alexvand
Posts: 380
Joined: 11/29/2007
From: Canada
Status: offline
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In another thread which got off topic a new-comer was asking about A3R as compared to Wif. Particularly with the Rising Sun included to make A3R a world wide game like WiF.
I've played both about 3 times each from beginning to end.
WiF wins by a long shot in my opinion.
Strengths of A3R with Rising Sun:
-Shorter play time
-takes up less space
-It does have a superior political system which allows for some interesting play, even if it can be very ahistorical. (But so can WiF)
-It does have a more interesting research system, but it's prone to unbalancing the game. (One German player put all his research into preparing for the winter war. Thus, they never stopped in that first winter. Game over.)
-It's not as complex on all levels, and thus easier to learn.
Weakness of A3R vs WiF
-A3R can be easily lost due a single mistake far moreso than WiF. (I misplaced a single unit on my Russian setup and the Germans took Moscow in a single turn on the first turn of Barbarossa and ended the game. That scale of mistake is almost impossible in WiF. Except maybe garrisoning Gibraltar, but even that doesn't end the game instantly.)
-Each turn in A3R covers 4 turns for the entire year while WiF has 6 turns which are further subdivided into multiple impulses. This leads to massive and rapid changes on the board in a short time in A3R, while WiF has a much more gradual and realistic feel to it's development.
-WiFs production system is vastly superior with serious thought having to be put into how and what and when you build. In A3R your entire army and air force can be wiped out in a single turn and rebuilt with the same time period. The navy is somewhat better.
-To accomodate the entire World A3R keeps the map the same, but requires you to change units when switching between European and Pacific theatres. (The movement #s on the counters are different for land and air units from one map to the other.) I found this far more cumbersome than keeping the same units and changing the movement cost like WiF does. (Of course, Matrix's version won't have this problem.)
-Almost all units are the same. Almost all german armour is 4-6 for instance. Almost all infantry is 3-3 or 1-3. There are not named naval units or air units. All air units are 5-4 or 1-4 and all naval units start at a strength of 9. This makes for some bland combat choices and some of the fun out of the game. (I happen to be Canadian and love getting the Canadian army all in one spot and actually use them together. Or that moment when the those terrible i-### Russian planes shoot down a FW-190!)
There's probably more, but I need to go put my kids to bed. In summary, WiF kicks A3Rs butt. It's way more fun to play, although WiF takes way more time and $$$.
Alex
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