representing the effects of the card. Again, your action wargame fan will love these. The card icons are easy to see, but not intuitive as to what they mean (fortunately, there is a chart in the rules with explanations). Two decks of “Firing” cards have numbers ranging 1 to 7, used to resolve combat (highest number drawn wins the combat). Each side also has a scoring card used in the “Domination Mode,” and a two-sided Fighter Range card that shows the hexagonal attack areas of the planes, one side for the US, one side for the Japanese (the Japanese craft are more deadly). 

Drawbacks: The cards have sharp, square corners and a lighter weight, making them hard to shuffle, as the stiffness is limited. I have concerns about accidentally bending the cards in play. The sharp corners also risk rapidly becoming damaged over time. I think the cards are bigger than they need to be. The slick surface is nice, but can show fingerprints. Shuffling should be done with care to avoid damage. The scoring cards have a minor visual design error, with a curving “path” line that goes against the order of the numbered spaces, but this doesn’t affect play.

Tokens: The game has multiple tokens—Activation Markers, Command Points, Maneuvering Markers, Scoring Markers. These are colorful and thematic, easy to see and distinguish, with a usable size. No real cons at all.

Game pieces: The primary pieces are simple plastic models of a generic WW2 monoplane fighter/dive bomber, which corresponds to no actual plane. (Closest is probably the Grumman F4f Wildcat, but the rounded wing tips are incorrect for that plane.)

The planes come in four colors and three parts:

US planes (maybe? The game never states which is which): 4 Dark blue (reminiscent of US Navy early and mid-war fighter colors), 2 Bright blue  (meant to be bombers or “Aces,” depending on game “mode”). Each color has separate matching color cowls (though you could mix it up).

Japanese planes (maybe?): 4 Light Grey (reminiscent of some early Zero fighters), 2 Dark Green. The separate cowls are all black. 

The three-bladed Propellers (12) are all black for all planes. They snap in place, but do not spin.

Also included are 12 clear hexagonal bases with 6 tall posts and 6 short posts.

These are the apparent “block” part of the “Block Game” label on the cover. There are no assembly instructions, though it’s rather obvious for the cowls, props, and plane bodies. I assumed that the different length post were meant to allow for a high plane and a low plane to be placed adjacent and not interfere with each other (more on that later). So I based these as two Fighters high, two Fighters low, one Bomber high, one Bomber low for each side. It’s also not clear how the tops of the posts fit into the plane fuselage. As it turns out, they do not fit the circular central area on the underside of the plane model, but instead in either of the rectangular open areas located forward and backward of this central hole. Again, I assumed this was to allow variation of the plane’s “footprint” so that planes could be placed close together on the board (this has mixed results). Otherwise the snap-together “block” aspect isn’t all that significant to the game, as the planes are really just pawns, with only their orientation affecting play.

Decals: 1 sheet of decals featuring Japanese Red Sun and US Star emblems, as well as numbers. These have absolutely no bearing on play, so use as you like. (There is no explanation of where they might be placed. Consult some photos of WW2 aircraft, or place as pleases you; no comparative pictures are provided.)

And that’s it. There are no dice— all random elements in the game are card-based, or determined by bidding “Command Points.”

L’il Godzilla gives up on reading the rules. But then, he can’t read anyway.

Rules: The rule book is colorful with lots of illustrations and examples of play. Don’t be alarmed when you open it and the starting pages turn out to be entirely in Polish. English rules immediately follow these, then German, then Czech. (No other languages are provided for.)

The translation to English is generally fine— the grammar is solid, if a bit stilted (the text has lots of prepositional phrases and passive voice). However, the word usage is odd or incorrect in some places. For example “consider” and “consideration” are used where “repeat” or “perform” or “carry out” or simply ”do” or “done” would be more common and more clear. A better editor of English (as a native speaker from the UK or the US) should be on Bored Games’ list of must-haves for future games and editions. 

Translation foibles aside, I found the rules incomplete. That may have been a product of translation, or it may have been a problem of the original Polish text— I have no way of knowing. But the order in which the players act is unclear, and can have radical effects on strategy and tactics (more on this later).

Li’l ‘Zilla (as the Japanese) sends a Wildcat down in flames! Hey, that’s not supposed to be literal, LZ!

The game may be played in two “modes”— the Aircraft Carrier Hunt and Domination Mode. The Hunt is obvious— you seek to move one of your bombers onto any space of the enemy aircraft carrier, thereby “bombing” it and winning the battle. (The bombing itself is automatic.) Lose both your bombers before this happens and you lose the fight.

