Port Arthur (wargame)
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Port Arthur is a board wargame published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) in 1975 that simulates combat during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Port Arthur was part of a two-game collection titled The Russo-Japanese War. The second game in the box was Tsushima, which covered the naval combat during the war. The two games could either be played separately, or combined into one master game.
The expanding geographical interests of Russia and Japan collided in the late 19th century, and resulted in a formal declaration of war in 1904. In 1904 and 1905, the opposing forces engaged in both land and sea combat in which Japanese forces proved they were the equal and often superior to the European forces.[1]
Description
Port Arthur is a two-player game in which one player controls Russian forces and the other player controls Japanese forces in the struggle for the vital Port Arthur.[2] If not played together with Tsushima, then naval combat becomes an off-map abstraction.[3] On its own, with only a 22" x 28* paper hex grid map and 240 die-cut counters, the game is not complex. If played in concert with Tsushima, some have suggested making it a four-player game, with two naval players and two land generals.[4]
Gameplay
The game uses a simple "I Go, You Go" system of alternating turns, where the Japanese player goes first, followed by the Russian player. Each has the following phases:[3]
- Movement
- Combat
- Supply and Reinforcement
This completes one game turn, which represents one month of game time.
Publication history
In 1976, GDW published The Russo-Japanese War, a two-game collection of Tsushima (naval combat) and Port Arthur (land combat). Both were designed by Marc Miller, and featured the artwork of Rich Banner.[5]
Following the demise of GDW, Hobby Japan acquired the rights to The Russo-Japanese War and printed a Japanese-language version in Command #55 (March–April 2004).[5]