So instead of a grand AA Collectors Edition or maybe an action card expansion or something…
But they did… it’s called “Axis and Allies Anniversary edition”… I suggest you get that instead and be happy.
Between 1941, 1942, Anniversary and Global… I’m not sure where else you can go with a WWII A&A title without repeating yourself beyond Zombies, Aliens or Kaiju…
Ya, I’m surprised nobody mentioned the previous post till now…
Massed German tanks ignore so many things (also if they’re sticklers for the rules, they better be paying 6ipc for those tanks).
There’s no way they can safely secure all of Europe with just buying tanks if you park a large fleet off Spain and can threaten France, Italy and elsewhere. Force him to go defensive.
Also shuttle fighters to Russia… British and American if needed… make him pay to go all out Russia… trading infantry for tanks as previously mentioned will help.
If he sends everything to Russia than you send everything to Europe, Japan can wait, you’ll get a German kill since he neglects defense.
If your friends 100% refuse bids, change games on them… go get Anniversary Edition and play it buy the book all you want… there’s two scenarios (1941/1942) and two modes for each (with or without National Objectives)… that’s FOUR different “by the book” ways you can play A&A instead of the one lopsided way in 1942.
I have to apologize… a couple of years ago, I was really drunk and had just watched a zombie movie… in my drunken stupor, I e-mailed WotC and said "you know what would be really cool? An A&A game with ZOMBIES!
-Signed… the A&A fanbase "
I have this 2005 movie on Bluray… the trailer is in Japanese but the movie is either dubbed or subtitled (I can’t recall)… in either case I enjoyed the movie and thought it was good.
@P@nther:
3. A&A Classic (usually of 1986 or sometimes 1984) - we have another dedicated subforum for it.
Well “dedicated” might be too strong a word… it’s not even called the “A&A Classic” forum (I really wish it were).
I’m beginning to think Nazis and Zombies go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly.
Never a fan of the default German transports… the German transports from 1941 and HBG both stand out a lot more as transports at a quick glance imho. I use the German transports from 1941 and HBG for all my A&A games… they just stand out better as transports.
You could try a “Warbonds” house rule… each nation has some sort of national drive to raise more funds… either buying war bonds, donating scrap metal, or women working in factories… whatever you want the excuse to be…
Then, use dice to award the random bonus from War Bonds each turn… it could be as simple as each nation rolls a standard six-sided die and that’s their bonus income, or you can get more detailed with additional dice for bigger nations (say 1-6 for Italy, 2-12 for Germany, 3-18 for the US)… though I would recommend getting some Fantasy Dice so you can use dice of differing amounts for different nations… 4-sided, 8-sided, 12-sided and 20-sided dice could all be used in addition or instead of your 6-sided dice.
What revised setup? I might have missed that.
Not to change the subject (ok, I just might), but if you’re returning to A&A after a few years and really like 1942.2, you might consider picking up the recently rereleased Anniversary edition of A&A… it is a lot better than 1942.2 in many ways and better balanced.
Balance issues… Dardanelles should always be closed… NOs favor the Axis, hands down.
Something not in the rules, but a very simple House rule our group uses for both balance and just plain fun…
90% of the time, Japan nukes the Flying Tigers in China on turn 1 before the Allies get to make a single move with them. They are basically placed in a “please kill me” position.
Our group always allows the Allied player the choice to place the Flying Tigers anywhere they want within China on the initial setup… it’s a very minor concession both for play balance and strategic fun.
This is cool and all, but what makes this different from the improved custom roundels already available from HBG? Unless I’m missing something (and I’ll admit I probably am), this seems nearly identical to the improved roundels from HBG…
If I’m not mistaken, in AA50, I think Dardanelles open is the “default” rules, while closing them is the “option”.
I’d just be a fan of either Dardanelles always closed as the default, or having the option to open them to help balance an inexperienced Axis player against an experienced Allied player… and it should be stated that way in the rules to show exactly what leaving them open does.
The action report was a fun read, though many of the purchases seemed bizzare on both sides. I think Russia’s spending and combat strategy hastened their own fall and made the Axis strategy more effective than it would have been otherwise… at least Russia didn’t buy a battleship… lol.
The US should have probably gone full KGF as a foil to Japan’s moves against Russia.
Massive, unbelievable hatred for all versions of play exploiting the completely unrealistic and massive slap in the face to history of the Dardanelles (Turkish straights) being open during WW2… Turkey never allowed belligerent powers passage through the dardanelles, especially amphibious invasion forces.
I could never play the game this way, exploiting a massive historical inaccuracy like that.
To each their own, but our group never allows use of the Dardanelles.*
*to clarify, I hate this exploit even being allowed in any form of the rules, not the people that play with the Dardanelles open… especially if they are unaware of the massive historical inaccuracy of allowing this movement.
To be fair, 1941s true purpose is to introduce new players to the basic mechanics of the A&A system and secondarily to offer a quick fix for more seasoned veterans, its never been intended to be the mainstay of a group of players or friends to play on a constant basis for the reasons you mentioned… there’s just no depth to this version.
Prior to the rerelease of Anniversary, 1942.2 was meant to be the main game of the series for casuals (while Global was for the hardcore fans), but now I would say Anniversary would hold that spot as it is better balanced with more strategies available than 1942.2 without the massive time commitment of Global.
The Classic A&A winner is usually determined when the big Eastern Front infantry stack is dealt with between Germany and Russia… dicing usually plays a role in that one way or another. Most Classic games I recall are determined by whoever wins that battle.
Not sure that the A&A format really works well with the scale and vision of the game you propose… there’s only so much detail/focus that the A&A format works with.
@DouchemanMacgee:
Previous two posts
I would say something, but for berevity’s sake, I’m in 100% agreement with DouchemanMacgee’s last two posts.
He’s spot on with my own observations and take on this.
Here’s a radical thought… if you don’t like the premise of a game and think it will suck… don’t buy it or play it… crazier still… keep playing games you enjoy and love… if game-x sux, it shouldn’t make you love game-y any less.