Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy -

... the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. - FDR

A review on the game "Day of Infamy" by High Flying Dice Games.

Background on Pearl Harbor:

The attack on Pearl Harbor was planned by Admiral Yomamoto and his staff as part of a series of attacks that hit the Philippines, Wake Island, Guam, Singapore, Malaya and Hong Kong, within 8 hours of each other. Basically it was aimed at the two major naval powers Japan feared the most - the United States and Great Britain Navies. 

Historically, Japan won a major victory, in that they were able to sink the US Battleships (from the 1850' till 1990's, battleships were consider the pride of a fleet. Expensive to build, maintain, slow, and having the largest caliber of gun (between 12" to 18") these ships were the ultimate weapon at sea.).   *Remember this thought as we'll be visiting it again. 

Seven battleships (BB) were at their moorings (i.e. docked) and along with one BB converted into a training ship (USS Utah), all were hit and can be consider sunk. Only two BB's were actually sunk, the USS Arizona with 1,177 KIA and the USS Oklahoma with 429 KIA. All the other BB's was able to be re-floated, repaired and put back into service.  As were four Cruisers, four Destroyers, and 4 Auxiliary ships that were hit.

The USS Pennsylvania was actually in dry dock and was hit, but repaired and returned to service Dec 1941. The USS Tennessee and the USS Maryland were returned to service by Feb 1942.  The USS Nevada was returned to service by Oct 1942. She was hit numerous times after making a run for the ocean and was beached on purpose to keep from blocking the entrance to port.  The USS California returned to service by Jan 1944 and the USS West Virginia returned to service by July 1944.  The Oklahoma was raised and sunk on her final tow back to the mainland in 1947.  And though the USS Arizona and USS Utah were sunk, as much of their armament and equipment as possible was salvage and re-used on other naval ships.  In death as in life, these two ships carried on.

Actually Japan did us a service by this attack, as Admiral Hara Tadaichi summed up the Japanese result at the end of the battle, by saying, "We won a great tactical victory at Pearl Harbor and thereby lost the war.". And Japan did.

*Note - remember that "thought" from above? Here it is - with the Pacific Fleet of Battleships out of action while being repaired and/or replaced, the US had to relied on it's Submarine Service and Carriers. The Battles of the Coral Sea May 4-8 1942, was a strategic Allied victory and did not allow Japan to complete it's conquest of Port Moresby in southeast New Guinea or control of the Coral Sea. The Battle of Midway on June 4-7, 1942 was the turning point for Japan, as it was the most decisive naval battle in the Pacific, with Japan losing 4 carriers and the USN 1. By the end of 1943, unrestricted submarine warfare was bringing Japan to her knees, 99% of Japan's shipping was lost to Sub attacks.   By 1944, the USAAF B-29 bombing campaign of destroying Japan's ability to wage war was proving it's self.

Our carriers were being built faster than any other Nation had ever built capitol ships - fleet carriers (CV), light carriers (CVL) and escort carriers (CVE). New battleship classes, cruiser classes, destroyer classes, and a lot of other types of ships (just as important as the big boys) being built and entering into service. And let us not forget, the two a-bombs dropped on Japan - more advance technology than ever before. Men, women, and even children, the might of this nation rose to the occasion to defeat an enemy that choose to attack the US without declaring war. Truly, Admiral Hara Tadaichi was correct. Japan poke the bear one too many times and paid for it. It was total war, pure and simple.

Note - Though I am touching on the big ships, there was 1 Navy tug sunk, 188 aircraft destroyed, 159 aircraft damage, 2,335 Military killed, 1,143 wounded, and 68 Civilians killed with 35 wounded.   

While the big ships were hit, the Japanese ignored the Naval and USAAC facilities.  A 3rd wave was planned but overturned by Vice Admiral Nagumo.  If it would have been carried out, all the port facilities, and airfields could have been so heavily damaged that it could have pushed the war in the Pacific back two to three years. 

There are hundreds of books written on the this subject.  At the end of the credits in the rules  is a listing of books about this attack that Paul recommends on this subject.

The Game:

This game is designed by Paul Rohrbaugh with graphics by Bruce Yearian. I am beginning to think of these two as "Team HFDG", lol.  And though I enjoyed all of High Flying Dice Games with the different graphic designers that Paul uses (yes, all of them), there just seems to be something that clicks between these two and one can tell in the presentation of the games.

Day of Infamy costs $7.95. No longer available. The game consists of one 8.5" x 11" map, 29 (28 double sided and 1 single-sided) unit counters, one Player Aid Card (part of the counter sheet) and a six page rules book (single sided). Plus as an added bonus, a small sheet of variants for the game.

