It took a while—and much drama—but the Gamefound campaign for World at War 85: Blood and Fury designed by Keith Tracton was finally fulfilled by Lock ‘n Load Publishing in mid-January 2025. Though I was first introduced to the World at War 85 series in late 2002 with my acquisition of World at War 85: Storming the Gap (2019) I truly fell in love with the series after attending the Armchair Dragoons Fall Assembly in late 2023 when I sat in a learn and play of a pre-production copy of Blood and Fury with designer Keith Tracton.
Storms a’coming
I chronicled my thoughts about the original volume of World at War 85: Storming the Gap (2019) in a post back in March of 2023. In “Wargame SITREP 230320 N7 Design- Fog, Friction, and Chance in World at War 85: Storming the Gap (Lock ‘Load Publishing, 2019)” I lauded Storming the Gap for, “Playable realism. In a game that looks awesome on the gaming table too.” The latest volume, Blood and Fury, does not change my impression of the game; if anything it reinforces my love for the series. Blood and Fury not only introduces new forces (especially the British…and lots of West Germans too) but also showcases the refinement of the base rules while also introducing campaign and solo rules.
Heavy weapons
The first thing one notices when receiving Blood and Fury is the size and sheer heft of the game. The game ships in a ~13.5″ x ~10″ outer box that weighs in at around 11 pounds…and that does not count the extra space and weight of the expansion Operation Red Gauntlet that shipped with my core game. The outer shipping box is huge because the game box itself is a massive 4″ deep.
The game box for Blood and Fury is packed to the top with gaming goodness. There is plenty of material inside including spiral bound rule books, nice thick counters (with rounded edges), lots of cards and maps and a dozen player aids. Oh yeah, nice flight stands for your helicopters too. The Operation Red Gauntlet expansion adds another scenario book (also spiral bound) and more maps.
Dealin’ without a CRT
The World at War 85 (WaW85) series is incredibly playable thanks in great part to the use of two core game mechanisms; cards for turn order and events and and combat resolution without a Combat Results Table (CRT).
Design Note: The Formation cards form the heart of the WaW85 game turn. Activating your Formations allows your counters on the map to maneuver an attack enemy units.
Rule 7.0 Formation Card; WaW85 Ruleset v2.2, p. 37
Formation cards are the core of the game turn sequence in World at War 85. Every turn a deck of cards is built with the proper Formation cards, End of Operations cards, and Close Air Support or Electronic Warfare or Battlefield Event/Friction cards if called for. Some units will get more than one Formation card in the deck reflecting superior command and control or logistics or planning. Cards are drawn and units activated or events executed until the second End of Operations card is drawn. This unpredictable, yet thematically appropriate, game mechanism keeps players engaged throughout the turn and calls for careful planning.
Combat in World at War 85 is driven directly from the counters. At its core in combat you find the right combat value, possibly apply a few modifiers, and roll a pool of d6 with every number equal to or greater than the combat value scoring a hit. The target consults their defensive values, again applies a few modifiers, and rolls their own pool of d6 with every roll equal to or greater than the modified defensive value “saving” a hit. Each unsaved hit causes a Disruption, reduction, or elimination of the target unit. Yes, there are slightly different procedures for Indirect Fire but at the core the need to reference an off-board chart is limited. The greatest impact of the combat resolution system in World at War 85 is that it plays quickly with good decisions and just enough “wristage” to keep players involved at every step.
New companion
Blood and Fury includes a 300+ page Companion Book with new rules, units, and scenarios. While seemingly daunting (300 pages!) the book is broken down into six sections that are either easily digestible or readily referenced in play.
This Companion Book provides the Module Rules for Blood and Fury, which cover the new units introduced in this module, and the various Scenario Specific Rules. In general, the Module Rules take precedence over the game’s Core Rules, and all Scenario Rules take precedence over all.
Module Rules 1.0 Module Rules, Blood & Fury Companion Book, P. 8
Module Rules
Pages 6-28 (22 pages). Given the number of rivers found on the North German Plains the major new units introduced are Pontoon and Pontoon Engineer units.
