I feel that I've undertaken a heavy responsibility. If I had only been more firm and refused. Now we've left home waters and I'm beginning to wonder if the operation will work.
- (Before the attack on Pearl Harbor) © Chuichi Nagumo

Chūichi Nagumo (南雲 忠一 Nagumo Chūichi, 25 March 1887 – 6 July 1944) was a Japanese admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy. He was tasked with carrying out the attack on Pearl Harbor and later on he was a commanding officer in other key naval battles of the Pacific war. After the tides of war have turned, and IJN suffered heavy losses, he ended up commanding the defense of the Island of Saipan. When Japanese resistance on Saipan was over he committed suicide with his pistol.

One son of Nagumo described him as a brooding father, obsessed with and later regretful about pressuring his sons into the IJN. In contrast, Nagumo's junior naval officers thought of him as a father figure.
He was a dedicated Navy officer who spent his whole life serving his country to the best of his abilities. He also wanted his sons to join the Navy. While in the beginning of the war against the US his operations were quite successful, the crushing defeat at Midway brought an end to his command in major operations.

I-uh-have the utmost respect for Yamamoto-san. If it had not been for him, there would be no naval aviation. However-the most brilliant man can occasionally make a mistake.
- © Chuichi Nagumo

His relations with Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander in Chief of the Combined Fleet were arguably strained. Supposedly, Yamamoto might have preferred other officers to take command of the key operations, but the seniority of Nagumo over the rest of candidates left Yamamoto little room for maneuvering. While Nagumo was often voicing his criticism and skeptical view of Yamamoto`s plans, which he then had to carry out.
In Strategic Mind: the Pacific, Admiral Chuichi Nagumo is one of the key characters and while playing the Japanese campaign you will have to work hard to win his trust and support.

As promised in our previous news update, in this update we have presented one of our key characters for the Japanese campaign. Keep following our news updates to learn the rest of the key characters for the Japanese campaign.

With best regards,
Starni Games development team

"I don't care how good they are. Unless they get a kick in the ass every six weeks, they'll slack off."
- Ernest King (1940)

Ernest Joseph King (23 November 1878 – 25 June 1956) was Commander in Chief, United States Fleet (COMINCH) and Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) during World War II and is one of the four persons to date to reach the rank of Fleet Admiral. He was assigned right after the Pearl Harbor disaster and tasked with restoring both the might and the prestige of the Navy. It was the right person for this task as he has shown himself to be a professional and strict leader.

"The way to victory is long.
The going will be hard.
We will do the best we can with what we've got.
We must have more planes and ships- at once.
Then it will be our turn to strike.
We will win through- in time."
King's first statement as Commander-in-Chief,
United States fleet, sent on 24 December 1941.

He was mostly preoccupied with the overall strategy, resource allocation, and communication with the government officials, waging most of his “battles” in Washington D.C., while the operational command in the Pacific was mainly the task of Admiral Chester Willam Nimitz.

"Don't tell them anything. When it's over, tell them who won."
- Ernest King (on PR strategy of US Navy)

While the King's advice is sound, especially in a time of war, Starni Games has to overlook this particular piece of advice. We will continue to keep you informed on how our work progresses. Our team keeps working on all aspects of the game. On the screenshot, you can see Admiral King inspecting the new Essex-class carrier with new Hellcat fighter planes on board.

Keep following our news to see the key characters from the Japanese campaign.

With best regards,
Starni Games development team

While advancing in a campaign you gain Prestige. Prestige represents a comprehensive image of how many financial resources are at your disposal, how strong is your political influence, etc. You can spend Prestige to acquire new units, upgrade your units or provide them with new equipment.


Acquiring units is pretty straightforward. You open the corresponding tab, choose the unit you would like to acquire, check whether you have enough Prestige to get it and press the Acquire button. However, you should be aware that every deployed core unit reduces the number of Command points you gain each turn by 1. So, the more units you have on the battlefield, the fewer HQ skills per turn you would be able to use. Thus you have to be smart about the composition of your forces, as “the more the merrier” logic can turn out to be the faulty one. Ultimately, it is totally up to you: there is no limit on the number of units, so if you have lots of Prestige and would like to replicate “Zerg Rush” in a WW2 setting, there is no stopping you.


As the campaign progresses, new models become available and it is prudent to keep your units up-to-date and upgrade them when necessary. Keep in mind that there are two ways the cost of upgrading can be calculated:

• Upgrading units of a different series. If you want to upgrade Hellcat into Corsair then you basically sell Hellcat for 50% of its cost and then buy Corsair for the full price. (The resulting Prestige cost is the same as if you dismissed Hellcat and acquired Corsair, however, by upgrading you moved your experienced pilots from one model of fighter planes to the other, saving all of their levels, skills, and hero (if it was assigned to that unit).
  