Domination Mode sets aside the carriers and the bombers. Instead, each player fields four standard Fighters and two “Aces” who have an advantage in maneuver and combat. In this mode, points are awarded at the end of each round— A round is when all planes of both players have completed their possible actions. The game includes two score cards and Score markers to track the points earned in Domination Mode (these are not used for the Carrier Hunt). Points are awarded according to the type of plane downed, and for having the most planes over Midway Island when a round ends. Fighters, when destroyed, are reintroduced as “reinforcements” at the start of every round after the first— however, Aces are never replaced; once gone, they’re gone. Play continues until a certain number of Victory Points have been won; the target amount is chosen by the players at the start of the game. (9, 12, or 15 Victory points are suggested, depending on how long you want to play.) The advantage of an Ace occurs with the Combat action— they may select three maneuvers and choose the two they wish to carry out, and add 1 point to their highest Firing card. Otherwise they move the same as Fighters (more on this later).

Regardless of mode, play is largely the same.

The game is divided into rounds. Within a round, players act by Initiative, which is determined through a bid process. The players secretly select from 0-3 “Command Point” tokens and reveal the amount simultaneously. Whoever bids the highest total wins the Initiative Card for the start of the round, and acts first. (Ties go to the Americans— although not stated, one could read this as reflecting the historical reality of the US having cracked some of the secret Japanese radio codes prior to the battle.)

Each plane begins a round with an Activation Marker placed near it. According to Initiative order, the players then remove Activation Markers from planes and perform either a Flight action (moving a plan without attacking) or a Combat action (targeting and shooting a specific enemy plane, with curtailed movement in the process). Planes which are selected as targets are assumed to have been “activated” as a result, losing their Activation Marker. This means the targeted player can’t move that craft later after the combat sequence is done, and thus loses the Flight or Combat option for that plane on his turn. Otherwise, all planes must be activated, and thus all planes will move, one way or another.

Specific errors/confusion:

What isn’t clear is whether the Initiative system is built around each player activating one plane, then the other player activating a plane, going back and forth, or if all planes of a player are activated on his turn, passing the Initiative card when he’s done. I suspect it’s the former— “I activate a plane, you activate a plane”— and not “I activate all my planes and then you activate all your planes.” Some of the language in the rules suggests otherwise, but these read like a possible translation error.

What makes this important is the Combat option. If a player activates a plane to engage in combat, he removes an enemy plane’s Activation Marker. A player could interrupt the plans of the opponent by selecting a plane the opponent has not yet moved, thus denying that plane’s action for the round— and that includes further combat. This is a nice tactical choice with many implications, but these differ by however the Initiative order is intended. If it’s “my plane, your plane” the enemy gains a potential opportunity to directly respond with a different plane, but must also consider any subsequent response back. If it’s “all my planes, then any planes you have left” the Initiative winner could theoretically prevent the second player from being able to take any activations of his own choice at all! That’s a big difference, and requires different strategies.

NOTE: A discussion on boardgamegeek.com suggests that the proper order of action is as follows: If a player chooses the Flight action, he passes the Initiative Card to his opponent when done with his move, if the opponent has unactivated planes remaining (if not, the moving player retains the card and may activate another plane). If a player chooses the Combat option, he retains the Initiative Card once Combat ends, if he has unactivated planes, and the round continues. If he does not have unactivated planes, and his opponent does, he passes the Initiative Card. If there are no unactivated planes in either force, the Initiative Card is not passed. Possession of the card determines who gets first shot at buying Order Cards at the end of the round. This interpretation is not an official statement by the publisher, but a close reading suggests it is correct.

More Rule details:

Flight Action: This option may be taken when a plane is Activated. It allows the Fighter to make “3 or 4” maneuvers— always one hex each, and possibly also a one-hex-side direction change after the movement (you cannot turn before movement, a nod to realistic plane momentum). A “Bomber”— one of two “special” planes for each side in the Aircraft Carrier Hunt— can only move “2 or 3” hexes. No combat occurs after this move.

Again, the rules here are unclear, if discernible— the text says “3 or 4” and “2 or 3” without explaining what triggers the “or” to the higher movement number. What I’ve concluded is that the text actually means that a Fighter must make a minimum of 3 maneuvers, or may make a maximum of 4, while a Bomber must make a minimum of 2, or a maximum of 3 maneuvers. This allows for a level of momentum in the game, and does reflect fighter craft of the era being faster and more maneuverable than bombers.

Once these maneuvers are complete, the plane’s activation ends (though it may still be targeted by the opponent for Combat, even if it has already been activated).

It is possible to move a plane off the map, in which case one of the two smaller hex tiles are added to the side of the board to cover the area where the moving plane has crossed into. If both small tiles are already in use, the plane which leaves the map is lost and removed from play.

