It seems fitting, especially given its rather Shakespearean breadth in attempting to encompass the defining, and most dramatic, historical event of this century, that we use one Harry (Henry V) to define the key (actually sole) work of another (Mr Rowland). Harry’s World In Flames (WiF), the most creatively successful All-of-WWII-in-One-Box game, has also been one of the most remarked-upon stories in wargaming circles, a rather crowded circle, considering the number of similar projects out there. During that time, as Harry seems to have discovered a true Cash Cow. ADG is the only company that has made money by selling, essentially, the same game, over and over. (“Europa” is a system, not a game.) It’s as if Sylvester Stallone kept re-issuing the original “Rocky”, each time with a few new lines and some better punching. Come to think of it, isn’t that we he did try to do? I first discovered WiF over ten years ago, always viewing it as a "work in progress" that attempted to simulate the most complex event in human history (the Second World War). (Ed. Actually, it comes in a distant second to trying to get ahold of Jeff Tibbetts.) By "work in progress" I not meant the usual 3W product. It simply reflects the fact that the scope of WiF is enormous, and the stream of errata that followed its initial release was, mostly, a constant upgrading of WiF's abilities to better portray the events of WW II. WiF5 is the current version of the “base” game; all of the rest of the above listings are add-on modules. The "Gold" designation refers to the fact that there was an earlier version of the module which. This is only important with PiF, where the first version is greatly inferior. The special niche that WiF has developed stems from two factors. First, WiF is one of the few games that allows the gamer to examine the entire Second World War in a chronological fashion, in all its theaters, in one game. [Ed. cf. review of Rising Sun, somewhere hereabouts.) Second, WiF has a game system that elegantly integrates land, naval and air movement/combat. This was initially unique to WiF and still stands as its single greatest achievement. When one plays WiF, one really does get an appreciation for the difficulties inherent in making global war. It took ten years, but WiF5 now works with few rules disputes and questions. The only problem is that, now, WiF5 is out of print, soon to be replaced by an update with new maps and new counters called WiF Classic . Whether ADG will refrain from tinkering with what is already an excellent, playable, global strategic level game of WW II is a question which will create much discussion. WiF uses two maps, each with a different scale. The European map has a hex scale of approximately 60 miles across, and the Pacific, African and Central Asian maps come in at 120 miles across. The maps are generally clear and easy to use, with a hexagonal grid imposed on the land surfaces and the sea areas being divided into areas. This basic structure meshes well and results in fairly seamless play when moving from naval influences to land actions. The counters are all state of the art, some of the best around, with the newer modules having units with their years of availability printed on the back of the counter. The WiF system uses a turn of variable length, subdivided into individual player phases called impulses. WiF pioneered this concept with its first incarnation, and this basic structure still serves the system well ten years after its inception. Each player must determine what kind of impulse he wishes to undertake, and this decision will determine how much of any one type of move he will be allowed. The "Action" choice is the single most important decision that a player has to make in an impulse, and it comes in four flavors: Pass, Naval, Combined and Land. While one could quibble with the number of specific moves each Action choice allows, the basic limitation serves a useful design purpose to prevent the typical gamer from wanting to be able to move everything at once. A simple but elegant device is used to impose a further limit on unrestricted use of units during each two-month turn: simply flipping a used unit over to its reverse side. Once a unit is flipped, it can no longer participate in any offensive operations unless it is a HQ handy. HQs, Air Transports and Naval transports have the capacity to unflip units and regenerate their offensive potential. One can even build an Offensive Chit which has the ability to unflip HQs. This regeneration of flipped HQs can have a profound effect on game play, yet the rule itself is simple to understand and play. Thus, the system neatly provides an understandable, yet potentially sophisticated, method of reflecting unit use and capability. WiF takes full advantage of this, providing a remarkably accessible game system which hides its nuances (generally buried somewhere in the errata) well. Yet extended play only deepens the attraction. The system is so varied that no game will every play exactly the same way twice; WiF is much less prone to the perfect set up/move syndrome than most game designs. WiF5 is a Corps/Army level land game with air units representing 200-500 aircraft and naval units representing two capital ships, groups of light ships, carriers, transports and submarines. AfA and AsA bring additional smaller (Divisions and Artillery) units which represent the various army's flexibility and training along with the specialized units which frequently affected historical campaigns. They also add the African and Central Asian maps, which really let one make global war without using off-map boxes. PiF adds specific air unit types so that the gamer sees his air force improve from Bf-109s to Me-262s. SiF drops the concept of Light Ships and replaces it with the Surface Combat Ships (SCS), which is a specific Capital Ship or Cruiser (named) and its accompanying supporting ships (DDs and DEs). Carriers are now individual units with a specific attached air component, which looks just like a PiF air unit (with a few additional capabilities and disabilities). ADG has done a good job with SiF, which adds nuance to an already elegant naval system. The improved convoy resource transportation rules are a major improvement, and the new naval ratings (defensive and range) provide greater detail and realism. The only problem is that the new SUB rules do not work very well. ADG has fixed this problem, but the errata will not be generally available until the publication of the next issue of the official WiF newsletter, “Lines of Communication”. (Ed. Not to be confused with the newsletter of the same name published by Le Marshalate gaming group.) MiF, one counter sheet and four pages of rules which accompany the “94/95 WiF Annual,” enhances the distinction between foot/cavalry/motorized/mechanized units, which affects both movement