• Upgrading units of the same series. If you want to upgrade Hellcat into a newer Hellcat model, you get 90% of you older Hellcat cost and then pay full price for the newer Hellcat. So, it is much more efficient to upgrade units within their series.

Dismissing a unit will get you 50% of its cost in Prestige, but all of its experience and skills will be lost forever.

Please note, that all Naval units of one class are considered of the same series as well. Thus, when upgrading Colorado class battleship into Iowa class battleship you would get 90% of Colorado class battleship cost. The idea being that ships generally serve longer and can be transferred to other fronts and keep serving for many years to come. So by giving away an older ship model, you get back most of its cost.

You can equip your units with better weapons and tools both during and between the operations. Naval units have to be within service zone (next to a Seaport). Ground units have to be next to a supply point, supply hub, seaport or an airfield. Air units have to be landed on board a carrier or at an airfield.

In our previous title Panzer Strategy the corresponding tab was named “Buy units”. And some players felt that it broke an immersion and gave a feeling of visiting a grocery store. However, in many games this process is called “buying” new units and people are more or less used to it.
This time we decided to give it a try and name this tab “Acquire units” and the button “Acquire”. We would like to know your opinions on this matter. Please, let us know in the comments which variant do you think fits our game best:
1) Buy unit
2) Acquire unit
3) Purchase unit
4) “your own variant (please specify)”.

We look forward to reading your comments.

With best regards
Starni games development team

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the assessment that something else is more important than fear.”
⎯ Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the 32 President of the United States of America. He was the only President in US history to be elected 4 times, serving his country from March 1933 to April 1945.

“Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.”
⎯ Franklin Delano Roosevelt

His Paralytic illness started in 1921 and progress ever since, making him unable to walk without help. Despite such a major hindrance, he managed to continue with his political career and carried his country through the most troublesome times.

“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
⎯ Franklin Delano Roosevelt

We keep working on all aspects of the game, cutscenes being one of them. In future reports, you will see more key characters for both campaigns.

We hope that you can make good use of Franklin Delano Roosevelt`s wise advice both in your daily life and when playing our games.

With best regards,
Starni Games development team

Night, rain, fire or a hole from a torpedo hit ⎯ all of it and much more nasty things could happen to your ships in the unfriendly Pacific Ocean of 1941-1945.

You can always see current negative effects in the unit info tab by right-clicking a unit. While certain skills and attaches will help you mitigate forces of nature` interference, Emergency repair unit can help you with ship fires and holes caused by the enemy attacks.


Maintenance unit automatically repairs 1 hole or fire per turn before they apply the effect. (For example, if you have a ship with 1 Hull HP left and 1 hole, it will not sink, as the Maintenance team would remove it right before it deals damage at the end of your turn).

Emergency repair unit, apart from restoring HP to any ship parts can also remove 1 hole or fire. (For example you have a ship with 1 Hull HP left and 2 holes. In order for it to survive you would need to activate Emergency repair button and choose to remove one hole. Then at the end of your turn the other hole would be removed by Maintenance. There is also a level up skill which allows you to remove 2 holes or fires at once with Emergency repair, thus allowing your 1 Hull HP ship to survive even with 3 holes.

Damage control is an important element of the game and learning to efficiently deal with adverse combat effects is vital to preserve and strengthen your fleet. During the WW2 many large ships were considered to be lost due to poor damage control. Make sure you do not make the same mistake.

Starni games development team

"We're not accustomed to occupying defensive positions. It's destructive to morale." ⎯ Holland McTyeire Smith

Holland McTyeire Smith was a general in the United States Marine Corps, considered by many to be the “father” of modern U.S. amphibious warfare. While his soldiers had given him a “Howlin` Mad” nickname, their recollections on him were reverent.

In the U.S. Pacific campaign general Smith takes command over the landing operations of U.S. Marine Corps forces. He will appear both in cinematics and in the headquarters room (between the operations).

During the EA period, only a lonely admiral Nimitz will be occupying the headquarters, but we are working hard to give him decent company and general Smith will surely join him.

In the future updates you will see more of the key characters for both campaigns, so make sure you do not miss them.

With best regards,
Starni Games development team

Today we tell you about the supply mechanics.

In-game info
First of all, you can learn about each individual building in the game by right-clicking on it.

Supply generation
There are two primary sources of supply which then pump it through the whole system:

• Primary hub (generates supplies on its own)
  
• Maritime hub (generates supplies when has an allied port in adjacent hex)

From these sources supplies then transferred to the other elements of Supply Network.

Supply distribution.
Each Supply hub, Supply point or Maritime hub distributes supply within the Supply Zone around it. The Supply Zone is determined by a truck with 8 move points and wheeled movement type (let's call it supply truck) - if the supply truck can reach certain hex within 1 turn then this hex is in the Supply Zone. They are also connected to each other, forming a Supply Network and passing on supplies via the same 8-move points supply truck.
In the case of seaport there is 10 move points supply vessel.

