Hi All,

The last Panzer Campaigns game (Moscow ’42) in the series was released back in 2012. We’re planning to soon end the hiatus…

Wargame Design Studio has been expanding its capabilities over the last 18 months. We now have several development teams focused on both upgrading existing John Tiller releases as well as creating completely new titles.

Most of our work over the last 18 months has been the upgrading of both the Panzer Campaigns and Civil War Battles series but we have not neglected new titles.

We’re pleased to pre-announce the next entry in the Panzer Campaigns series (or is that Pacific Campaigns?!!); Japan ’45.

Japan ’45 covers Operation Olympic, part of the proposed Operation Downfall – the Invasion of Japan. Though cancelled after the Japanese surrender in September 1945, Olympic was fully planned and many of the forces preparing for the operation due to commence in less than two months’ time. The southern Japanese island of Kyushu was the primary target, to provide airbases for Allied air power to help subdue the rest of Japan.

Japan ’45 includes the whole of Kyushu island and environs and models the amphibious landings and subsequent push to clear enough territory to allow the air infrastructure to be built. The included 40+ scenarios ranging from small 6 turn scenarios up to large 195 turn campaigns.

All the games scenarios have been built off the actual Allied plans and Japanese dispositions and contingencies on Kyushu.

Japan ’45 is hoped to be the first of two games covering Operation Downfall with Japan ’46 covering Operation Coronet to be released some time in the future. Operation Coronet was the planned invasion of Japan’s main island, Honshu – slated for the Tokyo/Yokohama area in the first half of 1946. Where Operation Olympic used forces already in the Pacific, it was expected Coronet would include forces transferred from the European theatre and a larger contribution from other Allied nations.

We’re excited to be releasing this new title in the next month or two and want to thank Glenn Saunders for starting the project back in ~2010 and more importantly Bill Peters of Napoleonic’s fame for picking up the project, expanding it and completing it in record time.

Here are a few teaser shots with more to come when the title is released (all can be clicked for full size);

Jump map showing the entire Kyushu map. The map is just under 88,000 hexes in size.

Example units for both Japanese forces and American Marines. US Army and the British Navy are also present.

The landing beaches west of Kagoshima, one of three invasion locations.

We hope to have more on this title soon…

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