One of my wifes cousins gave this to my son because he loves all things WW2. Its quite an involved game, but he is loving it. We even have a table in his room set aside so we can leave it all set up.

Sure as hell beats his face in a video game all day

I have 3 different editions. Love the game. I've been playing since I was 15 and 30 years later I still play on rainy days with me 20 something nephews, who also love when I break them out.

Some times we play serious and no one talks and every die roll is scrutinized, other times we play fast and loose and fudge some of the rules to make the game go quicker.

It's a great strategy game.

What are the different versions? Same game with different locations, or is it a different play?

I used to play A&A all the time with my buddies back in college, and played the hell out of the old computer version too. It's a great, classic game.

There are a number of other editions besides the original, many of which have different locations and/or different play. A few are just updates to the original, but most are spinoffs, set on a smaller scale, like just one theater, or just one battle. Some involve modified rules and units.

The spinoffs include:
Axis & Allies: 1942
Axis & Allies: Pacific
Axis & Allies: Europe
Axis & Allies: Pacific 1940
Axis & Allies: Europe 1940
Axis & Allies: D-Day
Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge
Axis & Allies: Guadalcanal

There's even a WW1 edition now: Axis and Allies 1914. (Although there were neither "Axis" nor "Allies" in WW1. )

I played it a bit decades ago. AA is more complex than most popular games but not so much compared the other wargames and boardgames puished by SST, Avalon Hill, and others. If he likes WWII then here are some games to check out. I had dozens of these games until my mother gave them away after I moved out. Sigh...

Entry level: War at Sea, Afrika Korps, Battle of the Bulge, Victory in the Pacific (award winner), Tactics II (not WWII).
Not so difficult: Up Front (highly recommeded), Banzai UF expansion kit, Desert War UF expansion kit.
Moderately difficult: Storm Over Arnhem, Panzer Blitz, Panzer Leader, Arab-Israeli Wars (not WWII).
Difficult: Squad Leader and the successor modules, The Russian Campaign (very popular in the General magazine of AH), Third Reich, Carrier War, Flat Top.

There are dozens more games, at least, maybe others will post their favorites and recommendations. For non-WWII games I liked Quebec 1759, and Napoleon. These are not to difficult and use wooden pieces, a bit like Stratego.

Sci-fi, fantasy: Starship Troopers (recommended), Wizard's Quest, Amoeba Wars, lots of others...

I hope that he enjoys many years of gaming, get in there with him.

Had a game called Panzer Blitz. Similar and just as involved.

I used to play the original all the time


When I was in the Army and my Dad was in the Air Force we would play a mail correspondence game with the master board at my mom’s house

He was in Hawaii, I was in New York, mom’s house in Virginia

Basically you hand write the actions on your turn and send them to the person. We would handle the die rolls over the phone. Then we’d tell my mom what to do with the pieces and she would move them, take a Polaroid of the board (it was that long ago...a Polaroid) and send one to me and one to my dad.

Hard to believe...he’s been dead for 24 years on Wednesday. I haven’t played since he died, actually

Like RogueJSK explained, there are different theatres and land areas.

The base game different additions fixed some problems with the original territories that made it to easy to defeat other countries by stock pilling certain units. Things like Infantry and fighters defending the eastern points of Russia using english/us planes. Made it impenetrable regardless of how many tanks germany could make.

Also, they have different values for the "weapons research" again, some units were just to overpowered so the changed them around.

We would make some of our own rules like two tanks per transport, and the range of fighters on carriers, defensive rolls on aa guns. Things like that to customize the game.

If you have never seen Hearts of Iron series of pc games, I would get it for him. It's a pc game sure, but its one of the best world war II global strategy games I've ever played. I have a lot of hours invested and don't regret a second of it.

Last time I played was probably 1986.

quote:

Originally posted by Nickelsig229:
If you have never seen Hearts of Iron series of pc games, I would get it for him. It's a pc game sure, but its one of the best world war II global strategy games I've ever played. I have a lot of hours invested and don't regret a second of it.

I spent many hours playing Hearts of Iron II, back in the early/mid-2000s.

Fantastic game.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I used to play A&A all the time with my buddies back in college, and played the hell out of the old computer version too. It's a great, classic game.

There are a number of other editions besides the original, many of which have different locations and/or different play. A few are just updates to the original, but most are spinoffs, set on a smaller scale, like just one theater, or just one battle. Some involve modified rules and units.

The spinoffs include:
Axis & Allies: 1942
Axis & Allies: Pacific
Axis & Allies: Europe
Axis & Allies: Pacific 1940
Axis & Allies: Europe 1940
Axis & Allies: D-Day
Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge
Axis & Allies: Guadalcanal

There's even a WW1 edition now: Axis and Allies 1914. (Although there were neither "Axis" nor "Allies" in WW1. )

I had the PC game as well. I think for Windows 95.

I played once, maybe in 1989 or so. I had some friends who would play regularly. I was invited to pay with them once. I kicked their asses the first, and only time I played. I wasn't invited back.

I started out with Fortress America then went to Axis and Allies! I loved them both!

Heard about it. Played mostly Avalon Hill games such as 3rd Reich, Anzio, Russian Campaign, PanzerBlitz (Eastern Front), PanzerLeader (western front), Tobruk, 1776, France 1940 and The Longest Day.

The Longest Day was their final master piece. They used the actual Wehrmacht icons for the units at the tactical level. It was their first game to really focus on supply, as well as tactical and strategic interdiction. It's a game that really shows that in spite of the 15th Army being frozen due to the Calais invasion dupe, the Wehrmacht had the resources to win in Normandy - had they been able to not commit the units piecemeal with proper supply levels. Of course the plot to kill the Fuehrer helped too.

Allied tactical and strategic airpower was the difference - and a total lack of German Air capability.

SPI had some good games too like Global War, Wacht Am Rhein, Market Garden, Eastern Front and others.

Lots of fun, especially the social aspect.

I still play some computer war-games, and some are quite good - decent AI and good fog of war, which the board games could not really mimic.

Lots of good memories.

Axis and Allies was the first in a series of really cool "light" wargames.

Axis and Allies
Fortress America
Shogun which later became Samurai Swords
and a Wooden sailing ship game

They all had high quality plastic miniatures instead of cardboard chits and less complex rules than the traditional wargames of the time. A great "gateway" to more complex gaming than Monopoly or Scrabble.

Heck I still have a copy of Axis and Allies and Samurai Swords. 4 or 5 Avalon Hill games are still on my bookshelf but I have not opened them in years.

Kickstarter has helped start a revolution in board games. Game designers can use Kickstarter to get the capital they need to produce high quality components and fun ideas that would probably not survive in the retail environment.

Gloomhaven
Massive Darkness
Fire Team Zero
are just a few of the 10 or so I have backed over the last few years.