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 What is World In Flames? World In Flames is Australian Design Group’s: http://www.a-d-g.com.au/ enormous WWII epic board game. The first edition of the game was printed in 1985. The most recent version is the 6th edition which was printed in 1996. The most recent update was in 2012 which changed the color of the Commonwealth's units from dark blue to khaki. The full 6th edition also uses a much better looking map, full new production charts, which totals over 10,000 individual counters. Here is a comparison of what the 5th edition and earlier maps look like to the newest version: (older on the left, newer on the right)  I will be using the VASSAL module which can be obtained here: http://www.vassalengine.org/wiki/Module:World_in_Flames My VASSAL module has a few charts that I have made myself that are not on that file. If you want it, PM me and I can email it to you. If you are looking at buying and playing something like what I am going to use here, make sure you have the space for it, or at least have a spouse or significant other that cares you take up that much space for a really long rear end time. The actual storage of the game doesn’t take up much. Four boxes the game comes in, and counter boxes. I can fit that on half a shelf. The huge full layout of the game consists of six 574mm x 820mm maps: two for North and South America, two for Europe, two for the Asia/Pacific theatre, a very tiny section for northern Scandinavia, and a smaller map for Africa south of the Sahara. If you choose to play what I am here, you also need another spot for the production area and naval task forces that equals one of the full maps as well. There is a much smaller mini-map used for North and South America, and a smaller production circle, if you want a simpler game. I have played two games of WiF, one in a friend’s basement that we played through until 1945, and the first game was in my own apartment that we played through until the middle of 1944. I don’t remember how long the first game took, but for the other game, we usually played about six or eight hours one day almost every week and it took us about 18 to 20 months to get to that point. What time periods will this game cover? Each game turn consists of two months. Six game turns in a single year. There will be multiple impulses for each side during the turns. There are a minimum of two impulses per side. There are numerous rules that will be explained in later posts. (See the table of contents at the end of this post) Our game will start on the Sept/Oct 1939 turn with the German invasion of Poland and will end after the Nov/Dec 1950 turn. Unless the major powers on two of the three sides have been conquered before then: Western Allies, Communists, or the Axis. But wait, WWII ended in 1945!! Yes, but our game will consist of the “race to be a superpower” version. What does that mean? That means that the Communists will go starting WWIII against the Western Allies and be at war with the democracies a minimum of two game turns after the three major Axis powers have been defeated, as long the Communists haven’t been conquered by the Axis first. IF that is the case, then it will be the Western Allies against the Axis. During the war against the Axis, the Communists take their turn simultaneously with the Western Allies. Also, the Allies will be able to give the Communists lend lease production and resources. What are the major countries on each side? The major Western Allies are:      the British Commonwealth (the UK, Canada, India, South Africa, Australia are the major powers), you will see them labelled on the maps as “CW”. France USA Nationalist China The major Axis powers are:    Germany Italy Japan The major Communist powers are:   USSR Communist China – (they are a minor power and subject to the action limits of the USSR, until a point that the USSR recognizes them, more on this later) Each side has several minor countries and territories under their control at the start. Some of these countries can align to their side during the game, or can switch sides during the course of the game, depending on what occurs. There are several neutral countries Maps: Table Of Contents: (in process of writing)
Turns:
will_colorado fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Dec 14, 2015 |
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Jan 3, 2015 08:37
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List of countries, territories, resources, factories, required trade agreements as of Sept/Oct 1939 (this will update as the game progresses): Axis major powers: Germany:
Under German control:
--------------------------------- Italy:
Under Italian control:
Conquered by Italy:
-------------------------------- Japan:
Under Japanese control:
Conquered by Japan:
-------------------------------- Communist major powers: USSR:
-------------------------------- Allied major powers: USA:
Under USA control:
USA controls the Panama Canal ----------------------------------- Commonwealth:
Commonwealth controlled:
CW controls the ports:
--------------------------------- France:
Under French control:
--------------------------------- China:
--------------------------------- Neutral nations at the start: Central/West Europe:
Balkans/Southeast Europe
Scandinavia
Middle East
Central America
South America
--------------------------------------- Active trade agreements: For Germany:
For Italy:
For Japan:
For USA:
For Commonwealth:
For France:
For USSR:
------------------------------------ US Entry options that have been played: (added later) will_colorado fucked around with this message at 20:30 on Jan 10, 2015 |
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Jan 3, 2015 08:38
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I know just enough about WiF to know that you're drat crazy for doing this. Let's get it on.
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Jan 3, 2015 08:52
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This seems like a sensibly designed boardgame. I imagine they used a blowtorch and a drydock some time during its construction.
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Jan 3, 2015 09:08
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Always been intrigued by this game but could never actually buy it simply because I don't know anyone who would be able to participate for so long on a physical board so I just ended up playing/buying Axis and Allies. It'll definitely be very interesting to see how this goes, godspeed!
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Jan 4, 2015 00:19
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Played this once but we never got past the beginning of 1941. Good thing, too, since due to some absolutely ridiculous rolls that's when the US joined in.
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Jan 4, 2015 00:44
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World in Flames is a wargame with a lot of people who play it exclusively and evangelize it, and I don't know why. Everything about it feels really bloated to me, but I look forward to seeing it in action.