Cut the supply lines
If an enemy unit blocks the way of the supply truck, then it cuts off the connection between these elements of Supply Network and reduces the Supply Zone.
Same applies for the naval supply vessel: if the enemy ships block the way it cannot bring the supplies.

Block the port
If the enemy naval units are within 2 hexes from the allied seaport they blockade it completely.

Destroy the infrastructure
If any object of infrastructure is reduced to 50% HP or lower, it is no longer functional (eg. railroad station no longer provides a connection for the Supply Network and cannot embark/disembark units on a train). HP is restored over time.

Supply Zone and Service Zone
Supply Zone is marked with box icons on the hexes and indicated where your units will get resupplied at the end of your turn.
Service Zone is marked with a wrench icon and indicates where your units can be Reinforced or their Equipment changed.

Supply tactics
It is important to make make sure your advancing troops will have an active Supply Zone nearby for timely resupply.
You can also leave the enemy without supplies by cutting off/blocking or taking from him crucial elements of his supply network, thus ensuring your troops' success.

Please note that this is still a work in progress and some details may change.

We are working on the game manual so you can rest assured that all this and lots of other information will be there waiting for you in the game at full release.

Starni Games development team

In one of our previous articles we talked at length about the Victory points and victory types: https://steamcommunity.com/games/991810/announcements/detail/1611636823909973105 However, there was one thing we missed out on purpose, as we wanted to see our players discover it by themselves. And recently one of the players have posted a screenshot with it on our community hub:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1735915495 We congratulate Tim on being the first one with a proven Absolute victory in Midway operation. (Not an easy task by the way.) And now we can finally discuss this new (for the PS players) feature.

In order to get an Absolute victory, you have to get a 400 out of 400 Victory points. And that is it. All the rest can be found in the Article mentioned above. However, you have to have great knowledge of the game and its mechanics as well as sharp tactics and precise moves to get an Absolute victory.

We introduced this feature in order to increase replayability, encourage and reward players who try to do everything perfectly. It is intended to be a nearly impossible feat on your first playthrough. However, as you master the game it will be easier to get it.

As it as an EA period and there is no difficulty settings atm, everyone play on the same difficulty level. So, we have come up with an idea of a mini-contest. Do not take it too seriously, it is mostly for your fun sake.

The first player to get an Absolute victory on Guadalcanal and send us his save files pack throughout the mission (at least 1 save per turn) and post a screenshot (the time of its publication on screenshots section of our community hub will be considered the time of submission) with his/her result on our community hub will get 3 free keys to share with his friends and play together.

Will also post the results of the contest. Please, after you published a screenshot, send us a letter with a link to it and your save files (located C:\Users\%Username%\AppData\Local\StarniGames\StrategicMind\ThePacific Note that “AppData” is a hidden folder) at starnigames.alexandr@gmail.com

The first one to do it with a) unmodified version of the game; b) posted screenshot c) sent us an email with a link to screenshot and save files (at least 1 per turn) wins.

We hope that you will enjoy participating in this small challenge or just observing it from the side.

Good luck strategists!
Starni Games development team

Changes:

• Fixed crash when trying to replace non-core unit Equipment while not having enough Prestige.
  
• Fixed crash when buying Equipment to the 2nd slot, then selling from the 1st slot and finishing the operation.
  
• Fixed a few other problems causing crashes.

All these fixes were done with the help of crash report form. Once again we thank everyone who reports problems and thus helps us make a better game.

• Fixed bug: when your aircraft landed at an Airfield with enemy controlled supply point / maritime hub and then you capture the supply point / maritime hub then your Aircraft gets Ammunition and Fuel but does not restore Damaged strength. Now it does restore.
  
• Fixed visual problem: when an Aircraft lands on a Carrier the hex where it was before the landing is still highlighted after the landing as if it is there.

That`s it for today`s update.

We move step-by-step towards a higher quality of the game. Today`s update is another step in that direction.

Our team wishes you all a good weekend!

Update 1.02
Changes:

• Fixed several issues causing crashes. (With the help of our new crash report form)

Since 1.01 update many players have used crash report form to send us information about these issues. These reports allowed us to fix some of them in a timely manner. We thank everyone who used the form to report problems. It is a tremendous help.

We believe that when your help is added to our continuous efforts, the resulting synergy will increase the quality of the final product by a considerable margin.

Note that you can enter your comment in the crash report form, and it will be more helpful if you could describe what you were doing when the crash occurred. (Sometimes it is unclear, so you may leave that field empty if there was no particular action before the crash)

We hope that now there are less crashes and your playing experience will be more enjoyable. However, should you encounter any crashes you now know what to do.

Make sure to report any crashes you encounter to add your personal contribution towards a final version of the game.

Starni games development team