Combat Action: This is the other option an activated plane may take. In this case, the player selects an enemy aircraft as his target, provided it is within 5 hexes of the activated plane. That target may have already activated, but if not, its Activation Marker is also removed (meaning it will not be able to otherwise activate later in the round). Combat consists of each player secretly choosing two Maneuver Tokens for their respective planes, depicting either a straight move, a move with a right turn, or a move with a left turn. Any combination may be selected, and there are two of each available per player. The attacker then chooses who will play their tokens first. Both maneuvers must be carried out with the plane. (Order of Maneuver Token selection is important, as a turn followed by a straight will produce a different position from a straight followed by a turn.) 

After both players have moved the craft involved in the combat, the defender may choose to play an Order Card to alter the current combat situation, then the attacker may choose to play one in response. This continues until one player opts not to play an Order Card or runs out of cards to play. Order Cards which produce new movement effects are carried out, and then shooting begins, based on where the targets are in each other’s firing arcs. Fighters may shoot only to the front (US), or in a larger forward arc (Japanese). Bombers are weaker, but also have rear-facing turret guns, and so have a larger potential destructive arc. All planes also have a defensive arc, which can prevent a plane’s own destruction, but cannot destroy its opponent. 

Shooting consists of drawing Firing Cards from each player’s deck. The angle of attack arc determines how many cards are drawn. The highest card value wins, and the loser is shot down (unless it was only in the other plane’s defense arc, in which case neither plane is lost). Note that this combat system means the initial attacker may well be shot down instead of its target!

Special Order Cards: Each force has two Special Order cards, used in Combat, each card representing the capabilities of the forces’ respective pilots. Once used, these cards cannot be used again in the same game. 

For the US, the Special Order is the “Thach Weave”— named after then Lieutenant Commander John S. Thach, who developed the maneuver— a two-plane criss-crossing flight pattern which allowed for more effective coordination of wingmen in a dogfight. Introduced at Midway, the Japanese did not know of this tactic, and it caught many a Japanese pilot in the crosshairs of an unexpected foe. (The game does not actually mention this history, but the “Thach Weave” term is used.)

When played, this card allows an inactive US plane not engaged in the combat to act as a wingman (without maneuvering), also drawing Firing cards against the activated Japanese plane in the combat. (The Japanese plane must be in the “wingman’s” range and firing arc.) The Japanese plane may add Firing cards according the US wingman’s location in the Japanese Firing arc to try to block this attack, but the US wingman can not be destroyed by this defense, and does not give up its Activation Marker— as a result, this wingman may well effectively attack twice in the same round! Though not entirely clear, it appears an already activated US Fighter may still engage in Firing when this card is played. (That’s a powerful advantage which the Japanese commander had better watch out for.)

The Japanese, on the other hand, had more experienced pilots at the time of the battle, and thus their Special Order ability is to gain an additional Firing Card in Combat (and thus greater odds of winning an individual fight). 

(As a historical side note, the Battle of Midway took a heavy toll on Japan’s veteran pilot ranks, from which they did not recover. This corps of trained pilots continued to diminish over the rest of the war. By the end, the situation was completely reversed— the Americans had all the veteran aces, the Japanese had none left but poorly trained recruits. As for Lt. Commander Thach, he first applied his technique at Midway with great success. Eventually he rose to the rank of Admiral, and his “Thach Weave” is standard training for fighter pilots today. I was thrilled to find these crucial historical developments represented in the game. The game designers, Sebastion Srebro and Przemyslaw Kot-Rembowski, did their research!)

Order Cards: These are a deck of random abilities which the players can choose to “purchase” during the game and hold to use in a later Combat round. To purchase these cards, a player must reserve 1, 2, or all of his Command Points tokens from the bid for Initiative. At the end of the round, the players may take turns purchasing from four face-up Order Cards at the side of the board. (Cards are immediately replenished when purchased, so there are always four to choose from.) There is no limit to the number of Order cards a player may purchase or use, aside from at any given round never having more than 3 Command Points to spend during the purchase phase (and possibly less or none at all).

The Order Cards can boost Firing card draws, prevent the loss of a plane, or undo, switch, or add Maneuvers and so forth. The cards affect Combat only; they do not affect planes during a Flight action. 

Pros and Cons

Pros: Excellent component art. Snap-together planes are fun, if not strictly necessary— kids and adults may also enjoy customizing the planes with the decals. Clever tactical and strategic considerations. Plays very quickly, while allowing for a variety of replays.

Cons: Unclear Rules. Minor translation errors. In need of another editing pass for the English rules, and to clarify game processes.