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Jan 4, 2015 01:37
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Drone posted:I know just enough about WiF to know that you're drat crazy for doing this. Gotta be a little out there to even own a game like this. Pimpmust posted:This seems like a sensibly designed boardgame. I imagine they used a blowtorch and a drydock some time during its construction. It has just about everything you can think of in a WWII era strategic game. Jobbo_Fett posted:Always been intrigued by this game but could never actually buy it simply because I don't know anyone who would be able to participate for so long on a physical board so I just ended up playing/buying Axis and Allies. It just takes up so much space to play a game of this, and you have to keep it setup for so long. I have only been able to play a full game just a couple of times. Don't get me wrong, I love playing A&A too, especially if I don't have the time or space for this. At least it's on the VASSAL module and can be played on a PC. Prop Wash posted:Played this once but we never got past the beginning of 1941. Good thing, too, since due to some absolutely ridiculous rolls that's when the US joined in. The US sometimes cannot be stopped if they get lucky good rolls. The Axis have to get what they need done before the US overwhelms them. Panzeh posted:World in Flames is a wargame with a lot of people who play it exclusively and evangelize it, and I don't know why. Everything about it feels really bloated to me, but I look forward to seeing it in action. Even I think it's bloated if you are using everything available. I will use as much as possible here, as long as it actually adds units and pieces on the map. I will not be using the Politics in Flames part. There are some ways to slim it down: don't use as many of the optional rules, use the production circle chart instead of the newest factories charts. Don't use the politics in flames part of the game. Don't use the divisions or artillery units. Don't use the carrier planes. But it just depends on how much stuff you want to mange. Thanks for following my thread everyone. I want to post a few things regarding the rules and explaining everything first before actually starting the game. Hopefully I can get posting at least a couple of times a week. I should have the next post up that explains moving resources around the maps to factories next. will_colorado fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Jan 4, 2015 |
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Jan 4, 2015 02:04
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This looks amazing! Mind telling me what neutral countries can flip and how? I imagine South American countries can't but more European ones like Switzerland or Yugoslavia can.
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Jan 4, 2015 03:49
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Top Hats Monthly posted:I imagine South American countries can't but more European ones like Switzerland or Yugoslavia can. Why not? Argentina was pro-axis and Brazil even sent expeditionary forces to Europe for the Allies.
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Jan 4, 2015 05:29
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Why not? Argentina was pro-axis and Brazil even sent expeditionary forces to Europe for the Allies. I knew Mexico sent P-47s and Brazil sent some troops to Italy, I was just saying I can't imagine them flipping axis. If Ecuador or Argentina flipped axis they would become just a minor diversion in a severe beat down.
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Jan 4, 2015 05:35
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Top Hats Monthly posted:This looks amazing! Mind telling me what neutral countries can flip and how? I imagine South American countries can't but more European ones like Switzerland or Yugoslavia can. There are a lot of rules that I'll go over regarding the Balkan and Eastern European countries, it involves the trade agreement between the USSR and the Germans. Turkey can become Axis if there are enough German units in the USSR next to the Turkish border, same goes with Iraq and Persia. Spain can become an active Axis country if the Axis control Gibraltar Switzerland actually stays neutral through the entire game unless one side declares war on it. Yugoslavia can become either an Axis or Allied country depending on if the Axis control enough countries in the Balkans or if the Allies have enough land units in an adjacent country. Argentina can become an Axis country if either the Western Allies or the Communists declare war against any South American country. (mostly for the additional resources or to stop the Kreigsmarine Auxiliary Cruisers from being based there) Brazil, the countries in Central America and Cuba, and Mexico can become Allied once the USA is at war with Japan, Germany, and Italy, unless the Axis declare war on them first. will_colorado fucked around with this message at 06:59 on Jan 4, 2015 |
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Jan 4, 2015 05:50
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will_colorado posted:Argentina can become an Axis country if either the Western Allies or the Communists declare war against any South American country. (mostly for the additional resources or to stop the Kreigsmarine Auxiliary Cruisers from being based there) Can the Peru-Ecuadorian war happen? And if so, does it do anything to shift those countries from neutral to X ?
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Jan 4, 2015 06:09
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Can the Peru-Ecuadorian war happen? And if so, does it do anything to shift those countries from neutral to X ? sadly, no. Not unless one of the major powers starts poking around down there first.
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Jan 4, 2015 06:14
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Is this the game where the Italians have a separate water ration for their pasta? Or am I mixing it up with another (in)famously long wargame?
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Jan 4, 2015 16:47
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xelada posted:Is this the game where the Italians have a separate water ration for their pasta? Or am I mixing it up with another (in)famously long wargame? That's The Campaign for North Africa. which is recommended to be played with 10 persons: a commander and 4 supporters for each side.
