World in Flames Collector's edition Update 2 May 2018

All World in Flames Collector's edition advance order games have now been shipped to Europe, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. If you live in one of those locations you should receive your game by the end of the week.

Games to the Americas and Asia are now being shipped out at a furious pace by Mark, our US agent but they might not arrive until the end of next week.

If your game does not arrive by the appropriate time please contact your local agent.

Next the dreaded errata to the game can now be found in the downloads page of this site. My hopes for the errata free game are dashed, but hopefully it won't become a large document.

Thank you for your support for our games and I hope you enjoy your next campaign.

World in Flames Collector's edition Update 23 April 2018

I have just now closed the Advance order discount price for the World in Flame's Collector's edition game series and the game is now available for general release (distributor and retailer enquiries welcome).

I'd like to thank all the many hundreds of customers who have trusted us with producing a game that will satisfy your requirement for the highest quality gaming experience. I'm honoured by your trust.

The games are now being shipped out. The first huge batch is leaving our European agent on Tuesday while the first Australasian games have already gone out today (in chronological order the immortals getting their games first). The games for the Americas are going through customs in  the USA and they should hopefully start shipping out later this week.

To repay  the support of all Gold (Classic), Platinum (Deluxe) and first class (Superdeluxe) advance order members who have ordered either on this site or via kickstarter, if you or a friend of yours (if they've been very good!) would like another copy of the game to play or collect, you will receive the advance order discount price for a year after release (end April 2019 or until we sell out).

To take up this offer, simply place a note with your order saying you are a  WiF member and giving your original order (or KS) number and I will ensure the game is processed at the advance order price (Australian$149 for Classic, $299 for Deluxe and $599 for Superdeluxe plus freight). Ignore the price that shoppify says you will pay, I process all the orders myself and I will ensure you get the discount.

Thanks again for your amazing support and I look forward to hearing what you think of the 34 years effort that has gone into the game and the quality of the printing (which in my eyes is the best ever!).

World in Flames Collector's edition Update 13 April 2018

The first World in Flames game ever unboxed by Ben our European agent (filmed by his wife and WiF artist Evelyn).

 and now the moment of truth

Update 12 April 2018

first photos of the game from Benedikt (our first customer to get his game).

Can't wait for my copy.

Update 28 March 2018

Latest from the front:

 

Look at the size of those games! And if you have bought the World in Flames Deluxe, each box is full to the brim (almost, a little space is left to keep the counters in the box after being punched out).

First games out the door in the next 18 hours or so. Advance order discount ends April 15 (should be shortly after the first games arrive at your door provided you order in the next couple of days).

Thanks for your patience and your support for our games.

Update 26 March 2018

The World in Flames Collector's edition games are all boxed and now being palletted. Shippers are ready and first shipment scheduled (for Australia) on Wednesday. They then go to our agents in Germany, the USA and Australia and then on-shipped to you. Thus you should get your game in your postbox in the next two or three weeks (Germany probably earlier).

If your address has changed since your order please contact your local agent at

Americas: Mark <vnnrtwm@aol.com>

Europe & Africa: Ben <info@richter-kosim.de>

Asia & Pacific Belinda <belinda.belinda044@gmail.com>

Thank you for your patience and trust in our game, our journey has almost arrived.

Update 20 March 2018

Our printers have just informed us that they are now into final assembly and boxing of the games (all kits and rules, counters and map sets already packed) and getting them ready for shipment.

The first shipment (10% to Australia airfreight for the Asian market) is expected to be ready by friday while the games and kits to Europe, Africa and the Americas should be ready to be shipped off next week.

Update 10 March 2018:

Battlestations! Battlestations! BAM! BAM! BAM!

We finally have very good news, EFKO, our Czech printers have just informed us that they will have the first copies of the Collector's edition of World in Flames starting Monday 19th March at the rate of approximately 300 a day (10 days all up to assemble all the games and kits).

We don't quite know the order of production at this stage but the first games released will be delivered to our advance order customers first, both those who order on this website and via our kickstarter campaign.

