Battle of Luzon

Joni Nuutinen

About this game

Battle of Luzon 1945. From Joni Nuutinen: by a wargamer for the wargamers since 2011. Last update on December 2025.

You are in command of the American forces, tasked with taking back control of strategically and economically important Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, which fell to Japanese forces in the spring of 1942. Unlike the previous U.S. attacks in the Pacific campaign, which only required a handful of smaller units, the invasion of Luzon threw 10 U.S. divisions and a handful of independent regiments plus Philippine guerrilla forces into the largest campaign of the Pacific war.

MacArthur surprised the Japanese defenders, who expected an attack in southern Luzon, by landing American troops in western Luzon (Lingayen Gulf). By landing close to the main roads of the island, MacArthur could immediately start to advance south to seize the key airfields and liberate Manila, the Pearl of the Orient.

Extra: In addition to the main landing, this campaign includes multiple smaller landings by 11th American Airborne Division, which can be turned on or off from the settings. For players who like the old tabletop campaigns, this offers a familiar challenge.

"The entire Philippine Islands are now liberated... The enemy during the operations employed twenty-three divisions, all of which were practically annihilated. Our forces comprised seventeen divisions. This was one of the rare instances when in a long campaign a ground force superior in numbers was entirely destroyed by a numerically inferior opponent."
- General Douglas MacArthur on July 5, 1945


FEATURES:

+ Historical faithfulness: The campaign stays true to the historical backdrop and order of battle.

+ Customization Options: There are numerous settings that allow you to personalize your gaming experience. You can modify the difficulty level, adjust the size of hexagons, control the animation speed, and select your preferred icon sets for units (NATO or REAL) and cities (Round, Shield, Square, or block of houses). Furthermore, you have the flexibility to choose what elements are displayed on the map, and there are many more options available for you to explore and tailor the game to your liking.


"The enemy had made good use of the terrain which, with its sharp ridges and deep ravines, was ideally adapted for defense. He had dug innumerable caves, had provided defense positions on the reverse slopes of the ridges and had established excellent observation stations that permitted him to use his artillery to best advantage. Repeated personal observation convinced me that the advance along the Villa Verde Trail would prove to be costly and slow."
- General Krueger

Ratings and reviews

it is too hard for the Americans to win as some units are very weak and the Japanese can wipe them out too easily. plus U.S. airpower is too limited by range. Not at all historical as by the time I got to Manila my army was bled dry and the Japanese easily held out in every game I played.

the game is good overall....but the map for every cities is give much hassle...cities/provinces that has a river...i dont know know about Luzon Philippines maps but some of cities/provinces causes a chain reaction..how? well Hospital wont operate if the city/province is not 100% in control right?...some of this cities/provinces overlaps the river so you'll go to another city/province to liberate that one hex... which result to chain offensive....hope this is not wrong map setup

Brilliant

What’s new

+ Setting: Turn Initial Bombardment ON/OFF
+ Setting: ON/OFF switch for Cliffs (default OFF)
+ Setting: HPs INCREASE unit-icon size or HP loss DECREASES unit-icon size
+ Setting: MPs INCREASE unit-icon size or Negative MPs SHRINK unit-icon size
+ General can take a flight from airport to another nearby airport, MP cost 1-5 favoring lower costs