Axis and Allies 1914 FAQ/Question and Answer Thread

I hope you both love 1940.

When 4 or 5, our daughter would beat my wife and me at Uno too. Funny! I think if you are a board gaming couple, you will be a family that plays too. Much more interesting than tv.

I envisioned calvary working like this.

Attack at a 2
Move at a 2
Defend at a 3 (If on a territory containing defending infantry)
Defend at a 2 otherwise.

Cavalry played a minor role during the entire war. (Lawrence of Arabia for example)

Cavalry would have one other feature. They alone would be able to leave a contested zone and attack an empty adjacent enemy controlled territory.

By turn 4 they would no longer allowed to be built.

I do agree the game is great as is.

In my experience the game is only playable by replacing ALL land and air units with chips bar the single infantry atop each stack. Even then it can still get crowded with units of 4 or 5 nations sometimes piling into a small tt.

So for me a future version needs a few more infantry each and drop all the other land unit minis; and a big pile of extra chips, a different colour for each unit type.

More likely a second edition will feature something along the lines of task force cards & markers; AH is not going to admit to the redundancy of plastic minis. Blow up boxes are a no-no.

protevangelium makes some great points about how lopsided the sea’s were, and sub warfare being the best option for the CP in the war. Subs are a bit lacking in this edition as well as others IMO (nearly impossible to raid convoys, or inflict econ damage). The Austrians, and Turks were very limited in their abilities. The Germans did have a more modern surface fleet (tried to enter a naval arms race before the war), but failed in comparison to the Brits. In this game the Germans can get temporary control of the North Sea early though and add to their fleet. Once the rest of French Fleet comes up the UK still doesn’t need to build much to protect allied transports OOB (two French BB’s is a nice way to start for the allies rebuild). If the allies want to knock the German fleet out, then it could get expensive, but do they need to, or just set-up a multi national defense that the Germans can’t touch to keep allied transports afloat. Then there is always the 1-2 punch if the allies want to go aggressive. I still believe the problem lies with the French fleet (and the abilities of the sub to a point).

When we play we always reduce the Atlantic French Fleet to just a cruiser (swap BB for cruiser and remove the transport). We have done this even before Larry introduced it in the Tourney rules. It does help for game play, and better reflects what the French had in the Atlantic. The French Atlantic fleet was more of a support to the Brits (not nearly equal). Before the war the French naval focus was in the Med not knowing the intentions of the Italians (fearing an Italian attack which the game doesn’t reflect).

It would have been nice for the sub to have a larger roll in this edition having more raiding ability or sz’s to attack econ. Should destroyers be introduced so subs have a better survival rate? Maybe the naval set-up cost should be tweaked. BB’s at 12 IPCs is too cost effective IMO (should they be 15 IPCs?), no one buys cruisers. Just thinking out load……don’t read to much into it. WB

AH softening France’s air force up to open the way for Germany to have air supremacy: this will henceforth be known as the “Happy Artillery” strategy.  Thanks for making my day, WB.

@WILD:

Yep, makes sense for the CP to have Germany go full tilt in one front, and Austria the other. We have seen Germany push France back to the brink, and Austria start off defending against Russia (and those damn Italians) then actually gaining the upper hand on their front as well with an aggressive Russia (they will need some inf from Germany, and the Turks). It is also helpful to have say a 10 unit friendly force with you to take out smaller adversaries, or grab more land so you don’t splinter off your main force. This can also help you to gain air superiority for the larger partner. Like Austria sacrifices a few inf and ftrs into a French stack just to force a dog fight and kill off a couple allied ftrs. Then Germany goes in full force, finishes off the air, and has very happy artillery.

First look and play at the game at Greg Smorey’s Spring gathering. I was Russia.

The CP decided on a three way march to attack Russia. We only got 3 turns in, but I saw enough of the game to know I’d like to buy it.

I did buy a fighter Russia 1 (after Austria bought 1) and it did help against the german hordes when I managed air superiority for 1 round.

Dave, great teaming with you. (Dave was France and UK).

I do think for tournament play the game needs at least 6 hrs.

There are many reasons for the failure of the Spring Offensive the nutritional status of the German Army, the Deciphering of German radio traffic by Georges Painvin, 1 mio CP Soldiers still hanging out in the East, but the main reason were the Strategic errors of the German leadership.
Ludendorffs decision to reinforce troops who encountered the stubborn resistance led to an improper use of the powers. The findings of the subsequent World War showed that to maximize the shock effect precisely those troops should be increased, which had already achieved the greatest success. Generally, the reserve management during the offensive was problematic, since only the troops in the front line were reinforced and that no full new units were brought there. This led to rapid fatigue of the deployed forces. Furthermore, the fixation of the General Staff only on the military concept of the breakthrough. The offensive had been planned by the OHL consistently methodically, but only up to the supposedly decisive goal, the shock through the enemy lines. An orderly plan for the exploitation of the resulting gaps, something like an (don´t know whats it in english) “Umfassungsmanöver” was not hit. The shock of the attack had been identified as shock troops tactically decisive factor, however, to use this principle as a strategic moment, was not considered.

Hey Flash, will you also simulate the Christmas Peace of 1914 ? Maybe with a little football on the map ?  :wink:

Would be neat to see the Chinese communists represented, they should have special guerrilla abilities (may be placed in an occupied territory, attacks on a 3 for the first round). They should also get an IPC bonus (maybe 3-4) if nearby Russia maintains nearby territories. Goes without saying they can’t occupy the same territories as Nationalist units.

Canada is definitely a no-brainer, I would let them start with what’s on the board and just add a destroyer at SZ1, and they get a 5 IPC bonus if they control all their original territories plus Newfoundland/Labrador.