We are looking for the first few days shipment to go to the furthest destinations, the USA and Australia, and then the next few day's production to Europe (its like OKW doling out the panzers). Thus hopefully by the end of march all our agents around the world will have the games and we shall then onsend them to you.

The advance order discount on the Collector's edition of World in Flames will end at the end of March.

The other news is that the game is very heavy. The deluxe game is expected to weigh about 5.75 kg (12.7 lb), three times heavier than the current edition.

Very sorry for the delay (not the weight, we knew it was never going to be an air box) but our wait is almost over.

Update 29 November 2017: The World in Flames Collector’s Edition game is being printed now. Unfortunately our printers are not quite as nimble as planned and they have just informed us that with their Christmas break (2 weeks off) the game is unlikely to be finished before mid-January.  They are now working flat out and there is still a chance of release before Christmas. I will post further updates as I receive them.

I'm very sorry for the delay. I'm still working very hard to get the game to you as soon as possible and having proofed the components I firmly believe the game will be worth the wait.

Update 24 July 2017: The World in Flames Collector's edition Super Deluxe game is now available for advance order. You can download all the aircraft and naval dedication s/s here and you can find out about becoming a WIF immortal here,

Update 17 July 2017: Have just uploaded an extract of my Aircraft Production and Specifications chart with two new columns for Dedications. Please note that they are not complete yet as I have to insert the dedications of the current playtesters prior to general release (and thus potentially limiting the 846 aircraft available).

Note this s/s only contains 3 columns of aircraft data, the name, the year and the notes. The actual s/s is 1089 rows long and 89 columns wide, 39 columns of data and 60 columns of formulas, 100,000 cells, that produce the most accurate, non-biased, non-partisan value of EVERY combat aircraft of World War II (and many more not built, gotta love the optimism of the coal-fired powered P.13 team!). Check the s/s, all the new aircraft are in green background.

Hopefully just the notes show the depth of the research that has gone into just one aspect of the game. What I haven't included is things like the production numbers not only for every Model, but every type and Mark as well. Some of the info is inferred some are educated guesses but its all backed up with references and its better info than you will get in one location anywhere on the planet.

The numbers per mark are what decides whether a plane gets 0, 1 or more units in World in Flames, and all this info will be available in the handbook after release of the collector's edition .

But just like people, planes have personalities too. All aircraft are unique and no two planes have the same values in World in Flames.

The final aircraft dedication s/s will be up in the download section in the next couple of days.

I still have to dolly up our Ship in Flames spreadsheet to include all the ships available to choose from for dedications and the final version of that should be up in the next couple of days too.

Please don't send requests for aircraft or ship dedications quite yet. We are currently aiming for a Sunday 7am Australian Eastern Standard time launch for our WIF Super Deluxe package advance order (only) which is the optimal time apparently for Anerica (2pm - 5pm Saturday) Europe (Saturday 10pmish? give or take the odd double summer time) and eastern Asia (6-7am). But please check back prior to Saturday/Sunday as that may change.

The WIF Superdeluxe includes $940 worth of games, kits, expansions, maps and magazines plus a priceless dedication to immortality (or until you lose your counter moving, whichever comes first) and the Vassal super deluxe version. Our normal price is Australian $699 but the advance order is only Australian $599 which I am reliably led to believe is less than $500 in real money (euros and US$, excluding freight).

The WiF Superdeluxe components we can send to you now, the dedications will be added to the counters as you tell me which aircraft or ship you want (and the list published on our website progressively), the Vassal version as soon as its ready (aiming for early October) and the wiF Deluxe game as soon as its printed (aiming for a Spiel 2017 launch late October).

Thanks for your patience, but its now all systems go.

Update 14 July 2017: Still working furiously on the graphical aspects of the components (the values themselves are more or less set now).

If you check out the downloads page you will find some medium res counters, maps and charts showing the kind of love, care and attention going into the production of this game.

To fill you in what is happening. Before we send the counters off to the printers we will publish in our downloads section two s/s, one containing all the ships in WIF and SiF and the other with all the planes in WiF and PiF. They will include a column which allows us to dedicate the planes and ships to individual gamers.

