The View from the Turret

World at War: Gamer’s Guide — Review

Posted on 02Mar08 Updated on 25Aug09

Lock ‘n Load Publishing released a Gamer’s Guide for its World at War Cold War-era tactical combat board wargame. It is a 37 page 8 1/2″ x 11″ softbound, black and white magazine. The cover is of heavy glossy stock. The Guide is attractively laid out with plenty of shots of the game in play and a few stock photos sprinkled in. The layout template takes up a lot of space and the guide could probably have been published in only 18 pages but would have seemed a bit more crowded. The lack of color is disappointing especially for the shots of the game in action but everything is clear and readable.

The Guide has eleven articles starting with a preview of the next WaW title, Blood and Bridges that introduces the British to the WaW series. Hard Calibers provides a bounty of charts comparing the performance of the various units in WaW. One by One covers each unit in the game…err…one by one and provides tips for their use. The Bear and the Eagle Or… provides play strategy for both sides for each of the WaW scenarios. Blind Sided is a walkthrough of the first scenario, Blind Sided, in Death of the 1st Panzer. Nightfighting provides optional night fighting rules. Scenario Creation provides a system to create scenarios for WaW. This is followed by two new scenarios, Clearing Hell’s Highway and Poor Bloody Infantry. Ships in the Night is a scenario walkthrough. Lastly, Hell’s Wings is another scenario walkthrough.

Overall the World at War: Gamer’s Guide provides a nice batch of material for the WaW player. The mix of scenarios, play tips, as well as analysis makes it a comprehensive look at the game. The lack of color is disappointing but understandable. If you play WaW you will want to pick this up. Recommended.