Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Axis and Allies 1941-First Impressions

This is the second Axis and Allies game I have purchased, the first years ago was an old Milton Bradley Company edition. It was left at a friend’s house and because of my having to relocate several times, I never returned for the game. Years later when I asked about the game I was told that his sons had gotten a hold of it and had played with its miniatures. Meaning-the game was probably missing pieces and who knows what shape it was in.

The Axis and Allies 1941 edition seems to be quite different than I remember Axis and Allies being. The board is different, the Industrial complexes are now printed on the board and there are no industrial complexes pieces available, In addition there are no longer any anti-aircraft guns.

There are many differences between the original and this 1941 edition. The 1941 edition has an additional sea unit the destroyer, but fewer pieces. The old edition had a lot of pieces, this edition uses of cardboard chips to replace units. IPC’s are no longer offered and all commerce is officiated via pen and paper. In addition, each player receives fewer IPC’s to start off with and there are fewer territories that allow a player to gain additional IPC’s easily. (I remember playing one game as Great Britain and having picked up several unoccupied territories in Africa, which increased my total IPC’s to extent as to make the game considerably more challenging for the Japanese player.)

The rules seemed to be have been simplified and do not seem to be as complicated. The game, according to the rule book can now be played in about ninety minutes, compared to the original Axis and Allies, four or five hour time span. Technological advances have also been omitted from this edition, but I suppose you could add whatever house rules you wanted.

All differences aside I am still looking forward to playing this new edition of Axis and Allies. I have already started to think about different starting strategies for each country and will post my ideas as soon as I get them formulated.

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