Battle of Guadalcanal

Joni Nuutinen

About this game

Battle of Guadalcanal is a strategy boardgame covering the land and sea battles on and around the island of Guadalcanal in the WW2 Pacific theater. From Joni Nuutinen: by a wargamer for the wargamers since 2011. Last update: July 2026.

You are in command of the first major American amphibious offensive in WWII, aimed at seizing the island of Guadalcanal, on which the Japanese are building an airfield. You must use your naval forces to secure the constant flow of reinforcements and supplies to troops on Guadalcanal while trying to prevent the Japanese from doing the same with their famous Tokyo Express ships transporting infantry towards Guadalcanal.

The movement of naval units is limited by their fuel, so these warships must either be refueled by fuel tankers or reach the harbors, located on the eastern edge of the map, to get refueled and refitted.

NOTICE: Game factors in the initial shock defeat of the US Navy to guide the flow of the game-play more towards how things evolved historically.

Several Japanese leaders, including Naoki Hoshino, Nagano, and Torashiro Kawabe, stated shortly after the second world war that Guadalcanal was the decisive turning point in the conflict. Kawabe: "As for the turning point of the war, when the positive action ceased or even became negative, it was, I feel, at Guadalcanal."


FEATURES:

+ Historical accuracy: Campaign mirrors the historical setup.

+ Thanks to in-built variation and the game's smart AI technology, each game provides a unique war gaming experience.

+ Good AI: Instead of just attacking on direct line towards the target, the AI opponent balances between strategic goals and smaller tasks like encircling nearby units.

+ Settings: Various options are available to alter the look of the gaming experience: Change difficulty level, hexagon size, Animation speed, choose icon set for units (NATO or REAL), cities, and for terrain patterns, decide what is drawn on the map (flags, storms, arrows indicating the past movements) and much more.


"The Battle of Guadalcanal was the most important battle of the Pacific War. It was the first time the Americans had turned the tide of the war against the Japanese, and it showed that the Japanese could be defeated!"
-- Historian Richard B. Frank in book Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle

Ratings and reviews

This is the best of Joni's games I've played so far. A challenging but achievable campaign. The naval element is important. The map is big and the AI quite challenging. A good game.

Joni's strategy games are little gems for those of us with fond memories of Avalon Hill and Tiller games. These are well researched, well-tuned, and very fun to play. I'm hooked.

The game is good but Japanese destroyers is way too strong....Japanese destroyers can still win even surrounded, outnumbered and bombed.....now another problem Japanese destroyers is spawn killing.....the supply is very picky for a place to land too

What’s new

+ Ships attacking broadside (to going direction) get full attack bonus (direction of previous travel is indicated by white arrow marker on the unit). Ground units attacking to going direction get full attack bonus. Any unit having to defense opposite direction of previous travel gets combat penalty (Front/Flank/Rear Combat Factor setting)
+ Naval combat fix