It arrived!

[Sondrax]

my retailer here in vienna, austria, got AA50 today and im holding it in my hands already OMG!
gotta say it looks even bigger than i would have thought hehe

jeezes i love this christmas feeling, cant wait to get a game set up :)

[marechallannes]

Ok, prepare for BLITZKRIEG!

[Funcioneta]

How many euros costed to you? Just for having a hint of possible price here in Spain (I’ll simply multiply austrian price by at least 1,5 maybe 2  :-D  :-P  :cry:  :| )

You know … spanish picaresca  :lol:

[Sondrax]

was 100 euros here

[Funcioneta]

Man, my precious money  :cry:

Out of jokes, I think we’ll suffer the same price here in Spain

[JohnBarbarossa]

@Sondrax:

my retailer here in vienna, austria, got AA50 today and im holding it in my hands already OMG!
gotta say it looks even bigger than i would have thought hehe

Sondrax,

Since the terrific marketing machine of Wizard of the Coast has come to a grinding halt, do you mind posting the UK and Axis setups?

[dante]

Sondrax, Mike to delay
do you mind posting the UK and Axis setups?
Thanks!

[FieldMarshalGames]

Details, Details, Details… Please

[Sondrax]

blah i wish i could just take pics, but i lent my cell phone to a friend whos in korea this week since his doesnt work there etc etc

anywy here we go:

1941

Uk setup for 1941:
SZ9: 1DD, 1trn
SZ2: 1BB, 1trn
UK: 2inf, 1art, 1arm, 2ftr, 1bomb, 1aagun, 1ic
SZ6: 1dd
wcan: 1inf
kwangtung: 1inf
SZ41: 1dd, 1trn
AUS: 3inf, 1art, 1aagun
india: 3inf, 1art, 1aa gun
SZ35: 1dd, 1trn
trans-jordan: 2inf
SA: 2inf
egypt: 2inf, 1arm, 1ftr, 1art
SZ12: 1DD, 1cruiser
ECan: 1arm
burma: 1inf

italy 41:
italy: 1inf, 1arm, 1ftr, 1art, 1aa, 1ic
balkans: 2inf, 1arm
libya: 2inf
sz14: 1bb, 2cruiser, 1trn

as for germany: this setup here for 41 is actually correct: http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic362552_md.jpg
also the japan setup here: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/362559?size=original is correct apart from an inf missing on iwo jima (litte island, east of japan). also note that japan is now actually an island… beeing fully surrounded by SZ 62. that load of stuff in SZ61 (formosa) = 1AC, 2ftr (with another one beeing on the island formosa itself), 1bb, 1cru, 1trn-incl-1inf/1art, 1trn-2inf

1942

Uk 1942:
SZ1: 1cruiser, 1trn
sz2: 1dd, 1bb, 1trn
uk: 2inf, 1art, 1arm, 2ftr, 1bomb, 1aagun, 1ic
wcan: 1inf
NZ: 1inf
aus: 3inf, 1ftr, 1aagun
india:3inf, 1aagun
sz35: 1dd, 1ftr, 1AC, 1trn
persia: 1inf
sz15: 1dd
trans-jordan: 1art, 1inf
sz27: 1trn
sa: 1art, 1inf
egypt: 3inf, 1arm, 1ftr
ecan: 2inf, 1arm

italy 42:
italy: 2inf, 2arms, 1ftr, 1art, 1aa, 1ic
balkans: 2inf, 1arm
libya: 2inf
sz14: 1bb, 2cruiser, 1trn

germany 42:
germany: 4inf, 2arm, 1ftr, 1bomb, 1aa, 1ic
sz5: 1dd, 1cru, 1sub, 1trn
nor: 3inf, 1ftr
fin: 2inf
pol: 2inf, 1arm
baltic: 3inf
east poland: 2inf, 1ftr, 1art
belor.: 2inf, 1arm
eukr: 2inf, 1arm
czech: 2inf
bulg: 2inf, 1arm, 1ftr
libya: 1inf, 1arm
moro: 1inf, 1art
sz13: 1dd, 1trn
france: 1inf, 1arm, 1ftr, 1aa
sz8: 1sub
sz7: 1sub,
nw_eur: 1inf, 1arm

and jap 42:
formosa: 1ftr
kiangsu: 3inf
manchuria: 2inf, 1ftr
jap: 1arm, 1art, 4inf, 1ftr, 1bomb, 1aa, 1ic
sz62: 1bb, 1trn
sz50: 1cru
iwo: 1inf
oki: 1inf
wake: 1inf
caroline: 1inf
sz51: 1ftr, 1ac, 1dd
sz46: 1sub
solomon: 1inf
new guinea: 1inf
phil: 2inf
borneo: 1inf
sz38: 2ftr, 1ac, 1bb
east ind: 1inf
burma: 1inf
fr.indochine: 2inf, 1ftr
kwang: 1inf

[Krieghund]

Wizards has been scooped again!  :-o

[Stockus13]

Nice, looks good. So I dont see what had changed from the BGG pics. It had been said that the setup was flawed……but so far I see very little different. Or is that just me?

[Driel310]

Yes, I am wondering about that too.

Of course from plain text it could be that we are missing an inf here and there, but as Craig wrote there is some stuff missing on the BGG setup that does change the game….  :roll:

[Krupp Steel]

Congrats!

