Battle for Iwo Jima

Battle for Iwo Jima, by Yobo Wargames, is an interesting beast. At first it seems simple; the mechanics are minimalist; just push units forward in the appropriate phase, and literally attack every time a unit is adjacent to an enemy. However... The game features 3 divisions of US Marines, the 5th, the 4th and the 3rd. Each is different in quality, represented by strength points ranging from 10 at the highest, to 1, which is nearly dead. Units have 1-4 "steps" that represent sequential losses; each step loss drops the unit strength significantly. They also have fatigue, which is gained through losses, movement, fighting in day and at night... Pretty much anything can cause fatigue. Fatigue degrades combat performance significantly regardless of unit strength. Fatigue can be regained by resting away from enemy fire, losses by allocating replacement steps. Unit types are infantry, which do the fighting; armor, which supports infantry from one hex back and adds combat strength, and a divisional HQ, the location of which determines which units are in command. If you are not in command, you can move, but you can't fight or recover fatigue or steps. So positioning your HQ is important. The Japanese artillery and the ability to attack at night. They also have 3 levels of fortification, with which they built lines of defense. The game is about taking the various victory locations on or before the date on which they were taken in real life. This is hard, because of a simple fact. Remember I said that you, the Marines, attack adjacent enemies? Well, the Japanese can also attack *two* hexes out, while your troops move. Which means they have an automatic advantage in that they can attack you about 2x times, or more, than you can attack them. Remember I said that the game is about beating real world performance? It's also about limiting casualties. And that completes the complexity, because between casualties, fatigue, unit positioning, terrain, command and control (simple though it is) and all the other elements, the game becomes one of tempo. That means that you'll move and fight differently depending on whether you're trying to rush an airfield without worrying about casualties to make the time limit, or trying to crack a line of fortifications, which can require rotating fatigued units in and out of combat each turn. This makes the game difficult, brutal and thought-provoking. It's amazing to me that with such a minimalist approach, Yobo has produced a game that is complex and keeps you on the edge of your seat. It plays relatively quickly, and the mechanics are simple, but the innards of the game are complex and unforgiving. I definitely recommend this.

yes, but: 1. It goes so extremely slow, mainly i think due to unnecessary graphic duration. The very worst is the flare shooting into the air at each nite attack. It goes dramaticly on & on, but, you know, after the very 1st time, ok, we get it. Actually same re artillery & j attacks, and movement in general - i think the units could move a lot faster if the sound&graphics were abbreviated. 2. I play over&over & lose EVERY time. OK i learned, but this last time was especially bad: Day 13 end turn, i've achieved green on 3 of the so-far 4 objectives, red on the 4th :(, several days remain to get to the next 1, only 235/320 j points, truly it feels the opposition is COLLAPSING, i am racing to the final objectives with plenty of time left, seems i've finally got this fig'd out, and suddenly "japanese decisive victory". WHY?

This one turned out to be quite a disappointment for me. I've been a multi-year long fan of the "Map and Counter" games by GMT and other similar game makers, so I was attracted to this title after it popped up in my recommendations. I got thru game one ok (which was declared a loss for me in about turn 6 or so). The following times I tried to play, the game froze (always during US Marine movement phase) during turn 1, 2 or 3 and I was always forced to restart and the game would never progress further without freezing/locking up. I tried 8 times after my initial first game and that was enough. Following the mass of bugs with my PS4 version of Cyberpunk 2077, I am very tired of this new game company management style of believing its ok to release games that are practically unplayable before they've been duly tested and the bugs fixed. No thanks, Yobowargames!

38 hours playing to lose after 7 days max every single game. ♥♥♥ artillery hits and always causes casualties, they can fire 2 hexes always causing casualties, they can ambush and always hit, they banzai and always hit, the Americans have support which does nothing, they cannot hit anything, they cannot assault. Pointless game made to look pretty and that is it.

I love this game, be warned that this is ENTIRELY focused on the Battle of Iwo Jima based on original maps. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SagHbN7YUds

This could be a fun little gem but alas... It plays a bit slow because of some unnecessary graphic effects. Assigning support to units in the beginning of the turn is a good mechanic but where actually is the support? There is no naval artillery or air support to call. The unit which is assigned support for the turn still takes horrific losses and fails to reduce a one-step Japanese infantry even with an armor modifier. Still, I could live with that but there's a much bigger problem with the game: Impossible to win. Don't get me wrong. I love a good challenge in wargames but in this game, decisive defeat just comes out of nowhere... For no apperant reason! Airfield 1 and Suribachi is captured on time, there's 4 more days for the next objective's deadline, casualties are moderate and Japanese points are below 320. And suddenly Nimitz decides to evacuate the island due to heavy losses. Why? Played 6 sessions. 3 of them ended just like that. I checked the manual inside and out but there is just no logical explanation. It almost seems like the game is not quite compete in its current state. Which is a shame because this is a goodlooking wargame. I so loved the gameplay mechanics (apart from the support mechanic which I believe isn't working as intended). It's simple. You read the manual which sums everything up in a few pages, get the basics and jump right in. It could be perfect for beginner wargamers and quite a fun experience for seasoned players. But not in its current state.

The game tends to crash on the movement phase sometimes after only moving 1 unit. Otherwise the game is fun and has potential.

A fun inde game but I think the price is too high. the price should be closer to $5 not $12

This is simply a game to occupy your time .It's a hex movement based game but it's not historically correct! Nor does it incorporate all assets available to the Marines, It does depict the determination of the Japanese Commanding General to inflict heavy casualties on the Marines. I've played it for 20 plus hours and have been ahead of the actual, documented objective schedule , order of battle, and timetable by as much as two days AND HELD THE OPPOSING FORCE BELOW 320 POINTS and THE GAME WILL GIVE THE VICTORY TO THE JAPANESE BY VIRTUE OF " YOU BEING BOGGED DOWN". THIS BATTLE LASTED A MONTH- COST THE MARINES 28,000 CASUALTIES AND BOTH COMMANDING GENERAL DIED ON IWO. Also id does not include the use of Marine Aircraft from the carries, Marine support units ,BAR's, 37mm anti tank, motar or demolition assets or flame throwers. you'll only have tank HE and M1 Grands. It's a time killing game but not historically accurate

Fun game that really show how tough Iwo was for the Marines.