@thrasher1 said in Renegade Con Virtual: Axis and Allies:
The winner of ‘Pick your Battle’ is:
North Africa
https://renegadegamestudios.com/blog/axis-allies-pick-the-battle-vote-results-are-in-/
I love this choice. Great theater of operations, tons of active participants, hopefully some new sculpts…
Thanks so much!! I’m about to print out your AA50 map with the modifications to Australia and Italian East Africa, pondering if there are any other changes I’d like to have before I have it made (neoprene).
Perhaps sea zone 66… :grin:
“Raiding” other games is fairly common practice in A&A, and there’s an easy solution for Renegade Games.
For any game that includes new sculpts, just make them for all the powers! For example, Axis & Allies Zombies included cards for 1942, I could easily see a A&A North Africa game introduce, say, a Tank Destroyer piece with sculpts for the US, Italy, Germany, and the UK. It would be child’s play to include 4 more sculpts in that box, for France, Japan, USSR and Anzac.
That means that everyone who owns Global 40 would want to buy it ($$$), and everyone who owns A&A North Africa already has “pieces” for Global 40 and is incentivized to buy that next. Win win win!
I think we are on the same page, but I still believe that you are overlooking a huge chunk of the cost (and complexity). Let me explain:
The majority of the “cost” of the modern Axis & Allies games (or any board game, for that matter) is transportation cost of the size and weight of the box, with the actual components (paper/plastic/cardboard) as the secondary driver. These games are made and boxed in China, then packed in containers for oceanic shipping. Those are priced by the cubic foot, of course. Once they arrive stateside, they are loaded into trucks or trains (price per pallet), taken to distribution centers, and from there shipped in smaller mixed loads to stores, or mailed via a common carrier (all based on size/weight.
I think it is critical to divorce the boards, which make up a huge chunk of “cost” when taking this into account, from the game. We already have Axis & Allies 1941 as an example, assuming that Hasbro/Renegade is making some profit then about $25 is a fair expectation for 200 pieces + board/rules/box.
Your pricing, for a G40 player, would be as follows:
Axis & Allies Base - $30 (a bit more expensive than 41 as it would have a few more pieces - injection molded plastic isn’t wildly expensive however).
Axis & Allies Advanced - $30 (I can’t drop the price any cheaper than 1941, as the components are quite similar - map + some pieces, but the board is bigger)
Axis & Allies Global - around $60 (the pieces are minimal, but the combined weight of the boards drives much of this price)
Here is the problem - your hypothetical G40 player HAS to spend $30 extra for Italy + some minor pieces, and ends up with a map that they don’t really need or use. Here’s my solution:
Axis & Allies Base - $30 (as above)
Axis & Allies Advanced - $25 (pieces ONLY - nothing else. Small box, about half the size of the 1941 box, with about 600 - 700 pieces). Smaller size = less cost.
Axis & Allies Games - as most of these are map and rules only, they can actually be a bit thinner than the current boxes , but still sufficient to stand on a shelf. Each one of these assumes you own #1, and some will have to explicitly state if you need to own #2. Of course, if any new pieces are introduced they will be included here.
This also neatly avoids the issues of a game that requires Italy + other advanced pieces requiring a customer to purchase 4 games, under your system. For example, Axis & Allies North Africa. A buyer in your system would need the base game, plus advanced for Italy, plus G40 for all of the mechanized infantry, French pieces etc, PLUS the actual North Africa game. That sounds like game DLC hell.
Meanwhile, my system would just required base + advanced plus the actual game. No need to have an AA50 board and a G40 board taking up space in your house because you don’t need it!
I think there’s room for two new pieces in this condensed, zoomed in map: self-propelled artillery and tank destroyers.
For the Germans, it would be the SiG 33 and StuG III, respectively, and for the US it would be the M7 Priest / M10 Wolverine. The UK could use the Bishop, and either recycle the M10 sculpt (they used it as the Achilles) or perhaps the slightly later war Archer. Italy I’m unsure of, but I’m sure they have a couple models that would work.
