Welcome to the LnLP Forums and Resource Area

We have updated our forums to the latest version. If you had an account you should be able to log in and use it as before. If not please create an account and we look forward to having you as a member.

New World At War 85 Series

David Heath

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2014
Messages
2,108
Points
113
Age
59
Location
Pueblo West, Colorado
Website
lnlpublishing.com
Here are some the changes you will find in World At War series. To start, we have renamed the series to World At War 85. We moved the series away from the old storyline, and locations and moved it to real world locations with formations. The core rules are in a middle of a re-write as well as a new storyline from Keith Tracton and Matt Lohse. The new core rules will be available as a free download. We have updated the maps and unit counters. We are taking all the expansion and now included them into the base games. We are also bringing new countries into the series such as Israel, China, and Korea forces. The counter size will NOT change so the new editions can play with older games. We are in the middle of these updates and if you have any questions let us know.

(Long comment with detail from one of the Keith Tracton Developers!)

Hi everyone, I would like to introduce myself. I am Keith Tracton, and I am one of the Lead Developers on the WaW85 series. My initial and ongoing task is re-conceptualizing and translate the previously published games, and settings into a new coherent storyline, where the tactical battles depicted are fought in real-world locations using real-world formations that could have been engaged in a World War in 1985.

I have to apologize off the bat, as the first thing I want to address only relates to that tangentially: let me assure you all that there will be no supernatural element to the new Campaign Storylines. I am unsure how that got to be as popular a serious question as it apparently has become but consider this “No” the definitive answer.

OTOH, if you are a fan of books like Red Army (my favorite of this genre, actually), Red Storm Rising, Team Yankee, and The 10,000, well, this is the game series for you.

So here are some additional details supplementing what David has already posted, about what this project is all about, i.e. what David, myself, Matt Lohse and the rest of the WaW85 development team are in the process of doing:

1. David has already uploaded pictures of the glorious new map art for the series. In the final versions, it is important to note that there will be no town names on any of the maps. This is to facilitate the use of new, lettered Objective markers which correspond to the Objective listing found in most scenarios. These listings designate the specific real-world towns depicted for that scenario. These will be different for each scenario.

2. Re-writing the rules into a Core Rulebook. (David has commented on this.)

3. Rewriting the Module Rules for each Volume, as a booklet that supplements the Core Rules (like LnL Tactical). Though not the definitive list as yet, it is planned to contain:
a. A short “Where We Are Now” Campaign Summary to set the stage for the Volume and continue the new Strategic Storyline
b. A Campaign Map of where all the Battles in the Volume take place, as a visual aid to the Strategic Storyline
c. Optional rules that you may want to consider in any Battle. These rules are completely optional, and may take precedence over the Core Rules if players agree to use them.
d. The Battles (Scenarios), notably including the rewritten Real-world battle locations and formations, along with Battle descriptions that follow the storyline depicted in the Volume’s accompanying Campaign Map. For example, the first Volume in WaW85 is entitled “Storming The Gap,” because the Soviet units in the game will be storming the famous (infamous?) Fulda Gap, west of Frankfurt, West Germany.

4. Redesigning the counters. David has already commented on this, but I can give you a touch more information, as I have been working directly on developing this aspect as I work on counter values. There will be graphic elements that will make certain attributes of your platoons considerably easier to read. As one example: we will be using a series of color-filled background boxes to highlight any additional attributes that previously were indicated by an underline, a font color, or a hollow box – all difficult to read on the old counters. I am translating them into color-filled shapes boxes (or circles or triangles) placed behind (under) the counter value affected, to keep the number itself easy to read. But I must emphasize. All the numbers you will need to play are directly on the counter – Range, Firepower, To-Hit, etc. Just easier to discern.

5. Reworking the unit counter values to be consistent among all the Volumes. A BMP-1 should be a BMP-1 should be a BMP-1, no matter which Volume you buy (is what I say). There were discrepancies reported in previous editions, so Matt Lohse and I have been working very diligently to resolve all these reports - Matt especially. (And boy are our eyes tired from proofing that spreadsheet…)

6. Reworking the formation identifications of the battalions and companies that your platoon-level counters compose to be from real-world formations back in 1985. You will be playing with units from notable formations of the time, including but not limited to the U.S. 8th Infantry Division; the Soviet 39th Motor Rifle Division; and the West German 5th Panzer Division.

7. Re-working the design of the Player Aid Charts, Terrain Effect Charts, and other sundry tables, as needed.

8. And one last thing: I am unsure how exactly this will manifest, but I am constructing a timeline of historic events leading up to our new fictional storyline of the outbreak of World War III in 1985. Events following the outbreak of the War will be detailed in the Volume Campaign Summaries, see 3a and 3b above.

9. A quick example of a couple of the new items:

3 September 1984
COLD FIRE AND LIONHEART EXERCISES IN WEST GERMANY: In the largest deployment of British Troops to Europe since WWII, air transports convey thirty-five thousand potential reinforcements for the British Army of the Rhine to West Germany. It is suspected that the Soviet Group of Forces Germany (SGFG) went on partial war alert due to the increased NATO activity, but there has been no corroboration.

31 October 1984
ASSASSINATION OF INDIRA GHANDI: Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India, is assassinated by her own bodyguards. Thousands of Sikhs are killed in retaliation over the next few days. It is never established if Pakistan influenced the event as a way to destabilize India in preparation for a potential border offensive, alleged to have been secretly planned for the next year.

So there you have the concept and what we are attempting to hang off of that concept. There are a lot of angles to this, and a lot to do. But we wanted to bring you up to date!

