This map is gorgeous… I would concur with RetroFuhrer that you might consider changing the colors of counties on the map around to match the 1914 A&A colors, since you (and anyone else) could use the A&A 1914 units with the map, and that would solve the lack of units issue.
Regardless, that is top-notch professional work on that map!
Who has more fun than us A&A players? (Besides porn stars. :wink: )
Porn stars that play Axis and Allies while filming their movies?
@CWO:
I suspect that 1914 is more expensive because all of its sculpts are new designs (despite the fact that every nation uses the same generic designs), whereas 1940 and 1942 use a lot of pre-existing sculpt molds.
Putting more thought into that argument… 1941 is pretty much identical to 1914 in that it uses all new sculpts (that half the nations use the same designs x2). Tigers, Russian Carriers, JS-2s, FW-190s, etc, etc… they’re all new sculpts in 1941… I know 1941 cuts a lot of corners, but new sculpts doesn’t seem to jack the price, that’s my point.
I was just double checking the 1941 FAQ and as it turns out, my 1941 rulebook (that came in my box) is already updated with all the changes in the FAQ, including the additional setup forces… so that’s good… only thing “wrong” I discovered was my BOARD is wrong! The production track at the top of the board incorrectly shows the US should start at 15 when it should start at 17 (though my setup charts for the US do say 17). Oh well, I guess this will be corrected when I take the board to the printers to have a bigger one made! lolz.
Well ya, Global 1940 is the purchase of two games which comes out more than anything else, I was just merely wondering that out of 1941, 1942SE, 1940 Europe and 1940 Pacific, 1914 costs more than any of them (retail). It just seemed kind of a stretch to me. I think the two 1940 games are the flagship of the Axis and Allies line, I’m not arguing that they should cost more than they already do, I’m just wondering why 1914 costs more… I think 1914 should (at most) cost the same as the 1940 games, or cost something closer to 1942SE.
For some reason I have never like special combat dice all that much, whether from HBG or someone else. I guess I am a traditionalist and prefer normal dice or something. Kind of like how I prefer regular playing cards as opposed to themed playing card decks… even like spotter cards and stuff. They are cool and all, and I have a bunch of different kinds, but I always prefer seeing the normal numbers, suits and face cards. Just my preference I guess.
Plus, it has been my experience that during actual gameplay people just use whatever dice are handy, or seem to be rolling well for them. Same thing in Risk. The way we play, I just feel like they would end up getting all mixed up anyway.
I can totally respect that opinion. A couple of things I can say in the dice’s defense, the national roundels replace the “1’s” on all the dice… and when a “1” always means a hit in A&A, whenever you see your nations roundel in the dice tray, you know you’re hitting! The second thing, is that the dice match the color of the country it represents… and even with traditional dice, this is hard to match… oh sure, you can find Black dice or Green dice… but try finding TAN dice or MAROON dice… man, that’s hard to do!
While I know each game (1941, 1942 and 1940) all have different requirements/expectations as to how many dice one my be rolling in a given battle, I look at it this way… with Combat Dice, I got 6 for each nation (30 total)… and any way you slice it, that’s a lot more than the traditional dice you get out of the box (oh sure, I know most people add extra dice, I did too… just with Combat Dice instead of normal dice).
Funny you mentioned Risk… I recently tricked out my own version of Risk at the house, and one of the things I did, was make sure each nation in Risk had dice that matched their army tray (Blue for Blue armies, Yellow for Yellow armies, Grey for Grey armies, etc). So ya, i’m funny about dice.
Nonetheless, I do hear you… its just not your thing, and I totally respect that. But man, I do love these dice, and the kids got a kick out of having dice that matched the country they are playing!
P.S.
one thing I always find amusing, is people selling dice specific to a game on E-Bay… like “Original Axis and Allies Dice” (and not specialty dice like Combat Dice, we’re talking just every-day, plain-old 1-through-6 dice, usually in white, black or red)… ummm… ya, dice are dice man… if I just wanted extra dice, i’d just go buy some extra dice.
Subject says it all… just curious more than anything else… is this game loaded down with more units, more extras, more anything over its fellow A&A cousins? Retail, 1914 is even more expensive than either of the A&A 1940 games. Or is it just cuz WWI is a niche’ market and they’re fleecing its fans, cuz there’s not much out there for WWI? So why is it the flagship (price-wise) of the Axis and Allies line of games?
I know the point of 1941… it’s a stripped-down, bare-bones, fast, learning game for the Axis and Allies franchise.
I also know they went ‘cheap’ on what’s included in the box, trying to make the shelf price as low as they could go… to get that low price point, they were reusing sculpts (like Japanese Tigers… did it really save them $$$ making Japanese tanks Tigers instead of Type-95s?), and of course the woefully inadequate number of units (8 infantry, 5 tanks and 4 fighters per nation?)… and those cheap cardboard stacking chips… zomg!