Edit: did my research, for a self propelled artillery piece I’d select the Semovente da 90/53, and for the anti-tank I’d pick the Semovente da 75/18. The Italians called both kinds “self-propelled guns”, hence the similarity of naming.
Also; Vichy France will be in this game, please please give us a French tank!
@vodot said in Renegade Con Virtual: Axis and Allies:
@black_elk solid post. I like the wider view of the first map much more, which would allow for ocean at the extreme left - Casablanca has to be on the map, I think, along with Cyprus and Salermo.
Agreed 100% - besides, they can also stretch/skew the map a bit and make it conform to a slightly taller board, rather than one that is wide but narrow. Here’s what I would have as the board:
Each game is different - out of the “battle” series of games, I prefer D-Day/Bulge/Guadalcanal, but that doesn’t mean Guadalcanal is the worst, it is just the 3rd place game in that lineup.
I honestly don’t get why AA50 is so revered - the pieces suck compared to AA42, the map is somewhat flimsy - but it has a HUGE box… yay.
What I did with my set of AA50 was buy 2 sets of AA42 at Target ($15 each, $30 total!) and was able to throw in LOTS of extra chips, and completely swapped out the US/UK/Germany/USSR/Japan pieces for the much better AA42 ones. The control markers and the charts are nice, but we buy Axis & Allies for the plastic pieces! Otherwise, we have warehouses full of thick, counter-based games to choose from.
Just my $0.02 - and in my opinion, the AAP40 and AAE40 games ROCK - I will buy 3 sets of AAE40 just for the pieces alone! (Finally - French & Italians!)
Nate, could I ask a huge favor - could you edit the Version 4 map file for me and remove all of the RCs? No other changes, I’d like to print it out but without those as a very nice vendor on Etsy (ummm… you!) made me a buttload of 3d printed pieces :)
Playing devil’s advocate, the front page article references something from mid-2019. Perhaps if you posted an update, referencing what Renegade has announced, it might garner a bit more attention? ;)
@Krieghund Fantastic! I’ll delete my edits then, only one note - the Soviet/French fighter is always a Yak 3, the MiG 3 is very different and was never used in A&A.
Dave, I’m active on quite a few forums for different topics and have noticed that there tends to be a lifecycle, and some manage that transition well while others fail.
For a forum to thrive, it needs to have activity, which drives users to come back and engage. If there aren’t any new topics or discussions, traffic starts waning and users leave.
A common mistake is to have too many specialized sub-forums, which lead to postings sporadically specifically related to that sub-topic. Again, vicious cycle which reduces activity. The most active forums tend to have just a main discussion area, with perhaps one or two specialized sub-forum for topics that might clutter the main forum (for Axis & Allies, this might be TripleA and variants discussion sub forums). However, everything else could be in one main forum, with perhaps a tag to identify which game(s) you are discussing.
I’m just trying to drive traffic and spark interest again in this forum.
I posted a long response on their discord, but will summarize here:
Every A&A expansion has focused on US battles, so at least one of the 4 ideas will be US focused. The main US battles not covered in Europe are Italy and North Africa, and of the two I believe North Africa will be chosen (Rommel vs Montgomery, Afrika Korps, El Alamein, Tobruk, US landings… it’s a great, and self contained campaign):
So #1 is Axis & Allies North Africa
The next major European battle/campaign would have to be Barbarossa, or Stalingrad. Either would be good, Barbarossa is large scale land/air combat, and Stalingrad would be a first (city battle, encircled army, air resupply). I’d wager that Barbarossa is the more likely of the two, but Stalingrad might also be an option. For now, let’s go with the former.
So #2 is Axis & Allies Barbarossa
That leads us to the Pacific. We already had Guadalcanal, a couple classic options would be Okinawa or Iwo Jima but both would honestly be quite similar to D-Day in mechanics. I think Midway is the more likely option, anything larger infringes on the Pacific 1940 game.
