ASIA AFLAME - a subjective view Let me start out by saying that IMHO this is by far the better of the 2 WIF expansion maps (the other being Africa Aflame) and that I tend to be a tad biased towards the Axis. 1. The basis of this expansion is 2 maps, a central Asian map joining the European and Asian maps, and a Scandinavian map to replace the off map boxes. The maps are quite good and are at Pacific scale, initially I wondered why they just didn't do the Scandinavian map at European scale but on reflection it probably more acurrately reflects the size of the forces that could be deployed in the region, as well as cuting down on printing costs. To move from the European map to the Asia Aflame map you cross the Asian hexSIDE with the same number as the European HEX you are leaving, and vise versa (same for Scandinavia), the east edge of the Asia Aflame map simply lines up hex for hex with the west edge of Asian map. All strategic movement on the Asia Aflame and Scandinavian maps must be along printed rail lines to reflect the less developed nature of these regions (except in India which is considered to have a national rail network similar to the European and Asian maps). The only notible change is that Russia now has 2 factories in Siberia rather than 1. I feel these maps add a very nice touch to the game by displaying all of Eurasia (except the odd bit of tundra) and are definately worth having 2. Each country now gets its own divisions. They can either be produced at the costs and times listed on the back of the counters or corps can be broken down in the following way. An SS Panzer corp will give you 1 SS Panzer division and 1 regular army Infantry division or a PARA corp will give you a PARA div and an INF div, 1 MAR K = 1 MAR D + 1 INF D, etc. All countries now have MTN, MAR and PARA divisions. Those countries without the corresponding corps must of course produce them from scratch rather than breaking down. The divisions become available over time, for example the Germans don't get the Hermann Goering ParaPanzers (Squish!) till '45 (in fact all counters in this expansion are marked with their force pool addition date). Another nice addition to the game (why let the Japs, Brits and Yanks have all the fun!). 3. A new class of unit, Artillery, has been added and is broken down into field artillery (ART) anti-tank (AT) and anti-aircraft (AA). ART & AT are further broken down into either towed or Self-propelled and they should have broken AA down into light and heavy classes. AT & AA units are doubled in strength when defending against ARM units with heavy AA and self propelled AT also doubled in attack against ARM. AA units defend against any enemy air mission on their hex by using their factors on the naval anti-aircraft table against the attacking bombers, heavy AA are doubled against strategic bombardment and each factory and oil resource has 1 intrinsic factor against Strategic Bombardment. ART units, as well as being a normal combat unit can act like a TAC unit, that is they can give defensive ground support to or ground strike (but are not halved) an adjacent hex, they aren't affected by weather. This could certainly be interesting, though I'm not sure how much effect the units will have and which will be worth the money. The intrinsic flak values are certainly a nice idea, finally the flack scared skies of Europe will be represented, and you can actually shoot down the bastards (though unlikely). Strategic bombing is hard to represent though, if you only allow it to do as much damage as it did historically the Anglo-Americans won't waste their production on STR units. 4. You also get ski divisions for the Scandinavian countries and Russia (I'm suprised Germany didn't get any), they ignore EZOC for supply and movement during winter and severe winter as well as treating swamp and forest as clear. Finland and Sweden should probably have a ski unit added to their at start forces (as their're the only ones with two units at the start of the game and Finland used them to great effect in the winter war). 5. You get 2 Italian frogmen units and 1 Minisub for both Japan and Britain with which you can attack enemy units in port (you too can sink a Manly ferry). These mainly serve as harasement units but also encourage the allies to put their fleets to sea. 6. After hearing continuous whinging about how Germany could not have invaded Britain due to a lack of landing craft, finally an answer, the Amphib unit. They cost 7, take 5 turns to build, can't CONV, carry arm, air or art units. However only MAR and DIV units can still invade (or land) from TRS, all other INF must use AMPHIBs. For one thing, this means the Brits will have plenty of warning what is coming. 7. The Brits also get the Queen Mary, a TRS unit that only carries inf, costs 9, takes 6 but also has a move of 6. Great for invading rear areas. 8. There are options for impulse by impulse weather, destroyer transports (LS carry inf divs), modified invasion rules (you can do Torch), TRS supply (same as air supply), Naval ground strike (using 1/2 shore bombardment), and ground combat (yet more die rolls). 