This will be done sometime next week, a couple of days before we open up here on our website advance ordering ONLY for the WiF Superdeluxe package. The other 9 WiF products will be open for sale (along with the superdeluxe) on our crowdfunding site when we commence that (planned for August).

This does three things, first we can send you all the non WiF Deluxe products now, clearing the decks for our sales staff to just deal with the WiF Deluxe when it is printed.

Secondly we are working on and nearly finished the Vassal version of the Collector's edition and will send that to all WIF Super Deluxe orderers as soon as it is ready which means you will be able to play the Collector's edition even prior to release of the printed game.

Most importantly it gives me the time to put in your names progressively rather than all at the last minute before printing.

To ensure you get your name on a ship (very tiny about 0.4 pt) or initials or name on a plane (initials clearly visible at about 2.6 pt) you need to download the s/s (when its available), check which plane or ship you want (remembering that we go into enormous detail and each plane is individual so telling us you want a Bf-109G is not much help), ensuring its still available (check the Dedication column), make an order, and send me an email to adg@spitfire.com.au with your top 5 choices to ensure you get what you want and the exact wording you want (not too long unless you want it to be incredibly tiny).

Its first in (having done both) best dressed, and then I will put the names on the ship or plane and send you a confirmatory email (or a request for another 5 if your five are all taken). I'll then endeavour to update the s/s everyday with the Dedication column updated  so you know which ones are still available.

Then when all the names are on the ships and planes we will send you a blowup of the countersheet with your chosen moniker and when we publish our Handbook of Aircraft and Naval Unit Technical Data we will include the dedications full name so there is a permanent record.

I hope particularly some of the original two thousand WIF1ers take advantage of this offer (hopefully some are still alive!). You guys I owe the greatest debt too, as it was your faith 32 years ago that still sees us here today. If you are a WIF1er (which includes the 2nd edition rulebook) pls tell me in your email and I will put the dedication in gold (you are truly Le grogneur des grinçants).

The other products will be launched with our crowdfunding campaign and we will provide info to you as it becomes available,

Thanks you very much for your long patience in this 32 year odyssey. We are almost there.

Update 29 Jun 2017: Just a quick update to say that we are still on course for an October release and we are looking to start a 30 day crowdfunding campaign (got any ideas on the best one for games?) by end of July or early august, both to broadcast its imminent release and to give us more exact numbers of how many of the different games and kit we end up printing.

As an added incentive to all purchasers of the Super Deluxe package who advance order before the counters go to the printers (expected mid August) can have their name, moniker or initials (yourself or someone you love) printed on your favourite aircraft or ship in the game. Note that the printing is very tiny (<2 pt) but we will send you a blowup of it so you can quite clearly see you're immortalised.  its only 1 name per ship or plane so its first in best dressed (note though that most of the planes and some of the ships have more than one manifestation, eg there is a WiF Bismarck and a SiF Bismarck).

Back to work!

Update 23 Feb 2017: I've got some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that the release of World in Flames: the Collector's edition will now be at Eurowifcon 2017 and Spiel 2017 both in Germany in October this year.

Now for the good news. While Cat and I were in Germany last October we had discussions with some of the biggest boardgame printers in the world. As a result of those discussions we are pleased to announce that World in Flames: the Collector's edition maps will be printed for the first time ever as hard-mounted map boards. With a total map-size of 840mm wide x 2.63 metres long, this will (unless I am very much mistaken) make World in Flames the largest ever hard-mounted map game published in history.

But wait, there's more! For the counters we are also going from knife cut (with all that nasty flash on each edge to deal with) to die cut that you just punch out with your fingers. And furthermore we intend to print them with beveled edges so all you gamers who meditate by clipping all four corners of thousands of counter edges before you play will have to find some other form of serenity (sorry about that Robin!).

And there is a bunch of other stuff we have decided to do too like make both the rulebook and scenario books full colour with heaps of full-colour examples. In producing the aircraft for Planes in Flames (including over 50 new models)  we have amassed the most detailed accumulation of ship and aircraft technical and production data that has ever been collated and are considering publishing a hard cover academic World in Flames Handbook of combat aircraft and naval unit technical & production data  (this would normally be a full-time project in its own right and I won't be holding up the publication of the Collector's edition if simultaneous publication is not possible).

