Manila: The Savage Streets, 1945 is a solitaire area activation wargame that sees the player handling the attacking American forces against the system that handles the defending and static Japanese side. The primary game is a 9-turn campaign covering the American assault on the city during February and March 1945. The deeper American forces advance, from the city’s less developed periphery to its urban business district and fortress-like government buildings, the greater Japanese resistance becomes. The game is designed by Mike Rinella and is a follow-up to his popular Stalingrad: Advance to the Volga, 1942 from 2023.

The game play is superb and I had a really great time with this one having to manage my troops, as losses mount and morale degrades, and also having to fight for the supply points needed to provide those troops with artillery and air support as well as to bring on reinforcements as the game wears on.

-Grant