and combat capabilities. ADG has hit a home run with MiF, which is basically errata free and contains a wonderful unit capability chart. All of the above add-ons create a game - referred to by the WiF grognards, or Flamers, as “Full Blown World In Flames or FBWiF5” - which is unrivaled in scope, one that permits play of a strategic level WW II wargame on an unparalleled level. After repeated playing of all the modules, all, except for DoD2, add to the overall effect of WiF and enhance its ability of to mirror history. The downside to the enhanced game, of course, is additional complexity, more errata, and ambiguous rules. As noted, though, not all is smiles and huzzahs all around in the WiF universe. There is the Australian gobbler, Day of Decision. DoD2 starts in 1936 and attempts to allow the gamer to play out the diplomatic/economic/political events which lead up to the outbreak of the WWII and continue on through the duration of the war. Sadly, DoD2 only works if you want it to. It is not just that the diplomatic and economic choices are full of holes; there is also a serious problem in integrating DoD2 into WiF5. DoD2 is a game of three ideologies (Democracies, Fascists and Communists) which attempts to fold into a WiF5 designed essentially as a two sided (Axis and Allies) system. The fit does not work. This is most unfortunate, because the diplomatic/economic/political aspects of the game could add greatly to WiF's ability to model events of the 1936-1946 period. The “WiF 94/95 Annual” does contain a scenario for integrating DoD2 with the 1939 Global War Scenario from WiF5, but the basic problems of the former still remain. Another major problem that has developed with all of the add-on modules is that the units added to FBWiF5 has made it more difficult for the design to allow the kind of mobile campaigns that occurred periodically throughout the war (e.g. France '40, Russia '41, Russia '44, and France '44). ADG has met this challenge with a somewhat bloodier, two dice CRT, found in AfA. Further, WiF now has a wrinkle found in the aforementioned "offensive chit", which permits a HQ to increase the odds in an overrun attack. Now Guderian can stage his breakthrough at Sedan in 1940. While this does help "unstick" the game from a World War I mind set, I see the use of Zones of Control in a strategic game of WiF's scale as the principle culprit. I have been playing the game without a ZoC (and we stop to acknowledge the sound of cheers arising from San Luis Obispo) for over a year with very good results. However, the game also works with the ADG Offensive Chit overrun fix, albeit with a bit more of the old deus ex machina (the Obispo cheers quickly change to boos with this unwanted Latin flavor) than with No ZoC. Ultimately, a No ZoC approach provides a richer feel to the land combat system. All of this shuffling about and incessant changing leads to a sore point concerning ADG’s approach to its adherents. ADG just has not provided any real customer support for WiF up to this point. This is rather strange for a company that is composed of some very likable people. ADG seemed to view all errata as intellectual property to be doled out only in limited, measured amounts. ADG has, heretofore, avoided the internet, although a number of US playtesters have taken up the electronic task of attempting to provide answers to WiF questions on an "unofficial" basis. An the Canadian Wargamer Journal seems to be a quasi-official source of WiF-ormation. However, this may be changing with the advent of an email address (WiFlames@slonet.org). There is also a very active Internet WiF-list (wif@supernova.uwindsor.ca), which provides a high volume of discussion of WiF in all its manifestations. Yes, we understand that ADG is on the other side of the world, but, hopefully, these developments signal an end to such self-imposed isolationism. WiF5 works very well for those who want a playable but reasonably simple strategic overview of WW II. It does so with some sacrifice of realism, because it lacks the specialized units which shaped some of the events of the war. If one wants everything, then there is FBWiF5 (all the modules except for DoD2). From that viewpoint, it is the best detailed strategic overview of WW II in existence. It is still a work in progress though. There is errata that is ambiguous, and there are still refinements of the rules to be worked out. On the other hand, WiF provides a comprehensive view of WW II like nothing else. Better still, more and more work is being done on scenarios designed to allow the gamer to do a specific campaign rather than the entire war, an undertaking best suited for group play in multiple gaming sessions. The Pacific War done with SiF is an absolute eye opener to those who thought they had seen every nuance of that side of the war. All these scenarios make WiF more accessible to gamers with limited time and/or space. Ten years of gestation for WiF has paid off with a complex, nuanced overview of the Second World War. It is a gaming pleasure that should not be missed. CAPSULE COMMENTS Graphic Presentation: Great counters, good map Playability: Easy to grasp rules, filled with errata which has only recently been compiled in one place (WiF 94/95 Annual). It will take repeated play to grasp all the nuances. Replayability: WiF contains so many variables that it will never play the same way twice and will challenge the gamer each and every time. Also enables you to grasp those elusive nuances. Historicity: Excellent. Allows the entire war to unfold in acceptably chronological order. Creativity: Ten years ago WiF was a real ground breaker. Now much of its rules are standard. No other strategic war game matches WiF for its seamless meshing of naval, air and ground operations. Wristage: Not oppressive. Comparisons: WiF's only direct competitor is A3R, which pales in the comparison, even with the welcome addition of Rising Sun. Does not have the detail of the “Europa” system; then again, you can play WiF without renting Rhode Island, and the system is still not mired in the ‘70’s. Overall: Considering it is still a "work in progress", WiF remains the single best strategic war game on the Second World War. from AUSTRALIAN DESIGN GROUP WORLD IN FLAMES, 5th Edition (WiF5) [$50 - now out of print]; PLANES IN FLAMES, Gold (PiF) [$25]; AFRICA AFLAME, Gold (AfA) [$20]; ASIA AFLAME, Gold (AsA) [$20]; DAYS OF DECISION 2 (DoD2) [$50]; SHIPS IN FLAMES (SiF) [$30]; MECH IN FLAMES (MiF) [included in the WiF 94/95 ANNUAL]; WiF 94/95 ANNUAL [$20] … for a total investement of $215, all from ADG. Back to Berg's Review of Games Vol. II # 20 Table of Contents Back to Berg's Review of Games List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1994 by Richard Berg This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. 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