All this requires not only the physical production of counters, maps, rules and charts etc but also the manipulation of them so they fit into the printer's specifications. What we are attempting has not been done before and wasn't actually possible in the recent past at least if you wanted an acceptable game to play on the scale of World in Flames. You will notice the seismic impact of this change in that World in Flames: the collector's edition in the new way it is being packaged as explained below.

All of this is going to take time. For example I have to manipulate the maps a bit so they abut each other as hard mounted maps rather than layering over each other as in all previous editions. Because the maps edges will fold over I have to move all edge city names, factories, ports etc a little bit in to the centre of each map to allow a bit of leeway in printing.

So please accept my humble apologies for the length of time this is taking to complete but I hope it reinforces the fact that the Collector's edition is definitely it! I have other projects I want to finish before I get too drifty to remember what they are.

But my sole goal now is when you open your copy of World in Flames: the collector's edition, you will agree it is the best, most beautiful and most accurate strategic game of World War II you have ever played.

I want this to be the game you will to your grandchildren. More than that I want your grandchildren to fight over it and not speak to each other at Christmas if they don't get it. Anything less than this is abject failure!

You will also be glad to hear that we now have (proposed, based on current quotes from printers, prices will be finalised and fixed prior to taking first orders) prices for the game (excluding freight, taxes and charges)

Collector Edition Games

World in Flames Classic - Australian (Aus) $199

World in Flames Deluxe - Aus $399

World in Flames Super Deluxe- Aus $799 (will be less if it doesn't include the hard-cover World in Flames Handbook of WWII combat aircraft & naval units).

To reward you for your support for ADG and our games, in May or June we will set up an advance order system where if you order before its release you will receive a 25% discount on each of the above products, i.e. 

Collector Edition Games

World in Flames Classic - Aus $149

World in Flames Deluxe - Aus $299

World in Flames Super Deluxe- Aus $599 (which is pretty cheap for 4 games, 2 magazines, a hardcover book of technical data, 7 expansions, 15 maps and 9240 counters and a couple of pages of rules).

I will announce on our website when we are ready to start taking pre-orders. In the meantime, thank you for your interest in our games and I'll get back to slaving over a hot Stuka and wonder what fantasy numbers, sorry I mean detailed specifications, I can come up with for the Super-Lorin (that original Lorin was just rubbish!).

regards

Harry Rowland

ADG

************************

Original post July 2016 (revised to include new information disclosed above)

When World in Flames was first released in 1985 I had no idea we'd still be beavering away at it 32 years later.

The first edition took 2 years to produce. The collector's edition has so far taken 10 years. It synthesises approximately 9 million person hours of gaming experience (and that's based on the estimate that each of our 60,000 customers have only played it once, and even then only against other customers so I suspect that is a substantial underestimate) to bring you (in October 2017) the definitive strategic game of world war II. 

The collector's edition provides new maps, new counters, streamlined, simplified and clarified full-colour rules, new scenarios, new options, new countries and new strategies.

The maps have moved away from mercator and conic projections to equal area projections. No 2D representation of a 3D world can be accurate but some are more appropriate than others. The problem with equal area projections is they tend to draw inwards areas close to the globe. To handle that we use the map breaks to ensure that if the cities can't go to the map edges the map edges can come to the cities. This gives the maps themselves a pleasing and intuitive globe look themselves (as you can see from the Asia map attached to this blog).

The counters have all been updated and revised as necessary. An extra countersheet has been added so all standard corps are now included in the Classic set. The carriers now show a top view as the dive bombers would have seen it just as they were releasing their bombs and all submarines are now individualised by class which affects their performance characteristics. More entry markers are available so you shouldn't run out now and everyone now has their own offensive points they can buy and spend.

The rules themselves have been thoroughly overhauled to make any FAQ superfluous. We have spent the last 7 years simplifying, streamlining and standardising the rules as much as possible with many more examples to make play of the game as smooth as possible.

