What's Coming in the World At War 85 Series

[Keith Tracton]

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:

 

[Crossroads]

Thanks for the heads-up! I've got an old pre-order for the Untold Stories, looking forward to getting the Untold Battles instead

 

[Jamey Cribbs]

Keith was kind enough to describe the new version to me at WBC and definitely got me interested. His enthusiasm was infectious!

 

[Ben Moeller]

The World At War Series is getting a reboot. We have re-named the World At War series to World At War 85. We now have two great designers/developers working on the series in Matt Lohse and Keith Tracton. We will be providing a new historical outline with a lot of new exciting things to come.
We will be printing new updated and is some cases expanded editions of our World At War 85 series games. We will not be following the old series history or horror theme. Our new edition will be a military theme only. So here is what games are coming and at you can expect to find in them.

Storming the Gap - This game will include the older editions of Eisenbach Gap, Death of the First Panzer Army and the Gamers Guide. This game will include 14 scenarios, three double-sided full-color maps and about 260+ counters.

Blood and Fury - This game will include the older edition of Blood and Bridges, Battles within Battles, Operation Garbo, Baltic Fury and Yankee scenario from Eisenbach Gap. This game will include 37 scenarios, four double-sided maps and about 675+ counters.

The Untold Battles - This game will include the older edition of The Untold Stories, Paris is Burning and Into the Breach with the Black Day Campaign. This game will include 32 scenarios, four double-sided maps and about 875+ counters.

America Breached - This game will include the older edition of America Conquered and the Texan War of Independence. We do not have a map, scenario and counters count yet.

Strike Force Africa - This game will include South African, Cuban, Angolan units and scenarios from Line of Fire expansion. We will be expanding this by some limited NATO and Warsaw Pact forces. We do not have a map, scenario and counters count yet.

As we move forward in the series we will be adding historical maps and historical units to the series. We hope you excited about the new direction for the series and we love to hear what you thinking.


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will the rules for this series be similar to those of the nations at war series. the counters look similar.

 

[Keith Tracton]

will the rules for this series be similar to those of the nations at war series. the counters look similar.

Hi Ben, similar but not interchangeable.

 

[Keith Tracton]

For your weekend pleasure I have constructed a scenario to test what most people really wan to: tank on tank. I'm using play test counters from storming the gap and play test cards as well. The maps are real. The counter Graphics are real. I've just mixed and matched a little and printed some extra counters. Not wanting to waste play test time it's also a test of the new point system. I'll continue to post as I go. Starting off this is Soviet T-80 Battalion against a US pure M1 tank battalion. which likely would not find, and, because this is a combined arms game in concept he won't be able to do in storming the Gap unless you buy two copies. :-O But as I said it's just for fun and to test the point system. You can see from the number of formation cards on the right for the US that command wise they outnumber the two Soviet cards on the left. I did give the Soviets a designated formation card to try and balance this somewhat in terms of command. But on the other hand what would a battalion of M-1s do against the Battalion of T80s? Most likely overwhelm them, despite being armed with 105mm guns. This will be an interesting test as to whether the points system supports that hypothesis.ĺ

 

[Keith Tracton]

So have a little preview of Old WaW versus new World At War 85. Official Canadian unit art is in process for their debut in Blood and Fury, but the West Germans can use their Leopard-1 to stand in (thats an extra, it was not in the original photo). So this is a section of the fight in the picture below: left side is the picture, right side is actual unit and map art from WaW85 (as usual, markers are placeholders for eventual real art, they will change!).

 

[Jimmy hansen]

I loved the old system although I got into it late, like 19 months ago...... I am EXCITEDLY waiting on this re-vamp. Please get it to the peasants like me asap. Thank you....

 

[crak]

So have a little preview of Old WaW versus new World At War 85. Official Canadian unit art is in process for their debut in Blood and Fury, but the West Germans can use their Leopard-1 to stand in (thats an extra, it was not in the original photo). So this is a section of the fight in the picture below: left side is the picture, right side is actual unit and map art from WaW85 (as usual, markers are placeholders for eventual real art, they will change!).

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Hi Keith. The tank silhouettes are tough to see on the blue backgrounds. They were the best part of the original counters, I think.

