ANCIENTS Ancients is a game of tactical combat for any period 1300 B.C.-1450 A.D., reminiscent, to those who can reminisce that far back, of SPI's old Phalanx game. The game comes with 200 half-inch counters and four maps (each approximately 8"x10") mounted on sturdy glossy paper. Essentially this is a game of tactical combat, with each unit representing from about 5004,000 men, depending upon the size of the battle. Some 16 scenarios are included, ranging from Kadesh, in 1288 B.C., to Agincourt, with ample instructions for designing your own scenarios. Various troop types are included, ranging from chariots to armored knights. Optional rules cover things such as arrow supplies, duels between leaders, elephants, dismounting cavalry and my personal favorite "luck-free combat". Although a fairly simple game, that is no real drawback. If it's easy to understand, it will be easy to play. Ancients, although it came with an errata sheet, did not come with a price, but it is available from the designer, William L. Banks, Good Industries, 4862 S. Salida Ct., Aurora, CO 80015. RAF Solitaire games are always rare in this hobby, despite the well-known fact that a majority of wargamers are often, if not usually, forced to rely upon themselves as opponents. RAF, designed by John Butterfield, who also did Victory Games' successful solitaire game, Ambush, is a good solitaire recreation of the Battle of Britain, with the player representing the defenders. An intriguing system gives the random non-player (the game system itself) a mind of its own, as the player struggles through three different scenarios to defeat the Luftwaffe. A good game for the solo gamer, with features easily adaptable to your own campaigns (especially naval), and a vailablefrom West End Games, 251 W. 30th St., New York, NY 10001, for a mere $19.95. WORLD IN FLAMES Looking for a good strategic game on any topic? All you have to do to insure getting the best game is to remember five little words: Harry Rowland and Greg Pinder, a.k.a. Australian Design Group. Co-designers of the overwhelmingly successful EMPIRES IN ARMS, which I shall mention in the next issue, these two and theirassociates have most recently given us WORLD IN FLAMES: Global Conflict, 1939-45. WORLD IN FLAMES is the gamethat GLOBAL WAR (remember that one, gang?) could have been. Encompassing not onlythe entire European and Pacific theaters of war, it also includes virtually every factor that had strategic impact on World War II. For instance, the game has rules for: Production, weather, partisans, convoys, strategic bombing, neutrals, lend-lease, coups (in Syria and Yugoslavia), movement between theaters, and a host of political factors, each of which can increase the chances of U.S. entry into the war. Units are corps, with air and naval equivalents. Using bi-monthly turns, WORLD IN FLAMES has several scenarios (including those using just one of the two7-color maps and onetheater), but surely the most interesting of these is the 1939 campaign game. Beginning with the German attack on Poland, and the Japanese already mired in China, this game allows players to explore many different avenues of strategy, such as the effects of a German attack on Gibraltar, a Japanese attack on Russia in 1941 (or a Russian attack on Japan in 1939!),, earlier or later U.S. entry into the war, and varying production strategies for all of the powers. The space I have scarcely permits me to describe the game's unique system of play, but suffice it to say that players never know which sidewill move first, orwhen a turn will end, thus making "perfect" plans invariably less than that. Playable by from 2-6 (with separate players possible for the U.S., Great Britain, Russia, Germany, Italy and Japan), the game also includes the armed forces of many smaller nations, with France and China the most prominent. Each side playstosecure certain strategic objectives, the most important of which are secretly chosen by that side and not revealed until the end of the game (though there are many objectives of which both sides are all too aware). In fast company, a turn can last from 15 minutes to two or three hours, depending on how many impulses there are (usually 4-6); what the weather is (bad weather speeds up a turn), and what players intend to do. This game is not really adaptable to miniatures gaming - but that's not the reason to buy it, because in my opinion WORLD IN FLAMES is the best strategic game of World War II ever to be produced. Available at most gamestores, it retails at $35-40, a pricethat givesyou not only the smart unmounted maps (done not by the designers, but by professional cartographers, something other neophyte game designers should look into), 1,000 back-printed counters, and a number of charts, etc. Hey, listen - these guys don't even advertise with us, and I've spent a whole column on their game. You've got to buy it! Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VII #2 To Courier List of Issues To MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 1986 by The Courier Publishing Company. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com