Tora Tora Tora! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setting Up the Game
  • Cards
  • Markers
  • Japanese Units
  • American Units
  • British Units
  • Dutch Unit
  • Australian Unit
• Winning the Game
• Core Concepts
  • The Board
  • Controlling Areas
  • Victory Points
  • Supply
  • Playing Cards
  • Yamamoto
• Gameplay
  • Sequence of Play
  • Initiative Phase
  • Card Draw Phase
  • Reinforcements Phase
  • Movement Phase
  • Movement Costs
  • Movement Limitations
  • Japanese Surprise Attack
  • Control of Empty Areas
  • Battle Phase
    • Allocating RPs in a Battle
    • Effect of Allocating RPs
• Optional Rule - No Cards

Components

17 Army and 25 Fleet wooden Units in five colors:

• 8 Japanese Fleets
• 6 Japanese Armies
• 12 American Fleets
• 6 American Armies
• 4 British Fleets
• 4 British Armies
• 1 Dutch Fleet
• 1 Australian Army

Other components:

• 14 Island & Mainland control markers
• 7 Port Area control markers
• 15 Sea Area control markers
• 39 cards
• 2 Reserves cards
• 8 RP markers (2x 1-2, 3-4, 6-8, 10-12)
• 1 Yamamoto marker
• 8 Out of Supply markers
• 1 Extra VP marker
• 6 dice (3 red, 3 blue)
• 3 wooden Resource markers in three colors
• 1 game board, 2 player aids and this rulebook

Note: Allied Units are represented by four colors: green for Americans, brown for British, yellow for Australians and orange for Dutch. Japanese Units are red.

Setting Up the Game

Cards

1. Japanese player: Shuffles the Japanese Early War deck (red cards) and draws 3 cards.
2. Allied player: Shuffles the Allied Early War deck (blue cards) and draws 2 cards, keeping one and either discarding the other, or placing it on top of the Allied Early War deck.
3. Place the red Reserves card in front of the Japanese player and the blue Reserves card in front of the Allied player.

Markers

4. Place an Island & Mainland Control marker Allied side up on the Round & Reinforcements Track on the '1' space. It serves as the Round marker.
5. Place an Island & Mainland Control marker Japanese-side up on the Resource & Victory Points Track on the '0' space. It serves as the Victory Points marker.
6. Place the red Resource marker on the Resource & Victory Points Track on the '20' space. Place the green Resource marker on the '0' space and the brown Resource marker on the '4' space.

Japanese Units

7. Yokosuka: 1 Fleet
8. Kure: 1 Fleet
9. Truk: 2 Fleets, 1 Army
10. Formosa: 2 Fleets, 2 Armies
11. Indochina: 2 Armies
12. East China Sea: 1 Army (note: this Army cannot be moved in the first Movement Phase)

American Units

13. Hawaii: 2 Fleets, 1 Army
14. Manila: 1 Army (note: place an Out of Supply marker underneath it)
15. Reserves card: 1 Fleet, 1 Army

British Units

16. Singapore: 1 Fleet, 1 Army
17. Burma: 1 Army

Dutch Unit

18. Batavia: 1 Fleet

Australian Unit

19. Townsville: 1 Army

Place the remaining Fleets and Armies beside the board.

Winning the Game

There are two types of victory conditions:

Immediate:

• Allied victory: they control both Kure and Yokosuka at the same time.
• Japanese victory: they control both Hawaii and Townsville at the same time.

End of game:

• Allied victory: they have 10 or more Victory Points.
• Japanese victory: Allies fail to achieve their victory condition.

Core Concepts

The Board

The board consists of three types of Areas (Island, Mainland and Sea), land connections (double-headed white arrows) between Mainland Areas and sea borders (black lines) between Sea Areas.

• Island Area is a Land Area represented by a circle.
• Mainland Area is a Land Area represented by a square.
• Sea Area is an Area between sea borders, edge of the map, Land Areas and / or illustrations of landmasses.

