Based on what I know about the versions you have available to you, here’s what I would recommend:

If you’re worried about barrier of entry because of game length or complexity, get 1941 with the intention of upgrading to either Anniversary or 1942 2nd ed. later (or go ahead and get both 1941 and one of the other sets so you can upgrade the 1941 components).

If cost is the bigger issue, try to pick up either Classic (for nostalgia) or 1942 1st ed. (for better compatibility with later versions) on the cheap. Just because they’re older editions doesn’t mean they’re not still fun to play.

If you only want to get the “best” single version, it’s a toss-up between Anniversary and 1942 2nd edition since they have about the same level of depth, complexity, and game length (with Anniversary being a little longer and more complex with the inclusion of Italy and China as major powers, but not by much). Personally, I would get Anniversary because of what you get in the box compared to 1942 2nd edition and because who knows for how much longer this limited run will be available.

Personally, I think trying to convert the old 1942 map to a 1941 map is more trouble than it’s worth considering how inexpensively you can get a copy of 1941 ($20.99 on Amazon at this moment, and I’ve seen it lower). I would recommend just buying a copy of 1941 and put the map and rules in your 1942 box. As a bonus, you’ll have four more dice and several new pieces to add to your 1942 set. If you’re not into mixing in the different 1941 sculpts, you can at least combine the infantry pieces since those are identical between the two sets.

FYI: The only difference between the original and updated 1941 sets is the rulebook. The board is still printed with United States starting IPC incorrectly marked at 15.

@Midnight_Reaper:

@Topmat:

Hey, is there a different way to set up the board? I have gotten bored of the way it says in the box. THANKS!

Note: I dont have more than one set of game components.

I’ll ask the obvious question: Have you ready the FAQ? There are new setup instructions in the FAQ:@Avalon:

Errata
Page 6 - Combat Forces: The United States’ Starting Income should be “17”. Some copies of the Rulebook indicate it to be “15”.
Page 13 - Blitzing Example: The first panel should depict a tank moving through an empty territory, and the second should depict a tank unable to move through a territory containing an enemy unit.
Back Cover - Soviet Union Setup Chart: Russia should contain 6 infantry, 1 tank, and 1 fighter.
Back Cover - United States Setup Chart: The United States’ Starting Income should be “17”. Some copies of the Rulebook indicate it to be “15”. Also, Northwestern China should contain 1 infantry, and sea zone 11 should contain 1 destroyer and 1 transport.

This and more are available at WotC/AH Rules website: http://avalonhill.wizards.com/rules.

Just so’s you know.

-Midnight Reaper

P.S. Edit to remove diamonds.

I know my copy of A&A 1941 that I bought a year ago has updated setup charts that includes the changes made in the errata. If Topmat acquired this game recently, it’s very likely that his copy has the updated setup charts too.

Personally, I prefer MB GameMaster Edition.

@Gargantua:

I was 15, played original. I chose USA.

When my first turn came around, I bought 3 research dice.  My first roll of A&A ever was 6 6 6.
This resulted in Super Subs, Industrial Production, and Heavy Bombers. (3 techs in one roll was valid per that edition of game rules at that time; or at least our groups agreed understanding of them haha!)

Needless to say, from that moment forward - I was hooked!!!

I had a similar thing happen during my first time playing. I was Germany, and the game was already heading toward an Axis victory. Russia was already under German control, Great Britain had lost most of its territories and navy, and the USA had made the mistake of committing to an island hopping campaign in the Pacific rather than trying to invade Europe. Germany’s income was on the rise and I had IPC’s to burn, so I bought a handful of research dice just for kicks. I don’t remember which three techs I got, but at that point it really didn’t matter except to help me put the Allies out of their misery more quickly.

Early 2014
MB GameMaster edition (second edition)
Played it at a local game store in San Antonio, Texas with a full complement of 5 players.
I played Germany. My wife (girlfriend at the time) taught the game and played Japan.
Axis victory!

@twmattox:

Love the boxes with slip covers. What materials did you use?  Any helpful hints you are willing to pass on?

I made the boxes out of chipboard and the separators and slip covers out of heavy cardstock.

@Schmidty1701:

@variance:

kick her in the groin

1. LMAO
2. You astonish me with the fact that you guessed that it was a female. May I assume you have had similar problems?

Variance could probably tell by how you repeatedly used the singular “they” as if you were trying to hide the offending player’s gender. I’m guessing you didn’t want the fact that this person is a woman to skew anyone’s opinion on how to handle the situation.

Earlier this year I purchased a used copy of Axis & Allies 1942 from the virtual flea market for the spring BGGcon. I was hoping to get the current 2nd edition of this game. Instead, it turned out to be the 1st edition, which has a board that is entirely too small. I can’t get too upset over that though since the seller included extra IC factories, AA guns, paper IPCs, and most importantly, a full set of Combat Dice from Field Marshal Games.

Not to worry though. Imperious Leader has created many large-scale maps for various Axis & Allies games and has made them available in the forums here. I downloaded his excellent Spring 1942 1st edition map with thick boarders, resized it to be about the size of the 2nd edition board (which is plenty big for my purposes. Imperious Leader’s version was a little too big for what I wanted), and added some white space at the top so I could fit in an IPC tracker across the top very similar to the one on the 2nd edition board. I also downloaded his 1942 2nd edition map and resized it as well to put on the other side of the board and created some setup charts for the 2nd edition map.

Boards and Trackers

Not wanting to stop there, I also printed out a battle board (the battle strip in the newer editions just doesn’t cut it) and designed a Victory City tracker to help keep track of which side controls which Victory Cities. I also wanted to incorporate the Research & Development optional rules from the Anniversary Edition, so I designed an R&D tracker as well.

Tokens

In order to use the Anniversary Edition R&D rules, I needed researcher tokens. I created these using an image of the tokens found in the Anniversary Edition rulebook. I also wanted to create a set of flight tokens to help keep track of how far air units move during the Combat Movement Phase. While I’m adding new tokens to the game, I decided to throw in some Critical Hit tokens I have laying around from Star Trek Attack Wing to use as damage tokens for the factories.

Trays

Lastly, I created some trays with slip-covers, one for each power divided into 4 sections; one for land units, one for air units, one for naval units, and one for dice and roundels. You can see them across the top in the first picture. I also made one for the chips and IPCs.

I have additional pictures post at https://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/156656/item/5816271#item5816271
My Victory City Tracker is available for download at https://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/148680/victory-city-tracker
My R&D board, Researcher tokens, and flight counters are available for download at https://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/148684/rd-rules-rd-board-researcher-tokens-and-flight-cou