Axis and Allies 1942 Edition Fact Sheet ( AA42)

If Russia is aggressive in its first move, all things considered, it’s game over for the Axis. It’s why I favor a house rule that forces the USA to spend a certain amount of money in the Pacific Theater-and units purchased can only be used in that theater of operations…

I have Revised (2004), and I will be getting 1942 2nd Ed.  Because the Revised map is pretty much the same as 1942 1st Ed., I figured I could just play 1942 on the older board. I have the instruction book PDF. I also saw the set up info on the Resources page, but I was wondering if any of the members here actually made their own cards or if they have a really good scan of them or something like that (I would be printing them out and laminating), because let’s face it. I just have no skill doing that kind of stuff.  Thanks  =)

@Bunnies:

I wonder whatever happened to this game.

Re:

So what makes you say it’s completely over?

If you’re trying to go KGF, and Germany controls/contests Africa on the fifth turn, and you’re asking for advice, it’s probably an uphill battle.  You would only be asking for advice if you were unsure that you could protect Moscow / crack Berlin, and with Germany fueled by African IPCs, and without a veteran’s perspective on how to run a tight logistic game with the Allies, I would guess probable loss for the Allies.  All the Axis need to do is pump out a bunch of tanks and run a bit of interference with Germany’s airforce, which as you mentioned was quite strong.

It sounds like Japan is screwing around (no industrial complexes by turn five), which means you may have a chance, but again, I lack context.

If US was building some Pacific fleet, and Japan went infantry with very light naval/air support (pumping IPCs into 1 destroyer, then subs and/or fighters to match the US threat) then the Allies really are in  trouble, because then probably Japan has some idea of what it’s doing.

If Japan was unopposed in the Pacific and built battleships and carriers, though, the Allies are probably going to win because Japan can’t just lay back and make Germany do all the work.  Same if Japan used its transports to screw with Alaska/Hawaii/Australia/etc. instead of establishing a fast hard unit core in Asia/India to help support Germany’s push against Caucasus.  You might see Japan doing both (i.e. hitting island targets plus hitting Asia/Africa) with five transports, but four transports on turn five with no industrial complexes built means SOMETHING weird is going on - like I said, either Japan was prepared to meet some unusual threat, or Japan was screwing around.

Yeah - what happened in the game?
I agree with Bunnies analysis - against a decent axis player, this game is probably over. But against novice players anything is possible, they may perform unfeasible or uncoordinated moves. In that case it is all about putting yourself in the position to exploit this. By this I mean armor for Russia, establish atlantic navy to threaten Germany, Western Europe and Eastern Europe.

@Cromwell_Dude:

Curious.   I don’t dispute differences in the maps.   But, how are they major?   And, how do they make a difference with experienced players?

1st…  In revised… if you had a bomber on britain… you could attack boats in SZ 63 now you can’t because Alaska is extended to the top of the map and Western canada does not touch that SZ. this could also affect moving planes to Russia through the north.

2nd… In revised SZ 55 also touched western Canada, fighters there could attack the waters of pearl harbor and land back in W. Canada.

3rd… In Revised Central America was drawn next to Cali and was not adjacent to the gulf of Mexico.  those men there had to move to be loaded on a transport.  In 1942, its adjacent and now you can immediately bring those 2 men with you on turn 1.

These are major when considering USA Strategies for attack and defense.  In revised I used to park some bombers and planes in Western Canada… from there the bombers could reach SZ 13 or SZ 60 and threaten the Japanese coast and the entrance to the Mediterranean… also landed Fighters on eastern canada, from there they could attack SZ 63 and the SZ’s on the western coast or could fly to Britain if needed fast.

Personally i prefer 1942 Map… if only it was bigger and clearer boarders

@DougR:

Another difference: the lower cost of bombers combined with the defenseless transports. If Allies go KFG then Japan should buy 1 bomber each turn and send it to Europe in two turns (using conquered Egypt or Trans-Jordan). A large japanese airforce in Europe can make it really hard for the Allies, because Japan plays between UK and US and can take advantage of any openings left after the UK fleet has moved.

You know, I had to laugh at this.  I had posted the subject of limits on cooperation b/w the Western Allies and Russia.  Being the history nerd that I am, it never would have occurred to me to send Japanese bombers to Germany (and now that I know, I still couldn’t get myself to do it)!

Historically it might make no sense for this to happen (although there were examples of German/Italian subs/surface raiders operating on the Pacific and Indian oceans) but the game isn’t meant to be a faithful representation of WW2 (if so the starting production levels would be grossly unbalanced towards the Alllies).

You may choose to play it so and create your own house rules to approximate it as close to reality as possible but with out of the box rules there’s nothing to stop you or your opponents to do so.

I haven’t played it before.

My source also says that August 18 is the date. I was also told that review copies would not be available until next week but I already got scooped on the photos and details of the game.

That’s okay, I guess, my review won’t go on and on and on about how broken and unplayable the game is without money.

@squirecam:

News from Greg Smorey…

Guys,

I have some possibly good news for GEN CON on the heels of the Triple A shutdown…

I have just been informed that WotC will have a lot of 25 AA42 games at GEN CON
and I will be getting 6 copies myself. Now, I just talked to my
supporter and he seemed pretty confident in that it will officially hit
the shelves on August 18. So, he doesn’t see a reason why 42 shouldn’t
be out at GEN CON…

What ever it is worth…

and if aa42 were aa50-where japan does often get pretty large, then that might not be such a big issue…but '42 is supposedly to be more like AAR, where japan wasn’t exactly godzilla running amuck…