Posts made by toblerone77

Transports
Gliders
Bunkers
Landing craft
Super fortresses
B36
Jet fighters

Midway was most certainly the turning point. Japanese carriers were even more precious than the US’s. Yamamoto who was probably the most appreciative of carrier-based warfare was still starry eyed for that big battleship showdown that the Japanese had planned their entire navy around for decades. The battle of Midway was modern navy against modern navy. Japan had formed itself in the past ironically molding itself to be the barbarian empire they believed they were superior to. Japan believed in the spirit of the warrior to be paramount and that tactics and weapons were essentially window dressing. That is why Midway was so decisive. Few commanders and politicians in Japan appreciated the carrier vs. battleships. This is also reflected their submarine warfare tactics all geared for massive sea battles between capital ships slugging it out in a massive gun fight. The carrier ensured this would not happen and a massive and decisive engagement between fleets was avoided simply by carrier aircraft being able to spot his enemy more quickly and running away.

Many of the points I would’ve made have already been said except this. Why do many here think the Soviet army would be so eager to fight for Stalin?  Many Soviet “allies” like Ukraine would have and did fight against the commies. Not only that they fought against Nazism only because it was personal and the Nazis literally were genocidal terrorists in many cases.  It wasn’t necessarily out of love for Soviet Russia. Even among the Communists Stalin was not exactly loved. He was hated as much as Hitler if not more so. A war against Stalin rather than Russia could’ve succeed IMO.

Table Tactics pieces are cool but OOP. HBG or FMG outta reach out and see if they can’t get get TT’s mold and produce new edition colors for the AA series. I loved TT’s original AA pieces. shame they don’t sell them anymore.

$65.00 USD Amazon is cheaper though.

Totally get where you’re at Hobbes. I’m just sayin that as far as bang for the buck a first edition 1942 outshines 1941 hands down and at less cost. I have all three games anyway plus two copies of Spring 1942. Its just an observation I made after purchase.

I bought it bbecause I’m a longtime fan and an A&A collector. I did buy to teach. I did notice however that 1942 2009 edition is cheaper and about as easy to teach with. 1942.2 is much more expensive as the sequel to the “main” version of the game, which makes me nervous because essentially it means a huge price hike in A&A games. The cheapness and lack of materials at a 30 dollar MSRP seems to cconfirm this to me also. I don’t think 1941 is horrible but I’m weary of what this means for the franchise.

As of this topic post’s date, you can buy AASpring 1942 for less than 1941. I just bought a second copy of AA Spring '42 given what I see as a price hike in MSRPs, decreased levels of production numbers of A&A titles and total units overall .

The goal of 1941 is to introduce new players etc. I wonder though which does better in introducing new players?

In addition Spring 42 has essentially the same content if not more literally material content yet significantly lower cost than AA42 2ED, what does this mean for the future cost and availabilty of A&A games?

Your thoughts?

Is this a sign of things to come for better or worse?

I think the “generic” sculpts were for a reason other than cheapness. Remember Classic A&A had only infantry as a nation spacific sculpt. I think intent was atleast in part for nostalgia for those of us who remember the MB version. On a second note I am pleased as all hell that we finally got an HE-111!

LOL Malery Paper Tigers if you ask me. German stuff today is just like it was before. Expensive, complicated, and bad electrical systems with relatively low production. The Japanese can also thank Mac Arthur’s post-war governance  for much of it’s production and design feats as well, it was very much inspired by the US and it’s industrial techniques.

As to balance in the game, remember we who post here are A&A nerds and represent a much smaller gaming populace than many who buy the game. Some will get this game from Nanna and it will sit for years. For others this game is but one in a massive collection.

Most of my experience comes from Classic with a rather exclusive gaming group. One member was a HUGE RPG player and fantasy/minis player. Didn’t matter which side he played he always claimed unbalance even with handicaps and favorable HRs. Now I say that with a caveat that I own but haven’t played AA41 yet so I won’t call a judment just yet. I am however cautious with throwing out my “unbalanced” card.

Well they sell Magic Cards, I’ll bet a pack of cards costs way more to produce than a package of say 5-10 minis and they could charge more for a mini pack.

Aniversary Is cool to have but other than having Italy I just wasn’t all that stoaked about it. The sculpts in mine were really bad in alot of ways I ranted about this along with others when it came out . 1942 Second Ed is awesome and with a bit of tweaking you can probably get a better experience than AA50. HBG and FMG have a set of Italian minis and roundels you could easily use. As far as balancing goes you could simply combine Germany and Italy and simply use your Italian pieces in place of Germans where it calls for them or use some house rules.

You can get the Aniversary rules too but I’m not sure where.

While I might dodge some stones being thrown here AA50, was not a favorite of mine. For what it costs to get a copy it’s not worth it. There are a ton of threads on here as to how to make your own version of AA50.

Personally the attraction of this game for me was to have the game in my AA collection. I have all the board based AA games except for Guadal Canal and AAE40.

I just got AAP40 as a gift, I plan to get AAP/AAE402ED. Thinking about scrapping the parts and repainting AAP40 1.0 minis for additional armies etc. Thought I’d suggest maybe some folks who want Canadians could scrap and paint thier ANZAC and UK pieces for Canadian or French units.

Amazon, Amazon, Amazon. You can buy it for around $50 USD. Game looks cool. All I have is a scrap edition that I traded another game for back in the 90’s so I could use the minis for AA Classic.

