Posts made by knp7765

Next, we have Germany.  In Classic, the pieces were all moulded in a medium grey color.  There was a small mistake in some copies where German infantry units got molded in American green and visa versa.
In Avalon Hill’s versions, the Germans have gone through several shades of dark grey to black, which is their current color.  The shading difference may be hard to see in my pictures.
In D-Day and some early versions of A&A Europe, they were actually a dark grey with a bluish tint to them.  In later versions of Europe and Revised, they were a darker grey with no bluish tint.  I think it was the Anniversary game that first came out with black German pieces.  However, I think some copies of 1942 had a very dark grey, at least with the infantry pieces.  I believe with BOTB and Europe 1940, they have finally settled on all black pieces.
German Panther tanks underwent a rather drastic change.  Up through the Revised edition, they were rather skinny and long.  The Anniversary edition changed them to a slightly shorter and wider tank, although it is still the Panther.  Personally, I think the newer version looks more like the actual German Panther from WW2.
Also, the German cruiser pieces have underwent a minor change.  First introduced in the Anniversary game, the Hipper class cruisers came out with the aft end cut off.  In 1942 and later versions, German cruiser pieces were the whole ship with the aft section in tact.  Not sure why AH put in the chopped off versions in the first place.  Just another of many disappointments with the pieces in the Anniversary edition.
All German pieces are uniquely German.
Artillery = 88mm
Mech Inf = SdKfz 251 half-track
Tank = Pzkpw V (Panther)
Fighter = BF-109
Tac Bomber = JU-87 Stuka
Bomber = JU=88
Carrier = Graf Zepplin
Battleship = Bismarck
Cruiser = Hipper
Destroyer = Zerstorer 1934
Submarine = Type VII U-boat
Transport = Hilfskruezer

Next, we have Japan.  In Classic, the pieces were all a bright, pale yellow. 
In early versions of Pacific, Japanese units were bright red.  In later versions, they were a light pumpkin color.
In Revised and since, they have pretty much stuck with the pumpkin color, also referred to as burnt orange.  It seems to me that the current versions are perhaps slightly darker pumpkin, but the difference is very slight from earlier versions.  Also, I think the current Japanese units are somewhat more shiny than earlier versions, which seemed to have a duller finish.
One major change was the artillery piece.  When first introduced, it came with the towing bars/support struts closed together as if for towing the artillery.  A&A 1942 came out with a new artillery piece with the towing bars/support struts spread out, like it was ready to fire.  I think this is much better.  Plus it stands up better than the old ones.  Also, while the 1942 game was the first one with the larger battleship sculpts for most nations, Japan’s Yamato class battleship was not significantly changed.  I’m guessing that it was large enough already.  It was the largest battleship piece in previous versions.
One mistake that came out in the Guadalcanal game was mis-moulded cruiser pieces.  Some copies had Takao Class cruiser moulded in American Olive Green.
All Japanese pieces are unique to Japan except for the Mech Infantry, which is a copy of the German half-track.
Artillery = Type 92 howitzer
Mech Inf = SdKfz 251 Half-track (Germany)
Tank = Type 95 Ha-Go
Fighter = A6M2 Zero
Tac Bomber = D3A1 Val
Bomber = G4M2E Betty
Carrier = Shinano
Battleship = Yamato
Cruiser = Takao
Destroyer = Fubuki
Submarine = I-class
Transport = Hakusan Maru

Now we have the USSR.  In Classic, Soviet pieces were all dark brown.  The Russians have underwent a few changes in Avalon Hill’s versions.
In early versions of A&A Europe, the Soviets were a burgandy color.  These pieces, as well as the earlier versions of the British, are hard to find now and some may consider them collector’s items.  Afraid I don’t have an artillery piece in this color.
In A&A Pacific, they used dark brown (early) and bright red (late) Russian infantry pieces to represent Chinese infantry.
When Revised came out, the Soviets were moulded in more of a maroon color, which is the current color for Soviet pieces.
Earlier versions of the PE-8 bomber had upswept wings but the current version has flat wings.
Up to the Anniversary game, the Russian Navy simply used maroon colored British ship classes.  When 1942 came out, the Russians got their own Battleships, Cruisers and Destroyers.  As for Subs and transports, they still have British models which are actually US models.  They still share the British aircraft carrier too.  Most of their land and air units are uniquely Russian.
Artillery = 105mm howitzer (US)
Mech Inf = ZIS 42 half-track
Tank = T-34
Fighter = MiG 3
Tac Bomber = IL-2 Sturmovick
Bomber = Petlyakov PE-8
Carrier = Illustrious (UK)
Battleship = Gangut
Cruiser = Kirov
Destroyer = Gnevnyi
Submarine = Ray (US/UK)
Transport = Liberty Ship (US/UK)

