GMT Games – A World at War, 3rd Printing

Description

First published by GMT in 2003, A World at War is a grand strategy game based on the award-winning Advanced Third Reich/Empire of the Rising Sun gaming system. A World at War simulates the military, economic, political, diplomatic, research and production aspects of the Second World War and lets the players find out for themselves what might have happened if:

•        

  Germany

  had tried to execute Sea Lion, the invasion of

  Britain

  .

•        

  Admiral Raeder’s Mediterranean strategy had been adopted and the British position in  
         the

  Middle East

  had crumbled.

•        

  Russia

  had been prepared for the German attack.

•        

  “General Winter” had not come to the aid of the hard-pressed Russian armies in late
         1941.

•        

  The European Axis and

  Japan

  had cooperated in implementing a strategy aimed at
         destroying the Western Allied lines of communication in the

  Indian Ocean

  .

•        

  The

  Battle

  of the Atlantic had been won by

  Germany

  .

•        

  War had broken out between

  Russia

  and

  Japan

  in 1941 or 1942.

•        

  Japan

  had avoided disaster at Midway in 1942 and instead invaded

  Australia

  or

  India

  .

•        

  Japan

  had knocked

  China

  out of the war.

•        

  the U.S had mobilized more armor units and fewer air units, or more infantry and less          armor, or…

•        

  the Western Allies had tried Churchill’s Balkan strategy

•        

  the Western Allies had tried to invade

  France

  in 1943 or earlier, leaving

  Italy

  for later.

•        t

  he Western Allies had failed to develop the atomic bomb – but

  Germany

  had.

•        

  the Western Allies had developed jets or rockets.

•        

  YOU had been in command.

A World at War continued the evolution of the Advanced Third Reich/Empire of the Rising Sun game system, refining and clarifying the rules in every area of the game.  Five years of design and relentless playtesting resulted in a polished, proven game, which includes the following innovations:

•        

  named ships, allowing players to sink (or lose!) the

  Bismarck

  ,

  Yamato, New Jersey

  and        other famous ships.

•        

  naval construction rules which allow major powers to build the navy they think will              suit their strategic requirements.

•        

  mobilization rules which allow major powers to tailor their army and air force pools to        meet their needs – provided they anticipate them accurately.

•        

  oil rules which force the Axis to worry about their inadequate oil reserves even when  
         victory is within their grasp – although

  Britain

  and

  Russia

  can have cause for concern  
         as well!

•        

  simplified diplomatic rules which allow minor countries to align themselves with  
         various major powers.

•        

  more intuitive Combat Results and Attrition Tables.

•        

  additional terrain on both the European and Pacific mapboards.

The second edition of A World at War adds clarifications and refinements based on thousands of games played since 2003, based on contributions from hundreds of A World at War players (the A World at War Yahoo discussion list alone had recorded nearly 60,000 posts since A World at War was first published). Changes include:

•        

  new counters for beach defenses, partial supply and island group control.

•        

  revised counters based on feedback from

  A World at War

  players.

•        

  rules changes to mitigate the effects of bad luck, especially early in the game, leaving it
         to the players themselves to ruin their positions.

•        

  improved submarine warfare and strategic bombing rules.

•        

  more realistic raider and naval combat rules.

•        

  more realistic implementation of the “big three” high technology research projects:
         jets, advanced submarines and rockets.

•        

  increased balance between the western,

  Mediterranean

  and eastern fronts.

•        

  refined strategic balance in

  Russia

  , so that Russian survival is a challenge in most
         games – unless

  Germany

  doesn’t invade

  Russia

  at all…

•        

  graduated economic growth rates and a link between

  Germany

  ’s conquests and its
         construction rate, so that an Axis “Fortress Europe” strategy is as risky as any other.

•        

  modified atomic research rules which preclude ahistorically early atomic bombs, while
         still leaving open the possibility of a German bomb.

•        

  an enhanced Japanese Resistance Table, with

  Japan

  getting credit for expansion beyond
         its historical achievements.

A World at War contains a dozen scenarios, ranging from the introductory Battle of the Atlantic and Barbarossa scenarios up to European and Pacific Campaign Games.  But dedicated gamers will be hard-pressed to resist testing their luck, skill and especially their nerves by taking on the entire war in the full-fledged Campaign Game.

COUNTERS

2,800 full-color die-cut counters.

MAP

Four 22″x30″ full-color mapsheets

OTHER

• 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

TIME SCALE

3 months per turn

MAP SCALE

60 miles per hex (Europe); 100 miles per hex (Pacific)

UNIT SCALE

Corps or Divisions, air wings and squadrons, individual ships and naval squadrons

NUMBER OF PLAYERS

One or more