The World at War 85 Solo Assistant (hereafter SA) is a solo game assistant designed for fans of the World at War 85 (WaW85) series of games and their expansion modules. This system will allow players to take most scenarios from any WaW85 game, expansions, or those generated by the Battle Generator (Core Rules 17.0) and play them solitaire: the choices for the player’s opponent are made by the solo game assistant system. Though there may still be occasional Judgment Calls need by you from time to time, SA is built to minimize those situations.
Solitaire Rules 1.0 Introduction, Blood & Fury Companion Book, P. 29
Solitaire Rules
Pages 29-54 (25 pages). The Solo Assistant (SA) is driven by a deck of cards called the SA Artificial Enemy Opponent (AEO). As summarized in the Solitaire Rules:
The AEO conducts its actions by choosing a unit or stack to activate and then drawing a card from a deck of AEO Order cards provided here in the SA. Each card has a list of potential orders the AEO may perform with its selected units. A very simple process determines how far down the list of Orders on the card you begin checking Orders for the AEO. If the AEO cannot for any reason execute an Action as dictated by the Order, simply proceed down to the next Order.
Solitaire Rules 1.0 Introduction, Blood & Fury Companion Book, p. 29
In my personal experiences with the SA in World at War 85 I found it fairly easy to use and follow. I own and previously used the 2019 Solo Assistant: Nations at War/World at War 85 which helps with the learning curve in the latest version. I also, by nature, am inclined to use rule Solitaire Rules section 2.2 “Use your head, Soldier!”:
The AEO is not perfect and most likely will not play the game you would. While playing the game, the AEO might make a move that causes you to scratch your head. You have the last word over the AOE, though. If you think the AEO’s action is not in the best interest of the AEO, use common sense to override the situation. But unless you are sure the AEO action is follish, try following the AEO Orders to get the best results and the most enjoyment out of the SA.
Solitaire Rules 2.2, Blood & Fury Companion Book, p. 30
It is important to note that the SA for WaW85 is NOT a bot; the AEO cards are the physical embodiment of an “emergent” Artificial Intelligence system pioneered by Academy Games in their Conflict of Heroes: Eastern Front – Solo Expansion (2015).
The Drive from Leine is a campaign game for WaW85 that allows play of a set of linked game scenarios depicitng a drive of Soviet forces across West Germany against NATO forces.
Campaign Game: The Drive on Leine, 1.0 Introduction, Blood and Fury Companion Book, p. 55
Campaign Game
Pages 54-69 (15 pages). The Drive From Leine Campaign Game in Blood and Fury represents one day of combat divided into five Operations turns. The game is played out on separate Operational maps which in turn create scenarios for combat encounters each Operations turn.
Reinforcements Expansion
Pages 70-76 (6 pages). The Reinforcement Expansion in the Blood and Fury Companion Book adds the entire (!) United Kingdom (UK) 7th Armoured Brigade and the UK 2nd Battalion, The Parachute Regiment. The Soviet player gets the entire 197th Guards Tank Regiment. Also included are:
To top it off, there are additional British, Soviet, and West German units included: more thank-launched ATGM [anti-tank guided missile] support weapons; more pontoons for both sides; engineer for the British; and, finally, another West German Kraka air-landing capable ATGM vehicle.
Reinforcements Expansion 1.0 Introduction, Blood and Fury Companion Book, p. 70
The Reinforcements Expansion was an early stretch goal of the Gamefound campaign and is added directly in the core game box rather than packaged as a seperate product.
Scenarios
Pages 77-231 (54 pages). Blood and Fury comes with sixteen (16) standard scenarios and one Campaign Scenario. Scenarios include rules for solo play; the Campaign Scenario takes full advantage of the Campaign Game rules. It is incredible to think that you could play each scenario four different ways (As Player A vs. Player B, As Player B vs. Player A, as Solo Player A, or as Solo Player B) which means one—quite literally—could play Blood and Fury a total of 68 times and never repeat the same scenario as the same player. That number continues to grow if one uses the Battle Generator or other Design Your Own force options.
Appendixes
Pages 232-311 ( 79 pages). Strictly speaking, nothing in the Appendixes of the Blood and Fury Companion Book is really necessary since almost all of it appears elsewhere in the game components. That said, it is nice to have much of the material pulled together in this fashion for easy reference.
Appendix A: WWIII in 1985: The Beginning. A world-setting extract from the novel Storming the Gap – First Strike by Brad Smith that is the setting behind the World at War 85 series.