Note: An Island or Mainland Area is adjacent to a Sea Area if any part of the circle, square or the Area's name ribbon touches that Sea Area. For example, Balikpapan is adjacent to both the Celebes Sea and the Java Sea, and Pt. Moresby is adjacent to both the Solomon Sea and the Coral Sea.

Each Island and Mainland Area is a Home Area to one of the players.

If an Area has a white background, it is a Japanese Home Area. If an Area has a gray background, it is an Allied Home Area.

In addition, each Island or Mainland Area may also be a:

• Port Area if it has an anchor symbol.
  • It allows friendly Fleets to Return to it in the Return Phase.
  • There are 13 Port Areas on the board.
• Resource Area if it has a refinery symbol.
  • If controlled by Japan, it grants Japan 3 Resource Points (RPs).
  • There are 6 Resource Areas on the board.
• Supply Area if it has a barrel symbol.
  • It allows placement of Units in Reinforcements and Production Phases.
  • There are 2 Supply Areas for Japan (Kure and Yokosuka) and 3 for the Allies:
    • 1 American (Hawaii)
    • 1 British and Dutch (India)
    • 1 Australian (Townsville) that also immediately becomes an American Supply Area if Hawaii is under Japanese control.

There are no stacking limits; each Area can contain any number of Units.

Controlling Areas

Each Area is always controlled by one of the players i.e., there are no neutral Areas in the game. When control over an Area changes, use an appropriate Control marker to show this as follows:

• Round control marker for Island and Mainland Areas (use a marker with an anchor if it is a Port).
• Rectangular control marker for Sea Areas.

Victory Points

When a player gains control of an Area controlled by the other player, they gain as many Victory Points (VPs) as there are stars on that Area.

Victory Points are tracked on the Resource & Victory Points Track on the board. Any time the control of an Area changes, the VP marker must be adjusted (if needed, flip the marker to show which side has the advantage in VPs).

Example: The VP marker is on the Japanese side and on the '1' space. The Allied player captures Truk, an Island Area worth 2 VPs. Consequently, the marker is flipped to the Allied side ('Japan 1' > '0' > marker flipped > 'Allied 1').

Japan earns Extra VPs for one of the following:

• Controlling Townsville or Hawaii at any point during the game (2 VPs).
• Townsville cannot trace a Supply line to Hawaii at the beginning of the Resource Acquisition Phase (1 VP).

If both goals are fulfilled, Japan scores only for controlling Townsville or Hawaii. Once they are scored, these Extra VPs cannot be lost. The Japanese player takes the Extra VPs marker and places it next to the Resource & VP Track as a reminder.

Note: In effect, the Allied player has to obtain 11 or 12 VPs to win the game if the Japanese player scores Extra VPs.

Supply

An Area (and by extension all Units in that Area) is in Supply if it can trace an uninterrupted connection through friendly Sea Areas from that Area to its Supply Area.

• Supply status for Units is checked at the beginning of the Movement Phase.
• Supply status for Resource Areas is checked at the beginning of the Resource Acquisition Phase.

Note: If Hawaii is under Japanese control, Townsville becomes the new Supply Area for Americans. Supply connection cannot be traced through the Torres Strait (the double red line between Java Sea and Coral Sea).

If a Unit is not in Supply, place an Out of Supply (OOS) marker underneath it.

The effect of being OOS is threefold:

• Allies must spend 1 RP per OOS Unit, per each Area moved (in the same way Japan moves its Units from Round 2 onwards). Note: Japan does not suffer an additional penalty for moving an OOS Unit.
• Players must allocate twice as many RPs to activate an OOS Unit and increase its Roll to Hit chances. Example: Allocating 4 RPs to an OOS Unit allows it to hit on 1-2, instead of 1-4 for a Supplied Unit.
• When defeated, all OOS Units in an Area where the Battle took place are eliminated and placed on the Reserves card.

If a Resource Area is under Japanese control and not in Supply at the beginning of Resource Acquisition Phase, Japan does not gain 3 RPs for controlling it.