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Jan 4, 2015 16:58
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Resources and Oil are what is used to build new units and keep them moving. (ignore the Nuclear research symbols right now) The first thing on the map is the orange resources; one is shown here in the hex east of Omaha. These are what are transported to factories to give a nation a production point. There are three types of factories: Red factories, like shown in St Louis, can be used by any nation: the home country or a conquering country. Some red factory cities can have more than one red factory in them, like Chicago and Detroit are shown, up to a maximum of three. There are blue factories on the map also, shown in Minneapolis here. Blue factories can be used only by the home country. The green factories shown are considered blue factories for all purposes. There is a maximum of one printed blue factory per city. Both red and blue factories may be moved via rail to another city. (The USSR can do this to move their factories to Siberia away from the Germans) If they are moved, at the destination city, they are considered to be blue. A maximum of three factories can be in a single city at any time. Oil resources are printed with the purple circle and oil well. They can be used in the same manner as orange resources. However, oil resources can also be saved in a city or a port, or used to reorganize units so they may be able to be used in the next turn (more on this later). Some nations also have synthetic oil plants, that start on the map, or may be built in the future, which provide them with an additional single oil resource each.  How are these resources sent to a factory? The resources are moved via rail, sea convoy points, and in some instances, roads. Example here:  Italy has one resource in Sardinia. The resource is moved along the rail line to the minor port in Cagliari, over the single convoy point in the sea zone, to the minor port next to Rome, then along the rail again to the factory in Rome. If there were two resources in Sardinia, two convoy points would be needed. An unlimited number of resources can be moved along rail lines, however if the rail line is damaged by strategic bombing, only one resource may be moved along it through the damaged hex. Oil, regular resources, factories, and saved resources, may be targeted by strategic bombing as well. Some areas have roads printed at the start of the game (Burma Road is an example); an unlimited number of resources along these specific roads. Resources may only pass through hexes that you control, hexes through a neutral minor country, and hexes through countries on your same side. The Western Allies can only move resources through the USSR if the USSR and Germany are at war. The Western Allies may give the USSR lend-lease resources, oil, or build points, but cannot move their own through the USSR until then.  Minor ports, as shown in Dover, may only have a maximum of 5 resources or build points moved into the port or out the port during the production step. Major ports, here in London and Portsmouth, have a blue background and an unlimited number may be moved in or out.  There also ports that can be iced-in when the weather is snow or blizzard. No resources can be sent in or out if they are iced-in. A resource may be moved over sea convoy once, going through as many sea zones as needed, in route to a factory; the route can be land to sea zones to land, but in cannot be moved via sea zones more than once in route to a factory. Oil resources are transported in the exact same manner, but if they are transported over a sea convoy, they must be in tanker convoys. Any resource or oil can be sent directly form a hex via a sea convoy without a port or rail line, if the hex it is a coastal hex. How does this determine what can be built? For each resource used in a factory, that provides the nation one production point. For every two regular (orange) resources that are brought to a nation’s home country factories from another country or territory, that nation receives an additional production point. The total production points is multiplied by that country’s production multiple to determine the total number of build points they will receive.  Since we are playing past the 1945 date, the maximum base production multiple will increase by .25 in 1946, and .25 in 1947 and will remain at that amount going forward, excluding the US. The maximum base US production multiple can be 2.5. (Note the additional bonuses given, will go over the US rules later) Build points may also be moved via regular convoys in and out of ports, or along rail lines as part of lend lease between countries or the Commonwealth’s countries. Example: It is at the Jan/Feb 1940 production. Germany has 8 resources of their own, 1 resource from Czechoslovakia, and 3 resources from Sweden, and is using 2 oil resources in production. The German production multiple in 1940 is .75. They have 16 production points: 12 from the resources, 2 from the oil, and 2 from bringing in 4 total resources from outside the German home country. 16 multiplied by .75 equal 12. The Germans would have 12 build points to use. Build points may be saved in cities or ports in the same way as an oil resource would be. Next up: unit types, build cost, movement cost, etc. will_colorado fucked around with this message at 06:54 on Jan 5, 2015 |
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Jan 5, 2015 04:39
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xelada posted:Is this the game where the Italians have a separate water ration for their pasta? Or am I mixing it up with another (in)famously long wargame? As opera mouse said, it's much more strategic detail than that level of tactical detail. Combat is just adding up combat values on both sides, adjusting for being in cities, blitzkrieg, artillery, disorganized units, etc, and rolling a pair of 10 sided dice and seeing what the result is on a chart. I should have the units info up, hopefully this evening, but definitely no later than tomorrow evening.
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Jan 6, 2015 02:33
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Would there ever be a reason to move your blue industry from say, Omaha or Minneapolis if you're in no danger of being attacked?
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Jan 6, 2015 06:11
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will_colorado posted:Blue factories can be used only by the home country. The green factories shown are considered blue factories for all purposes. Sorry, I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying green factories and blue factories are identical? Then why are they separate categories?
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Jan 6, 2015 07:03
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Top Hats Monthly posted:Would there ever be a reason to move your blue industry from say, Omaha or Minneapolis if you're in no danger of being attacked? No, if a country is not in danger of some sort of land invasion or strategic bombing, they would normally not waste a rail movement to do that. John Liver posted:Sorry, I'm not sure I follow. Are you saying green factories and blue factories are identical? Then why are they separate categories? Yes they are considered identical for this full expanded game. The green ones are ignored in some shorter scenarios that only span just a few turns, or that only use one or two of the maps. will_colorado fucked around with this message at 08:02 on Jan 6, 2015 |
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Jan 6, 2015 07:28
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Wikipedia posted:Hitler and Franco met at Hendaye, France on 23 October 1940 to fix the details of an alliance. By this time, the advantages had become less clear for either side. Franco asked for too much from Hitler. In exchange for entering the war alongside the alliance of Germany and Italy, Franco, among many things, demanded heavy fortification of the Canary Islands as well as large quantities of grain, fuel, armed vehicles, military aircraft and other armaments. In response to Franco's nearly impossible demands, Hitler threatened Franco with a possible annexation of Spanish territory by Vichy France. At the end of the day, no agreement was reached. A few days later in Germany, Hitler would famously tell Mussolini, "I prefer to have three or four of my own teeth pulled out than to speak to that man again!" It is subject to historical debate whether Franco overplayed his hand by demanding too much from Hitler for Spanish entry into the war, or if he deliberately stymied the German dictator by setting the price for his alliance unrealistically high knowing full well that Hitler would refuse his demands and thus save Spain from entering another devastating war. Also, Abwehr chief Wilhelm Canaris, who secretly relayed information to Franco about the German plans, might have convinced Franco not to agree to Hitler's demands. I am curious what would've made Franco actually join the war, though I don't think the pressure from the racialists and other fascists in Spain (the country protected Jews historically) would've been enough, even in the event of the fall of Gibraltar (all other things being historical). Franco also disliked Hitler for his intense cultism (positive Christianity?). --- So are you going to be playing as all sides? Readingaccount fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Jan 6, 2015 |
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Jan 6, 2015 13:11
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Who's playing who?
