Utmost Savagery

This solitaire game portrays the battle for the island of Peleliu, which was the hardest-fought and most difficult campaign the 1st Marine Division would ever engage in.

The Japanese on Peleliu were dug in and ready to give the overconfident Americans a blistering fight. Unlike previous island invasions, in which the Marines had crushed ill-prepared defenders, Peleliu would become a strategic nightmare for the Americans.

The Japanese had spent months building defensive fortifications and turning the island into a death trap. Bombarded by battleships and hammered by Corsairs dropping tons of napalm, the Japanese held on and withstood the initial invasion. Skillful night attacks and relentless artillery barrages made the Americans pay dearly for every inch taken.

The terrible 115-degree heat and endless combat sapped American morale and turned a battle projected to be won in 4 days into a vicious 6-week campaign. With the aid of the reinforcing 81st Infantry Division the Marines would eventually win at Peleliu, but the cost was devastatingly high.

You, as the American Player, have a limited amount of time to destroy all 30 Japanese Counters from the map. You win the game as soon as the last enemy counter is destroyed, but lose at any time the Morale Track reaches the 1 box, or the last Time Chit of Level IV Intensity is drawn with Japanese Counters still in play.