Back to the 80s/90s: Why no OFFICIAL expansion pack for Axis and Allies Classic?

[thrasher1]

(First, if this is to be preferred to be listed under 'Axis and Allies Classic then please move this topic.)

Dear all,

When I started playing (and enjoying Axis and Allies) in the mid-1990s me and m friends often dreamed about an Expansion Pack for Axis And Allies (the Classic game).

Remember, this was long before Axis and Allies Europe finally came in 1999/2000.

So there you are in the 1980s/1990s. Really enjoying this came but also dreaming and wanting: ‘more’.

I always wondered why MB/Hasbro never came up with an expansion pack. So my questions for you are:

• Why you think MB or Hasbro never released such an A&A expanson pack?

• What you (realistically) had hoped to see being included in such a package?

For now I will answer the second question. And I really hope many of you will share their ideas and hopes.

What I realistically hoped for was a small expansion pack including:

• Artillery for each of the five nations. Probably just a few. Say 5 pieces.
• Escorts or Destroyers for each nation. Also just a few. Say maybe three or four at most.

And maybe, just maybe some special infantry units for the five nations. The usual suspects so:

• US marines
• UK commandos
• USSR partisans
• Japanese special ‘banzai’ forces
• German SS infantry

I personally think such a rather cheap expansion pack could have been a success in the 1980s or 1990s.
But what do you think? What new units you dreamt of being included in Axis and Allies back then?

EDIT: I changed the title of the topic from:

Back to the 80s/90s: An expansion pack for Axis and Allies Classic?

to:

Back to the 80s/90s: Why no OFFICIAL expansion pack for Axis and Allies Classic?

To stress the fact that me and my friends wondered why MB/Hasrbro never came with an official expansion pack for Axis and Allies. Besides all the non-official ones like the ones from Xeno Games, Gamers Paradise and so on…

[The Captain]

@thrasher1

Hi thrasher1,

We asked ourselves the same questions in 1993, when we started playing Axis & Allies Classic (by that time the official name was just Axis & Allies).

Who knows why MB/Hasbro never came up with any expansion. Maybe because somebode else had already got the idea (Gamers Paradise). We’ll never know for sure.

What we do know is, that the Axis & Allies was easy to learn, fun to play and inspirational - with lots of options to make the game even more Historically realistic.

Since we had already played RISK for several years by the time we discovered Axis & Allies, and kept a score list with dates of each game - we started to write down on a special sheet from our very first game of Axis & Allies - which we still continue, to keep track of each game.

I just checked and I can see that after 47 games of OOB Axis & Allies, we purchased The Expansion 1 + 2 + 3 from Gamers Paradise.

We also made an enlarged size game bord for our own use - we simply had a copy shop to enlarge the original Axis & Allies game board in full color - and covered in transparent foil.

Our own developement of Axis & Allies Expansion Rules was a Never Ending Story. We’ve been going on for almost 28 years now.

The final outcome of our expansion rules is released at this forum - known as Axis & Alliers Global 1940 House Rules Expansion.

Within the Axis & Alliers Global 1940 House Rules Expansion. you’ll find all of the above units that you mention - and they all started their presence at our Axis & Allies game boards back in 1993.

We have similar House Rules Expansions for use with Axis & Allies Revised, Spring 1942 and Anniversary editions.

Basically, we developed all the Special Units, Battle Formations and Unit Combinations that we dreamed of, for use with Axis & Allies…and we still have some developements going on:+1:

[thrasher1]

@the-captain

Thans for reply, The-Captain.

Which units you really had wanted to be part of this - hypthetical - expansion pack for Axis and Allies?

Regarding MB/Hasbro:

I really do not think the existence of unofficial expansions like the ones from The Gamers was a reason for them not to release an offcial pack.

Regarding Escorts:

We always played with escorts since we got the plastic playing pieces from Xeno Games (World at War and Europe at War).

We placed (if I can remember correctly) one escort in:

USSR: Soviet Far East
Germany: Baltic Sea and Italy
UK: UK and India
Japan: Japan and Philipines
USA: Westcoast and Eastcoast

[The Captain]

@thrasher1

Thanks thrasher,

Maybe you’re right - I think the only true answer must come from the game developers from MB/Hasbro.

We wanted the Waffen-SS Infantry and Waffen-SS Panzer units on the game board as well as Paratroopers, Commandos, US Marines and Soviet Guard Infantry.

We also purchased Xeno Games World at War - along with Central Powers and Axis & Allies Accessories.

Gradually the Axis & Allies game became more and more realistic, fun and challenging to play.

The only changes we made to the OOB setup was the increased IPC values and unit setup - according to The Expansion from Gamers Paradise.

