World in Flames

World in Flames

World In Flames - 4th edition
Designer(s)	Harry Rowland
Publisher(s)	Australian Design Group (ADG)
Players	2-6
Setup time	30-120 minutes, depending on campaign
Playing time	20-180 hours, depending on campaign and rules version
Random chance	Low, Dice
Skill(s) required	Strategy, tactics, resource management

World in Flames is a board wargame designed by Harry Rowland and released in 1985 by the Australian Design Group. It is currently in its 6th edition, World in Flames - Final Edition, each new edition featuring changes to the rules, maps and counters provided with the game. World in Flames won the 1985 Charles S. Roberts Award for Best 20th Century Game.

The game is a strategic-level recreation of both the European and Pacific theatres of World War II. The game begins with the German invasion of Poland, and contains rules determining when Russia and the United States may choose to enter the conflict.

World in Flames game mechanics takes into account many aspects of the World War II conflict. There are three main combat types; land combat, air combat and naval combat. The game is designed in such a way that these different combat types may influence each other. Thus, it is possible that a battle may consist of a number of engagements involving air, land and naval units, even if it is taking place in the land combat phase of an impulse. The rules are designed to be able to cope with different types of activity without invoking new concepts for each situation. For instance, strategic bombing of factories and resources are handled by the same rules that handles tactical bombing, paradrops and naval bombing. Attacks on convoys are handled by the same rules that handle ship-to-ship and air-to-ship warfare.

The game is played with the Commonwealth (consisting of the United Kingdom, Canada, British Raj, Australia, South Africa and numerous territories and colonies), France, China, USSR and the United States of America forming the Allies and Germany, Italy and Japan forming the Axis. China is divided into Chinese nationalists and Chinese communists. Each major power can be played by one player; in practice two or more major powers on the same side are usually played by each player. If there is more than one player on the Allied side, the Chinese communists are controlled by the USSR player.