Axis & Allies - the board game

[Hippi]

Any players out there? I love the game, except it lacks some variation and the Allies are definetly overpowered per the 2.0 rules. My favourite country to play would be UK, then Japan, then Germany, then USSR...US blows if you ask me.

Balancing rules (common tournament):
Either: Russia may not attack at all first turn.
Or: Both players bid x IPCs to play the Allies; whomever bids the most get to play the Allies, the other get to place out that worth of IPCs however he wants to (this number lies around 20-22).
Or both, bids creep quite a bit lower then.

My own favourtie strategies are:
USSR; heavy infantry, retreat gradually and counterattack heavily ones Allies threaten Germany.
Germany: Go for Africa (build 1 more transport) while massing, start out with loads of men.
UK; Go factory in India, build fighters and tanks.
Japan; start out heavy transporter and men, build factories on 4th-6th turn and start owning Asia, take Australia and all that ****. Dont go Peral Harbor.
USA: Mass transports in atlantic and reclaim africa as well as threatening germany.

[Fake Boris]

Perhaps you should post that in the Other Games forum...

[Barinthus]

I love the game too. I wonder if anybody else have played other games in the series? Fortress America, Shogun, and that Roman one.

[Dis]

U.S. has the most flexibility, that's why I like to play them. USSR can be severely hampered on turn 1. And even the UK can be partially hampered on turn 1 (depending on what germany does)

[:) Smiley]

Excellent game, the nation-specific rules are particularly enjoyable, but they do favor the Allies more.

[Brent]

Can't stand to play the board game. Much more playable on the computer. Goes faster. Easier to play against AI than real people. Need the Europe version in particular on the computer.

[Dis]

the computer game is faster to set up . And when a player starts losing he can't just hit the board and mess all the pieces up

[:) Smiley]

Ah, yes, but you can't turn the factories on their side and turn them into deathrays.

[Brent]

Yep. Setting up pieces and keeping them from getting messed up is one thing that has so far kept me from trying the Civ boardgame.

[Sparrowhawk]

I have enjoyed Axis and Allies in the few times I have played the board game (3?), takes too long for the most part, not often that I can play a game.

The Computer Game is good too, anyone played MP? (My version says it is MP, but I haven't tried that at all).

/me

[Dis]

I once tried multiplayer, but we had some kind of version conflict. I may have not had the latest patch.

I'm willing to try multiplayer if anyone wants to play. The AI is pretty weak in this game.

[Brent]

I've played A&A Hotseat, but that's the only form of multiplayer I do for any computer game.

Weak AI is the best part! heh heh.

[Hippi]

Where can I find the PC version? ???

[solo]

Hippi,

I love this game, too, one of my very favorite board games.

With the balancing rules you mentioned, the game is pretty even; but it helps to eliminate special weapons development, too, because if a player lucks out by getting heavy bombers, the opponent is quite hampered by the rule not allowing more than one AA gun per territory. Even a small squad of heavy bombers can knock out an opponent's entire production on most turns.

I like playing the Japanese the best, because they have so many different options. I disagree with you about Pearl Harbor, because the Allies usually gang up on Germany early, cornering the Germans in Berlin before the Japanese can build enough tanks in Asia to capture Russia.

As the Japanese, I believe in a big fleet early and will capture Pearl Harbor, which can be used as a base to attack Alaska, Western Canada, Mexico, the Suez, Brazil, and maybe even the Western U.S., if the Americans become careless. The U.S. must be sure to keep the Western U.S., and this requirement allows a small Japanese threat to divert a substantial amount of units and resources away from the early attack on Germany. In addition, the easy IPC's gained from Australia and all the Pacific islands help finance a slightly delayed invasion into Asia. Japan will soon become the dominant force and will have to be reckoned with.

I think the U.K. are second most fun to play, because they also have so many options. I also like a factory right off in India, and often add another in South Africa on the first turn, but much depends on how well Germany does on its first turn. If the Germans neglect to take out all of the British ships within reach, many other possibilities open up.

Next on the fun scale for me are the Germans, who often do very well with a small fleet in the Med. It doesn't take much effort then to build up IPC's by capturing African territories.

Unless the German gets a lot of lucky die rolls, an early attack against Russia only weakens the Germans and only makes it easier for the Allies to take over Europe a bit earlier than usual.

I've tried the computer version, but gave up on games vs. the AI after taking Berlin as the Russians in as many turns that it took to reach it from Karelia! The German AI were happy to putter around in the Med. and Africa while this was going on! They simply ignored strategy rule #1 in AA, which is PROTECT YOUR CAPITAL.

[Vince278]

Originally posted by Barinthus
I love the game too. I wonder if anybody else have played other games in the series? Fortress America, Shogun, and that Roman one.

I have many fond memories of the three games. Don't remember a Roman one.

I rarely failed to win as Japan or America in A&A.