The other major difference is of course the fewer number of units over 1942 (and of course 1940)… I’m sure (beyond cost cutting), is to not overcomplicate the game and make it easier to learn… but this is where I kinda scratch my head a bit on the “cutting out the complicated rules, and leaving in units with easier to learn rules”… well the inclusion of subs and the “still confuses 1940 players” factor kicks in! lolz. Here’s where I’m at…
Does adding something like Cruisers overcomplicate 1941??? I certainly don’t think so… they’re really little more than a 3/3 version of the 2/2 destroyer (minus sub rules). I’d like to add them, I don’t see how they would complicate the game any further.
I’m also thinking about adding Artillery… now I know they have that little addition to the rules of combined arms for infantry, but I certainly don’t think its any more complicated than the myriad of sub rules already present in 1941… if you can figure out sub rules, certainly you can handle combined arms rules?
Finally… how to add them without messing with the balance of the game or complexity? I think the easiest way is add them by not adding them. Don’t put them in the setup, do the traditional 1941 setup and just add them as an option anyone can buy on the purchase list (1942SE does have the same prices as 1941, right?).
Does that sound simple enough? Would it mess with the complexity, balance or speed of play of 1941? I don’t see the harm in adding them… especially the cruiser if nothing else… just trying to offer a little more flexibility without bogging the game down any (I know 1942 also adds AAA, but I don’t really see that as added game value in 1941).
@Private:
Thanks for sharing Wolf.
If I had an 8 yr old son and 10 yr old daughter to play I might win a few more games! :-D
I tried really hard to give my daughter a solid chance for a win… obviously I didn’t sit there and say ‘attack here and attack there’, and ‘buy this, and buy that’… but I did hint strongly about “you sure you are done with all your combat moves”… or “you sure you want to leave those fighters doing nothing this turn?”… I did a lot of that sort of thing… trying to encourage her to use the forces she had at hand (as we all know, the Axis has to strike hard and fast, or it will get overwhelmed).
I was really hoping my Navy buddy would show up, but he wussed out… it would have been good to have an adult on both sides of the board. Still, I have faith in my kids… my daughter can be pretty cunning when she wants to be!
Played my first game of A&A in 30 years last night (has it been that long?).
My retired Navy buddy wussed out (never count on the Navy… ugh!), but my kids were happy to play… I taught my 8yo son and 10yo daughter the game then let them choose who they wanted to play (after a brief run-down of the differences in abilities and overall strategy of the Axis and Allies… quick use of forces for Axis, or holding out for economic power to win the game as Allies).
My son wanted to play with his Dad, and my daughter wanted to play as the Germans, so I took over the US/UK, let my son play the USSR and had my daughter take over the Axis.
She pressed Moscow pretty hard early, and it was touch and go for awhile, I thought we might lose Moscow, but I was able to divert enough fighter protection to Moscow to keep her from victory… she was aggressive early with Japan, attacking Pearl Harbor and the Philippines right out the gate, followed by an invasion of Australia, but after that, she sat still with Japan, missing out on the East Indies and not pushing in China, eventually losing it to the Chinese and British forces. As Germany stalled on the Eastern Front, I drove her out of North Africa… she made a terrible mistake, I tried advising against it, but she thought I was bluffing and she re-invaded North Africa, against superior forces, and ending up losing most of the Luftwaffe in the process… OUCH… that of course doomed Germany, which began to collapse immediately after that, with my son’s Soviet forces pushing into Eastern Europe and the British landing in France… meanwhile, the US had amassed a large navy and was prepared to push into the Pacific against the faltering Japanese.
At this point, something happened that I doubt few of you had encountered… bedtime for school! Anyways, my daughter surrendered as the Axis but said she had fun… I know my son wants to play again, so hopefully we’re off to a good start… I think my Daughter wants to try the Allies next time around. I gave some advice to her about adjusting her priorities and hopefully she’ll get better… she has defeated me in Risk before, so I have hope for her adjusting in A&A.
Yeah, I mean I have no personal experience ordering from them, but communication is very important to me. If I don’t have that communication it feels like I am not valued as a customer. I guess for me the ends do not justify the means. I am reticent to even try with FMG. Just my two cents. Hope you get your stuff though.
If you don’t have Combat Dice, and you love A&A, I think you owe yourself one really bad customer service experience to get them. Took about two weeks from ordering to having them on-hand, with essentially no contact from FMG.
So ya… FMG sucks for customer service, and that seems to be everyone’s experience… but they do (eventually) deliver… and having those combat dice is worth the one bad service order. I love those dice, and i’ll have them as long as I play A&A.
