The Damned Die Hard - The Phillipines '41
Second Game in the “Europa” Pacific Series : The campaign
Shrink-wrapped new copy
The Damned Die Hard, the second game in The Glory Series, is a detailed, operational-level game depicting the conflict between Japanese and Allied forces in and around the Philippine Islands from December 1941 to May 1942.
The game is designed for two players (but can easily accommodate additional players - a side might have separate air, naval, and ground commanders and/or multiple ground commanders, for example). The Allied player controls the US Army Forces Far East command and the US Asiatic Fleet. The Japanese player controls the IJA's 14th and 16th Armies and the IJN's 3rd Fleet. The Allied player must disrupt the Japanese advance, inflicting unacceptable losses on his opponent and denying him use of the Philippine ports and airbases for as long as possible. The Japanese player must quickly overrun the Philippines, allowing his forces to be redeployed for the campaigns to come in the Netherlands East Indies and The Solomons/New Guinea. Both players maneuver their ground, air, and naval forces and conduct combat in an attempt to achieve these goals.
There are five scenarios in the game. These are:
- Luzon is an introductory scenario designed to familiarize players with the core ground and air rules. No naval units or naval rules are used and the scenario is only 4 turns long. Play begins with the main Japanese invasion force already ashore on Luzon Island.
- Invasion of the Philippines recreates the historical campaign for the Philippines.
- The Philippines Reinforced explores how a somewhat reinforced Philippines garrison - based on accelerating scheduled US arms deliveries by about 1-2 months - would stand up to the Japanese assault.
- The Philippines Fully Prepared posits acceleration of scheduled US arms deliveries by about 6 months, allowing for a nearly full-strength Philippine Commonwealth army to meet the Japanese attack.
Bataan models the campaign for the Bataan peninsula and Corregidor Island using a special map at a scale of 1.6 miles to the hex and with play focused at the battalion rather than regimental level.
Game Components:
- One rule booklet
- Two orders of battle booklets - the Japanese Order of Battle and the Allied Order of Battle.
- Nine The Glory Series mapsheets (G7:NE, G7:NW, G7:SE, G7:SW, G8:NE, G8:NW, G8:SE, G8:SW, and G9).
- Three counter sheets (G-9, G-10, and Europa universal marker sheet).
- A set of ten charts for the play of the game
- two dice