Axis & Allies 1941 First Preview

@Gamerman01:

@Col.:

Don’t see what’s wrong with hoping more people play Axis and Allies.

Nothing, of course!

You misunderstand me.  I just think that if someone gets bored trying to learn a medium game like 1942, that starting them on a very light game like this new 1941 is highly unlikely to result in that same person ever playing the very demanding Global 1940.

If you can get him to play this new game, I’m happy for you!  Just found it amazing that you think he would someday play global 1940 when he doesn’t have the patience to learn 1942.

There’s a difference between learning and actually playing. Once you’ve learned how to play you might like the game, thus making it fun to play and not boring. Once you learn the mechanics it all comes done to scale.

Most of the friends that I have played it with have said they see where it could be a great game once you got the rules down, but it was taking over an hour a round to keep going over the rules, movement, combat sequences. Once those are figured out, even on the easiest A&A game, you can move up from there with just a few rules and pieces added each step.

@djensen:

Sometimes I feel like Larry does some of this stuff in a vacuum.

ABSOLUTELY

Although he did do a few interesting things with the map…

Have you not read the rules yet?  We all really want to know more!

@djensen:

Except the victory conditions, it looks like the rules are the same as 1942. Same with the unit prices. Stupid $6 tanks.

wow that is crazy

so economy and purchasing are very minor in this game. when germany starts with 12ipc the purchases mean very little to the overall outcome of the game.

more importantly all versions up to now it was important to take territory to keep your economy running. now the pieces on the territory are FAR more valuable than the territory itself so attacks and defense will be decided accordingly.

Interesting, do you remember where you saw the first map or its name? I went to check World At War and it is the same division than in Revised/Spring 1942, Romania has been chopped off the Balkans but has no effect on the Eastern front.

I will try to find it, it’s on my computer somewhere….

@allweneedislove:

@djensen:

Except the victory conditions, it looks like the rules are the same as 1942. Same with the unit prices. Stupid $6 tanks.

wow that is crazy

so economy and purchasing are very minor in this game. when germany starts with 12ipc the purchases mean very little to the overall outcome of the game.

more importantly all versions up to now it was important to take territory to keep your economy running. now the pieces on the territory are FAR more valuable than the territory itself so attacks and defense will be decided accordingly.

That’s one of the first things I thought about.
Maybe because the units are so much more valuable that people will be hesitant to attack, which is what pushes the game’s length upwards.

@djensen:

Except the victory conditions, it looks like the rules are the same as 1942. Same with the unit prices. Stupid $6 tanks.

Armor in Spring 1942 is still $5, so this is quite a major change. What about the setups? About the same?

Actually the setup should reflect a 1941 start so there should be quite some changes there and be more akin to AA50 1941.

Wow, that is a lot to think about, right there.  Same unit costs and a meager setup….

2 infantry and 1 tank attacking Berlin’s 2 infantry for the win!!!

Certainly lends itself to “high luck” situations. One good roll can change the whole game. At least it reduces scripted plays a bit. Never know what’ll happen in a battle since there are only 5 pieces between two sides.

@djensen:

No, the setup is quite spartan.

And with many territories being worth 0, you really have to think twice before using units.

@Cromwell_Dude:

First, thank you for posting DJensen.

I second that :)

Is there a reason the US starts at 15 IPC’s on the board but has 17 IPC’s worth of territories?  Or it an error on the board?

Nah… it’s an April Fool’s joke… :roll:

But seriously, it looks awesome, and I like the map better than the Spring-1942, though some other parts look a bit worse! :D

Thank’s DJenson!

@boboshonda:

Is there a reason the US starts at 15 IPC’s on the board but has 17 IPC’s worth of territories?  Or it an error on the board?

I think it’s just a printing error. Probably they start with 17, or there’s a rule that they lose 2 IPC’s the first few turns till the economy catches up! :D

Djensen

Any chance of getting some close up shots of the new pieces?

Cheers

@jim010:

Djensen

Any chance of getting some close up shots of the new pieces?

Cheers

I suspect the reason why we haven’t seen more yet is because Djensen is preparing some articles for the next days ;)

@Rebel:

Nah… it’s an April Fool’s joke…

If somebody had suggested a few months ago that, in a future A&A release, the Americans would be given a Russian tank named after Josef Stalin, it probably would have been considered an April Fool’s joke.

Hey IL,
A minor correction to your list of new sculpts:
The British got the new Bomber sculpt – the AVRO Lancaster
The US got the new Fighter sculpt – The P-40 Warhawk

Everything else looks correct to me. I would still like to know all of the classes/models.

@knp7765:

I would still like to know all of the classes/models.

Me too.  In David’s opening the box video, in the scene in which he’s flipping through the rulebook, I couldn’t tell if the last pages of the rulebook (as in some of the previous rulebooks) identify the units on which each sculpt is patterned.  Hopefully they do.

I can see why this game is only going for 30 bucks. Looks pretty cheap. No money and I didn’t see any setup charts. No chips either. Cardboard cutouts for chips. Wow what a downer. Wizards of the Cheap couldn’t be more correct on this one. This is the first AA game I am really not that excited about. I hope 42 has nation specific units or I will not buy either of these games.