Note: The American Army in Manila begins the game Out of Supply.

Example (see image in the rulebook): It is the start of the Movement Phase. The Japanese player controls four Sea Areas (1). The American Fleet in Townsville (2) and Army in Guadalcanal (3) are therefore Out of Supply as they cannot trace a Supply line to Hawaii. The American Fleet in Fiji (4) is not Out of Supply as it is adjacent to two friendly-controlled Sea Areas with a Supply line to Hawaii (4).

Playing Cards

Each card can be played for one of two effects:

• The Event described on the card, or
• To re-roll 1 missed die in a Battle.

Each card specifies in which Phase its Event may be played. A player cannot play more than 1 card per non-Battle Phase, and 1 card per Battle.

Players must announce their intent to play a card before playing it, giving the other player the chance to do the same. If both players want to play a card:

• in the same Phase, the Initiative player goes first.
• for the Event in the same Battle, the Attacker goes first.
• to re-roll a die, both players re-roll their dice at the same time.

There is no hand limit.

Yamamoto

The Japanese player has access to Isoroku Yamamoto – an exceptional admiral who commanded the main element of the Imperial Japanese Navy – represented by a marker and a card explaining his special ability.

Placement

Place the Yamamoto marker in Truk at the beginning of the Initiative Phase of Round 2. If Truk is enemy-controlled, place Yamamoto in any Japanese-controlled Island Area.

Moving Yamamoto is treated like moving a Unit, i.e., the Japanese player must spend their turn to move him, however, Yamamoto is never Out of Supply, and can only move directly from one friendly Island Area to another Island Area, ignoring distance and Sea Areas.

Ability

Once per Round, pay 1 RP to set any die to 1 in a Naval Battle adjacent to an Island he is located in. Yamamoto can only be played on an already activated Fleet. Note: Yamamoto's Ability must be used after Allocating RPs instead of a die roll. After using his Ability, flip Yamamoto's marker to its inactive side.

The Japanese player may pay 1 RP to move Yamamoto to another Island Area during the Movement Phase.

Elimination

Yamamoto can be eliminated by capture, or by the Admiral's Last Flight card. If an Allied Army gains control of an Island Area with Yamamoto, roll a die:

• On 1-2: Yamamoto is captured and eliminated from the game.
• On 3-6: Yamamoto must Return to a friendly Port.

Gameplay

Sequence of Play

Tora Tora Tora! is played in Rounds. Each Round is divided into the following Phases:

1. Initiative Phase
2. Card Draw Phase (skip in Round 1)
3. Reinforcements Phase (skip in Round 1)
4. Movement Phase
5. Battle Phase
   • a. Naval Battle Segment
   • b. Landing Segment
   • c. Land Battle Segment
6. Resource Acquisition Phase
7. Production Phase
8. Return Phase
9. Start a new Round from Phase 1

Initiative Phase

The player in control of 7 or more Ports has the Initiative and goes first in all subsequent Phases.

Move the Round marker 1 space to the right and flip it to the side of the Initiative player.

Card Draw Phase

• In Rounds 2-5, each player draws 1 card from their Early War deck.
• In Round 6, each player must discard their hand and then:
  • Japanese player: Shuffles the Japanese Late War deck and draws 2 cards, keeping one and either discarding the other, or placing it on top of the Japanese Late War deck.
  • Allied player: Shuffles the Allied Late War deck and draws 3 cards.
• In Rounds 7-10, each player draws 1 card from their Late War deck.

Reinforcements Phase

Any Armies and/or Fleets slotted to arrive in the current Round (the Reinforcements Schedule is on the Player aid) are placed in their Supply Area.

• Japan places Reinforcements in Kure or Yokosuka.
• Allies place British Reinforcements in India, and American Reinforcements in Hawaii (or in Townsville, if Hawaii is Japanese).

Reinforcements cannot be saved for later Rounds.

Movement Phase

Players alternate spending Resource Points (RPs) to move their Units i.e., the first player moves one Unit, then the second player moves one Unit, and so on.

