World at War, a fantastic game!

[Aaron]

My weekly board gaming session normally takes the form of one of Kevin Zucker's fantastic Napoleonic gems, but lately we've been dabbling in Lock N Load's "World at War"series http://locknloadgame.com/Section_Cat_Content.asp?SID=33&SCAT=82 . World at War is set in 1985. World War Three has broken out and the Warsaw pact rolls into West Germany. This isn't normally something I'd be interested in as I'm not much into modern conflicts (real or imagined), but Chris was so enthusiastic about it I thought I'd give it a shot. I'm hooked!

My friend Chris has done entertaining write-ups of our games on his blog: http://papertimemachine.blogspot.com/. While playing the West Germans with their plethora of Milans was fun, leading the Dutch (Limburgse Jagers and Stoottroepen Prins Bernhard) was a real challenge. This was mainly because they faced a lot of T-80s with no real anti-tank support aside from a lone F-16 that took off after scratching the paint of one WP platoon.

I have no idea how "accurate" the game is, but the mechanics are easy to lear, fun to play, and create very tense scenarios! Individual counters are platoons, several of which make up a formation (normally @ a company for NATO or a battalion for the WP). Each formation has one or two chits which go into a cup along with two "end of turn" chits. When one of a formation's chits is pulled it can move or fire with any platoons it wishes to. Only a few units (mainly T-80s, Leopards, Cheiftans, and Abrahms) can move and fire in the same turn). Any unit which has not moved or fired can opportunity fire at enemy units at any time in the turn though so you often want to sit and wait for your opponent to come out into the open. When both "end of turn" chits have been pulled the turn ends, even if all units have not had an activation. Those units are guaranteed at least one activation in the next turn though. It is a great way to introduce some fog of war without allowing for really off the wayy situations like a company sitting out most of a game.

The big kicker in this system is that while most NATO formations get two chits, most WP formations only get one. This means that the out numbered NATO player gets to flit around from cover to cover taking pot shots when he can while the WP behemoth usually has to lumber forward toward his objectives as quickly as he can and hope enough of his platoons are left after the harrasing fire to take the objectives. It isn't a completely new concept, but it really works here!