World At War Summer - Winter Maps1.jpg
 

Attachments

  • WaW-Summer1.jpg
    WaW-Summer1.jpg
    144.7 KB · Views: 753

Jackson Riker

Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
2
Points
3
Age
61
Location
Usa
Great news. I am concerned w/the Counter size as I have stopped playing the series as I can't read the values on them. It's a shame as this is the best of all MHW's lnl work. Good luck
 

Keith Tracton

Member
Staff member
Joined
Jan 23, 2016
Messages
272
Points
28
Age
61
Location
Pennsylvania
Great news. I am concerned w/the Counter size as I have stopped playing the series as I can't read the values on them. It's a shame as this is the best of all MHW's lnl work. Good luck
Thanks, Jackson. We are looking at the prototype new counters now, and the initial choice of new typeface has seriously improved the readability. (Sorry, no pix yet, as we are still evaluating them.)

Sent from my SPH-L710T using Tapatalk
 

David Heath

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 14, 2014
Messages
2,108
Points
113
Age
59
Location
Pueblo West, Colorado
Website
lnlpublishing.com
Hi Jackson,

We also are working on Playing Cards for each unit type to help with that. A lot of issue with the counters were the font used and that will not be an issue going forward.

David
 

Jimmy hansen

Member
Joined
Sep 10, 2015
Messages
26
Points
3
Location
San Diego CA
Hi. I am so excited for the new WaW85 games. Waiting with baited breath in san Diego.

Help: Anyone know where I can find the 2S1 Soviet mechanized artillery piece counters in the original series? I am trying to find on BoardGameGeek the table where the units and their appearances in the games are located. Thank you.
 

David Farrell

Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Messages
3
Points
3
Age
56
Location
Rochester Hills Michigan
This is how I intend to bring this game to the table top using miniatures as I already did with Dawns Early Light.
 

Attachments

  • 19388768_10154664383228513_4660709797059473019_o.jpg
    19388768_10154664383228513_4660709797059473019_o.jpg
    274.9 KB · Views: 28
  • 19250477_10154661148223513_6729848692495662912_o.jpg
    19250477_10154661148223513_6729848692495662912_o.jpg
    293.1 KB · Views: 27
  • 18765837_10154600796943513_9025092075192048272_n.jpg
    18765837_10154600796943513_9025092075192048272_n.jpg
    135.7 KB · Views: 22
  • Scan 1.pdf
    2.8 MB · Views: 6

Keith Tracton

Member
Staff member
Joined
Jan 23, 2016
Messages
272
Points
28
Age
61
Location
Pennsylvania
WBC 2017 Recap:

I was able to play and continue to playtest further all week, it was quite exciting to get the new counter art on the new map art for Storming the Gap. I made a complete playtest set of counters (not rounded as the final will be - the printer dos that). We put together the real map art into the three maps for StG. We had a number of people play and a number of people request to play again (and again!), tested many of the new East German scenarios, tweaked the systems streamlining, etc. Lots of good play and great feedback, everyone was excited, including me.

Panzer Digest posted a nice mini-summary on their FB page:



 

Keith Tracton

Member
Staff member
Joined
Jan 23, 2016
Messages
272
Points
28
Age
61
Location
Pennsylvania
I was following on Facebook. Looks exciting!

Thanks for keeping an eye on us! It really was. Game plays smoothly and I was able to fine tune some things; I had incredibly helpful feedback form players!

BTW, IIRC your counter is in this demo kit. Our German counter artist Germanized your name to Schnauffer... :)
 

John Taber

Member
Joined
Aug 14, 2017
Messages
3
Points
3
Age
58
Location
Santa Clara, CA
I'm excited too. Just started playing my first game in this series but I am really liking it. Playing with my 2 sons. :)

Has a release date for the first product been released AND what will it be called?
 

Keith Tracton

Member
Staff member
Joined
Jan 23, 2016
Messages
272
Points
28
Age
61
Location
Pennsylvania
I'm excited too. Just started playing my first game in this series but I am really liking it. Playing with my 2 sons. :)

Has a release date for the first product been released AND what will it be called?

Hi John,

Sorry no release date. We are done the design and are in the graphics development stage. There will be a kickstarter for the series of eight games initially planned (they together together the old games and modules and some supplemental counters into eight standalone games).

The series is called World At War 85; the initial game is called Storming the Gap, and includes what was Eisenbach Gap (you wont recognize it) and additional counters. You will want to review this thread for details. :)

Thanks for your enthusiasm! - Keith
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2015
Messages
63
Points
8
Age
62
Location
Cresson, TX
Hi John,

Sorry no release date. We are done the design and are in the graphics development stage. There will be a kickstarter for the series of eight games initially planned (they together together the old games and modules and some supplemental counters into eight standalone games).

The series is called World At War 85; the initial game is called Storming the Gap, and includes what was Eisenbach Gap (you wont recognize it) and additional counters. You will want to review this thread for details. :)

Thanks for your enthusiasm! - Keith

Kickstarter? When might this be? I just pledged big time for the World in Flames Kickstarter, so I must determine if I need to dip into the kid's college fund.... ;)
 

Keith Tracton

Member
Staff member
Joined
Jan 23, 2016
Messages
272
Points
28
Age
61
Location
Pennsylvania
Kickstarter? When might this be? I just pledged big time for the World in Flames Kickstarter, so I must determine if I need to dip into the kid's college fund.... ;)
We have the design done and the graphics are in progress. Once the graphics are ready, the Kickstarter is hopefully after that. All up in the air, date ways... :)

Sent from my SM-J320P using Tapatalk
 
Top