The War Room (World in Flames Section)



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Welcome to my passion (uh...in gaming I mean)...World in Flames!

Table of Contents:

I am currently working on articles and strategy tips for WIFFE. Look for them here soon!


Overview:

World in Flames is a strategic level World War 2 wargame, played on a varying number of large maps spread out on a table top. The map is divided into a hexagonal grid and armies, planes, and ships are represented by small cardboard counters. Players take the role of one of the major powers of WW2 and seek to do better than their historical counterparts. WIF was designed by a group of people and has been taken over by one of the original designers, Harry Roland. WIF is currently in its 6th and supposedly final version. This latest version was released October of 1996 and is referred to as WIF the Final Edition.

There are a lot of WW2 wargames out on the market, but WIF is unique in that it fully integrates (sometimes not seemlessly) every theatre of operation and every type of unit deployed in WW2. Other games approach this ambitious goal. Europa has covered most of Europe, but is so big that it is almost impossible to play the entire European theatre. A3R now covers the European and Pacific theatres, but much of the non-land based portions are abstracted, and there are still theatres of operation not covered by the game. PTO and ETO from TSR also cover most theatres of operations, but I have heard that these games are not as well done as WIF.

WIF currently comes in 2 layers of incarnation. The first is WIFC (WIF Classic), which is a single product. WIFC covers all theatres, but some peripheral locations (like African Sudan) are abstracted. WIFC is playable for an entire campaign by experienced players in about 32 to 40 hours.

The second layer is WIFD (WIF Deluxe). WIF Deluxe adds maps for Africa and Scandinavia, adds many more units (like Territorial troops and artillery), and individualizes the planes and ships of each nation to a much greater detail than WIFC. WIFD is represented by several products:

A game of WIFD involves much more complexity and takes longer to play. Fast experienced players can finish a full game in about 50-60 hours at the quickest and probably 100 hours is not unseemly.

There is another peripheral layer called Days of Decision (DOD). DOD has had two editions, DOD 1 covers the period of 1936 to General War and seeks to duplicate the political maneuverings that occurred during this time period. It integrates semi-well with WIF and is essentially a very complex way to set up a WIF scenario. DOD2, on the other hand, is a complete add on to the entire WIF game. It does, like DOD1, seek to deal with the period from 1936 to General War, but it also provides for diplomacy and politics during the war as well. DOD1 and DOD2 currently integrate only with the 5th edition of WIF.

In addition, there have been published two add-on modules that are essentially new scenarios and almost new games in their own right. These look at two "what-ifs" from WW2:

First is America in Flames, which adds a Pacific scale map of the Western Hemisphere and rules for an alternate reality scenario where the Axis invades the US! Rules for developing the hydrogen bomb and new heavy post 1945 unit counters are included as well.

Second is Patton in Flames, which posits what would have happened had Patton's wishes come true and the US gone to war with Russia in 1945. It also includes scenarios dealing with the newly carved up Middle East.

Of some note is the fact that there is also a small companion game called Fatal Alliances, which works with the WIF5 maps and has counters and rules used to play World War One.

Most of the WIF products are worthwhile and recommendable. For a while, Australian Design Group (ADG) was notorious for releasing new rules and errata without adequate playtesting, and this caused some consternation. However, ADG has mounted an impressive effort to open up its playtesting with the design of WIF Classic, and their agreement to disseminate the rules in advance of release electronically is a wonderful turn of events. I now look forward to more thoroughly playtested and proofread rules from ADG. Nevertheless, rules loopholes still exist and WIF in general lends itself to house rules.

WIF has a vital and active Listserv that you can subscribe to. I run the list, and it is unmoderated. To subscribe, see the box below.

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Go to 
A.D.G.'s web site

WIF THE FINAL EDITION:

SAMPLE MAP AND COPYRIGHT INFORMATION:

America in Flames, World in Flames and all their components and kits, in both their electronic and printed forms, are Copyright 1985 ~ 1999, Australian Design Group.

Permission is hereby granted to copy these rules (if any such are available on this website) electronically for your personal use only, provided that they are copied in their entirety (including this message). Any deletion or alteration or on-selling, without the express written permission of Australian Design Group, is a violation of domestic and international copyright law.

Please refer questions and comments to:
Australian Design Group
PO Box 6253
Los Osos, CA 93412 USA
or
wiflames@slonet.org


Copyright 1999, Australian Design Group

World in Flames is a strategic level game covering World War II, and is copyright 1996, Australian Design Group. If you'd like to learn more about World in Flames, please e-mail Austrialian Design Group for game and pricing information.

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This page last updated March 9, 2010