Axis and Allies - new vs old?

[Crothian]

I agree with Olive (does that make you the other reindeer?? ). Going the Risk direction would not make it A&A, it would have meet it Risk.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

Ooh! I didn't know they had come out with a new edition! I'm going to go buy it!

 

[Iron_Chef]

I know A&A can't alter the set-up much without ruining its premise, but still, it would be cool to have some kind of historical type cards you could play in A&A, though, like "Deploy Hitler Youth" to add free infantry reinforcements to Germany (perhaps under certain conditions like with Russia at the backdoor), "Field Marshall Rommel" to add a bonus to all African or European combat rolls, or "French Resistance" to sabotage German IPC production; that kind of stuff, you know, for flavor and unpredictability.

I haven't played the new version, but I grew to hate the original game because it was the same boring (and virtually unwinnable for the Axis) scenario every time. I know the new game does change this somewhat, but I'm not sure how much and if it's far enough to level the playing field between the Axis and the Allies... hence, my indecision about buying the game. I always preferred other games like Shogun (aka Samurai Swords) and now Risk 2210 AD because they have a different set-up every time that begins more or less equally for all players.

 

[Crothian]

I haven't played the new version, but I grew to hate the original game because it was the same boring (and virtually unwinnable for the Axis) scenario every time. I know the new game does change this somewhat, but I'm not sure how much and if it's far enough to level the playing field between the Axis and the Allies...

We haven't played a lot but the Axis have never lost. And the win condition of captureing key cities really changes the strategy a lot. There are the options that give each country an advantage, each has 6 different ones. I guess you could write these up on cards if you really want to.

I suggest you play the game. We have found that it plays a lot different then the old one. And we played the old one, with all the expansions they ever put out.

 

[Storminator]

I haven't played the new version, but I grew to hate the original game because it was the same boring (and virtually unwinnable for the Axis) scenario every time. I know the new game does change this somewhat, but I'm not sure how much and if it's far enough to level the playing field between the Axis and the Allies...

That's odd. We played the old version literally hundreds of times. I never saw the Axis always loses trend. I'd give the Axis about a 40% win rate, assuming two Allies players, and close to 50% with three Allies players.

I didn't much care for the D-Day version, seemed much more limited. I only played once tho, so I might be missing nuances. Never got the chance to play the others, as I moved away from all my players before they ever came out.

PS

 

[Iron_Chef]

Bought A&A (revised) today for 10% off at my FLGS along with Risk Godstorm. Got to play Godstorm (liked it but a few problems --- most easily house ruled away). Risk Godstorm thread: http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=94088

A&A revised: There was no storage tray (which totally sucks -- Godstorm came with one in a box half the size!), the game board started breaking the minute I unfolded it, and there aren't enough unit pieces for some countries. Otherwise, this game looks very cool, and I can't wait to play it later this week.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

I believe the A&A Normandy game uses cards. I was looking at it online and, to be honest, it looked like a completely different game and I wasn't really interested.

 

[Iron_Chef]

Played my first game of A&A Revised as the Axis (2 player game). The Allies conceded the game after 4 rounds. I utilized the G1 13 infantry strategy in response to Russian successes on the Eastern Front (ended up using the infantry stack on round 2 to stop dead the Russian advance toward Germany). Followed by G2, G3 5 tanks, 1 fighter. The German navy annihilated the (split) Allied Atlantic fleet in 1 round, and the Allies never recovered. The luftwaffe never lost a single plane the whole game. Meanwhile, J1 strategy was 2 IC in Manchuria and Kwangtung, destroy Americans at Hawaii. America responded by buying replacement ships at LA; Japanese responded by consolidating both Pacific fleets into one... which thwarted Allied sea activity from being effective. Germany gave up Africa by Round 2, concentrated on Eastern Front and continued destruction of new Allied Atlantic ships. Both Axis and Allies rolled horribly on round 1 (but Allies had more dice to roll so won every battle). Axis die rolling was "in the zone" on all subsequent rounds, while Allied rolls stayed in the dumpster the whole game. UK1 built IC on India --- but failed to have America build a counterpart IC in Asia (fatal mistake). Round 4 Germany built more infantry to thwart Allied invasions of Western and Southern Reich territories. If Russia's round 1 attacks had failed, I would have employed a different German strategy, by reinforcing the Baltic fleet with an AC and transports, threatening Operation: Sea Lion, and forcing UK to spend IPCs on defending London instead of building IC in India.

Anybody else have any cool strategies or session reports for the revised game to share?

 

[Iron_Chef]

Just to reiterate:

Looking for strategies and corresponding session reports for the revised A&A.

Here are some I've found to be effective for the Axis:

Germany Round 1: 13 infantry (use to stop Russian advances dead, or bolster Germany or Western/Southern Reich territories against Allied invasion).

Germany Round 2+: As many tanks as possible + 1 fighter (very effective at crushing Russia over several rounds).

Germany 4+: More infantry as needed to bolster against Allied invasions.

An alternative Germany Round 1 strategy (if Russia's attacks go badly for them) is to build an AC in the Baltic Sea Zone and 4 transports to threaten UK with Operation: Sea Lion --- this prevents the UK from buying an IC in India, helping Japan greatly and keeping Germany's navy around much longer.


Japan Round 1: 2 ICs in Manchuria and Kwangtung (or French Indochina).
Japan Round 2: 6 tanks (3 on each mainland IC).
Pumping out 6 tanks a round should crush UK, US and Russian forces.

 

[mac1504]

Let me first say I don't have a game board at hand while I am typing this, so my descriptions might not be 100% accurate, but the strategy is still applicable and possible (maybe not recommended, but still possible).

I have succeeded at launching an Operation SeaLion against the UK player on turn 1 as Germany. If you put money into researching long range aircraft and get it, you can attack with every Luftwaffe asset you have, and also send over the tranposrt (loaded with 1 armor 1 infantry) and the destroyer, and you can have the opportunity to take UK in the first round. Vicotry means you take the UK's 30 IPCs and prevent them from buying any units for the first round.

It's a big gamble, and Germany won't have much of a fighting chance if they take heavy aircraft losses- but hey you took the UK on turn 1!