Next, we have Britain.  In Classic, the pieces were a medium/light beige color.  The Brits have undergone a number of changes for some reason.  I guess Avalon Hill just couldn’t decide on a proper color for them.
In early versions of A&A Europe, the British were a light pale green, sometimes referred to as “sea foam”.  I don’t have any of these pieces to show and in fact have never even seen them myself.
In later versions of A&A Europe, they came out in a salmon color.
In A&A D-Day, the British were almost white, sometimes called “blonde”.  (No naval vessels in this game)
In A&A Pacific, the British were a dark tan color.
In A&A Revised, the British were a cream or pinkish-tan color.
Finally, with the Anniversary game, AH seems to have settled on their current color of light tan.  The Brits also stopped using Shermans and got their own tank, the Matilda.  Also, the fighter piece changed from somewhat upswept wings to a flat wing, easier to place on carriers.
Most of the British pieces are unique to Britain but they do share a few US pieces:
Artillery= 105mm howitzer (US)
Mech Inf = M5 half-track (US)
Tank = Matilda
Fighter = Spitfire
Tac Bomber = Mosquito
Bomber = Halifax
Carrier = Illustrious
Battleship = Royal Oak
Cruiser = Kent
Destroyer = Johnston (US)
Submarine = Ray (US)
Transport = Liberty Ship (US)

First, we will start with the United States.  The pieces from the Classic game were a very dark olive green.  In Avalon Hill’s games, they have basically stuck to olive green.  There has been some variation in the shading of the pieces, but I’m not sure if that was on purpose or just different grades of plastic used in the moulds.
In A&A Pacific, they came out with a US Marine infantry piece that was a forest green.  They also came out with a Navy F-6 Hellcat fighter piece for putting on carriers.
In some copies of Classic, they had a mis-mold and came out with American infantry in German Grey.
In some copies of Guadalcanal, they had a mis-mold and came out with American cruisers in Japanese orange.
Finally, you get to the current pieces.  I call it a bright olive green as earlier versions were a little duller.  
All US pieces are specific to US.  Some of the allies actually share US type units.
Artillery = 105 mm howitzer
Mech Inf = M5 half-track
Tank = Sherman
Fighter = P-38 Lightning/F-6 Hellcat
Tac Bomber= Dauntless SBD
Bomber = B-17
Carrier = Wasp
Battleship = Iowa
Cruiser = Portland
Destroyer = Johnston
Submarine = Ray
Transport = Liberty Ship

