You’re correct Marc at high volume it is cheaper to manufacture overseas. What I mean is the high production cost of the molds verses smaller printed domestic runs.
I’ve researched quite a bit about miniature manufacture. Although I’m no expert. I’m curious to see what HBG’s take is and what place they see themselves in the future.
I would agree LH. Injection molding is superior. I pose the question because of the market and the place a small company like HBG and others are positioned.
There’s only so many miniatures to make for A&A and similar games that I wondered if the direction HBG was going was to; go with smaller but more numerous releases, or larger less frequent releases due to the high cost of overseas manufacturing.
Just a question for HBG. Is HBG moving more towards 3D printing rather than plastic injection molding in it’s product line? If so are you move toward more frequent smaller 3D, rather than larger and less frequent injection molded set? Or will you begin going more toward larger more frequent 3D sets ?
As usual knp great minds think alike. I allow 1 capacity for airborne assault and 2 capacity for ncm.
I just skimmed over this topic so I haven’t super analyzed costs. But fwiw, I’m not for limiting special units when I set out my HRs generally I just adjust for cost or abilities. So let’s say someone wants to attempt a massive airborne assault they’re going to need money.
Hmmmmm…… Well I don’t see why you posted this here RL, as this is a variants forum which includes exactly what you don’t want reffered to in your OP. I’d suggest you read the the official A&A Global introduction in the game instructions as to why Larry Harris did not start in 1939. Not sure what you expect as far responses go.
You could try posting this on the Harris Game Design website and get a better answer. I’d suggest asking Larry and seeing what his answer is. If you get that please feel free to post it here.
I’ve seriously considered using the map and customizing it for my never-ending variant project.
One thing I like in both Risk! And Attack! That I didn’t like previously is the “sea lane” movement as opposed to A&A’s transport only movement. This idea is one I’m tinkering with on the A&A maps not only to speed up the game but to also break away from standardized strategy. Which not only lengthens the game but contributes negatively IMO to replayability as well as other aspects.
@CWO:
Yup have it. Your biggest problem will be finding it’s expansions. However you can buy the base game without the ships or half the board which makes the game more interesting.
Unless I’m mistaken, the current version of Attack! is an all-in-one-game that combines in a single package what used to sold as two separate components (the base game and the expansion).
You may be correct Marc. The version I have however was not the Attack “Deluxe” edition as I believe the version you mentioned is or was called. I know you can pick up the base game brand new dirt cheap on Amazon. As far as I know it is just a base game. However if it is the whole game I would encourage some one to pick it up for the price.
Eagle/Gryphon Games IMO is a weird company. Thier webstore seems to be on autopilot and they seem to specialize in selling bits from thier own product line that is out of print or out of stock. Maybe I’m not seeing thier concept in the way they see it, but thier business model is weird.
On the topic of Attack! There are some pretty interesting mechanics in the game. The board itself is really nice and there’s plenty of bits that an A&A customizer would like.
Our group is trying to come up with rules similar to yours with the spy thing. However we are thinking about having actual units on the board. Also i was thinking of a new phase called the ‘‘political phase’’. Basically it will allow players to disrupt capitals, cause revolutions in enemy-controlled territories, and even cause some neutral powers to join your side. That’s my two cents anyway.
Many years ago Eagle Games made the A&A clone Attack!!! with the rules you want, even had a deck of political cards. One card would make a neutral join your side, another card would make a riot in your enemies capital, another card would assassinate your leader, and so on. I figure you would have loved that game
Yup have it. Your biggest problem will be finding it’s expansions. However you can buy the base game without the ships or half the board which makes the game more interesting. Too bad this game didn’t take off as well as it might have. I have allusions to do something with the game I have as an A&A variant.
I bought the box with It’s expansion for a steal in the early 2000’s as a “scrap game” specifically for A&A.
Nice stuff Ebard!
For those interested I have looked extensively into plastics for the hobbyist. Mid range 3D printers can be the ultimate tool in customization. To clear up some ideas, 3D printing is mostly used for prototyping. High level mass production is prohibitively expensive via 3D printing but cuts down on prototyping costs or is useful in single, low quantiy and or specialized parts or tools.
Overseas injection molding is the way to produce large quantities. If you have a prototype you can have a mold made for mass production but that’s is costly. To recoup the cost of the molds, mass quantities must be produced and sold.
For those looking to make tokens there are home laser etching machines available.
