A World at War (2003)

A World at War, a wargaming masterpiece, brings together in one game all of the decisive elements of the Second World War. With roots tracing back to Avalon Hill's classic Rise and Decline of the Third Reich, and to its eventual successors--Advanced Third Reich and Empire of the Rising Sun--A World at War takes this popular gaming system even further, clearing up ambiguities and adding even more detail to what was already a fine family of wargames.

Developed through a decade of design and playtesting, A World at War has it all: armor and infantry slogging it out against marines and paratroopers; army planes and carrier planes crisscrossing the skies with interceptors and bombers and jets; battleships and cruisers and destroyers feinting and jabbing with lethal carriers and stealthy submarines. But in this game you get to decide which units you want the most of, and where you want to deploy them--in Europe or in the Pacific, on the eastern front or in the Med. Whatever you choose, don't think that armaments constitute the only battlefield. For war is also waged within foreign governments, through diplomacy; and within your own skunk works, through research. So be sure to grab every advantage you can get, every advantage--not just in aircraft range and torpedo power, but also in oil and boots: oil from those rich oil fields to the south, and boots for tromping through those cruel winters in the north. Yes, even the puny partisan can play a part: unwatched, he'll wreak havoc behind your lines; or sufficiently prodded, he might do even worse behind the lines of your enemies. Formulate your plans, be as devious and secretive as you like, but as you do so, keep one monocle on your enemy, for wily play will often unravel against wilier play. When that happens, when you find yourself outwitted and outgunned, you may need to surge-research the atomic bomb, or perhaps take the exigency--less risky and less glitzy--of fortifying your beaches and building flak near your factories. React quickly, though, or you'll have little time to regret your mistakes--like how you failed to spy on your enemy's research and Enigma traffic, like how you shipped too little materiel via Murmansk, or like how you gave into victory disease. For this is A World a War, a game of complex choices and brutal consequences. Learn to choose wisely and to handle losses--and learn quickly--or you'll never bring those opposing major powers to their knees.

A World at War, a game that has it all. Warfare not only on land, and under the sea, and in the air--but also on trucks and in treasuries, on the lab bench and in the diplomatic pouch. Triumph over every obstacle, and you'll earn that rare chance to conquer armies and rule nations . . . even if they're only cardboard.

Contents

• 2,800 full-color die-cut counters.
• Four 22"x30" full-color mapsheets
• 12 Player Aid Cards
• 196-page Rulebook
• 72-page Status Sheet booklet
• 24-page Research and Diplomacy booklet
• 24-page Scenario booklet
• 8 six-sided dice

Re-implements:

• Rise and Decline of the Third Reich
• Advanced Third Reich
• Empire of the Rising Sun

Helpful Links:

• Active discussion group
• Dedicated website
• Living rules (in on-line, .pdf, and Windows Help File formats)
• Warplanner, for playing AWAW on a computer
• Ultra magazine issues
• Updated countersheet
• Pre-order the re-print