I probably have to wait for a while till mine arrives, everything takes forever to get to Canada. That company better send me my 2 copies or ill be quite ‘upset’. :wink:

[Sondrax]

some stuff from reading over the rules for the first time:
China: the us player must complete the chinese combat move and conduct combat phase before beginning the combat moves for the us forces, OR vice versa. (so they cannot attack together)
the IPC value of those chinese terretories can only be earned by the axis. not new, but now confirmed that china gets 1 inf per 2 terretories that are controlled by the allies on the purchase units phase of the us player. they can be placed on any chinese controlled terretory, but not on any, that contains 3 or more units (independend whether those units are uk/us/russian ones it seems)
this is interesting then:
“chinese units have a limited range of occupation, displayed by the colored boreder. they can also be moved into the japanese occupied terretories of kiangsu and manchuria. china can take control of these terretories and have them ciount toward their new infantry placements. chineese units cann0ot load onto transports.
kwangtung is a special case. while it is not a chinese territory and cannot be controlled by china, chinese forces can attack axis units there and occupy it, but the ipc generated go to the UK. this is the only non-chinese terretory that chinese units may occupy.”

the us fighter thats in china at the setup, moves together with chinese forces and cannot be replaced by another, if lost.

the R&D rules are exactly like mentioned in the fact sheet at http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=12412.0

[JohnBarbarossa]

I cannot detect any changes in the UK and Italy setups.
This would mean that the only differences are in the Japanese setup, meaning:

• 1 inf in Iwo Jima
• 1 extra loaded trn in SZ 61 (I think - the description is a bit vague to me)
• SZ 62 altered (this can be a big thing)

I would not call this minor changes (even though the other 5 countries are unchanged). Especially the extra trn can prove very important.
But on the other hand. If you have all the knowledge, wouldn’t you want to let people guessing the most? Maybe Graig let us believe the changes are more important then they are. I am happy that I playtested the GenCon setup since it is very close to the real thing.

[Sondrax]

@JohnBarbarossa:

I cannot detect any changes in the UK and Italy setups.
This would mean that the only differences are in the Japanese setup, meaning:

• 1 inf in Iwo Jima
• 1 extra loaded trn in SZ 61 (I think - the description is a bit vague to me)
• SZ 62 altered (this can be a big thing)

I would not call this minor changes (even though the other 5 countries are unchanged). Especially the extra trn can prove very important.
But on the other hand. If you have all the knowledge, wouldn’t you want to let people guessing the most? Maybe Graig let us believe the changes are more important then they are. I am happy that I playtested the GenCon setup since it is very close to the real thing.

that seems correct to me as well ya.

1trn-incl-1inf/1art, 1trn-2inf is supposed to mean: 1transport with 1inf/1art and 1 transport with 2 inf

[JohnBarbarossa]

@Sondrax:

that seems correct to me as well ya.

Thanks for confirming that! I guess we can start playing now. :-)

Can you tell if they are any different rules that only apply for the 1942 scenario? Maybe different NO’s? Something else?
Or maybe there are other rules that we missed so far…
Your China rule summary is useful but I think we already knew that.

[Sondrax]

hm no… nothing special actually.
only thing that appears new to me untill now is that aa guns dont fire anymore on air units that fly over that zone during the combat move phase.

gotta say that game board itself is a little… dissapointing. not from its look or anything, but i thought that you could somehow plug it together. you however cannot do that. so the 3 parts of that gameboard are kinda on the lose… :(
they are already a little bent although for the first time out of the box… gonna need to think about something there or they will be totally annoying im afraid.

[Perry]

Wow, this game was designed in USA, it was printed in China , and the first market to release the game is Austria…
Talk about an unexpected Marketing move by WOTC  :-D

[Black_Elk]

China: the us player must complete the chinese combat move and conduct combat phase before beginning the combat moves for the us forces, OR vice versa. (so they cannot attack together)
the IPC value of those chinese terretories can only be earned by the axis. not new, but now confirmed that china gets 1 inf per 2 terretories that are controlled by the allies on the purchase units phase of the us player. they can be placed on any chinese controlled terretory, but not on any, that contains 3 or more units (independend whether those units are uk/us/russian ones it seems)
this is interesting then:
“chinese units have a limited range of occupation, displayed by the colored boreder. they can also be moved into the japanese occupied terretories of kiangsu and manchuria. china can take control of these terretories and have them ciount toward their new infantry placements. chineese units cann0ot load onto transports.
kwangtung is a special case. while it is not a chinese territory and cannot be controlled by china, chinese forces can attack axis units there and occupy it, but the ipc generated go to the UK. this is the only non-chinese terretory that chinese units may occupy.”

the us fighter thats in china at the setup, moves together with chinese forces and cannot be replaced by another, if lost.

Well, I still have high hopes for the game, but I can’t help but be disappointed with this news. I don’t see the benefit of including China in the set up, when all these China-specific rules introduce so much unnecessary complexity into the game. I hate to make suggestions for next time, because I have a feeling its going to be a while, but in the future I really hope the designers take into consideration whether new rules/features are going to be worth the effort, before including them.

So far I can count about 5 or 6 new rules that only pertain to China, and way the Chinese interact with the rest of the “Normal” players. But when you compare that with what we actually get out of China in terms of gameplay, its hard for me to see where the big pay off is coming from. Unlike the National Advantages in Revised or Tech, the China rules are not optional, but built into the framework of the game.

My request for future development would be to PLEASE stop incorporating new rules into the game, and stop looking to new “House Rules” as a solution to fix underlying game balance problems. Instead, focus on fine tunning the core gameplay mechanics that already exist (i.e. the stuff that is the same for everyone, throughout the duration of the game.) Consistency, simplicity, and ease of use, should always trump the other considerations, and only give way when an idea seems really innovative and promises to open up new and interesting dimensions to the gameplay.

That’s all I wanted to say. Other than all these nation specific rules, I’m happy with AA50, and look forward to playing when my copy arrives. :)