Hello All.  I thought I would post this topic for anyone that might be interested.  Axis and Allies is obviously a favorite game for many of us and I became interested in how the pieces have changed over the years and from one version of the game to the next.  Since I have been able to keep most of the different pieces over time, I thought I would share them with everybody.
First, about 1984, there was the original Milton Bradley version (aka Classic).  It was pretty basic by today’s standards.  All of the pieces were the same generic models in different colors and only the infantry pieces were unique to each country.  When Avalon Hill took over A&A in the mid-late 90s, they introduced country specific units to the game and also added destroyers and artillery to the lineup.  They first came out with A&A Europe, A&A Pacific, A&A D-Day and later a new Revised World game.
Then, in 2008, came the 50th Anniversary game.  It was the biggest A&A game yet with the largest game board.  This game also introduced Italy as a 3rd Axis, gave new rules for China as a seperate power and introduced the Cruiser in the naval lineup.  While many of the game components were top notch, the plastic unit molds were a big dissappointment with lots of flash, rather sloppy detail and some units didn’t get completely molded (eg, German artillery pieces).  Another good thing with this version is Britain got their own tank unit.
During 2009, they came out with two more smaller-level games, Battle of the Bulge and Guadalcanal.  BOTB introduced truck units for the Americans and Germans.  Then in August of 2009, they came out with A&A 1942, a very scaled-down version of Revised.  However, they greatly improved the plastic molds and produces larger battleship pieces with much better detail.  Russia got some country specific navy pieces.  Italy and China were not included in this game however.
Then, in December 2009, came the much anticipated Pacific 1940.  This was a very large game and a significant upgrade from the previous A&A Pacific.  Many new rules for air and naval bases were added, ANZAC was introduced as a new Allied power and TAC Bombers and Mechanized/Mobile Infantry were added to the lineup.
Finally, in August 2010, Europe 1940 came out.  This game introduced France for the first time and has the USA and USSR as neutrals.  What’s more, this game is designed to go with Pacific 1940 for a HUGE new Global game.  This is where we stand today.
In the following posts, I will go through each country to show how the pieces have changed.

Thanks for the payment info.  I just sent the $20 I was undercharged with a note including my order number and explanation.  I like saving money as much as the next guy, but I DO NOT want to short-change FMG or this project.  Oooooh, I am so looking forward to my new pieces.  In a way, I think I’m looking forward to getting my new ANZAC and France combat dice even more.  I play a game now and whenever France or ANZAC is involved, I have to use plain old black dice.  It’s just wrong next to all those nicely colored combat dice with the national symbols an all.  It is SUCH a hardship.

Yeah, the same thing happened with my order.  I entered the code “ROMMEL” and when I finished checking out, it changed the price of the Italian sets to $24.99 each.  I thought maybe it was some extra discount FMG was giving for the pre-order.  I ordered 5 sets.  Do you need another $20 from me?  If so, that is fine with me.  You just have to let me know how to get it to you.

Man, that is really cool to hear.  When you put your own individual order in, you think “Is this really going to help much?” but then everyone gets together on it and really make things happen.  I think we are all going to be very happy within the next couple of months.

By the way Jeremy, thanks for answering all of our multitude of questions.

@calvinhobbesliker:

@knp7765:

@Bob_A_Mickelson:

I suspect that future nation sets will have the same piece count but I dont think that has been verified.

I hope so.  I would prefer it if all the nations were uniform in piece count.

I doubt Russia needs 6 carriers or 6 battleships.

Yes, you are probably right about that.  Of course, when you think about  it, Italy doesn’t really need 6 carriers and 6 battleships either.  However, that is the number that FMG has settled on and I just think it would be better if all nations pieces kept to the same numbers of units.  Granted, you may not use all the units for each nation in every game but at least you would have them just in case you did .  I just don’t like the idea of this country gets X number of this unit but this other country only gets Y number while this third country will get Z number.

@Bob_A_Mickelson:

I suspect that future nation sets will have the same piece count but I dont think that has been verified.

I hope so.  I would prefer it if all the nations were uniform in piece count.

OOOHH!  Love the addition of the blast shield.  That looks really cool.

Hey Jeremy, are you going to a seperate locked thread for all the new German sculpt photos like you did with the Italians?  Or are you just going to put them here in this thread?

EDIT
I just saw it in the “Pieces Project Thread”.  Question answered.