Players can pass instead of making a move. If a player passes (even several times in a row), they may move again if their opponent consequently makes a move. However, once both players pass one after the other, the Phase ends.

The Phase also ends when players have moved all of their Units or there are no RPs remaining to be spent.

• A Unit can move only once per Round (you may place a Unit on its back as a reminder it has already moved).
• A Unit must stop moving upon entering an enemy-controlled Area, or an Area containing an enemy Unit.
• An Army may begin its movement in a Mainland or Island Area containing an enemy Army. However, such an Army cannot end its move in an enemy-controlled Area, or an Area containing an enemy Unit.
• A Unit must end its movement in a Sea Area (Exception: An Army in a Mainland Area may end its movement in another Mainland Area).

Note: The consequence is that an Army may never move directly from one Island Area to another Island or Mainland Area, or from a Mainland Area to an Island Area.

Movement Costs

Both sides must spend RPs to move Units. However, movement costs are different for Japan and Allies.

• Japan must spend 1 RP per Unit, per each Area moved (Exception: Japanese Surprise Attack, see below).
• Allies must spend 1 RP per Unit, regardless of distance.
  • American Units can only use American RPs.
  • British, Australian and Dutch Units can only use British RPs.
• For each Sea Area with a "+1 RP" marker a Unit moves through, the player must spend 1 extra RP.

Example: It is Round 2. The Japanese player moves a Fleet from Palau. Moving to (1) would cost 1 RP since it's adjacent to Palau. Moving to (2) would cost 2 RPs since the Fleet would move 2 Areas. Moving to (3) would cost 3 RPs. It couldn't move farther east since the Fleet must stop moving upon entering an enemy-controlled Area (3). The Japanese player would be in the same situation in (4), and in a similar situation in (5) – there, however, the enemy Fleet there would stop the movement, even though it's a Japanese-controlled Sea Area.

Movement Limitations

• Units moving between Sea Areas can move only through black lines, not through Island Areas.
• The double red border between Java Sea and Coral Sea represents Torres Strait, which is shallow and hazardous to navigate. Neither side can move across that sea border.
• American Armies cannot enter India and Australian Armies cannot enter Hawaii.
• The double red circle in the upper-right section of the board acts as an impassable area.

Japanese Surprise Attack

Only during Round 1, Japan spends 1 RP per Unit moved, regardless of distance, the same way as Allies do. It reflects the Japanese preparedness for the first wave of simultaneous surprise attacks on Allied territories launched at the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Control of Empty Areas

At the end of the Movement Phase, if a player's Army is in an enemy-controlled Mainland/Island Area (or a Fleet in a Sea Zone) with no enemy Unit, change control of that Area to that player.

Battle Phase

During this Phase, Naval Battles, Landings and Land Battles are resolved, starting with all Naval Battles. Both sides spend RPs to activate Units and increase their Roll to Hit chances, and then roll the dice and apply the results.

First, if an Army is in the same Sea Area as an enemy Fleet, without a friendly Fleet also present, that Army automatically Returns to Port. No Battle is initiated. A Fleet in an Island or Mainland Area without a friendly Army does the same. Then:

• A Battle is initiated in each Area containing Units of both Sides.
• The Initiative player decides the order in which Battles are resolved in each Segment.
• The player not controlling the Area the Battle is in is the Attacker.

Note: Allied Units of different nationalities occupying the same Area always defend together, and may attack together. If Allocating different RPs of different nationalities, they must still be split evenly between these Units.

Allocating RPs in a Battle

Both players, simultaneously and in secret, allocate RPs. After initiating a Battle, both players take RP markers in their hand equal to the value of RP they wish to Allocate (which may be 0), and reveal them at the same time.