9. The U.S. entry changes from the 93 annual are also included (you can renounce your treaty with the Japs, comiserate with you Aryan Yank brothers for Pearl Harbour and announce your wholehearted support for their war on the devious yellow scum, damn shame it won't do you any good and they'll get around to you eventually). All in all I'd have to say that this kit is well worth having especially if you, like me, just wish to expand the scope of the game and not needlessly expand its complexity. AFRICA AFLAME - a subjective view (this is a personal opinion and in no way is an opinion of the University of Sydney School of Economics, why would they be interested anyway ?) Let me start out by saying that IMHO this is by far the worse of the 2 WIF expansion maps (the other being Asia Aflame) and that I tend to be a tad biased towards the Axis. 1. The basis of this expansion is, strangely enough, a map of Africa at Pacific scale. To move from the European map to the Africa Aflame map you cross the African hexSIDE with the same number as the European HEX you are leaving, and vise versa, India matches up exactly with the Asian map. All strategic movement on the Africa Aflame map must be along printed rail lines to reflect the less developed nature of these regions (except in India which is considered to have a national rail network similar to the European and Asian maps), you will also have to draw a rail line running from Tunis along the coast to Casablana on the European Map. Now to the quibbles, in the original off map boxes Britain could get 2 resources (South Africa), Italy 1 (Italian East Africa) and France 0. On the Africa Aflame Map it is Britain 4, France 1 and Italy 0. Along with Arabia, Iraq and Persia now loaning their resources to the allies this becomes a shift of Axis -1, Allies +7. Don't worry, this is the start of a trend. 2. A huge number of Territorial units has been provided (26 British, 16 French, 8 Italian, 4 Japanese, 1 American, 8 Russian Workers, 6 Chinese Garrison, 1 German {Vlassov} Cav), they are all classed as militia. The problem arises in that there are no movement restrictions on the (true) territorial units (I wonder if they know what the term `Territorial' means), you are quite likely to find Madagascan clerks holding the Maginot line in '40 or perhaps Nigerian Ticket collecters assualting the West Wall in '44. I feel they should be restricted to their home country, like the original milita rule. Axis 13, Allies 57 3. You now get Partisan groups for various countries that can be placed if that country is eligible for a partisan activity roll, they act just like Russian partisan units except that they as well as Russian partisans may now attack. I won't bother telling you which side this favours. 4. You can also build fortification units, they cost 5 and take 5 turns to build, they protect 3 contiguous hexsides and any unit attacking through it is halved. Just what was needed, something to make taking Gibraltar harder than it already is (sorry, but I belong to the school of thought that it couldn't have held if attacked from Spanish bases). 5. The rules for convoying resouces have changed. TRS now can carry 2 resources each, this nessecarily invovles a lot of other changes to convoy attack, lending resouces, lend-lease, etc. and in my opinion probably isn't worth the hassle. 6. You are now restricted to building no more offensive chits, naval, aircraft, HQ and ARM units than the number of oil resources you received in a turn to a minimum of one. Last time I checked only one side was short of oil. As a partial sop to the axis you can now build synthetic oil plants (Germany starts with one), but if a * result is achieved against any oil resource it is destroyed (however natural ones can be repaired). 7. An alternative Russian entry system is provided, based on hidden entry chits (sound familiar ?), this could be worthwhile but it's certainly not worth buying this expansion for. 8. An alternative land CRT is provided, based on a straight 2d6 roll with modifiers for the odds level, face-down units, weather, etc., but again why bother, the old one works just fine. 9. You also get 4 Russian white print INF units (Siberians) that are available from the start of all scenarios. Does it ever end ? In conclusion Africa was a sideshow in WW2 and this expansion does nothing to change it. I can't help but feel that they used up all their good ideas on Asia Aflame and scrounged around in the scrapheap to come up with enough counters to justify a separate expansion, in my opinion they should have just supplied the map with Asia Aflame. I can only recommend that you don't buy this supplement as you'll probably regret it (I know I do!). There is one positive aspect though, this expansion is perfect for those players who find they simply can't win as the Allies. From: Tom Cleaveland Subject: Africa Aflame/Asia Aflame review Greetings, I read your Asia Aflame/Africa Aflame (AsA/AfA) reviews with great interest. However, I think a note should be added that the version being reviewed applies to WIF version 5. Further points: AsA: The central Asian map is no longer used in WIF Final Edition (WIFFE). 9: The U.S. Entry system has been completely revised. AfA: 2: Russian Workers aren't used in WIFFE. In fact, these counters are no longer available in the AsA/AfA reprint. 5: TRS units no longer carry resources. Dedicated convoy units are now provided to do this. 6: Oil restrictions on production no longer exist in WIFFE. However, an optional rule requires players to expend oil to reorganize certain types of units. Current consensus on the WIF mailing list is that the oil rules generally limit the Allies more than the Axis (due to possible underestimation of US oil production). 7: There is no longer an alternate Russian entry system. 8: The alternative land CRT has been scrapped. WIFFE fully incorporates revised AsA/AfA rules into the main rulebook. The rules for the two modules have been fully revised and playtested so as to more cleanly integrate them with the game. Since players already get the optional rules with WIFFE/Classic, the two modules now exist essentially as sets of additional counters and maps for the game. Further, although one can use the WIF5 versions of AsA and AfA with WIFFE no problem, the counters have since been reprinted to incorporate changes (e.g. no Russian workers, more DIVs, etc.). The maps have also been reprinted to make the graphics consistent with the WIFFE maps. Web-Grognards is great! Keep up the good work. Thanks, Tom C.