General 6 Stars 1941 WW2 Game

@georgemak1:

A question for the HBG crew. Any idea when the next German set is due?

November

I will have to check that book out, thank you. :-D

Okay gang,

Paul and I are going to start two separate projects from this point forward. Paul will do his best to preserve the info from this thread as it pertains to his game which you can follow here:

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=24848.0

As far as my game (simplified version using more or less OOB pieces) you can follow it in this thread:

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=24875.0

Thank you everyone and we both encourage full participation and idea sharing in both our ventures. As Paul says, we want to have MORE FUN!

@Tall:

Axistiger13,

Thanks for the info.  That will certainly be useful.

“Tall Paul”  :

You are welcome!

@Fishmoto37:

I AGREE. The cardboard may take up less space but they are too hard to see with plastic chips and units stacked all around. @Bob_A_Mickelson:

I must say that I cant get over my disappointment that the new A&A Pacific and Europe 1940 games will now feature cardboard units for the Major and Minor industrial complexes as well as cardboard AA guns, Air and Navy bases. I hope that creating plastic versions of these units will be a project that FMG will be willing to take up in the future.
Do any of you agree?

Yes another good reason that I hate cardboard.

Do you have a copy of the rules?

From BGG:

I have not yet played this game but thought I would review the components and rules prior to playing. These are my initial impressions which may change after playing the game.

I was intrigued enough to purchase this game for several reasons: 1) the publisher is offering a significant discount on the game - $25.00 plus shipping (wow!), 2) it has 438 component pieces (I love little plastic armies), 3) it plays on a world map, and finally 4) I love Axis and Allies and have been nostalgic for games like Supremacy ever since I dug it out of storage last month.

In summary, I have not been disappointed yet. I feel I got superior value for my money and would recommend this game to other fans of world domination games. I can’t wait to play!

The Components
The main playing pieces come on plastic sprues and should be removed with an exacto knife. Seven colors came with the set: White (use by all players for factories, air defense, generals, nuclear bombs, and leaders), and colors for six players - Gray, Blue, Red, Purple, Green, and Yellow. These pieces represent infantry, tanks, fighters, bombers, battleships (now called battlecruisers), aircraft carriers, artillery, subs, and transport ships. It doesn’t matter which superpower uses which color. The plastic is good quality.

The game actually allows for up to eight players and the rulebook mentions an expansion pack. I am guessing Brown and Orange would be in the upcoming expansion pack.

The pieces are very good and remind me a lot of Axis and Allies pieces. The one drawback seems to be the tanks which are much smaller than those pictured. In fact, they are almost teeny-tiny. I’m not sure if the small size will hinder or help gameplay at this time.

Other components include circle territory markers, plastic poker chips for stacking under the pieces, dice, plastic container trays, plastic bags, and cards for each superpower, development tracking, and conducting battles.

The gameboard is beautifully illustrated on a heavy, large tri-fold board. It reminded me so much of Axis and Allies I had to go back and look at it to make sure it wasn’t the exact same board!

Finally, the box is heavy duty and will hold up for years. Somewhat surprisingly, the game was shipped to me via Fed Ex with a shipping label slapped on the clear shrinkwrap! Most games would never make the journey but my set survived with a minor dent on a corner. However, if you are at all concerned about getting your set “Mint in Box” I’d highly recommend requesting some type of shipping container when ordering your set from the publisher. They may charge you more but it may be worth it to you. I couldn’t care less.

Rules
I think the rulebook could have been written better. You can view a copy of the rulebook on the superpowergames.com website. The website also clarifies some errors in the Errata section.

Play mostly works like Axis and Allies with players attempting to gain control of enough capitals to win the game. There are a few interesting twists that have been created to make the game fit in a more contemporary setting: Alliances can be formed and broken, technology can be researched, and money is eliminated (technically still in the game just not represented with paper currency). Additional minor concepts have been added like Encirclement which allows players to resolve battles without rolling the dice in certain situations. Clearly the designer is attempting to speed play and focus the game on the fun aspects of world domination rather than the tedium of counting out paper money and fighting insignificant battles.

Final Thoughts
Some of the graphics and illustrations lend the feel of an upstart game maker pursuing his passion with an invention created with a low budget in his garage and home personal computer. Part of that makes me instantly like the game even more. In fact, the creator emailed me shortly after purchasing the game asking for feedback. Very nice personal touch!