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Jan 7, 2015 03:58
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WHAT KIND OF TANKS AND PLANES AND BOATS DO WE GET!!??!?!? You……….just calm down. World in Flames uses the NATO symbols for the land unit counters; most countries have corps and some divisions available. Most nations also have HQ land units available as well. Land unit types: Here is an Infantry HQ land unit.  (the front is on the left, the back is on the right) Let’s take a look at the front first. The left and right will have some kind of name/label/minor country label for the unit. This unit is Gen. MacArthur’s HQ unit. The middle will have the NATO symbol for the type of unit it is. The top will have the size of the unit. X or XX is a division, XXX or XXXX is a corps, XXXXX is usually an HQ. The bottom will have two numbers, HQ units have three. The left is the attack strength, here it’s 5. The middle is an HQ’s reorganization value (explained later, here it is 4). The right number is the movement points, 3 for this one. Any unit with white print numbers is considered an “elite” unit . If an elite (white print) unit is out of supply and becomes disorganized (flipped face down), it will defend with a combat value of 3, if it is not a white printe unit, in this situation; the combat value is 1. The back of the land unit, the middle show the NATO symbol for the type of unit it is. The year at the top is the year it is added to a nation’s force pool to be able to be built. Some units have “Res” in that spot on the back instead of the year. These are the reserve units that can be automatically called up after a nation is at war. Reserve units may be called up the impulse following a nation is at war. They arrive on the map face down immediately when called. When called up, Reserve units do not have to wait until the next turn's reinforcement phase to be placed. The bottom left in the green circle the cost of the unit in build points. The bottom right clock symbol is the number of game turns it takes to be built. Almost all of the same type of land units e.g.: HQ Infantry units for Germany, USA, USSR; will cost the same number of build points and turns across all countries. There may be certain differences for an individual unit, but that is rare. Infantry Corps (British):  Infantry Division (Japan):  Cavalry Corps (France):  Cavalry Division (USSR):  Armored HQ (Germany):  Armored Corps (Germany):  Armored Division (USA):  Mechanized Corps (Britain):  Mechanized Division (USSR):  Motorized Corps (Italy):  Motorized Division (USA):  Paratroop Corps (USSR): Paratroop units be used in a para drop attack via transport aircraft. (More on the combat rules later)  Paratroop Division (USA):  Mountain Corps (Switzerland): Mountain units defend at triple combat value in a mountain hex.  Mountain Division (USA):  Marine Corps (Japan): When invading a coast hex, Marine units' combat values are not halved like other units. There are other rules that I will go over later.  Marine Division (Japan):  Garrison Corps (Communist China):  Militia Corps (Germany): Militias may only be built in the city that is listed for them. If the city is occupied by an enemy nation, those cannot be built.  Ski Troops Division (Finland): Not all countries have these, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the USSR have ski units, there may be one other country that has them as well (I think it's Switzerland). They do not receive as many negatives when fighting in snow or in a blizzard  Engineer Division (Germany): Engineers divisions help prevent some of the negatives when attacking across rivers or cities.  When some nations conquered or liberate a specific city, they will receive a city unit which will arrive during the reinforcement step on the next turn. Example: The Germans receive this unit on the next turn after conquering Oslo:  The Americans receive this unit on the next turn if they liberate Naples:  If a city is retaken by another side, the city unit stays on the map until it is destroyed. The specific units can only be given out once, and cannot be rebuilt Some countries also have artillery, anti-tank, anti-aircraft units, and flak guns available: British artillery gun unit, this one is motorized, ones without the wheels on the symbol are non-motorized : Any artillery with a combat value in a gray may bombard an adjacent hex as part of a ground strike attack, if they ground strike an adjacent hex, they become disorganized and cannot be used in the land combat  American Anti-tank unit: (they have the triangle facing down) any type of artillery unit with a pink-circled combat value, that value is doubled when being attacked from a hex with any armor or mechanized unit. If the combat value is in red, the value is doubled with both attacking and defending against a hex with any armor or mechanized unit  Anti-air units and flak guns: (the AA units have the triangle facing up, flak gun units have the image of a flak gun) Some AA units also have a pink or red shaded attack value as anti-tank units. AA units and flak guns may fire up to four times before becoming disorganized. They can fire up to four times at aircraft in their own, or any adjacent hex, that it is being attacked with aircraft.  In the example here, this 88mm flak gun has a value of 10. It may fire at 4 different hexes for a value of 10 each, 2 different hexes with a value of 20, or all at a single hex at a value of 40. It may fire less than four times if chosen, it is not required to use all four shots at once. (the number of times fired can be shown by marking the unit with a label in the VASSAL module) Up next: Planes. will_colorado fucked around with this message at 05:11 on Feb 4, 2015 |
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Jan 7, 2015 06:01