 

[Keith Tracton]

I loved the old system although I got into it late, like 19 months ago...... I am EXCITEDLY waiting on this re-vamp. Please get it to the peasants like me asap. Thank you....

No peasants only stalwart supporters and we thank you for that! We're working as diligently as you can to get it out to you, and if you're in Seattle this week There's a demo copyof the first game, storming the gap, that's going to be laid out for you to take a look at.

 

[Keith Tracton]

Hi Keith. The tank silhouettes are tough to see on the blue backgrounds. They were the best part of the original counters, I think.

We will be checking colors down the line, it's tough to call how they will contrast on the final material (paper). But we have other options if the color remains darker than we would like. I am in touch with the counter artist. Thanks for the feedback!

 

[Adolfo]

Hello.

I am old fan of the series I am also waiting for the new editions and I have two questions about the art.

I agree with Crak the silhouettes are tough in backgrounds solid colors. (I like the new style of the NaW serie)
Will not the HQ have a silhouette?
Will the infantry be with NATO symbols or will they have new style like the new NaW?

Sorry for my english and thanks.

 

[Keith Tracton]

Hello.

I am old fan of the series I am also waiting for the new editions and I have two questions about the art.

I agree with Crak the silhouettes are tough in backgrounds solid colors. (I like the new style of the NaW serie)
Will not the HQ have a silhouette?
Will the infantry be with NATO symbols or will they have new style like the new NaW?

Sorry for my english and thanks.

Hi Adolfo! Hq's and infantry will not have Silhouettes they will have native symbols. It makes them a little easier to distinguish from the vehicles. Also it allows us to distinguish between Commandos , homeguard and other various types of Infantry.

 

[Jimmy hansen]

Hi LnL wargamers and company......

Is there any chance that the information markers in 85 could be slightly smaller than the unit counters. A less large info counter would still get the point across, like a unit is DISRUPTED; best of both worlds: the beauty of the war counter art work, importance of the unit along with diminutive extras ( as in a WRECK) that clutter and obscure what they cover. Just a thought from a loyaly follower of IN PROGRESS work.

 

[Keith Tracton]

Hi LnL wargamers and company......

Is there any chance that the information markers in 85 could be slightly smaller than the unit counters. A less large info counter would still get the point across, like a unit is DISRUPTED; best of both worlds: the beauty of the war counter art work, importance of the unit along with diminutive extras ( as in a WRECK) that clutter and obscure what they cover. Just a thought from a loyaly follower of IN PROGRESS work.

Hi Jimmy, thanks for the suggestion but I simply don't know at this point. We base our counter estimates on the new 3/4 " counters. Personally, I place markers adjacent to the units they effect if possible. I will have to see. But thanks again!!

 

[Keith Tracton]

So here's a picture of potential down the line when more than two of the new editions are available: this is nine geomorphic maps of the new series (these are handcut playtest maps, any error in geomorphicness is mine). 18" ruler and prototype Beta rules cover to scale, the individual maps are roughly 13x19 to accommodate the new larger counters:

 

[Keith Tracton]

Working on player aids yesterday , here's a peek. We want all the values that you are already familiar with to be clear for new players as well, so we are dedicating a big 11x17 to show everything on every counter you will encounter. One thing to know: he HE value has shifted to the upper right and the Armor has moved to the lower left where armor was. Why? Makes more room on the counter so we could upsize the typeface. Also works logically (I feel) as everything that shoots is on the top fo the counter (AP and HE) while everything else is on the bottom (armor, movement, assault). We've expanded on the recon symbol, though it is a red triangle now, and the other color triangles have a few special functions like composite or reactive armor, minimum range of 3 for some ATGMs like the Sagger, and indirect fire capability.

What you see on my screen is not final, thats not even hi-resolution art, but I thought you might like to see the prototype.

 

[Karazjo]

It's great to see all this progress (maps and PA)
I'm eagerly waiting to buy the first modules of WAW85.
Lately been playing Red Hammer solo while listening to the Deustchland 83 soundtrack hahaa

 

[Marine Grunt]

Arab vs. Isreali's gets my buck!

 

[rastamann]

Looking fantastic!!