If you like Axis and Allies, I think this game may be for you. It looks fun, the components are great, and for $25.00 you are getting a tremendous value. There might be some minor polish issues here and there but it’s got all the goods where it really counts.

I will do another review after I have a chance to play!

This game was played May 5th of last year. Again this is an account by Stuart.

Players:

Germany - Kevin
United Kingdom - Carl
Free French - Joseph
Japan - Jon
USSR - Stuart
United States - Red
China - Joseph

War erupts

It was a helluva battle, but in the end, it came down to great team work and the Allies prevailed.

Kevin started things off by using his German double impulse, beautifully. By the end of turn 1, his Kriegsmarine had nearly destroyed Carl’s Royal Navy and the Wehrmacht had taken half of Africa. In addition, Joseph’s French Navy decided to join the German High Seas Fleet, rather than scuttle enabling Kevin to pump troops and panzers into Africa at an alarming rate which he did.
Carl’s Limeys had a bloody time of it staving off the German onslaught, but to his credit, the Brits even managed to make continuous raids into Mozambique and Egypt interrupting German efficiency. For 15 months, her majesty’s armed forces held back the Nazi’s with little aid. (Most of Red’s American Lend Lease money was either lost at sea at the hands of the wolf packs or plundered by the High Seas Fleet.
As Usual, Jon played a very aggressive Japan using his double impulse during the first turn to ALMOST completely overrun all of China save for one territory. (Cant remember name of particular territory–the one above Tibet) This brings me to my shining moment. I decided that in order to keep Japan from overrunning all of China with a clear road into Tibet that my Russians would have to conquer said last Chinese territory. The attack was a success. (Sorry Joseph. It had to be done) Japan was now unable to advance any further into Asia for the time being and it was I with the clear road into Tibet. This blocking maneuver also kept Japan from creating an even longer border with Mother Russia. During this time, the Ruskies also took hold of Arabian territories eliminating the German threat of influence over Turkey while increasing Russian production which would be needed later.
With Japan stalled in Asia and unable to enter the war, until turn 6, Jon was itching for a fight. On turn 5, I gave it to him. The Russians waltzed unopposed into Mongolia claiming it for herself. Jon began a major Japanese buildup on my Southern border and Kevin began perching panzergrenadiers and SS panzers on the “Eastern Front.” Russia was caught between Axis pinschers.
The Allies needed to buy time for the Soviets. We created a diversion by talking out loud that we had a major objective in Thailand. Jon’s Imperial Navy soon was on the go down the SouthEast Asian coast to stop Dutch landings into Thailand in support of an already flanked British Army. What a break for the Allies. We were sure an invasion was coming into the Soviet Far east to support an invasion by a huge Japanese armored force that by now was in Khazak getting ready to go into Russia herself. The attack into the Motherland failed, however, at a huge price. She was in no shape to fight off the SS Panzers now in Russian territories pursed for an attack. Russia needed more time.
Ahh, I almost forgot. Whilst the Imperial Navy was down south, a solitary American transport with green US infantry managed to take a Japan that was defended by a single Japanese paratroop division. Even though the odds were in favor of the defending Nips., Red secured a beachhead. It was short lived, however. Yamamoto came steaming back and decimated the American infantry division before all Japanese forces could be wiped off the map, literally. The Americans hardly had a chance.
Red’s American fleet was on its way to invade Italy, when Hitler had influenced Spain to join the Axis and also was able to capture fortress Gibraltar with ease thus preventing an American passage through the Gibraltar straits. Kevin also planted a transport in the Mediterranean further delaying American passage and thus delaying an American invasion fortress Europe. It was a superb blocking tactic by Kevin. I don’t think any of us saw it coming. While Red’s Atlantic fleet was stalled, Jon used this advantage to kamikaze American carriers. The very economically stable Red, just kept right on buying American carriers.
At this point, it wasn’t looking good for Ivan. Operation Barbarossa was about to succeed when Red pulled another rabbit out of his hat. He suggested that Stalin use all of his armor to counter attack the Germans where they were weakest in Orel. This attack succeeded and now most of the German SS panzers and panzergrenadiers were unable to blitz into Moscow. Just what she needed. Shortly thereafter, a combined British/American invasion on the beaches of Normandy created the 2nd front that Stalin desperately needed. From there, the rest is in the history books.
I wish I could say more about Joseph, however, with China out for the count and the Free French with nary a Franc, it was difficult for him to shine. I am sure that he will amaze us in games to come.
Para
AIRBORNE