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Readingaccount posted:I am curious what would've made Franco actually join the war, though I don't think the pressure from the racialists and other fascists in Spain (the country protected Jews historically) would've been enough, even in the event of the fall of Gibraltar (all other things being historical). In this game, the only way to get the Spanish on the Axis side is to control Gibraltar. Unless the Allies think it's easier to invade Europe by going through the mountains in Spain instead of the hedgerows in France.. I'm not sure what could have actually caused Spain to join the Axis side in reality. Would simply giving the Spanish the port of Gibraltar, if it could have even been taken, have been worth it in the cost of men and materiel for the Germans and what it likely would have cost the Regia Marina? I doubt it. Does Spain getting assistance from the Germans and Italians been worth it considering what the Americans and the British could have done to them after their own civil war? Probably no. IMO, If Spain was as equal as the Italians were, they and the Italians would have probably been at each others throat for control of places like the Baleares, Corsicia, North Africa. Could the British have handled essentially double what the Italians handed them? Don't know. Top Hats Monthly posted:Who's playing who? We can always post suggestions as to what they would do for a nation. I'll always try to post ITT before actually going through any actual combat and give a play-by-play after as to what happens will_colorado fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Jan 7, 2015 |
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Jan 7, 2015 06:34
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will_colorado posted:I'm not sure what could have actually caused Spain to join the Axis side in reality. Would simply giving the Spanish the port of Gibraltar, if it could have even been taken, have been worth it in the cost of men and materiel for the Germans and what it likely would have cost the Regia Marina? I doubt it. Does Spain getting assistance from the Germans and Italians been worth it considering what the Americans and the British could have done to them after their own civil war? Probably no. IMO, If Spain was as equal as the Italians were, they and the Italians would have probably been at each others throat for control of places like the Baleares, Corsicia, North Africa. Could the British have handled essentially double what the Italians handed them? Don't know. Actually, there was a plan for Germany to get Spain on their side during the war and its pretty well summed up on Wikipedia via Operation Felix. For those who don't wish to click, basically Spain wanted a lot of military and economic support in return for their participation as well as Gibraltar and French Morocco. Oh, and Germany would need to invade the British Isles. Now, maybe if Germany had been able to knock out the Royal Navy for good those demands would've been lessened but it's not like the Kriegsmarine had that capability. Not to mention that if they had knocked out the Royal Navy they probably wouldn't need Spain's help anyways. As for territorial squabbles, there's more than enough African soil for them to share that I doubt Italy and Spain would've been at odds.
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Jan 7, 2015 08:50
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PLANES! World in Flames has several different types of aircraft available to build. The planes that cost more are usually better overall than the lower cost planes, but it just depends on the specific unit you draw. Pilots You need a pilot for each plane unit in order to have it on the map and not in your reserve pool. Planes that are on the map at the start of the game already have a pilot for their unit. There is a pilot track for each major power (CW, France, USA, USSR, China, Japan, Italy, and Germany). Each major power also starts with a certain number of pilots in reserve, depending on the scenario. At the start of your side’s impulse, you may take an aircraft unit from the map, as long as it is in supply, and place the unit into your reserve to increase the number of pilots on your reserve track. Conversely you may add a plane from your reserve into a city, or adjacent hex next to a city, in your home country, as long as you have a pilot available. You may train new pilots; each new pilot takes 2 build points and 3 turns to train. Pilots cannot be given via lend-lease between major powers: the US cannot build pilots for the Commonwealth, and Germany cannot for Italy. However, all Commonwealth countries pilots go into a single total for all other Commonwealth countries. For example, the commonwealth may build pilots in Australia or India for reserve units that are placed on the map in Canada or in England (as they are all part of the commonwealth). There is no limit to the number of pilots a nation may have. Pilots may be decommissioned during the production step in a trade of reducing one pilot for one added build point. What do all these numbers on aircraft counters mean??  The number in the circle is the range of the aircraft. Some aircraft have this number as a white circle instead of yellow. For aircraft units, each hex and hex dot through a sea zone, on the two European maps costs 1 range point, on all other maps, including Scandinavia and Africa, costs 2 movement points. Once an aircraft has used up all of its movement, it must stop in that hex. (Should always try and save 1 or 2 points to return home) When flying an interception mission, an aircraft only can use half the printed range (round halves up). Only fighters and carrier planes may perform interception missions. After completing it's mission, an aircraft unit may return to a base within the printed range of the aircraft. Unused movement does not carry over to the return to base step. In the example here, this unit can move up to five hexes from it's existing hex, the return to base within 5 hexes of where it's mission occurred. If the aircraft has an orange arrow in the range value as shown below, they are capable of using extended range that is double the printed value. If an air unit uses the extended range value instead of normal range, their ground attack and strategic bombing factors are halved. (This represents replacing bombs with extra fuel tanks, etc)  The number on the back is the number of turns and build points it takes to build the unit. The top left is the aircraft’s air-to-air combat value. If this number is orange, the aircraft unit is a heavy fighter. If an air units combat value is listed in parenthesis, it is only used for defense against an enemy attacker and cannot roll to attack back.  If this number is in a black circle, this unit is a night fighter (they do not receive the air combat negative if you choose to fly in a night mission)  Some aircraft have both an orange rating and are night fighters.  The bottom left number is the ground attack value. This value is used when the unit is doing a ground strike mission or added in with a land attack in a ground support mission. Some units have their ground attack value in a red circle. When doing only a ground strike mission, these red circled tank buster units roll 2 dice to determine the outcome of the ground strike instead of 1, against any tank units or mechanized units.  