I am in a Global game now.  We just finished Round 9 and decided on a break for a while.  I am playing Germany and the Russian player is also handling China.
Germany captured Paris Round 1, forced a Sealion Round 2 and was successful but at somewhat high cost.  Round 3 took the 3 big neutrals - Spain, Sweeden and Turkey - which also took a fair amount of resources.  Therefore, I don’t think I was able to build up enough in the east for Barbarossa like I would have preferred.  I had a good force by end of Round 3, but it certainly could have been better.
Italy really struggled with Britain in Africa and the Med.
Japan took a gamble by bringing USA into the war Round 1 by attacking Brits and the Philippines.
As for Russia, first three rounds she spent building a lot of infantry along the border with a few artillery and tanks.  Round 4 Russia actually attacked Germany, which I really was not expecting.  Sank all my transports and took an unoccupied Sweeden from me.  Round 5, she had destroyed all three army groups in Europe, took Warsaw and was only frustrated by Finland with a bloody repulse.  Round 6, she threw a massive army at Berlin.  Lucklily, the last couple of rounds of combat went my way and Berlin survived with just 1 fighter unit left.  Both sides were severely depleted but Germany still had her capital.
Fast forward to Round 9. 
Now Germany is getting strong again, starting to advance into Russia itself and threatening Leningrad.  German Navy has been sunk by the US Navy and they keep fighting back and forth over Spain, which US currently holds with a fairly strong force. 
Italy finally finished off all British and French troops in Africa and has a tank running around blitzing territories.  Most of Italy’s resources have been spent trying to help Germany with Spain and threatening Russia with a small force from the south.
Japan has all but destroyed China – 1 territory and 1 infantry unit left.  They have grabbed Calcutta and control Eastern Asia and the DEI.  However, both the Imperial Navy and the US Navy have been slugging it out and are almost non-existant.  Also, Japan has tanks creeping west toward Russia.
So, while Russia is still a ways from being “out of it”, they are in pretty bad shape.  I have seen this in other games as well.  Russia is just too dang big and can’t seem to get a decent number of reiinforcements to the front.  When they start a big offensive, if it runs out of steam then it seems like Germany always grinds them back.  Unless the US can get over there with a large enough force to really threaten Germany in Western Europe, Russia will be taken out and then Germany will have plenty of money to deal with the US and push them back out of Europe with help from Italy.

@cminke:

where do you order? i cant find it?

cminke, did you figure out how to place your order yet?  Jeremy provided two links in a post on page 1, about halfway down, of this thread that begins with A CALL TO ARMS!  One is for the Combat Units and one is for the new Combat Dice.  You HAVE to use those links to place your order since this is not “official” and available only to us here at A&A forum.

Now hurry up and go throw your money in the hat with the rest of us so we can get our goodies.

So the $5 off per set of Combat Units is supposed to happen?  Like an extra discount from FMG?  Cool.  I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t some unseen problem with my order.

I just ordered another Deluxe set of the combat dice.  I love these combat dice anyway and maybe this will add a little more fuel to the project.  I hope more folks get into this.

I just placed my order for 5 sets of Italians and 4 sets of combat dice.  This is GREAT!  Now I just have to sit back and wait for them to get here.

One question, I put in my ROMMEL discount code for $5 off my order.  When I finished checkout, it seems as though it took $5 off of EACH set of Italian combat units, making them $24.99 each.  Is that supposed to happen?  I thought it was $5 off the order, not each item.

I plan on ordering 5 sets of the Italians, plus 3 sets each of the France and ANZAC dice.  I am guessing that would be around $180 - $200.  If that will help finish up this project, be it for shipping or whatever, I am certainly on board with you FMG.  I will gladly help with a pre-order.  Actually, to be honest, that would make me feel a little more comfortable.  I would still have to wait for my stuff, but it would be a relief to me having it already paid for.

I await your instructions.

No, I haven’t quoted Cminke.  I did quote Tigerman77 who posted “Hopefully next week we will be able to order!!”  After inserting his quote, I said that he shouldn’t be in too big a hurry and told him about the Dec. 1 possible release date and Jeremy’s stating he didn’t want to take pre-orders this early.  Tigerman77’s post is 6 posts back, which was followed by a post by Cminke, then was followed by my post which is not there anymore.

Look, I’m sorry to go on about this and I’m sorry that I brought up cminke’s posts.  It’s just that I try to stick to the topic so that I don’t offend anyone on the forum.  This is the last I will speak of this here.

IL,
Now you are deleting my posts?  Why?  It WAS on topic.  Jeremy DID say that the factory gave him a date of Dec 1 and he DID say he wouldn’t take pre-orders until he was absolutely certain of delivery.  I was not  “badgering about a release date”.  I was stating a fact and suggesting that none of us should expect to order this early.