So flash forward 10+ years since college, and here I am, a fully converted Eurogamer, (Imperial, RR Tycoon or Power Grid anyone??) and I find here on the Geek that A&A has a massive new edition coming out. Ack...flashbacks! I never felt compelled to check out all the expansions, (Europe, Pacific, etc.) or the revised A&A. I figured I was done with that gaming world, but the more I read about Anniversary Edition the more I realized I was drooling over the potential. So I caved, ordered it, and just unpacked and played it this weekend. Here's what a former Milton Bradley A&A player thinks. I can't provide any comparisons or contrasts with the subsequent spin-off games, but maybe there's others of you out there like me, that walked away for a long time, that this review would be helpful for.
COMPONENTS
Board:
8/10 The board's artwork is top notch and I like that the board is not a tri-fold. My original A&A was held together with scotch tape at the folds by the end of it's life. I also like the addition of a mobilization zone on an out of the way part of the board where players can hold their purchased units until it's time to place them. No more mixing up casualties coming off the board with the pile of units by your tray waiting to go on. Smart. My only complaint is what I've seen other people mention, warpage. The board stock seems a tad thin (though by no means flimsy!) and susceptible to temperature and humidity changes. Warpage wasn't too bad but was noticeable. I'll just make a point of putting the game board in the bottom of the box under the player trays and other components and hope it doesn't get worse.
Pieces:
8/10 Here's where the game shines. What more needs to be said than what you all know? Almost every unit type is individually molded by country, so every army has a unique look and feel. Very nice! And I just have to say, the German army, which is molded in black, looks absolutely bad @ss. I think playing with these pieces too long may darken your soul and give you urges to seize a neighbor's house in the name of 'living space.' And their tanks! Germany's tanks are formidable compared to the others powers. I'm going to rubber band the German tray shut. Otherwise I think the tanks may climb out while in storage, climb into the other nations' trays, and give wedgies to the poor little English and Russian tanks. Also, if you haven't seen a copy of this game newer than 1986, you'll probably have a little nostalgia when you see the original 5 powers’ infantry are based on the same molds. I wouldn't have guessed. But now I wonder how long until my first Japanese infantry has his delicate little bayonet snap off.
I have to knock the ships a little though. I think it will take a few games to have the sometimes-subtle differences between some powers’ battleships and cruisers or cruisers and destroyers become more obvious. There were several times during our game where one of us would point at a lone non-battleship and ask, “Is that a cruiser or destroyer?” And the owner couldn’t tell either. We’d have to dig one of each out of the tray and play shape matching. The cruisers are 1 or 2 mm longer in most cases, so we had to side-by-side compare to verify. By the end of the game I was starting to get the visual differences for some of the powers, but not all.
One last thought about the pieces. I like that unlike the MB edition, each country has different numbers of different types of units. Russia has more artillery than anyone else; Japan has more battleships; UK and America have more bombers; etc. I know that's not much of a limit with the white and red chips, but it's still a good touch. It indicates the historical focus of each power's military and gives players more of the types of units they’ll find themselves purchasing anyway.
Other Components
7/10 The rest is solid but unremarkable. The battle board concept hasn't changed in 20 years! Well if it ain't broke I guess... The IPC tracking and weapons dev chart looks nice. Updated and enlarged, no complaints. Rulebook is clear and concise. Only one bad note, the money is only printed on one side! Really?? That’s appropriate for a $100 game?? I want to know who made THAT call. I should have sent them my 100 bucks printed only on one side.
GAMEPLAY
First up, no play-by-play or turn-by-turn breakdown. One of the things I'm looking forward to the most is discovering all the possibilities for each nation's first few turns, and I'm sure most of you feel the same. I’ve been avoiding the play-by-play posts on the Geek for that reason myself. Instead here are my top ten first impressions of the updated game and how it plays.
First: The rulebook states that if you have less than 6 players, the person who plays Germany should be the one who plays Italy. Hmmmmm…. I was assuming that the natural choice would be for the Japanese player to control Italy. Two reasons: 1: It would be more engaging to have the two axis players finally coordinating moves and strategy with each other (face it, they rarely had to when controlling nations on opposite sides of the board). 2: The European Theater was always the primary, high-density theater, so controlling Italy gives the Japanese player a small part to play in that important area. Maybe there's a reason I can't think of that it wouldn't work, but I’ll try it both ways I guess.