The top right is the air to sea combat value. The bottom right is the strategic bombing value. If any aircraft unit has an asterisk in one of the four locations, it cannot do that type of mission Fighters Fighter units have a side view of the aircraft on the counter; the aircraft will face to the left. There are two types of fighters available: those that cost 2 build points and take 2 turns, and those that cost 3 build points and take 3 turns. Bombers There are two, three, and four turn bombers that can be built. They cost two, three, and four build points. The USA cannot build 4 cost/4 turn bombers until the US entry option for starting their strategic bomber program has been played. Bombers have a top down view and the aircraft faces up on the counter. Naval Bombers Naval Bombers are also 2 cost/2 turns, 3/3, or 4/4 as well. Units that are designated as naval bombers have a side view of the aircraft in a dive angle. Sub-Hunters Sub hunter aircraft only cost one build point and take one turn to be built. They will have either a pink or red air-to-sea value. They replace the same named existing aircraft unit on the map when built. They help with ASW combat. (will go over in the naval combat section)  Some aircraft units, like the Sunderland bomber shown here, have a vertical blue stripe in the middle of the counter. These represent flying boats, like the US PBY Catalinas or the German BV-222 Wiking. These specific types of aircraft must be based in a coast hex, or a hex with a lake border. Transports Different air transports also cost 2 build points/2 turns, 3/3, or 4/4. They have a top down view with the aircraft facing down on the counter.  Any aircraft can be used as an air transport unit if it has a white circled range number, even if it is not specifically an air transport unit. ATR units may be used to provide air supply to an out of supply unit. An ATR unit may only carry 1 paratroop corp, 1 mountain corps, or 2 infantry divisions (Mtn division, and an infantry division, or 2 paratroop divisions). Only paratroop corps or some specific divisions may participate in a para drop. Some air transports have a no-para drop symbol. They cannot be used for that action. Some air transports have a corps symbol also printed on the front, these are the extremely large transports, like the German me-323 Gigant, or the USA's C-54 Skymaster. These air transports can carry double a normal ATR, but if they do carry double, the air movement cost is also doubled. Carrier Based Planes Carrier planes cost 0, 1, or 2 build points and all take 3 turns to build. They may be stacked in land hexes with other aircraft, however in order to do any air mission other than a re-base mission, they must be based on a carrier that can hold their class level of aircraft. Let’s look at a couple of units here: This is one of the USA’s carrier based aircraft units. They have the same values in the four corners of the counter as other air units, and also a printed class level. This unit starts as in 1940 as a class 4 unit. This unit will only be able to fit on naval units with a carrier class of 4 or more, until 1942 when the class of the aircraft decreases to 2, and again in 1944 when in decreases to 1.  This is the front of the counter for the USS Essex.  Naval units that can hold carrier plane units will have the class number on their bottom right. Some ASW units also can hold carrier planes in addition to the CVs and CVLs. She can fit class 5 carrier plane units or smaller. Any eligible naval unit can fit a maximum of two carrier plane units as long as the total of those two does not exceed her class number. For the Essex she can carry a class 2 and a class 3, class 4 & class 1, two class 2 units, etc. Only the carrier plane aircraft units with a class value can be based on eligible naval units. Carriers and carrier plane classes have a color coded number as below from one through seven:  Seven: black. Six: purple. Five: red. Four: dark blue. Three: green. Two: orange. One: light blue. Foreign sourced aircraft: Some planes have a horizontal stripe in the middle (this stripe shows the origin country of the aircraft unit):  In the example here, the US must first build the matching Tomahawk, and be willing to give it to the Chinese. In order to use it, the Chinese must have an available pilot. When these planes become available, they are placed in the country’s lend-lease pool. The foreign country may build one of their aircraft that matches the selected named aircraft. If the foreign nation chooses to do so, during the reinforcement step of a turn, the foreign country’s aircraft may be placed in their lend-lease pool, and if the receiving country has a pilot and the striped aircraft is available, it may be placed on the map under their control. If a foreign sourced aircraft is destroyed, the foreign country’s aircraft must be rebuilt again to receive the unit again. Naval Unit info is next. will_colorado fucked around with this message at 23:07 on Jan 25, 2015 |
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Jan 8, 2015 08:01
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This is really cool! I stand behind this LP 100% How far into the future to aircraft get?
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Jan 8, 2015 15:41
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Actually, there was a plan for Germany to get Spain on their side during the war and its pretty well summed up on Wikipedia via Operation Felix. yeah, there was probably no realistic way the Kriegsmarine had the capability to take out the amount of the Royal Navy needed to invade Britain. Top Hats Monthly posted:This is really cool! I stand behind this LP 100% Thanks! This is the first LP I've done. Units go through 1950.
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Jan 9, 2015 06:16
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will_colorado posted:yeah, there was probably no realistic way the Kriegsmarine had the capability to take out the amount of the Royal Navy needed to invade Britain. With local air superiority you might have a chance at a landing but then you would probably run into supply and other issues soon after especially depending on what kind of losses both sides take. Stukas and other bomb/torpedo armed planes could deal a lot of damage. Also, since units go through 1950, do some countries get prototypes or "borrowed tech" units to reflect that? Like France during occupation or Germany post-OTL war?
