TSR (1989, $25.00)
Designed by David Cook
Players 2 or 4
Playing 1 hour or more
Time Period World War II ETO Scale
Strategic Turn 3 months
Map area movement
Unit Army/Fleet

Components
Box 12"x22"x1 1/2" long box
1 35"x21" mounted mapboard
1 32 page rulebook
360 die-cut stand-up units
182 die-cut counters
1 44 plastic stands*
1 Axis Player Aid Card
1 Allied Player Aid Card
4 dice: red 2d10 & yellow 2d10
* The component manifest specifies 144 plastic stands but my shrinkwrapped copy had only 120.

Stand-up unit manifest
99 gray German (including 2 extra units without stats printed on them)
87 red Russian (2 are extras)
57 olive American (1 is an extra)
48 white U.K.
25 blue French
22 green Italian
11 yellow Polish
6 tan Neutrals
5 tan blanks

Counter manifest 36 gray
27 red
25 olive
20 white
21 blue
14 green
39 tan

TSR says

“[A] game of the land, sea, and air combat fought in Europe and the Middle East during World War II ... Each player (or team of 2 players) takes command of the forces of one of the major alliances of the war - either the Allies (The United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, the United States, France, and Poland) or the Axis (Germany and Italy.) Each player must choose strategies, build forces, and conduct campaigns as supreme commander.”

The reviewers say

“If in fact Europe Aflame has been marketed with the newcomer in mind it misses the mark. The novice will find it time consuming to wade through the rules. Poor editing has created a certain vagueness, only adding to the level of frustration encountered ... Once into the actual playing of the game, wargamers will not be disappointed. Europe Aflame is a step up in complexity. Every scenario presents plenty of variety to keep things interesting. More than enough surprises exist to keep the game exciting.” Ted Bleck in F&M 63.

“[A] throwback to TSR games of [the mid-eighties]. An inspired design has been followed with competent, not wholly complete development work.

Once the players have gotten past the often vague rules and understand what the designer tried to simulate, the game is intriguing.” Terry Coleman in F&M 73.

Comments

Europe Aflame is played on a colorful topographic map portraying most of Europe and a strip of North Africa. Stretching from Ireland to Iran, the map cuts off the northern areas of Sweden, Norway and Finland. The game uses folding units mounted in plastic stands to keep the exact strength of each unit hidden from the opposing player. The game offers many of the features a grognard would expect from an ETO game: fortresses, amphibious invasions, naval transport, strategic movement, partisans, paratroops, wolf packs, lend lease and non-aggression pacts. The game also adds an element of variety by randomly varying the arrival of America, Italy and Russia into the war.

Europe Aflame falls somewhere between the complexity of Third Reich and the wargame-lite of Axis & Allies. The game includes a great deal of chrome without the overwhelming complexity of weightier games on the subject. On the other hand, the rules are definitely a step above those found in the Gamemaster series and other introductory games.

Perhaps this middling complexity level kept the game from catching on.

Collector’s Notes

While Europe Aflame does not seem to be in great demand, it doesn’t seem to come up for sale as frequently as the other long box TSR games released around the same time. This means you can expect to do a little looking to find a copy, but should be pleased with the price once you find one. Boone lists low/high/average prices of 3/11/7.40 at auction and 8/25/13.34 for sale.

Other TSR wargames using stand-up units

The Hunt for Red October; A Line in the Sand; and Red Storm Rising.

Introduction
Eagle Day Battle of Britain 1940
Eastern Front Tank Leader World War II
Eighth Air Force: Air War Over Europe, 1942-45
Escape From Altassar Sci-Fi POW
Europe Aflame World War II