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World in Flames Deluxe Collectors Edition by Australian Design Group Front of the box/treasure chest Back of the...

World in Flames Deluxe Collectors Edition by Australian Design Group World in Flames Deluxe Collectors Edition by Australian Design Group

World in Flames Deluxe Collectors Edition by Australian Design Group

World in Flames Deluxe Collectors Edition by Australian Design Group



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Front of the box/treasure chest

Back of the box

Closer view of the back.




 I own Victory Games Pacific War, and I also own Fire in The East by GDW. From SPI, I have both The Art of War and Atlantic Wall in the old 'soapbox' boxes. I have been awed looking at the unpunched counters on these games and the huge expanse of their maps. That  is until now; now I am jaded. I have just received WIF, and I am just completely blown away by the box size and its heft. This is coming from a wargamer who regularly used the heft of a game to measure my interest in it. Not that smaller games are not great, it's just sometimes one wants to be inundated with counters and rules etc. I thought in that respect I could never be sated. Right now I feel like a python that has killed its prey, but finds its jaws do not open wide enough to swallow it. My other thought after the box is open is to scatter the contents of the box into a pile, and then like Smaug or better yet Fafnir take off my clothes and roll in it. This is the hoard. I have found the Rhinegold. After coming to my senses, I realize that no, we cannot build on an addition just for setting up and playing WIF. Here is the list of what comes with this edition:


1) Four Large (574mm x 830mm) full-color hard-mounted maps of the world
2)One (297mm x 420mm) full-color hard-mounted map of the Americas
3) One (297mm x 420mm) full-color hard-mounted turn record chart
4) One (297mm x 420mm) full-color hard-mounted Task Force display
5) 4800 (12.7mm x 12.7mm) full-color counters of all of the armies, navies, and air forces of World War II (Including Planes in Flames, Ships in Flames (Including Cruisers in Flames, Convoys in Flames, and Carrie Planes in Flames), Divisions in Flames, and Territories in Flames).
6) Full-color rule book
7) Full-color campaign book 
8) Five x A3 full-color games charts
9) Two ten-sided die



What you see when you open the box and remove the packaging

The different sets for the Deluxe Edition

This is the package for the 'normal' Collector's Edition



 Mail persons, or their counterparts, may all have to wear trusses after delivering this game. The actual weight of this edition is over fifteen pounds. I also want to make sure that you understand that there was no typo in the list. There are 4800!!! counters that come with this edition. The classic counter set in the box comes with 1600 counters in eight sheets by itself. The added counters are 3200 in sixteen sheets. If I could trust them not to make mistakes, I would give my kids a few bucks per sheet to cut them out.



The sixteen sheets of the Deluxe Edition counters

The eight sheets of counters from the the Collector's Edition




 Again, let me stress that the maps and add on charts are all hard-mounted. The maps are large and so is the writing on them. They are easy to read for even old grogs. The counters are the small ones that we are used to playing with, but they have to be. If the counters were any larger you would need your garage floor for the map. There are games, especially series games, that have larger maps, but none to my knowledge were ever hard-mounted. 




Close-up of one of the plane counter sheets



 Even the packaging of the game is extremely well done. The classic edition is packaged all by itself, so you can start to play with that edition without disturbing the deluxe edition. Even the booklets are packaged separately in the box. The box also comes with enough small plastic bags as you would find in a warehouse to use for small parts. 




The map package

The maps bundle on its side. I wear XXL gloves.



 The entire presentation and packaging lets you know that you have bought a quality product. Let's face it, you have put a large amount of money into this purchase. Upon receipt you will see that physically your money has been well spent. The box is like a cornucopia of goodness that never ends. I would be pretty amazed if someone who received this edition of the game wasn't awed by the components and their size. 




The Western Europe Map

The Pacific Map

The Americas and the Turn Record Chart

This is the Task Force Display from 'Ships In Flames'



 So, how does it play? I have no idea. I am still wrapping my head around the components. I will have to do a separate review just on the game play itself. The rules and game play have been worked on almost continually since the game was first released in 1986, when it won tons of wargaming awards. If you owned an older version of WIF like I did, or you have always been tempted to try the game out, now is your time. The years (I am not being facetious) of gaming that you will get with this edition is an incredible bang for your buck.

Robert

1 comment :

  1. I am fascinated by this game, the sheer scope of it

    ReplyDelete

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