A World at War

Welcome to A World at War, an immersive gaming experience that explores the grand strategies 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 the system even further, expanding on the detail and choices in what was already a fine family of wargames. 		 		 		 		 		 		 				 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 				 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 				 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 				 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 				 		 		 1974, 1976, 1992 1995 2003, 2013 2015 1981, 1984 A World at War, a game that brings you everything in one meaty box: elite marines and paratroopers battling infantry and armor; submarines and carriers ambushing cruisers and battlewagons; army planes and carrier planes crisscrossing the skies with bombers and interceptors and ultra-fast jets. Yet unlike in other games, in A World at War you decide which units to build the most of, and you decide where to deploy them. Will this corps go to Europe, or sail to the Pacific? Will these planes hunt the eastern front, or strafe the waters of the Med? Whichever you decide, decide carefully--for in A World at War, the employment of armaments is crucial. But don't be naïve and think they constitute the only battlefield. The struggle also extends into foreign parliaments, through diplomacy; into your own skunk works, through research; and even behind enemy lines, through partisans. So seize every advantage you can get--not only in drop tanks and detonators, but also in oil fields and parkas. And most of all, stay flexible. For when the worst happens and you find yourself outwitted and outgunned, you may need to adjust your strategy. Is there time to surge-research the atomic bomb, or do you take the exigency--less glitzy but less risky--of barricading your beaches and erecting flak near your factories? (Self-recriminations can come later, like how you cracked too few encryptions, or gobbled too many islands, or skimped too much on Murmansk.) For all of these things are possible, all of these and more! A World at War, a game of warfare not only on land, under sea, and in the air--but also on trucks and in treasuries, on the lab bench and in the diplomatic pouch. With so many elements in play, winning strategies will always be interwoven and winning decisions always anguished. But if you hang on long enough, and if you unleash the latest weapons in the boldest assaults, well then you'll earn that rare chance to crush armies and rule empires . . . even if they're only cardboard. 		 		 		 		 		 		 				 		 		 Contents of the Second Edition: 2800 full-color single-sided die-cut counters, in ten countersheets. Four 22-inch x 30-inch full-color mapsheets, forming two large maps of the European and Pacific theaters. A 236-page rulebook. A 104-page status-sheet booklet. A 24-page research & diplomacy booklet. A 20-page scenario booklet. Fifteen player aid cards. Number Color Tables 1 olive combat--attrition, CRT, air defense and combat, naval attack, nationality DRMs 1 lt blue naval--interception, search, surprise, construction, raider, sub attack, air range 1 blue strategic warfare--modifiers and combat, Pearl Harbor surprise, harbor attack 1 green misc--winter, BRP costs, Commonwealth and minor country forces, naval activities 1 yellow surrender--resistance modifiers, British concessions, U.S. elections 1 white SoP, research results summary 1 white historical charts--events, shipbuilding 4 many naval status charts--TF displays 2 white naval combat charts--CG tracking 2 white conference Eight six-sided dice. One deck of oil effect cards. Air Naval Army Economy Construction 4