That being said the game is looks awesome. Haven’t puched it out or assembled pieces yet but it looks great. Been reeeeeaaaallly tempted to buy an extra copy just for minis for my “alterniverse” AA games. Though fifty bucks for a set of minis seems rediculous… I think I’ll wait for some “scrap” versions at Goodwill or yard sales or better yet used via Amazon.

Easy, start selling A&A as a core game then make expansion packs with maps and minnies at a REASONABLE price. Maybe even move into the modern warfare age.

God I wish I worked for WOTC. One company that comes to mind was Table Tactics. Had they kept making pieces in the newer colors I’d lay down cash in a New York minute. Alas they have moved on to making some game which name I can’t recall now. I know FMG and HBG make fantastic pieces and maps I believe if they had the production power of Hasbro A&A would be much better than it even is now.

Frankly I’m totally peeved about AAE40 yes I know it’s going to reprint, but try getting an old copy at the time of this post. I was able to get AA50 only because I had some disposible cash at the time and no less by the skin of my brass. Now AA42.2 has an MSRP of what $65.00? and component wise it’s just like AA42.1. that indicates to mme that the AA series is going to become a niche series. Call me paranoid but that’s what I’m seeing.

For the criticsm it’s been getting I actually like the AA41 concept, BUT why not AA41 with expansion packs? I’m a married guy and while I’m certainly not broke, talking my wife into $100.00 board games can take a bit of convincing, especially when you want the latest MOH Warfighter or COD Black Ops II.

Dunno what WOTC, Hasbro, or AH is thinking but a lot of littles make a lot.
For example, why not sell plastic miniatures with rules for the AA boardgames? Frankly why not just sell extra parts online? MB used to via mail order of course. Believe it or not the cost is mostly in the paper goods that come with the game from everything I’ve ever heard.

The other option is to move the game to consoles like the PS3, Xbox, WiiU, etc. The game could be packaged with or compatible with a console mouse.

I’m afraid almost not to pre-order AAP/AAE40 for fear I might yet again miss them.

Axis & Allies: Operation Down Fall-The Invasion of Mainland Japan.

Japan and US must capture or hold certain Victory points on the map while both sides must keep morale high in a limited number of turns.

While the US has her arsenal of conventional weapons, Japan has hordes of Kamikazes, partisans, fortifications, and secret German designed weaponry.

@Hobbes:

@Gargantua:

Bunkers and POW Camps!

Nazi Mechs!

Just use Risk 2210 AD mechs…. bought mine from Amazon used at 15.00 bucks just for parts.

A little off topic methinks… but a good way to get generic neutral/HR pieces is to find an old used copy of the game “Attack!” and/or it’s expansions. I don’t care for the game but it’s chaulk full of parts all close in scale to A&A and would make great pieces for neutrals or whatever you come up with. The old Table Tactics pieces were really nice until they stopped making them, but if you can find them they’re pretty damn cool too.

@Cow.
Yep I agree. Transports did have some defense hence the 1 defense.
Submarines also had AA as means of defense against aircraft though it was weak and usually forced a dive. Historically bombers and fighters were essential in anti-sub warfare just ask any German submariner. Ask him about about armed frieghters too.

Here’s what I did to add some realism and fun to my games.
1. I gave transports thier defensive roll again.
2. I enabled subs to “commerce raid” coastal waters adjacent to territories with an IC similar to  SBR.

Off Topic:

I allow for Classic Ed or Revised Tech devolpment.
As far as 3D6 Heavy Bombers I allow them, with the caveat that they must battle with defending fighters at an attack of 1 for bombers and escort fighters attacking at 3. The kicker is that fighters defending a territory defend at 4/5 depending on whether or not they are jet powered.

There are plenty of cool HRs you can come up with, but as an A&A veteran player I have been really disappointed with the new transport, bomber/SBR, and sub rules. I’ve found subs to be pretty useless, having to build way too many transports to be sacrificed or worse yet building massive armadas to protect a relatively small landing force.

I liked the fact that there was always that lone transport’s fighting chance to make it, or that bit of caution caused by a few submarines out patrolling the seas.

As far as SBRs go, the new rules suck too. It was at great peril the UK/USA did them. It also caused major damage to both the German and Japanese war effort. By allowing full aerial battles during an SBR it keeps the risks versus reward to play out better than some lame (IMO) rules of the newer editions to play out.

AS for Commerce Raiding I think most of the “official” solutions/rules in the latest editions have not been refelctive of the struggles reflected historically in the Pacific and Atlantic.

Don’t know if this helps anyone but they’re just ideas I’ve kicked around or used.

I’d pick up an edition of Spring '42 and '42 special edition. I’m a bit nervous at the price change for the second edition myself because it incates to me that A&A is going to become an expensive franchise from now on. There is a 1941 edition selling at a retail price of $30 USD that is a quick/beginner version that is also pretty cool. I have all editons except Guadal Canal and Europe 1940.

As far as the Anniversary Ed goes, it is VERY expensive and for the price really not worth it.
Whatever you do I would buy a copy or two of the editions you really like and buy anything at yard sales and thrift stores you can find if for nothing other than extra parts.

From what I’m seeing the really good editions have had very limited print runs. If nothing else buy Spring '42 first editions when you find them. They’re cheap in sealed packages and a good “bang-for-the-buck” I bought one brand new on Amazon for $25.00 I would have bought a second if I didn’t have the one I got for X-mas back in 2010.