Points of Confusion:

• Correct order of Activation— 1 plane each, swapping back and forth, or all planes at once per side? (I assume the former, but see the BoardGameGeek discussion.)
• In Domination Mode, players have 6 planes each, but only 5 starting locations per side. What is done with the extra plane? (I assume it’s just placed adjacent to the Reinforcement Zone to be entered on the second round, but the text does not say.)
• Some Order cards’ functions are unclear— Loop and Sixth Sense are poorly worded in the English rules. Apparently Loop just returns a plane to its previous position before the Maneuver tokens were played (so it essentially hasn’t moved). Sixth Sense allows the plane to return to its previous position and redo its Maneuvers with different plots (for example, in Combat a Zero moved one straight and one straight with left turn. However, this has wound up with the intended target out range. The player plays Sixth Sense, and returns the Zero to its start, and plays two straight with right turns instead, lining up on his target.) A careful reading can glean these meanings, but the wording in the text is awkward.

The Biggest Con: The Board and the Planes

The board is simply too small. I know that Ikea is all the rage in the EU, and tiny apartments and tiny tables are a thing, but this is too much. There’s no need to cram things into such a tight space. Even more egregious are the sizes of the hexagon spaces. Since the plane’s bases are the same size as the spaces, the planes can become tightly packed on the board, making it hard to physically move a plane without jostling other planes out of position— especially as the planes are larger than the hexes! This is made even more of a problem as the direction a plane physically faces affects its movement and combat— it’s simply too likely that a plane may be accidentally shifted in its hex, or even knocked over, taking other planes with it— an instant catastrophe. The board needs to be increased in overall size, and the hexes as well, to allow for easier manipulation and movement of the planes. As it is, younger (and even older) players may have some trouble moving planes about. If you have unsteady hands or tend to broad movements, this game may be too fiddly for you.

The hexes are also smaller than the Maneuver Tokens used in combat, so that the tokens overlap the edges of the hexes, which can temporarily interfere with the plane bases. Players don’t have to place the tokens on the map, but just use them as a reference, so the effect isn’t that bad, but can still add to the tight clutter if you prefer to place the path out.

A Little History on the Side, Please!

The history in the game is mild, as one would expect, especially as it focuses solely on the air combat. There are nods to historical situations in the game’s structure— the US intelligence advantage, the Thach Weave and the general superiority of Japan’s veteran fighter corps. But the text of the game doesn’t actually explain these tidbits; a summary history of the battle itself would be a nice inclusion. But that’s a nitpick, and the game doesn’t have to have the history explanation to be enjoyable.

Conclusion:

Once you adjust for the lack of clarity in the rules, Battle of Midway: The Board Game is a solid little game. Fairly easy to pick up, with some subtle strategies not evident at first. Incorporating all the elements— Order cards, Special Order cards— is a must, as they bring twists which can flip the tactical situation of combat completely.

Li’l ‘Zilla says: 3 out of 4 Atomic Breath Blasts.

“Let Li’l ‘Zilla show you how it’s done, homeboy!”

Li’l ‘Zilla’s Solo Play: The rules do not provide a solo play option, but it’s very doable with the addition of a d4 and a d6. Here’s how L’il ‘Zilla does his thing:

-  Player makes Initiative bid without knowing the Invisible Opponent’s (IO) bid.

• Roll a d4 for the Invisible Opponent’s initiative bid. Treat 4 as 0– he makes no bid.
• Number the IO planes from 1-6. Roll to determine which plane is activated. Re-roll if a plane has already been activated for this turn.
• IO Flight Actions always happen if no enemy is in Combat range, or if the activated plane is a Bomber (IO Bombers avoid combat). Fighters will move towards the closest enemy plane (roll a die if equally distant). IO Bombers will advance towards the enemy carrier, unless in combat range of an enemy fighter, in which case they will fly directly away from the enemy fighter. (They ignore enemy bombers).
• Flight Actions for the IO are always maximized in distance (4 for Fighters, 3 for Bombers). IO Fighters will always turn to face the closest possible enemy plane (or randomly among equally close planes) on their first and last flight move. IO Bombers will always turn to face the enemy carrier.
• IO Combat actions must be made against the closest enemy plane in combat range, if possible. If two or more planes fit this situation, prefer a Bomber/Ace or roll a die, assigning values to each possible target. What you roll is who the IO shoots.
• When Combat is ordered, the player chooses his maneuvers. Then set the IO’s maneuver tokens in a row counting from 1-6, left to right. Roll a d6 to determine the first and second maneuvers (for the second maneuver, re-roll if a token has already been selected.) Yes, this can be wonky, but fun. Li’l ‘Zilla likes to be unpredictable!
• In Combat, choose the best option for playing the IO’s Order/Special Order cards (if any). If the Order card would redo maneuvers or add one, select the tokens randomly as above. If uncertain about which card to play, or if to play one at all, roll a die as necessary.
• In the Order purchase phase, the IO must purchase the highest card value available according to the Command tokens he has retained. If a tie, roll randomly among the exposed cards (a d4 will do nicely). As long as the IO has Command tokens available, he must buy cards, if possible.