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Jan 9, 2015 06:49
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Also, since units go through 1950, do some countries get prototypes or "borrowed tech" units to reflect that? Like France during occupation or Germany post-OTL war? Yes, the major countries get those types of units, mostly starting in the mid to late 40's: Here's the German's Gotha-229B flying wing fighter:  The Heinkel-277, which was Germany's planned long range bomber:  The V-3:  The USS New Hampshire, which was one of the five designed, but never built Montana-class battleships:  How big where the Montana-class ships?? Really, really, really big. Like really big:  Here's a size comparison of the planned USS Montana against the USS Missouri: 
will_colorado fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Jan 9, 2015 |
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Jan 9, 2015 07:23
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Always wanted to play this, and seeing as that's impossible, watch someone else attempt too. Wasn't there a PC version of this in development hell for a decade or more?
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Jan 9, 2015 07:54
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will_colorado posted:The USS New Hampshire, which was one of the five designed, but never built Montana-class battleships: Comstar posted:Always wanted to play this, and seeing as that's impossible, watch someone else attempt too. fermun fucked around with this message at 08:29 on Jan 9, 2015 |
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Jan 9, 2015 08:26
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fermun posted:http://www.matrixgames.com/products/296/details/World.In.Flames it eventually released, there was something hilariously broken with it at first release, something bizzare like on release it had no AI and no multiplayer so you couldn't play against someone and the computer units would not move. It's still for sale and has gotten a bunch of patches so I think that it's patched to an actual computer opponent and multiplayer available now though. Who knows though, they might be doing multiplayer by passing save files back and forth and letting each person take just one side's turn. Apparently still no AI in the game, but "they're working on it". (And of course you have the perfectionist grognards in there.)
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Jan 9, 2015 09:04
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Naval Units World in Flames has many different types of naval units available, from convoy units to super–large battle ships and carriers. Let’s start with the basic movement and info on surface ships. Here is the Royal Navy’s King George V:  In the top left is the surface combat value, the higher number the better, as these total are added together when calculating naval combat. In the top right is the defense value of the ship, the lower the better. You have to roll less than or equal to the value to succeed at a defense roll. In the bottom left, is the anti-aircraft value of the ship. A larger number is better. In the bottom right of surface combat ships, is the shore bombardment value. A higher number is better. This number is used when bombarding a coastal hex. On the back, it lists the year it is available, it will also list the historical date of the ship sinking if it was sunk during the war. There are two green build point costs on the back of the ship. All naval units, except for convoys and tankers are built in two halves. In the case of the King George V, her first build costs two build points and take 6 turns. When a naval unit is half-finished, it will go to a construction pool area at any of the country’s ports. That nation may then build the second half, in this case 3 build points and another 6 turns. When building a ship the total must be built for it consecutively, both parts cannot be built at the same time. (It would take two years to fully build the King George V from scratch) Large ships like large cruisers, battleships, battlecruisers, and carriers usually take 5 or 6 turns for each part. Smaller ships, like light cruisers and destroyers, may be at 5 turns or less for each half. If a ship becomes damaged in combat, when returning to a port it will go into a repair pool at one of the nation’s ports. To repair a damaged ship costs the first half of the production and 2 game turns. On all front of all naval units, there is an orange circled movement value and yellow circled range value. The yellow range value is the maximum number of sea zones that a unit can be away from a friendly in-supply port. If you have a naval unit in a sea zone, a supply convoy through the other sea zones to the port is not needed. Let’s view this part of the North America map:  Each sea zone has sea-box section, 0 through 4, these are the where the naval units are kept in the sea zone during a turn. The higher value section you are in, the easier it is to search for enemy units. (More on naval combat and searching later). The USS Detroit has a movement value of 6 and a range of 3. All naval units that first move into a sea area are in the 0 sea box. She can use one movement point first to move to the East Coast area, if there is no further movement, she remains in the 0 box. She has 5 points remaining, it can move up to the 4 box, spending one point per numbered sea box. A ship may want to move to a sea zone and stay in one of the specific boxes to help defend other naval units in that specific sea box, or to help with naval bombardment. She can spend two movement points to move into the North Atlantic. If moved there she would have 3 movement points remaining and could move no higher than the 3 box in that location. A naval unit does not need to have any remaining movement points available to be able to return to base at the end of the turn. If a naval unit is forced to return to base, either through combat or at the end of the turn, it can return to a country's port that is within double the unit's printed range. One note also movement costs, on both the North and South America maps, there is an orange symbol with a pair of arrows on the side of the maps that connect the sea area to the Europe and Pacific maps (in the example above it is arrow symbol with the 2 located on the bottom right. In some other areas, these numbers can be 3 or 4), this is the required additional movement points required to leave or enter those sea zones from the adjacent sea zones on the Pacific or European maps. This represents the distance across the middle of the Atlantic and Pacific. Below is a layout of how all the sea zones are connected:  Land based aircraft may also move into sea box for combat air patrol or to help with searching and combat. Their movements into sea boxes are different than naval units. In the example posted above, the A-29 Hudson has 14 movement points. Since this is a non-European map, it costs two movement points first to move into the East Coast sea area. The aircraft is now considered in the 0 box with 12 movement points