While this is clearly the boardgame territory just like the forumini is home of the mini’s I still think the miniature line should get some serious props, these are a few of the reasons why the WAS/AAM/A20 deserve your attention:
The variety of units you get to play with, famous battleships like warspite, Bismarck, Yamato, Iowa….aircraft like FW 190’s, wildcats, Helldivers, Avengers, zero’s …tanks like king tigers, shermans, panzers etc etc this doesnt even scratch the surface of what is available and getting to play games with all this stuff is like a wannabe general/admirals dream.
Visuals, the game with the various units, maps, tokens etc looks fantastic playing the mini’s games always draws in onlookers at the FLGS from the MTG crowd or other games going on.
Ease of play the rules are simple elegant and you can finish a game in less then an hour easy.
Variety of gameplay, there is a plethora of different ways to play any of the games with hundreds of scenarios and match types ranging from simple versus to large scale historical campaigns.
Since jumping into WAS in 2011 I have built up an almost full collection and have special game mats and terrain + tokens. I have played tournaments, regular fun matches with all the nations and types of games (obj/no obj/long distance/darkness) I have played huge 10 nation 10 human player campaigns that go on for months with our weekly WAS group, I have played historical scenarios and famous battles like midway and the great marianas turkey shoot I have added custom units and played 1x1 overview scenarios like the 1939-1945 total war one which is a blast.
The board games are good but getting to play out battles and campaigns with the individual units in matches that can range from 30mins to 7hours depending on what you want makes these fantastic games that are a blast to play.
Agreed! Just buy a booster pack of any of these games and let the magic begin.
Like Forrest said “You never know what your gonna get.”
Right and if your concerned about the price of the wotc version you can buy any set of naval mini’s you want print off the WOTC + TP cards off the net and play with those.
At least with the WAS mini’s, you really get involved with the ships that really fought those battles. You learn about what they did in the war and where they ended up after, even how decorated they were for battle.
My friend met a navy veteren in a store and he asked what ship he served on. The gentlemen said “Oh, you probably never heard of my boat, I was on the USS Taylor.” “I know all about your boat sir” he replied. Of course, playing WAS, you learn about all these ships and start rooting for there crews. With the addition of Team Poseidons expansion cards, there are new ships added constantly.
Careful man, they are very addicting. I bought 4 boosters at first to bring to my buddies house for a game and the next week, I bought 5 more and was so excited to see what I got, I had to open them on my lap while driving to work, not easy to open and not recommended while driving.
I have bought all the WOTC models I pretty much need I have 6 sparvs, 4 kondors, 4 B-25’s etc etc basically with like 3 of every plane and 1 of every ship I want so I am already fully invested lol. What happens when you get to my point is trying to get cards (TP is a godsend) and mini’s/models for units that aren’t in WAS. A member in my was group brought a bunch of painted axis and allies spring 1942 mini’s on WAS stands and though they are 1/700 instead of 1/900 they look pretty good and are really cheap if you buy from the sponsor on this site HBG I bought some B-17’s , P38’s, He 111, IL-4’s etc.
Your right part of the charm of the game is the individual history of every unit in the game thats why the boardgame doesn’t appeal to me as much using the same generic un named tank/plane/ship that every other nation uses isn’t nearly as much fun as having a unit for each and every piece of history the game involves.
With no new WAS sets coming out for a while, now is a good time to get the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th sets still at retail price. There is still a market for them and they are selling well on eBay someday soon however, they may be gone for good.
There is still a market for them and they are selling well on eBay someday soon however, they may be gone for good.
Thats an understatement. :-D They are selling for crazy prices. I traded a $60 AAM UK lot for a WaS collection on an even trade and turned around and sold it on ebay for more than $300 after I culled it for pieces I needed.
yeah the first 2 sets are worth a fortune, thankfully in some cases especially the latest set 6 alot of those expensive units like Bismarck, NJ, Yamato were reprinted so you can proxy them for their sisters.
The boosters for set 3-6 are still plentiful though which is good but in the next year maybe set 3 could sell out by then it is a really good set as well having alot of key units. Also vendors don’t have much WAS in stock at all for the last while I have never seen it this barren before.
Well done, I was talking to a guy on the mini forum that sold his Akagi for $86! I’d never seen one piece go for so much. I’ve seen them usually go for $25-30. The market burns white hot sometimes.
Well done, I was talking to a guy on the mini forum that sold his Akagi for $86! I’d never seen one piece go for so much. I’ve seen them usually go for $25-30. The market burns white hot sometimes.
Yeah monty also sold a kongo for 61.00 which makes even less sense then akagi, he has also been selling custom repainted units to go with the TP stuff and little things like destroyers and subs haven been commanding 20-30 dollar prices its crazy his shapeways painted vanguard went for 51.00!
It goes to show that there is a market for this stuff out there and maybe WOTC would have had better sales if we got less neutrals/fantasy/minors and more aircraft, aux’s, installations and the missing big BB’s/cv’s (the uk is missing a ton ).
I second this thread. I first got involved in the board games back in my college days. I then purchased and played several of the variants over the years, though they’ve printed so many variants that I can hardly keep up. I then saw the Naval Miniatures in the store a few years back and after researching them, decided to buy into the game. I haven’t regretted it at all. Much of it comes down to your situation in life and taste in gaming. My mind is probably more geared toward the strategical complexity of the board games. On the other hand, the time I actually have to play is more appropriate for the miniatures games.
If you’re at all interested in the intricacies of history, and many A&A players either start off so or quickly become so, then the miniatures are a great way to get enhance your historical appreciation.
