The early years get underway in the ballroom before shifting to Lampeter on Tuesday evening.	Magnetized units allow the giant games to be portable which was truly fortunate this year given the need to transfer between sites.
Greg Wilson confers with designer Bruce Harper over their framed map.	Trays of magetic counter reinforcements await their turn for entry into the game.

The 20-Year Playtest Continues ...

If one takes the term "unique" literally, it is safe to say that this is indeed a unique event. Unlike conventional tournaments, World At War takes the form of an ongoing playtest of an incredibly detailed game taking a week to play that has been underway for over 20 years. The participants meet at the end of the week to vote who "won" and decide on the rule changes for next year! If that is not unique enough for you, the participants come equipped with fully magnetized versions of the game which came in extremely handy during the need to change locations due to the unavailability of Lampeter Hall during the auction.

A World at War attracted its largest field ever. This allowed for eight full campaign games, also the most ever, breaking last year's record by two full games. Although new players are not unusual, this year all attending were veterans of at least one previous event. The table markers indicating time frame and turn for each game, introduced last year, were used again, allowing spectators to easily tell at a glance how each game compared to historical results. Two games involved failed invasions of England that were later followed by invasions of Russia. One game featured an Axis conquest of Spain and Turkey, followed by a 1942 invasion of Russia. And in one game, the Allies managed to invade France in 1942, and stay ashore. Of the eight games, two were one-point Axis victories (which means one theater tied, while the Axis won by one turn in the other theater); one was a draw; two were Allied victories; and three were Axis victories ranging from four to eight points. Nuclear research varied. In most games the Allies researched the bomb; in one game the Germans did, but never had a chance to use it. The number of bombs available in 1945 varied, from one in Spring 1945 to five in Fall 1945.

The new rules in Russia appear to work as intended. Russia now receives more BRPs in 1941, but fewer in 1942. This gives the Axis more staying power in 1942 and resulted in more fighting. The new rules for weakening Italy also worked as intended, and Italy is now easier to take down. The modifications to submarine warfare also worked well, and there did not appear to be any games where the Battle of the Atlantic was badly out of balance. In most games, the rules granting resistance points for holding Pacific island groups promoted fighting, but in a couple it did not. The rule granting a resistance point for controlling Chunking seemed a bit too friendly to Japan, as once taken, there is little the Allies can do to take it back. The new rule granting +1 air defense and +1 NDRM to four factor carriers (CVBs), made these ships more popular. In several games, both sides (Japan and the US) built them.

The primary area of the game that was deemed worthy of change at this time is naval combat. One game featured a Pacific theater in which NO naval combat occurred! In another game, exactly one naval battle was fought, but not until Summer 1945, and then only one round. This was attributed to several factors, including oil (Japan tends to be rather conservative because of it), the power of land-based air (LBA), and the threat of interception of activities in overwhelming force. New rules allowing more latitude to small forces, modifications to the rules for LBA, and changes to the oil rules, have been proposed and will be play tested. The resistance point awarded to Japan for controlling Chunking has been changed. A point is now awarded if the Chinese resistance level is -3 or less.
One of our players, Elihu Feustal, took the time to do something we have never done before - use a video camera to interview each of the players at three different points in the game, providing a visual and oral history of each match. These are available on You Tube, at the links below. We have already heard from several folks that are planning to come to the tournament after watching the videos.

Game 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMQrtTsmRok
Game 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYc6HXdHMVM
Game 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-vv1MRHVzs
Game 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnOhpIIvvfQ
Game 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L69nuYTVEpk
Game 6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXRqMKnj_Mw
Game 7: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tb9EV3-LKo
Game 8: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Uu8yMsKqlo

Stacking with an attitude and a magnetic personality. If you ever gave up wargames due to fiddly piece density issues, this game is your worst nightmare.	Taking a page from B17, the WAW guys have started a prize table and gone them one better - meeting not only to discuss the results but vote on the winner!