• The Attacker must allocate at least 1 RP to the Battle. If the Attacker is unwilling or unable to do so in:
  • an Island or Sea Area, remove all of the Attacker's Units in the Area and place them on the Reserves card.
  • a Mainland Area, all of the Attacker's Units in the Area must retreat.
• The Defender does not have to allocate any RPs.
• Each Unit can be Allocated a maximum of 4 RPs.
• If there are two or more Units in an Area that can take part in the Battle*, the player:
  • May decide to Allocate 1 RP to activate just one Unit, or
  • Must activate all Units. The RPs Allocated must be split evenly between these Units.

*An Army cannot take part in a Sea Battle, and a Fleet cannot take part in a Land Battle.

Example: The Allied player has 2 Fleets in a Battle. The player may spend 1 RP to activate just 1 Fleet and roll 1 die, or spend 2, 4, 6 or 8 RPs to activate both and roll 2 dice. The more RPs the player Allocates, the higher the Roll to Hit chance for both Fleets.

Effect of Allocating RPs

• Allocating 1 RP activates a Unit and allows it to roll a die. The Unit hits on 1.
• Allocating 2 RPs to a Unit allows it to hit on 1-2.
• Allocating 3 RPs to a Unit allows it to hit on 1-3.
• Allocating 4 RPs to a Unit allows it to hit on 1-4.

Armies defending 3-star Home Areas (Hawaii, Townsville, Manila and India for Allies, Kure and Yokosuka for Japan) receive +1 bonus to hit but must still be activated (i.e., be Allocated at least 1 RP) in order to apply this effect.

No Units can hit on 5-6, even if defending a 3-star Home Area, or if boosted by playing cards.

Example: The Japanese player is playing the Imperial Marines card that activates a Japanese Army for 1 RP to allow it to hit on 1-3. The player cannot Allocate more than 1 additional RP to increase its chance of scoring a hit to more than 1-4.

Imperial Marines (card shown in the rulebook): Play in a Land Battle initiated by exactly 1 Japanese Army that has landed on an enemy-controlled Island Area this Round. You can activate that Japanese Army for 1 RP to allow it to hit on 1-3, or 2 RPs to allow it to hit on 1-4.

Results

Both players roll the dice simultaneously and count the number of hits inflicted on the opponent. The side that has inflicted more hits on the opponent is the winner.

For each excess hit inflicted on the opponent, the opponent must eliminate 1 Unit from the Area and place it on the Reserves card (Exception: if the Battle took place in a Mainland Area, no Units are eliminated unless retreat is impossible). If both sides inflict the same number of hits, it is a draw and no Units are removed.

Naval Battle Segment

• Allocate RPs and roll the dice.
• The winner remains in the Sea Area and takes control of that Sea Area.
• The loser must Return all of their Units.
• If there is a draw, both sides must Return all of their Units in that Area to Ports.

Note: Fleets in enemy-controlled Sea Areas automatically take control of them if no enemy Unit is present at the end of the Movement Phase. Armies never take control of Sea Areas.

Example: A British Fleet enters an enemy-controlled Sea Area with a Japanese Fleet. In the Battle Phase, the Japanese player spends 2 RPs (1) and the Allied player spends 2 British RPs (1). Both players must roll 1-2 to hit. Both roll simultaneously, and both miss by rolling 3 and 4, respectively. Since it's a draw, each Fleet must Return (2) to its respective friendly Port.

Attack on Force Z (card shown in the rulebook): Play before any Naval Battles are initiated. Roll a die against any British Fleet in a Sea Area: On 1-4: eliminate that Fleet. On 5-6: that Fleet must Return to a friendly Port.

Landing Segment

After the Naval Battle Segment, starting with the Initiative player, players alternate by landing an Army on an Island or Mainland Area adjacent to the Sea Area containing that Army.

If there is no enemy Army in the landing Area, the player who has an Army in that Area takes control of it. Players may choose not to land some or all of their Armies.

Example: An American Army is in a friendly Sea Area adjacent to Kwajalein. During the Landing Segment, the Allied player lands the Army on Kwajalein, which will lead to a Land Battle in the next Segment.