Second: With units being cheaper and all the powers having more income, most spaces didn’t become more crowded with units than in the MB version. It seems to balance out with more spaces on the board to occupy. Even the Eastern front, the most crowded front, never seemed too packed. But instead of 4 spaces being battled over, it’s more like 9 or 10. It takes a lot of units to guard every one of them from counterattack and the front was fluid over a few spaces from turn to turn as we struck back at un-reinforced areas. Very cool.
Third: Battleships having a second hit point is huge. Along with costing only 20 IPCs (down from 24), these were popular buys for the naval powers. In one engagement of 4 Japanese battleships and two fighters against a collection of American cruisers, destroyers, 1 carrier and fighters, the battleships collectively ignored the first 4 hits scored against them, and they wiped out the enemy losing only a fighter in the process. Battleships are now the kings of the sea like they always should have been.
Fourth: I really like the Germany/Italy/England dynamic in Africa and the Med. That region is far more interesting than it used to be. It was always a secondary backwater to the eastern front, but with a new power claiming it as it’s back yard, England can’t afford to ignore it for long (as I painfully learned, ugh!)
Fifth: I LOVE the new strategic bombing rules. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. It’s much deeper than the old rules. The difference is that instead of the target losing 1 IPC per pip on the bomber die roll, the target factory takes that many damage markers and can produce that many fewer units per turn. The factory owner can pay 1 IPC per damage marker to remove them, so the formula is the same, 1 IPC paid per pip rolled on the die, but letting the target power choose when to pay allows another level of decision making and game management. I love it.
Sixth: China is a great addition to the game. It’s cool that they’re limited to their own territory and produce nothing but infantry to limit them further, but they produce enough to really be a thorn in Japan’s side. Japan has some of the toughest early decisions to make, pinched between an American fleet and a continent of screaming Chinese hordes. Good Luck!
Seventh: I do enjoy the increased choices in naval vessels. It used to be battleships or nothing for powerful surface ships. And since some powers couldn’t afford them, they went without navies. Now with cheaper but still formidable cruisers, I saw every power float a strong enough navy to project some sea power (except Russia, some things never change I guess).
Eighth: Following that theme, I also appreciate the additional weapons development choices, up to 12 from 6, and that they’re grouped so you can choose sea/air or land improvements. It’s logical but with enough randomness to feel right for the game. Heavy bombers dropping from 3 dice to 2 is perfect, 3 dice bombers were instant victory machines.
Ninth: The map feels more “right”. The addition of the Sahara as an impassable strip is perfect, it always seemed wrong that the Axis could ignore Egypt and blitz into southern Africa, grabbing up free IPCs. Now the Brits in Egypt can have something to say about that. Same with the Himalayas blocking India from China, it’s inconvenient for the Allies to have them cut off, but that’s the way the region is. The expanses of low IPC Siberia, while passable, look uninviting to an invader, which just feels right. You’d cover a long distance and be making almost no IPC gains for you trouble. I’d like to see an attempt at a Japanese invasion of Moscow now.
Tenth: Sub’s, Artillery n’ Transports. Subs are FINALLY worth buying. They made them cheaper AND better. Artillery is a must when attacking. The game needed something that makes infantry more than fodder that always misses on the attack. I like that a lot. A transport getting to carry an infantry along with a tank or artillery is great; it more than makes up for their new 0/0 combat stats. On a side note, newest Axis and Allies thrill that my friend and I both reveled in during our first game: noticing an unprotected transport within range of one of your units...priceless.
Side note: My friend and I didn’t play with National Objectives so no comment on this new addition. This was unintentional, we simply forget with all the other new aspects of the game we were absorbing and focusing on. So I didn’t forget to comment on them, I just have no opinion yet, sadly.
In conclusion, all I can say is if you dig on the old Axis and Allies, there’s nothing here you won’t like (except the 1-sided money, I haven’t gotten over that yet). They just took the game, cranked the knob to 11, and turned it loose.
Pros: Fun new levels of unit interaction, 2 new powers that really change the old game’s dynamic, more decision making, great plastic detail, nice detailed new map, rules updates work well (bombing, battleships, etc).
Cons: one-sided money (seriously?!?!), thin boards might warp up on you, ship types can be hard to tell apart at first, the German units may escape the board and annex your den, and Japanese bayonets are STILL going to snap off. So go buy it or con a friend into doing so. Promise him the new optional “Resistance: Fall Of Man” rules make the high price worth it or something. By the time he figures it out he’ll be enjoying it too much to care.
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