No other units were added to the starting setup - they had to be purchased during the game.

Not only did our Axis & Allies rules expand - so did the number of new players who joined our play group.

Back in 1995 the we started the Axis & Allies Club Denmark, since some of our members moved to other parts of the Country. Those members quickly found new players where ever they moved to - in this way the number of new players expanded rapidly.

This gave us an opportunity to play test our own House Rules Expansion in depth - and to have Tournaments on a large scale.

In 2004 we started playing Axis & Allies Revised - since then we haven’t played Axis & Allies Classic.

Later the Axis & Allies Spring 1942 version “replaced” the Revised edition - and when the Global 1940 edition came out it replaced Spring 1942.

So, here we are - Back to the Future.

Today we play Global 1940 in conjunction with the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion - and Global 1943 in conjunction with the Axis & Allies Global 1943 House Rules Expansion.

Captain

[Imperious Leader]

The pack you speak of was not a Hasbro product. It was boxed and came with Cruisers and Artillery and was made at the time Revised came out. I do have it somewhere but keep in mind it was very basic. Their are no secrets to be revealed here about it. I think it was produced in Canada BTW

[thrasher1]

@imperious-leader

Thanks for reply. You refer to this expansion:

Enemy at the Horizion (by the Black Baron Game Company Inc.)

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/9536/enemy-horizon-axis-allies-expansion

I do own this one.
And indeed my friends and I expected, well, hoped… that MB/Hasbro would release such a relatively small expansion set. Just some additional units (and rules for these new units).

Again: even only includging Escorts and Artillery for each of the five nations would have been great.

[Imperious Leader]

@thrasher1 https://www.ebay.com/itm/194189778481?hash=item2d369cde31%3Ag%3AOlIAAOSwCdRgvRg2&nma=true&si=YJd5PisivVUF1pC2LfdR040CA6U%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[Imperious Leader]

@imperious-leader Regarding Gamers Paradise, I bought the remaining inventory of 50 x 30 maps of Classic, which was inside the box of the Midway expansion

[thrasher1]

@imperious-leader

What I never understood of this expansion: why include the very same map? Granted. It is bigger. But why not also include some new areas/seazones?

[The Captain]

@imperious-leader

I have that map also - we never used it since we made our own game board - so even though it is almost 30 years old now - it is still folded in the Midway Expansion box from GP.

[thrasher1]

@imperious-leader and @the-captain

On my To Do List:

Play Axis and Allies Classic both with Gamers Paradise Expansions and with the Enemy at the Horizon…

With all these newer official Axis and Allies games we got the units! :)

[Imperious Leader]

@thrasher1 People wanted more space, not a new map or different map. Its the first version of a larger map. Actually it did have a change in regard to the Midway area to simulate the problems the Japanese had with their advantage. I will have to locate my stash and take a picture. The whole module that included the map was some treatment of the Midway scenario since the game starts in spring 1942

[thrasher1]

@imperious-leader said in Back to the 80s/90s: Why no OFFICIAL expansion pack for Axis and Allies Classic?:

I will have to locate my stash and take a picture. The whole module that included the map was some treatment of the Midway scenario since the game starts in spring 1942

Please do. Looking forward to see your ‘fix’.

[thrasher1]

@Imperious-Leader Hope you will find the time to check this one out.

General remark:

Are there any players here who played all Gamers’ Paradise expansions together? How did this mega-expaned Classic Axis and Allies play (out)?

On my bucket list: finally play at least some of these expansions with pieces from later games :)

[The Captain]

@thrasher1

Yes - I’ve played them all together. We used them from 1993-1996 - so it is something close to 175 games in total with all 3 expansions.

I still have the “Midway” map - completely intact and never used (since we already had made an enlarged game board for Classic).

[thrasher1]

@the-captain

Any specific rules you liked or disliked?

Personally I like the concept of IPC values of these island being doubled after they changed hand. This make them more important.

[The Captain]

@thrasher1

I think the best answer I can give is, that you read the Axis & Allies Global 1940 House Rules Expansion.

You’ll see that most of the rules from Gamers Paradise are included, though modified in most cases in order to be compatible with Global 1940.

[Nolimit]

@thrasher1 I played it Way back then when it first came out, it had to be in the hundreds of how many games my brother and I played it- We played with the Gamer’s Paradise map whenever we played classic, in fact we played it’s Sonar contact rules well into the New century with escorts and such instead of the later A&A official version rules concerning submarines until 3 years ago!!!

[thrasher1]

@nolimit Really looking forward to play Classic Axis and Allies game with these expansions. Keep you updated.

And to all:

What would you have liked to be included in such an official expansion back then? (Had Hasbro/MB released one.)