Posts made by Mr_Tricorder

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

The box dimensions for 1941 and and 1942 (1st and 2nd edition) are identical, so as long as you have enough space left in your 1942 box for an extra board and rule book, you should be set.

I fit my 1941 board and instructions in my 1942 1st edition box along with a larger DIY board (I took out the original 1942 board and store it in my 1941 box along with my unused 1941 pieces) and several other DIY add-ons and storage trays. It’s a tight squeeze, but it all fits and the box closes completely.

I think this is a case of, “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature.”

The increased “swinginess” of the luck of the dice can be an equalizing factor for new players against experienced players. Of course, the luck of the dice can swing in favor of the more experienced players just as easily as it can swing against them, but the fact that random chance is a stronger influence in this particular edition of A&A is more likely to appeal to the novice and casual gamers who don’t intend on taking the game nearly as seriously as the seasoned veteran player.

@bgugs:

Mr. Tricorder, you said you have used inkscape before. When working on this map it began placing white squares anywhere I attempted to draw. It wasn’t actually placing the blocks there just displaying them. What I mean is it would still draw the color I wanted where I wanted but would display a big white box over where I was attempting to draw until I zoomed either in or out. Because of this I tried to save my work and reopen it and see if that would work. Now when I reopen the file there is nothing there, not the original map or the map plus my edits. Any idea what may have happened?

I’m very sorry. I haven’t visited this thread in a while and didn’t see your question until just now. I haven’t used inkscape in years though, so I don’t know what’s going on there. I have an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription, so I do all my vector-based artwork in Illustrator now. If you’re still having this problem, I would recommend checking out the inkscape support forums.

@V.:

I tried something by myself.
I ordered blank dice. Red, yellow, green and blue.
The cost 4� for each pack of 25 dice.

I drilled holes into the surface.
1 hole into 1 side of the reds, 2 holes into 2 sides of the yellows, 3 holes into 3 sides of the greens, 4 holes into 4 sides of the blues. Yes, that were 750 holes.
After that I “borrowed” some black nail polish from my wife and filled the holes.
Next day I cleaned the mess with nail polish remover.

This strategy is a bit easier for new players. You dont have to remember the correct colour. Just take the dice with the 2 dots per side if you need  “2-dice” …

I’ve thought about doing this exact same thing. Have tried them out yet? If so, how big of a difference do they make?

@Rank:

Bgugs Thanks for starting this thread. Answered the questions I had. Thanks also to the community for its helpful answers.
But now that I’ve started…downloaded inkscape and gimp.
Does anyone know what the recommendation resolution needs to be? Specifically for larger map sizes like 4feet by 8 feet, or another common sized map at 3feet by 6feet. I would like it to have the same crisp image as either HBG 1936 or A&A global 1940. Since a digital cameras starting resolution affects larger images drastically, I assume the same here. I’d rather not pay to print a substandard large map, just to toss it and print again!

You always want to print at 300dpi (dots per inch) regardless of the actual dimensions of the map. Just about any serious graphics program should allow you to set up your image by dimensions in inches or millimeters and by dpi, and that will determine your resolution in pixels.

I haven’t been interested in making maps, but I do have some graphic design experience with game boards in general. Are you looking for technical help or advice?

@Ichabod:

On the flip side, your chicken head analogy could easily be deemed non-polite. If I had an idea which I thought would be a eureka moment and named it something most compelling like the “ICHABOD SYSTEM,” and you compared it to a guy wearing “poultry headgear,” I might think you were under handedly saying I was silly. By the way, someone told me to not feed the troll, but that comment has since been deleted.

You make a good point. To Mr. Vann, I apologize. If I have offended you, please understand that was not my intention. I was trying to make a point by making a joke at your expense, and that was wrong of me.

I just ignore him every time he says something about his vaunted Vann Formulas. So far it sounds like nothing we didn’t already know, so there’s no sense in getting upset about him keeping such useless information from the community.

He’s right that his proposed Armored Car unit doesn’t have anything to do his so-called Vann Formulas. It’s just a fun idea for a custom unit, which is a perfectly legitimate topic for the House Rules forum.

Here’s the way I see it. Imagine that you meet someone who goes around wearing a chicken on his head. He tells you and everyone else that your lives would be better if you all wore chickens on your heads but then says he won’t tell you where he got the chicken. How would you handle this person? Would you be polite and tolerate his presence as long as he and his chicken behave themselves? Would you get upset that he won’t tell you where to get your own chicken? Do you publicly berate him for his ludicrous life improvement through poultry headgear theory?

Personally, prefer to be polite and tolerant as long as he’s not being overly disruptive. I have no interest in his head-chicken formulas, but he can wear them all he wants as far as I’m concerned.

@GeneralHandGrenade:

So I  guess you haven’t gotten an unsolicited PM from him telling you how you don’t know what you’re talking about yet? I have no problem with hearing everyone else’s opinions that’s how we learn more. I do have a problem with someone who only shows up here to tell everyone else they don’t know how to play the game. From what i can tell he bases all of his opinions on Classic A&A and really has no idea on how his precious formula works on more modern versions of the game. Apparently he hasn’t taken the time to count up the number of spaces on a Global map and compared it to the number of spaces on the Classic map. Assuming that an infantry would be just as effective on both maps is foolish and quite frankly just plain lazy. I didn’t label him a troll because his opinion differs from mine, I did so because he is trolling people. If he doesn’t know what that means maybe he should learn how to use Google and look up “internet troll.”

No, I haven’t and didn’t know that was going on. I did receive a PM from him, but it was a legitimate question about a comment I made on one of his threads and was very polite. It was a forum etiquette question (which forum is appropriate for which thread topic) and didn’t have anything to do with the game itself, so I guess that’s why I was spared that particular experience.

@SS:

Troll = VANN DAM

I dismissed him as a troll too after his initial Vann Formulas post, but I think his subsequent threads have sparked some decent discussion. He’s a little full of himself, and his “game changing” formulas seem to be nothing more than the standard cost-per-hit ratios that any experienced player should already know, but I don’t think he’s deliberately trolling. Also, I think this discussion has brought up some useful points that other players simply may not have considered or have always taken for granted, such as the importance of additional movement that higher cost units can provide and just how strongly that should be weighed against straight cost-per-hit ratios in certain situations. Interrupting that discussion to make sure everyone knows he’s a troll quite frankly does not contribute positively to the conversation.