So #3 is Axis & Allies Midway
Now, we return to Stalingrad, and also examine other battles. France 1940? We can play out Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, and SeaLion all in one game. I think it’s a tossup between the two!
#4 is Axis & Allies Stalingrad (or others!)
Some more reflection, and I reviewed a couple other forums I frequent that have been active for a couple decades:
One main Axis & Allies forum for everything. Yes, it can sometimes cause a bit of clutter, but in general it works extremely well. The experienced Anniversary player can answer the random Guadalcanal question, the newbie can discuss sculpts in 1940 with the collector of 1984 2nd edition etc.
A very very limited amount of subforums. They should focus on removing the large amount of posts that do not belong in #1, such as Triple A/online games, A&A variants, etc. Keep this number minimal (less than 5).
Perhaps (to be explored, because it kills traffic to #1) a temporary sub forum for the latest title (I.e. Axis & Allies North Africa). Segregates the majority of new content, but reduces overall traffic in the main forum. Important to merge this into the main forum after a few months, in any case!
KILL THE STICKIES. A max of 1-2 stickies at the top of a forum, they must be new. Right now on some forums you have stickied topics from 5+ years back…
Paul, about buying individual units…
Economically, for coachofmany, he would probably set the price such that buying individual pieces is more expensive than the full set. Think about it - he doesn’t want to get stuck with 5,400 Colorado class battleships :-D
Remember the mold spits out “x” number of pieces, whether it be 12 or 20.
@vodot I’m definitely in agreement, and your point about the “base” being a standalone game is the most important part - people should be able to buy one box and have it include everything needed to play the game, albeit a basic version (your A&A Zombies example, minus Zombies is dead on. One of the best A&A maps!).
I think it’s important to avoid the “you need pack 3 and 4 to play this, and pack 2 and 6 to play that etc”, which many games do horribly. Of course, the easiest solution that no one would buy is EVERYTHING in one box, but that’s a massive barrier to entry for new players.
Although having all of the pieces in one “Advanced” booster/expansion pack means some players might end up with pieces they don’t need, I think it’s a better solution than more SKUs with pieces. I do think I lowballed the price, it’s probably more around $35.
$20 says that Renegade doesn’t do any of this, sadly 🙁
@vodot I would simplify your “line” a bit, particularly when it comes to sculpts.
“Axis & Allies” - basic sculpts for the 5 major powers
“Axis & Allies Advanced/Deluxe etc” (whatever marketing comes up with - basic sculpts for ANZAC/Italy/France/China etc AND advanced sculpts for everyone.
That’s it. Otherwise, someone who wants to play Global is forced to buy three products in your list, instead of two, just to get Italy. Of course, there is still room for the Great Battles line, or separate packs of sculpts etc, but this way it’s a bit more streamlined. You get the basic experience, or the full experience - besides, owning sculpts for games you don’t yet have is an incredible incentive to buy that game!
I’m 99% certain they would do a pre-US involvement start, there’s too much that you miss by starting so late.
Renegade Games is launching the next Pick the Battle vote TODAY! This time, we’re presenting four great battles seen in years past, and asking YOU to tell us which to revisit next!
Vote Here! 👉 https://bit.ly/3yqHYO0
Choices:
Battle of the Bulge
D-Day
Guadalcanal
Zombies
There’s an interesting question about which Axis & Allies Accessory you’d like to see them release, I voted for an “Expansion Pack” of new plastic sculpts for all powers (new units, and new sculpts for existing units). What are your requests?
@vodot here’s a fixed link, you posted your seller version: Etsy listing
I think hit dice would be great, I’ve always thought that they should just have the number on each face that hits (that way it’s easy to know which dice you are rolling, rather than “red is for 1, blue 2 etc).
I.e. a “3” hit dice would have the number “3” on 3 of the D6 faces, a “1” would have the number “1” on one face, etc