I’d encourage others to research these topics. I believe it is the future of hobby/gaming.
Any news on the US sets?
One of the biggest problems I have with later iterations of the game is that it seems that the US/UK D-Day scenario is unlikely. The mechanics in this game would allow for some type of “Event/Attack” achieved through meeting objectives or game time to give a special advantage.
I’ve never thoroughly fleshed out my ideas. It would be nice to incorporate a system where players could give their nation a historical/what-if boost that would deviate from the “standardized” strategies that seem to be played out.
Typing from a smartphone is the best way to respond LOL! So sorry for the typos and grammar.
Anyways Hotspurs. I really encourage you and others to play around with the game.
Classic was ripe for modification. One thing we did was double income but we also had restricted first round where you could NCM as well as build etc. You just couldn’t make combat moves. One fun rule was to allow players to scrap units for IPCs during the purchase phase.
The biggest thing I enjoy modding the game. So I think giving your ideas a go makes for better replayability.
Last ftf game I played was 42 1.0. The sub rules were confusing some of my opponent and we agreed to just play them like regular naval units. The game went more smoothly. I don’t suggest this for everyone or every game. However any more these days A&A doesn’t come off the shelf often as my games group is very diverse and has a wides variety of gaming tastes.
I thought a cool HR or NA would be to let the allies once per game after a certain round allow the US and UK make a single combined assault across the channel without transports or with boosted transport capacity once per game. Never fleshed it out, but this topic strikes a chord with me.
Revised can easily be found for less $50.00 USD. I bought a copy (I own five) for less than $20 at a used book store. The only time you’re going to have to shell out a ton of money for this game is if you are buying a brand-new, sealed copy. Just keep watching eBay.
A second tip is just to buy a used board from eBay and download the PDF manual from Wizard’s of the Coast’s website. If you don’t already have a newer edition of A&A you can get the current WWII versions for a cheap price and just use those pieces and the PDF to play Revised. Very easy. Revised is a favorite of mine also.
Good luck!
I like M44’s pieces but I thought it would be great to replace all of them with painted Axis & Allies pieces for some scenarios. Especially in the Mediterranean theater where you have to use Germans as Italian units if you use the M44 sculpts.
� In all honesty toblerone77, i haven’t actually played the game as yet, just opened the box and looked at the pieces, just another thing on my ‘to do list’…… :-D
LOL I have a lot games like that. However M44 is really good and it plays quick and easy. Best of all my Dear Wife loves it! It’s definitely not the same as A&A but the WWII feel is awesome! It gives you that Band of Brothers feel or The Longest Day. You can literally play a quick game in minutes and the scenarios available are endless.
Thanks John, yes i do plan on doing facilities one day, as for being finished, no, don’t think i will ever finish :-D The map set up is with the global units, i would still like to paint the pieces that came with this game, then there is the 41 game, the ‘Amerika’ game which wont be too far away now. I also have plans on painting my ‘memoir44’ and ‘tide of iron’ pieces… :-D But there is still more…lol…
I like M44’s pieces but I thought it would be great to replace all of them with painted Axis & Allies pieces for some scenarios. Especially in the Mediterranean theater where you have to use Germans as Italian units if you use the M44 sculpts.
@CWO:
Off topic but I think relevant is a suggestion to all parties with rights to the franchise. Sell it. Let someone else reboot Axis & Allies who actually gives a damn. Reboot Classic for the launch. Spend two years developing a “bug-free” global. While that is in development offer two expansions a year for the Classic Reboot. Throughout this whole transition keep selling 1942SE boxed with a small catalog of “what’s to come”.
Here’s a fun idea that (theoretically) could be implemented in the real world: the members of the A&A.org community could form some sort of joint stock company, put their spare change together, buy out Hasbro (or just WotC, which would be somewhat cheaper than the parent company), take control of the A&A franchise, sell off all of WotC’s other assets and product lines, and use the sale profits to finance a re-energizing of the A&A games.Â
On second thought, maybe not. Given how highly opinionated the people here (myself included) are about what they’d like to see in A&A, we’d be more likely to end up with an anarcho-syndicalist commune (Monty Python fans will recognize the phrase) than a joint stock company.  :-D
It’s a good laugh, but seriously I wish they and LH would just sell the license to a company that would put some effort into the franchise. Fantasy Flight games by and large give the best bang for the buck when it comes to “Ameritrash” games. A great example is the reboot of Fortress America. Absolutely top-notch production and quality.