Here are my printed (on banner vinyl) maps for play… they are both roughly the same size, as I used the biggest playing surface I had in my house as the size limitation for both maps. Included is both 1941 and 1942SE. Forgive any blurriness, its not the maps, its my shaky camera hand.
@Private:
My 1941 map has been used maybe 20 times. No obvious wear as yet.
Good to know, thanks!
@Private:
If he can do it then so can others Wolf.
You’d be amazed at the numbers of American teens working at print shops that come pre-equipped with blank stares just waiting for you to ask a question about something.
@Private:
No - not laminated.
Hmmm… lots of people seem to say this is the way to go with the roll up? I had my battle board done on outdoor vinyl with no lamination… it seems fine to play on, but I haven’t put it under any use yet, so not sure how resistant it will be to extended play.
@Private:
My brother has a small print business and he certainly can change a digital file prior to printing - be it to darken sz borders, add or remove tables, etc.
Yes, but aren’t you one of those darn Englishmen sitting across the pond? Not sure that’s going to do me a whole lot of good in Florida! Last time I set foot in England was 1992. Now if your brother wants to move his shop stateside…
@Private:
Yes - roll print side facing out.
Thanks… that also sounds like a plan… certainly another possibility over framing.
@Private:
BTW I think mine are outdoor banner vinyl.
Thanks for that info… so you had yours laminated I take it?
@SS:
The money u save on laminating will pay for the non-glare plexi glass and also protect it better and keep it flat when you hang it or store it away.
That sounds like a good idea.
I take so called Blockout Banner (760gr/qm) or PVC Banner (510gr/qm) with antiglare. Both can be printed with a solution of 720 dpi, inks should be a mild or eco solvent.
I saw the above quote from Dedo on one of his map threads… is either of his suggestions basically the same as what I did on “Outdoor Banner Vinyl” when I did my battle board? I’m still searching for what exactly I should be seeking as the material to print it on and/or ask for at the print shop.
So, if I intended on framing it to hang on a wall (and pull down for play), I wouldn’t need to laminate it… or could/should I just have it laminated without a cover on it, if I framed it sans plexi-cover?
@SS:
They might be able to do it and maybe charge a small fee.
So, you had this done on yours? I didn’t look at Dedo’s maps… are the sea zones not well defined at all? How important is this step to do?
@SS:
Also you could print map on vinyl , lay on piece of wood, put a piece of non- glare plexi glass over map, secure plexi and map to wood and then put a nice small thin piece wood border around it so you can pick up or hang on wall for storage and looks.
This sounds like a job for the Frame Shop… take vinyl map to frame shop, say “mount this so I can hang on a wall and put on the table and play on top of it!”.
@SS:
Sea Zone… (have the sea zone borders darkened by the printer)
So, from the PDF file they can do this? Is this some sort of skilled work they can do (and charge more for)… I simply say “oh, hey, can you darken the sea zone borders on the pdf file for me” and they can do that without giving me a weird look? Once again, plz remember, total noob… I don’t know much about PDF files and what a print shop can or cant do.
@SS:
Mine, I went to printer and they printed map on vinyl ( 4 x 8 $107.00 ) and had it laminated for a extra cost of $50.00. Â If the print shop can print banners they can print map. Bring in map file and they look at it on there computer and if it needs to be resized, they just reformat it.
You can roll map up if you need to.You did say you made your battle board on vinyl and laminated that. Was that done by a print shop ?
When I did my battle board, both me and the printer were kinda confused as to what to ask for or what was expected… in the end, they printed it on what they called “Outdoor Banner Vinyl”… there was no laminating talked about by myself or them… in the end, for a small print, and after taking it to a frame shop for mounting, I only spent about $12 bucks give or take for the battle board, so even if I didn’t do it right, I can always fix it if need be. And yes, it was a print shop… I took it to Fed-X (Kinkos inside?). To my knowledge it was not laminated… I just had them print it on Outdoor Banner Vinyl and that was that… I took it to a frame shop and they hard mounted it (I think its foam board). Total noob when I made the battle board, I was making it up as I went along… I am happy with the result, but didn’t even think about lamination.
@Private:
Mine are all roll up. I take them all over the place for games, so roll up was best for ease of transportation.
The “curved up ends” are only a problem if I roll the map that way. Otherwise they are curved down and the curve disappears ever so quickly even under the slight weight of the map. That’s probably a function of the material and I am afraid I cannot give you its technical name.
If you are using dedo’s 1941 or 42.2 maps I recommend you get the sz borders darkened by your printer before printing.
So are you saying instead of print side inside, you roll it up with the print side facing out?
Yes, I plan on using Dedo’s maps for 41/42.2… are there any others besides his? Anyways, I found his easily enough and plan on using his… what exactly is an “sz border”? Please elaborate… remember I’m a dummy on this.