Appendix B: Who are the Leaders in Blood and Fury? Dedications to players who supported Blood and Fury in development.
Appendix C: A Tour of your Units. For the gearheads; short descriptions of the various units.
Appendix D: National Unit Tables. Very useful in Design Your Own scenarios:
The National Unit tables offer a summary of capabilities for a sample unit of each type in the game, by nationality, with rules references that can point you to even more detail if needed. Also included are individual points values for individual units and grouped a formations for Design Your Own scenarios. The last page of each nation’s tables is a summary of the units by formation (color band), and an inventory of that nation’s attachments provided in the game.
Appendix D, Blood and Fury Companion Book, p. 243
Appendix E: Card Inventory. Every card in Blood and Fury including the Reinforcements Expansion.
Appendix F: Virtual Player Aids. A bit of a misnomer as these are physical and not virtual but intended to support virtual play. As the front page of Appendix F states, “These aids are duplicates of the Player Aid cards and are for customers who bought the game Companion as a standalone to play using VASSAL or Tabletop Simulator” (Blood and Fury Companion Book, p. 285).
Run the Red Gauntlet
As if all the scenarios in the base game of Blood and Fury was not enough, my crowdfunding pledge also includes the expansion World at War 85: Operation Red Gauntlet – Crossing the Mighty Weser. As the expansion introduction explains, “Operation Red Gauntlet is a set of expansion scenarios and maps for World at War 85 Volume 2, Blood and Fury. Continuing the numbering from the 16 scenarios in the main game, you will find scenarios 17 through 21 here” (Operation Red Gauntlet, Introduction, p. 4).
Operation Red Gauntlet comes with a 104-page spiral bound book and nine new maps for Blood and Fury. Map 8 is geomorphic and used in Scenario 20. Maps 49-56 form an 8-part “monster map” of ‘historic Minden.” This 8-map configuration (approximately 38″ x 54″) is historically accurate in showing Minden and its environs in 1985 but is not fully geomorphic with other Blood and Fury maps. To play the various scenarios all you need is Blood and Fury with the exception of Scenario 21 which requires several units from World at War 85 Volume 1, Storming the Gap.
Of particular interest to World at War 85 fans who want to Design Your Own scenarios four new terrain types are introduced in Red Gauntlet:
- Tunnel Hexsides/Tunnel Hexes
- Dense City
- Light Industrial
- Major River.
The five new scenarios in Red Gauntlet showcase the full potential of the game system:
- “Scenario 17: Assault Across the Weser – Minden: South” is a four-map scenario that has the Soviets attempting to seize a vital bridge.
- “Scenario 18: Red Lightening – Minden: North” is another four-map scenario with the Soviets now trying to seize five bridges.
- “Scenario 19: Cracking the Neesen Bridgehead” is a two-map scenario where a West German force tries to take a Soviet pontoon bridge.
- “Scenario 20: Death From Above” is a two-map scenario where the NATO player is trying to seize bridges while conducting an airborne assault behind Soviet lines to interdict reinforcements and resupply.
- “Scenario 21: Operation Red Gauntlet” is an 8-map scenario using covering all of Minden that assumes the earlier “coup de main” attacks (Scenarios 17 and 18) failed and now the Soviet 3rd Red Banner Army’s main effort is here. This is a HUGE scenario with 20 NATO formations plus air support going up against 17 Soviet formations plus air support. This scenario is seemingly designed for team play.
Life and times of Blood and Fury
It is fitting that the box for World at War 85 Volume 2: Blood and Fury ships in one of the largest and heftiest game boxes in my collection. Fitting because there is so much gaming content inside the box. Fitting because there is so much game play inside the box.
Blood and Fury is in many ways a “lifestyle game” in the same vein that Advanced Squad Leader can be for some grognards. There is so many gaming opportunities inside the box; the 21 scenarios immediately deliver 84 discrete play opportunities. Factor in the Design Your Own scenario and Battle Generator rules and the play opportunities become endless. One could conceivably spend the rest of their “gaming lifetime” playing nothing but the World at War 85 series…
…and would likely enjoy every minute of it.
Feature image courtesy RMN
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Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
Sounds like a game and a half!
Nice review.
Thanks for your kind words, Rocky! And thanks for playing!!