December 2, 2020 – Publisher Ares games announced a WW2 Quartermaster General expansion coming soon via their site this morning. The publisher behind such gems as War of the Ring and This War is Mine the Board Game, released details via their site that the new expansion is shipping to distributors and will be available in US game stores starting from December 15th.
Total War, the first expansion for WW2 Quartermaster General Second Edition, is a fast–paced game that puts players (2 to 6) in command of the major powers of the Second World War. Each major power has a unique set of cards with which to marshal their forces, represented by wooden army and navy pieces.
Further details from Ares and Designer Ian Brody:
WW2 Quartermaster General Second Edition is now being expanded with Total War, which contains second edition versions of the long out-of-print Air Marshal and Alternative Histories expansions. Like the base game, these titles have received a significant refresh.
Total War expansion introduces new playing options, without dramatically increasing the play time: Air Forces help the players to defend Armies and Navies in the same space, or to attack adjacent Air Forces; two new nations, China and France, enlarge and change the opening setup, allowing many new strategies; Bolster cards, a new type of cards that are played directly from the hand as reactions to game play; and new alternate “what if” cards, that represent historical strategies that were considered but never executed, as Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of Britain.
Quartermaster General WW2 Total War comes with 165 new cards, pieces for China and France, and air force pieces for all countries. There is also an updated sequence of play tile and some other useful counters in addition to the rules booklet.
Most of the expansion is written into the cards themselves, and thus requires no explanation to get started. But there are a few mechanical changes:
- Chinese and French pieces are (rightly) added as combatants, but played by the existing 6 powers. While the addition of Chinese and French pieces fundamentally alters the scenario, the changes to the rules are negligible.
- The mechanics of using Air Forces are most of the new rules you’ll need to learn. Air Power cards are used to deploy air forces and gain air superiority. Air forces can be used to defend your armies and navies and intercept other air forces.
- Bolster cards have been introduced. Bolster cards are played directly out of hand as a reaction to play.
- Finally, you must discard at least one card during the discard step or lose a Victory Point. Making this decision is the most complicated part of Total War!
The base game largely focuses on providing a “what if” narrative of World War 2 by abstractly portraying the real history and capabilities of the combatants. In Total War, many of the cards represent alternate histories, like Sea Lion, the invasion of Britain that never happened; or the development of Landkreuzers, German 1000-ton tanks.