And of course, a card deck is available for purchase for $*. One can also purchase the game with the counters mounted for an additional low fee. Players will need to provide 1D6 die and a deck of cards (if the card set is not bought from HFDG)

The game map is divided into zones. I may have said this before in other game reviews, but I am liking the game map being in zones instead of hexes. With zones, it is just easier to place counters in the spaces than making sure the counters are in the exact hex.

This game packs a lot in it for it's size. There are special events that includes Doris Miller (I hope you know who he is) and Chief Finn  to  2Lt's Welch and Taylor who both almost made "ace" on this day shooting down 6 Japanese acft between them. And let us not forget the heroic effort of  the USS Nevada as in real life just like in the game making a dash for the open sea. It's little things like this that makes a game enjoyable and this one has them.

Though the game is for 2 players, the US player has very little to do and it is very easy to play the game solo.  I made a decision dice table for possibly all the decisions that the US player could make.  Whether it is any good or not is in the eye of the beholder - me.  And since it is being revised constantly, it is not available for download.

Sequence of play:
1. Preparation Phase
2. Activation Phase
3. End Phase

There are 6 turns in the game, with many steps of phases 1 to 3.  The turn ends when the Joker is drawn or if there are no Japanese air units (JAU) in play on the map. If the Joker is drawn before both players have performed an activation, it is discarded and play continues. Turns 1 to 3 is considered the 1st air wave of attack. Turns 4 to 6 is the 2nd wave of attack.  Each turn represents one group of Japanese attackers. And there is section "6.0 unit deployment" telling the player what units are in play on turn 1, turn 2, etc.

Under 1. Prep phase, the card deck is shuffled and draw cards from the deck until a red card appears.

Under 2. Activation Phase is where a card is drawn and depending on the type of card what type of activations occur. These can be one of the following:

• movement
• AA fire on a Japanese Air Unit
• Enemy Acft is attack (Japanese 1st, US 2nd)
• Japanese bomber unit attacks 
• move the USS Nevada

Phase 3 is the end phase:

• the turn ends when the Joker is drawn (after both players have played) or 
• if there are no Japanese air units (JAU) in play on the map.
• remove all Flight units (both sides) from the map.  
• leave bomber units in place as they must move off the map
• advance the different tracks up one level. 
• and proceed to Prep phase.

A game can be compared to a bottle of wine. A truly fine wine can age remarkably well, taste grand to the palate 20 or more years later and become one of the classics. Games also age as well, however, less become a classic. "Day of Infamy"  is like a fine wine and imho, a classic. 

Though simple in play, it is another one of those fine games, where simple doesn't mean silly. If the Japanese player tries to attack everything, he/she will lose. One has to think in this game.

The variants for this game raise a new awareness with possibilities.  Well thought out, they do add another element to the game.   

Time to rate this game:

1. Complexity of the game = LOW with medium overtones.
2. Solitaire = Med HIGH (a little work is needed)
3. Enjoyment Level = VERY HIGH (imho)
4. Nail biting = 10 fingers worth.  I didn't know if I bit off more than I could chew as the Japanese player. (bad pun)
5. Historical Level = High - this game has a solid historical reference background and a very solid OOB (Orders of Battle).   
6. Length of typical full game =about 1 to 2 hours.
7. Out of the 8 games played, it is hard for the US player to win, but it can be done, by limiting the Japanese player. Basically it is limiting the type of victory of the Japanese player. You will have to think about your plans and work with what you got.  The Japanese player will need to think just as hard, as there is no "just right, win every time" strategy plan available.  Most of my games came out as a Minor Japanese Victory, but that could be my solo tables need to be tinkered with.  And of course, using cards generates the "fog of war" and everything in between such as morale, supply, and leadership.

"Day of Infamy" covers a battle that one would think would have loads of games designed about it, but there are very few.  Unlike D-Day or Russian Front, games on Pearl Harbor are few and far in between.

Enjoy the game 
-ab

note:
This game is available once again as a bonus game when one buys Against The Odds 2019 Annual - La Vendée - 1793 directly from ATO web site.  Cost is $49.95 and includes postage.  Both the game "La Vendée - 1793" and the "Day of Infamy" are worth it.   Unfortunately, ATO publisher is not making the game available as a "black swan" for separate purchase. You either will have to do without or purchase the Annual.  😢

Updated: Jul 6th to removed last 3 paragraphs as they are no longer valid.

Updated: June 24th 2020 as this game is no longer sold by High Flying Dice Games. I am not at liberty to say who bought it, but if you have this game, then it is a collector's item.

this blog is considered to be a living blog. Changes will be made to it as needed to clarify, correct errors or update with new information. And I apologize, but this review may contain references to graphics that are no longer on this blog. Long story, but it was Google who removed them.