Land Battle Segment

• Allocate RPs and roll the dice.
• The winner remains in the Area. Additionally, the winner takes control of the Area if there is a friendly-controlled Sea Area adjacent to that Area.
• If the Battle took place in a Mainland Area, the defeated player must retreat all their Armies to an adjacent friendly-controlled Mainland Area. If such an Area does not exist, the Armies are instead eliminated and placed on the Reserves card.
• If the Battle took place in an Island Area, the defeated player must retreat all the remaining Armies to an adjacent friendly-controlled Sea Area. If such an Area does not exist, the Armies are instead eliminated and placed on the Reserves card.
• If the retreating defeated force contains at least 2 Armies, the defeated player may choose to eliminate 1 Army to cancel the retreat.
• If, as a result of a Land Battle, a player's Fleet is in an enemy-controlled Port Area, there is no additional Battle, and that Fleet must Return to a friendly Port.
• If there is a draw, Units remain where they are.

Example: A Japanese Army enters Burma (1). In the Land Battle Segment (2), the Japanese player spends 3 RPs and the Allied player spends 1 British RP. The Japanese player must roll 1-3 to hit, while the British player must roll a 1 to hit. Both players roll simultaneously. The Japanese player rolls a 2 and scores a hit, the British rolls a 4 and misses. The defeated British Army must retreat (3) to Imphal (an adjacent friendly Mainland Area). The Japanese Army, however, cannot take control of Burma since the Japanese player does not control any Sea Area (4) (Bay of Bengal or Indian Ocean) adjacent to Burma.

Resource Acquisition Phase

Resource Points are used for movement, to activate Units and increase Roll to Hit chance in Battles, and to Produce Units.

Both sides gain RPs in a different way.

• Japan gains 3 RPs per Resource Area both under its control, and in Supply.
• British gain 3 RPs per Round.
• Americans gain 10 RPs in Rounds 1-2, 15 RPs in Round 3, 20 RPs in Rounds 4-6 and 25 RPs in Rounds 7-9.

Unspent RPs remain available for the next Round. However, the maximum number of RPs available to both sides at any given point is 39. RPs gained beyond that point are lost.

Production Phase

Starting with the Initiative player, each may spend 3 RPs to produce a Unit. The Unit must be available on the Reserves card in order to be produced. A player may produce multiple Units during this Phase.

• Japanese Units must be placed in Kure or Yokosuka.
• British Units must be placed in India.
• American Units must be placed in Hawaii, or Townsville if Hawaii is under Japanese control.
• Australian Units must be placed in Townsville.
• Dutch Units cannot be produced.

A player can produce a Unit in an Area with an enemy Unit as long as that Area is still controlled by the player.

Return Phase

All Units in Sea Areas must Return to friendly-controlled Areas.

• A Fleet in a Sea Area must Return to a friendly Port free of enemy Units through friendly-controlled Sea Areas, ignoring distance. If the Fleet is Out of Supply and/or cannot Return through friendly-controlled Sea Areas, it must instead Return to the closest friendly Port free of enemy Units.
• An Army in a Sea Area must Return to a friendly Port free of enemy Units through friendly-controlled Sea Areas, ignoring distance, or to an adjacent friendly Island or Mainland Area. If the Army is Out of Supply and/or cannot Return through friendly-controlled Sea Areas, it must Return to the closest friendly Island or Mainland Area free of enemy Units.

If two or more Ports are equally as close, the player can choose which of these Ports to Return to.

The Initiative player Returns all of their Fleets and Armies first.

Restrictions

• British and Dutch Units can only Return to friendly Mainland Areas and Batavia.
• The Australian Army can only Return to Townsville. If Townsville is enemy-controlled, the Army must Return to the closest friendly Port.
• American Units cannot Return to India and Burma.

Optional Rule - No Cards

The first edition of the game, published under the name Pacific Go, was played without cards and Yamamoto. This edition can also be played without them. However, due to other changes made between the two editions, the game will not be balanced, favoring the Allied player.

This optional rule is therefore recommended for games only between unequally matched players (for example, if one player is experienced, and the other has not played the game yet, the experienced player should play as Japan).