Can you sum up the current state?

[sIg3b]

If I buy this game in the Christmas 2020 sale, what do I get?

How many scenarios are playable?
Hotseat only or is pbem in playable condition?
Is it still buggy or many rules not implemented?
Do production, logistics, victory conditions etc work as they should?
Does the download version include a manual with the rules as coded?

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: sIg3b

If I buy this game in the Christmas 2020 sale, what do I get?

How many scenarios are playable?

All except the two map scenarios.

Hotseat only or is pbem in playable condition?

One can play by email. See the AARs for several games being played by email.

Is it still buggy or many rules not implemented?

A few optional rules are not implemented. There are some minor bugs, but the game is very playable.

Do production, logistics, victory conditions etc work as they should?

Production works, but sometimes getting British convoy routes to work exactly as you want is some work. I have always been able to get it to work, though. Everything else is fine.

Does the download version include a manual with the rules as coded?

Yes.

[sIg3b]

Thank you! Even though no AI is a fairly big minus for me, I think I´m gonna bite.

Are there by chance any strategy guides around? Learning-by-doing would take a long time with this one I assume. [:D]

[Courtenay]

ORIGINAL: sIg3b

Thank you! Even though no AI is a fairly big minus for me, I think I´m gonna bite.

Are there by chance any strategy guides around? Learning-by-doing would take a long time with this one I assume. [:D]

See https://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=3472676
for a download of the '98 WiF Annual.

Any WiF player who hasn't seen this should take a look at it.

[LeeChard]

What are the two map scenarios?

[Centuur]

ORIGINAL: LeeChard

What are the two map scenarios?

European or Pacific only. In the standard boardgame there are 4 maps, 2 for each theater.

[sIg3b]

Thank you!

[sIg3b]

Does that mean smaller scenarios are unavailable? [&:]

Or do I misunderstand this?

I am not accomplished with the boardgame, so any answers have to be elementary or I won´t understand them. [;)]

[Centuur]

ORIGINAL: sIg3b

Does that mean smaller scenarios are unavailable? [&:]

Or do I misunderstand this?

I am not accomplished with the boardgame, so any answers have to be elementary or I won´t understand them. [;)]

No, smaller scenarios are available, but not the two two map-scenarios.

[Courtenay]

Someone did a hyperlinked version of RAC and the Player's Manuals, but I can not find the post where it was saved. Searching for "Hyperlink" did not work. Anybody have a location for this?

[sIg3b]

Is it this?

There would be 5 one-map and 7 four-map scenarios available. Is that right?

[paulderynck]

Only Barbarossa and Guadalcanal are available for the one map scenarios. They are really there for players to learn the mechanics of land and air combat (Barbarossa) and naval/naval air combat (Guadalcanal).

All the 4-map campaigns are available.

[paulderynck]

ORIGINAL: Courtenay

Someone did a hyperlinked version of RAC and the Player's Manuals, but I can not find the post where it was saved. Searching for "Hyperlink" did not work. Anybody have a location for this?

I thought it was incorporated into the updates now. Have a look in Matrix Games\World in Flames\Manuals for World In Flames Hyperlinked Manual.pdf.

[LeeChard]

ORIGINAL: Centuur

ORIGINAL: LeeChard

What are the two map scenarios?

European or Pacific only. In the standard boardgame there are 4 maps, 2 for each theater.

Thanks!

[sIg3b]

So basically no short scenarios? (Save Barbarossa and Guadalcanal)

Not good, because I am a slow player and the 1939 Global Campaign would take me as long as the war itself.

[Centuur]

ORIGINAL: sIg3b

So basically no short scenarios? (Save Barbarossa and Guadalcanal)

Not good, because I am a slow player and the 1939 Global Campaign would take me as long as the war itself.

There are shorter scenario's available in the game:

Missed the Bus (starts in July/August 1940)
Lebensraum (starts in May/June 1941)
Waking Giant (starts in Nov/Dec 1941)
Brute Force (starts in May/June 1942)
Darkness before the Dawn (starts in July/August 1943)
Decline and Fall (starts in May/June 1944).

The end date of all scenario's is July/August 1945), but there is an option to continue playing after that date.

[sIg3b]

What I meant by "short" was more like 1front/1year. [;)]

[Neilster]

ORIGINAL: sIg3b

What I meant by "short" was more like 1front/1year. [;)]

You'll find that the computer version plays much, much faster than the board game. With the game doing the bookkeeping and rules checking, once you get used to the interface you can often fly through parts of impulses; especially in quiet sectors such as early on in Asia. The "Next unit" arrow enables you to quickly cycle through units available to move.

As a result, don't be put off by the concept of longer and larger campaigns.

[Joseignacio]

ORIGINAL: Neilster

ORIGINAL: sIg3b

What I meant by "short" was more like 1front/1year. [;)]

You'll find that the computer version plays much, much faster than the board game. With the game doing the bookkeeping and rules checking, once you get used to the interface you can often fly through parts of impulses; especially in quiet sectors such as early on in Asia. The "Next unit" arrow enables you to quickly cycle through units available to move.

As a result, don't be put off by the concept of longer and larger campaigns.

True, I believe it reduces the times to maybe 1/3 or 1/4 of the boardgame , basing on my previous experiences in MWIF, due to whatNeilster says but also other saving times factors like the game offering you which planes can bomb/intercept, whether you want to do naval moves or not, rolling the weather the game itself, ..., it's really a huge amount of details that make a great time saving.

The scrap + deploy (bugs or user mistakes apart) can make the separation of units by kind and nationality, selecting the scrappable, scrap, roll to select the ones going to the board and to the production circle, and the deployment so swift that convert an intense "work" pregame of an afternoon of 5+ hours by 4 or 5 players in a process of 1 or 2 hours for 2 players in netplay.

[sIg3b]

ORIGINAL: Neilster

ORIGINAL: sIg3b

What I meant by "short" was more like 1front/1year. [;)]

You'll find that the computer version plays much, much faster than the board game. With the game doing the bookkeeping and rules checking, once you get used to the interface you can often fly through parts of impulses; especially in quiet sectors such as early on in Asia. The "Next unit" arrow enables you to quickly cycle through units available to move.

As a result, don't be put off by the concept of longer and larger campaigns.

Ok, we´ll see. [:)]

I suppose I´ll start with playing Barbarossa once or twice solitaire, then a couple times MP, which will already occupy me for I guess 40+ hours, justifying the buy at reduced price, so no real risk... [:D]

(And this equation does not even include Guadalcanal yet.)