From: "Gary J. Robinson" Subject: World in Flames Classic Well, we just finished the July/August 1940 turn of our World in Flames Classic 4-player FTF game. France still lives and breathes. The first turn, September/October 1939, took us a whole day since it was our first turn playing this game. After that it speeded up: the next three turns took one day, although we slowed down again to two turns per day once the major action was underway (invasion of Belgium/France). I am playing Japan/Italy. Playing Japan has been fun: China, with its two weather zones and brutal terrain, short supply ranges and amphibious switcheroo possibilities, has been quite an interesting challenge. At this point I've kicked the Chinese back to the mountains for the most part. Italy on the other hand has been boring, the Italians in this game really have nothing to do. I have kept them neutral since they really have little to gain by entering the war while France (and the French Navy) still lives. Italy is so poor it cannot even finish its under-construction warships, never mind build airplanes. Neutral Italy is tying down large numbers of British and French troops in the Alps and Egypt, so I am just watching and waiting for the opportunity to do some damage. We are playing with the amphibious optional rule so no one can do naval invasions without Marines or invasion craft. Keeps the Med a little more realistic. The British seemed to have a shortage of convoy points from a "making change" point of view, so we are using 4 of the 5-CP units from Ships in Flames for "making change" purposes, although we have not added them to the British force pool. As an experienced A3R player, I found this game relatively simple in its mechanics. Certainly it seems thus far to be easier to play, requiring less training and experience to play well. (A3R by comparison is very unforgiving and hard to learn.) I can see why WiF is so popular: you don't have to be a rocket scientist to play it. It has its own tricks of course, which we are gradually learning, but overall the "impulse" system means the game has an almost operational pace and flavor, and there is much more time to react to events and correct mistakes than in A3R, where one piece one hex out of position means you have blown a 3-month turn or longer. This makes the game longer to play, of course, but on the positive side each player's impulse is fairly short, and you don't have to wait very long for your chance to go. The weather and activities limits (for example, on a "combined" Impulse Japan can only move three land units and make one ground attack, along with 4 air missions and two naval moves) often limit what you can do while still giving you interesting choices. The supply and combat systems certainly are more realistic than A3R's, as is production. The game "feels" right and you can play it intuitively, using history as a guide. Overall, I like it. Like all WWII games, it suffers from hindsight - France is unrealistically tough, and the British can fortify the Pacific before Japan is ready to attack - but that is more a phenomenon of playing historical games than of this game in particular. Gary From: DEAVILLE_M Subject: Re: World in Flames Classic Hello, >>>Well, we just finished the July/August 1940 turn of our World in Flames >>>Classic 4-player FTF game. France still lives and breathes. The first >>>turn, September/October 1939, took us a whole day since it was our first >>>turn playing this game. After that it speeded up: the next three turns >>>took one day, although we slowed down again to two turns per day once the >>>major action was underway (invasion of Belgium/France). The game will speed up although it will start to slow down again once the east front kicks into play. >>> I am playing >>>Japan/Italy. Playing Japan has been fun: China, with its two weather zones >>>and brutal terrain, short supply ranges and amphibious switcheroo >>>possibilities, has been quite an interesting challenge. At this point I've >>>kicked the Chinese back to the mountains for the most part. Japan is fun but is one of the hardest countries to play. It is important that you build up your flet asap, laying down new carriers so they will be build by the time the USA comes in. DO NOT start a major war with china. Keep up the attacks where they are gaining you something but china can eat up all your units and force you to waste production on infantry instead of aircraft and ships. You must expand into the pacific when you do Pearl Harbour. Take the Dutch territories etc. Without this outer ring you will quickly fall to the US. >>>Italy on the >>>other hand has been boring, the Italians in this game really have nothing >>>to do. I have kept them neutral since they really have little to gain by >>>entering the war while France (and the French Navy) still lives. Italy is >>>so poor it cannot even finish its under-construction warships, never mind >>>build airplanes. Neutral Italy is tying down large numbers of British and >>>French troops in the Alps and Egypt, so I am just watching and waiting for >>>the opportunity to do some damage. Italy is a challenge but can do a lot of damage and cause probelms for the commonwealth when it enters the war. Expect France to attack you before it falls so that it can use it's fleet. It is common for Italy to be attacked because the French Navy can be used to take the losses. When you are in the war you need to borrow resources from Germany. Build Naval bombers and fighters to control the med. You have too few ships for surface battles. Using air power however you may be able to hold on against Britain (or at least keep its carriers in the med. instead of the pacific). Once you start losing the war in the med build militia and infantry to defend your coast. A common error is to concentrate on Japan and not pay attention to Italy. Avoid doing this. Italy is weak but can be fun. Mkae sure Germany helps you with resources and/or units. A German fighter or two is excelent cover for you naval bombers. Your main contribution to the war should be tying down British ships and production points. While Britain is playing in the med and taking damage which needs to be repaired it is not building strategic bombers to bomb germany. Also any ship you kill is a ship that can't escort CW convoys to Britain. >>> We are playing with the amphibious >>>optional rule so no one can do naval invasions without Marines or invasion >>>craft. Keeps the Med a little more realistic. >>> >>>The British seemed to have a shortage of convoy points from a "making >>>change" point of view, so we are using 4 of the 5-CP units from Ships in >>>Flames for "making change" purposes, although we have not added them to the >>>British force pool. >>> >>>As an experienced A3R player, I found this game relatively simple in its >>>mechanics. Certainly it seems thus far to be easier to play, requiring >>>less training and experience to play well. (A3R by comparison is very >>>unforgiving and hard to learn.) I can see why WiF is so popular: you don't >>>have to be a rocket scientist to play it. It has its own tricks of course, >>>which we are gradually learning, but overall the "impulse" system means the >>>game has an almost operational pace and flavor, and there is much more time >>>to react to events and correct mistakes than in A3R, where one piece one >>>hex out of position means you have blown a 3-month turn or longer. This >>>makes the game longer to play, of course, but on the positive side each >>>player's impulse is fairly short, and you don't have to wait very long for >>>your chance to go. The weather and activities limits (for example, on a >>>"combined" Impulse Japan can only move three land units and make one ground >>>attack, along with 4 air missions and two naval moves) often limit what you >>>can do while still giving you interesting choices. The supply and combat >>>systems certainly are more realistic than A3R's, as is production. The >>>game "feels" right and you can play it intuitively, using history as a >>>guide. I greatly prefer WiF over 3R. >>>Overall, I like it. Like all WWII games, it suffers from hindsight - >>>France is unrealistically tough, and the British can fortify the Pacific >>>before Japan is ready to attack - but that is more a phenomenon of playing >>>historical games than of this game in particular. >>> >>>Gary Matt