remaining. For land based aircraft only, when moving into a higher box section, it will cost that total number of movement points as the section, plus all the boxes before it. To move into the 1 box, just one additional movement point, into the 2 box, it will cost 3 movement points, and into the 4 box, it will cost 10 movement points. Land based aircraft at sea follow the same rules when returning to base as when doing an air mission. In the example here, 2 movement points are used to move back to a coastal hex, then then 10 remaining to return to base at another hex. Additional naval units: Here are two Commonwealth convoy units (they are the same for all nations)  On the left is a tanker convoy in black, and a regular convoy in white. To build single new tanker convoy, it costs 1 build point and will take 5 turns. Building a regular new convoy costs 1 build point and takes 4 turns. Two convoy points of one type can be converted to a single point of the other during an impulse, if ever needed. These can be in any denomination in a sea area; there are no limits to number of convoys. When counting the total number of ships in an area for combat, or the stack limits of a minor port, 2 convoys equal 1 ship. Convoys must remain in the 0 box of a sea zone. Here is the front an Canadian Anti-Sub unit (these represent the destroyers and other small escort ships that were used in ASW operations):  All ASW units have either a pink or red ASW value in the top left number; red numbers are double ASW factors. Their normal surface combat value is 0. ASW units have a pre-fire attack against subs during sub combat. Convoys, tankers, and ASW units can only be placed into the 0 box of a sea zone. Those types of units can remain at sea an indefinite amount of time unless they are forced to return to base by being aborted or damaged. Carriers have a class value in the lower right, which determines the class of carrier planes that can fit on them as mentioned in the aircraft section. Carriers with class 1 or 2 are usually light or escort carriers. Class 3 and above are usually the large fleet-carriers. Submarines: Here is a German sub unit:  Subs have the same factors as regular surface ships. Subs have a specific sub combat as part of a naval combat round in which they can attack transports and convoys (more on the naval combat in a later post). Submarines may be included in a surface combat; however their combat value receives a -1 penalty. For the unit posted, it would be at 4 instead of 5. A German Walter sub:  Walter subs are treated as normal subs except they are not included in the pre-fire against subs by ASW units. Walter subs may voluntarily abort and return to base immediately after the naval combat search dice has been rolled. Any sub that has a red number in the bottom right, like this Walter, may conduct a strategic bombing attack with that value (including normal weather modifiers) against a hex that is within 6 aircraft movement points of the sea zone it is in. A German Milchcow Sub:  Milchcow subs end any movement at sea in the 0 box. One naval unit may rebase at a milchcow sub instead of returning to a port. A German Schnorkel sub:  Schorkel subs may be excluded from the pre-fire ASW attack round of naval combat, unless one of the ASW units is red-circled instead of pink. Transports and Amphibious units:  Japanese units shown here. A transport is on the left and amphibious unit on the right. Transporting a unit only counts as naval move, not against the unit it is carrying. A transport may move 1 land HQ or corps sized land unit, 1 aircraft unit, 1 V-weapon, 2 land divisions, 2 artillery divisions, or 1 frogmen unit. A transport may embark any of the units if it is in the same port as the unit to be carried. It may embark only land units while at sea if the hex the land unit is moving from is a port or has an HQ unit. Amphibious units can work the same as transports for transporting units except they cannot transport an armored HQ, armored unit, mechanized unit, aircraft unit, or artillery. If doing a naval invasion of a coastal hex, a marine unit or an infantry division can invade from either a transport or an amphibious unit. All other units doing an invasion (not simply being transported from one hex to another) must be from an amphibious unit. German auxiliary cruisers:  German auxiliary cruisers are just like all other surface ships, except they may be based at ports of neutral minor countries and do not require oil to be reorganized. Italian frogmen:  These units can move into an enemy port from a transport and attempt to attack ships in port through normal combat rules. Their attack value is printed in blue. If they successfully complete an attack, the unit is destroyed and may be rebuilt from scratch. Next will be terrain info, supply, and how production is completed. will_colorado fucked around with this message at 06:04 on Dec 30, 2015 |
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Jan 10, 2015 22:37
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Comstar posted:Always wanted to play this, and seeing as that's impossible, watch someone else attempt too. yes. The PC version doesn't have all available units as in a full game. There just seems something not fully complete about it. Although you can buy hard-cover rule books and maps of the entire world at the scale of the European maps with it. Coiler12 posted:Apparently still no AI in the game, but "they're working on it". As long as it took to just get the base game out, I expect the AI to be completed in August 2076.
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Jan 10, 2015 22:58
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You are insane to be taking this on. I'll be watching closely. Around 10 years ago we had a spot to leave this set up for a long time, but we never got past early 42 without someone failing their player morale check.
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Jan 11, 2015 00:53
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Arrion posted:You are insane to be taking this on. I'll be watching closely. Around 10 years ago we had a spot to leave this set up for a long time, but we never got past early 42 without someone failing their player morale check. Not insane, (probably). I should have the next part up within the next day or two. Had a really busy weekend.
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Jan 13, 2015 03:14
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will_colorado posted:Not insane, (probably). Considering the length of this, vast amounts of units, diversity of units and nationalities, will there be a lucky chits list? 
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Jan 13, 2015 03:18
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Why would you even need to model land campaigns in South America or sub-saharan Africa in a World War II game? I mean, I know why they decided to (grog completionism  ), but... why? How does it even change the experience?
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Jan 13, 2015 05:35
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