There will also be 2 new expansions, Territories in Flames which replaces Africa Aflame and Divisions in Flames which replaces Asia Aflame & Mech in Flames. The basis of the collector's edition is that if you want one unit or marker type, you only need to go to one kit. Thus if you want divisions and artillery, all of them for all WiF games (including Patton in Flames and America in Flames) will be included in Divisions in Flames.

Finally we have added several new campaigns and scenarios including America in Flames, Patton in Flames and Days of Decision campaigns that now use all the counters from all the expansions (e.g. adding Ships in Flames to America in Flames).

It has taken 9 further years but at last we hope to achieve our 31 year endeavour to make World in Flames the Collector's edition the greatest gaming experience of your life.

*****************  .

The World in Flames Collector’s edition world comes in one of ten flavours:

• World in Flames Rules Set;
• World in Flames Map Set;
• World in Flames Classic Counters Set;
• World in Flames Classic Collector’s game;
• Planes in Flames expansion;
• Ships in Flames expansion;
• Divisions in Flames expansion;
• Territories in Flames expansion;
• World in Flames Deluxe Collector’s game; and
• World in Flames Super Deluxe Collector’s game set.

The World in Flames Rules set consists of:

• this rule book (incl. 2 x A4 builds charts);
• The Campaign & Players’ Guide (sections 24-30 of the rules including scenario and campaign set ups); and
• 3 x A3 full-colour game charts.

The World in Flames Map set consists of:

• 4 large (574 x 820mm) hard-mounted full-colour maps covering most of the world (West Europe & Africa, East Europe & the Middle East, Asia, and the Pacific);
• One 297 x 420 mm hard-mounted full-colour mini-map of America; and
• One 297 x 420 mm hard-mounted full colour Turn record chart.

The World in Flames Classic Counters set consists of 1600 (12.7 x 12.7 mm) counters representing the armies, navies and air forces of World War II (countersheets 1-6, 24 & 46);

The World in Flames Classic Collector’s edition game consists of the:

• World in Flames Rules set;
• World in Flames map set;
• World in Flames Classic counters set;
• box & 2 ten-sided dice.

Everything you need to play the game.

Planes in Flames adds 600 counters representing all the combat aircraft that fought before during and after WW II including many new and late-war aircraft and capabilities that fully integrates Planes in Flames with all World in Flames games (AiF, DoD, PatiF & WiF, countersheets 7-9);

Ships in Flames comprises:

• 1800 counters representing all the aircraft carrier, battleships cruisers, subs, transports, amphibs and carrier planes before, during and after WW II (CS 18-22, 36 & 51-53); and
• one 297 x 420 mm full-colour Task Force display.

Divisions in Flames adds 400 counters representing all the independent divisions that fought during WW II (including special forces and elite divisions as well as Guards Banne Armies and their divisions, countersheets 49 and 50);

Territories in Flames adds 400 counters representing all the special corps and armies created during WWII from Territorials to Siberians, to city based volunteers, warlords and even the potential creation of the Ukraine (countersheets 47 and 48).

The World in Flames Deluxe Collector’s edition game consists of:

• the World in Flames Classic Collector’s game;
• Planes in Flames;
• Ships in Flames;
• Divisions in Flames; and
• Territories in Flames;

for a total of 5 maps and 4800 counters.

The World in Flames Super Deluxe Collector’s game set* consists of the:

• World in Flames Deluxe Collector’s edition game;
• America in Flames game (CS 26-28);
• Days of Decision III game (2 x CS 13 & 3 x CS17);
• Patton in Flames game (CS 31-35);
• Africa map (full-colour 514 x 534 mm paper map);
• Scandinavian map (full-colour 330 x 197 mm paper map);
• Khaki in Flames (CS 40-45) kit; and
• hard cover WWII Handbook of Combat Aircraft & Naval units (to be confirmed); and
• most recent 2 Annuals (currently CS 30~Politics in Flames & CS 39~Factories in Flames);

for a total of 1 book, 2 magazines, 4 games, 7 expansions, 15 maps and 9240 counters (and a couple of pages of rules:)!

 

* ~ Please note that only the World in Flames Deluxe Collector’s edition game and WWII Handbook of Combat Aircraft & Naval units are being printed. The rest of the superdeluxe package includes the current version of the magazines, games and expansions.