Yes! Jonathan this is an awesome video, so glad you did this. I love seeing all the games at once and hearing everyone’s thoughts on the games. Great video
To my great surprise I've had a lot of success introducing new players to the game with Pacific, giving them Japan of course. Despite the special/advanced rules. Players seem to enjoy the fast-pace, timed game with a big budget for war ships. Generally the sea is a big challenge for new players and this game seems to greatly reduce that learning curve.
Recently won another 1914 as the centrals 2 weeks ago, playing a large group. Hugely fun and intrigueing game. OOB rules. Looking forward to another large group battle in any of the A & A games
Nice video! I agree with most of your takes. The only thing Id say however is I don't feel that spring 1942 is very balanced at all. I don't think I've ever seen an axis victory in all the times I've played it. lol perhaps I'm being too hard on it cause its my least favorite one but ya. I really like Anniversary the most
Possibly the wrong place to put that, but I own AA1941 as well as AE, D-Day and the original Version, playing around to get 1942 SE as well. And I was thinking about using the heavy tank models (Tigers and IS) from 1941 with other games, say 1942 SE, with rules like: No nation starts with heavy tanks, heavy tanks fight with either 4-4 like Battleships or even 5-3, but they move only one territory and cost 6 or 7 IPC - so kind of the same cost like regular tanks because of the limited movement. Each nation can only have a maximum of 5 heavy tanks at a time. So I try to use some of the components of the rather underwhelming 1941 to a better use to gain some wealth out of it. What do you think? Would this new unit type unbalance the game or would this be a nice addition or just don't have any impact at all?
My favorite is the Europe/Pacific 1940 versions together - AKA Global 1940. I just recently got D Day and I really like it as a quick and fun game on the campaign level. I should have gotten it years ago. I would like to try Battle of the Bulge too but it's too expensive and rare these days.
I have a very unpopular opinion of not ranking G40 as highly as most others. This is mostly because I have only twice ever actually managed to physically play a game of it to completion with other human opponents in a face-to-face setting. This speaks more to the sheer size of the game and the attention span/interest level of my particular friend group, but that's just what my experience has been and it does impact my view of the game.
In terms of pure balance I'd rank them something like: Good Balance (no particular order): AA50 - 42 Scenario - No NOs AA50 - 41 Scenario - No NOs Revised - LHTR AA42SE - LHTR Fair Balance (no particular order): AA50 - 41 Scenario - NOs G40 2nd Edition/Balance Mod 1914 - Tournament Rules Poor Balance - Everything else.
Basically agree with/understand everything but, actually, I believe 1941 has some hidden impact/innovations (though it’s always hard to judge impact in recent history while in it;)…. It was made more playable for casual gamers and new people… Stripping just about anything you could imagine while still keeping some of the core experience…. Designers and people like Steve Jobs sometimes obsess about how difficult it is to make something less complicated... It is innovative in terms of price and how cheap it is to manufacture. And it will possibly influence getting more people into the game system than anything else, though I’m not sure how much data we have on that... Obviously I’m not the biggest fan if I have my choice in games to play and time to play them with people but I don’t quite knock it and even threw together a few boxes, some glue and magnets to make a portable version out of wood in a form that evokes a D-day landing craft :-)…. And I guess we now have the knowledge that 41 influence zombies probably. I suppose Zombies contains “innovations” and still cracks me up every once in a while just knowing that it exists… And a few more people have been willing to play it with me :-)…. Zombies was actually brilliant and that includes an introductory low scale game that you can play faster and learn the mechanics with… That might be one of the biggest innovations in axis and Allies ever for getting new players interested and up and running! :-) And although I usually hate shuffling cards for things in strategy games like axis and Allies I actually like that in zombies (and the fact that the game designers themselves say make up your own rules and don’t take it too seriously:)…There’s also of course the online version which I have not touched but I have started playing “Triple A” with people during Covid - anyone is welcome to hit me up in and let me know they want to join in on weekends, etc. ;-)… It is innovative because it is free, theoretically customizable, and I have (perhaps) never played more Axis and Allies since being able to gather together friends from Italy to Las Vegas and saving if we ever have to end at a certain point (Despite being quite reticent at first with that system)…. All that said, the tactile feel of the pieces, the spatial experience of looking at at the board from different angles, Even the clickety clack of the dice and slowing down (especially as an adult in our modern world) to the pace, sustained attention, and flow of a beautiful version like the anniversary edition (while sharing nonlinear discussions and experiences with the players not playing at the moment) can’t be beat :-)…
I'll do my top 10 here before seeing your own list. 10. Pacific (2001) 9. Revised - OOB 8. 1914 - LHTR 7. AA50 - 41 Scenario - OOB 6. AA50 - 42 Scenario - OOB 5. 42SE - LHTR 4. G40 2nd Edition/Balance Mod 3. AA50 - 42 Scenario - No NOs. 2. AA50 - 41 Scenario - No NOs. 1. Revised - LHTR Mine is soley based on subjectivity. My main areas of concern are balance and actual play-ability. Now, if we're counting *just the game as a whole* (i.e. taking a copy of Europe - 1940 to count as a copy of E40, G40, P40, G40 2nd Edition, G40 BM, etc.), the list changes to: 10. Battle of the Bulge (scraping the bottom of the barrel here) 9. Spring 42 8. Classic 7. Europe (2000) 6. Pacific (2001) 4/5. 1914 4/5. 42SE 3. G40 2. Revised 1. AA50 Reaction - The spin-offs (Guadalcanal, D Day, Battle of the Bulge) have terrible balance. Don't bother. Reaction #2 - Classic 3rd Edition has pretty good balance OOB (compared to the rest of the series) if you follow the "Soviets can't attack turn 1" house rule and follow the rule where Axis can win on economy (via attacking Africa heavily) Reaction #3 - G40 is a complete mess balance wise OOB. Even with BM/2nd Edition current league on A&A.org is like 40 bid for Allies and Axis are still at a ~70% win rate. This unbalance only applies at the highest level of play, though. Reaction #4 - AA50 is more unbalanced if NOs are turned on. With NOs turned off it's balance is top-tier. FYI #4 - 1914 is a mess too balance-wise. My opinion aligns with you on quality of production/impact/etc. Nice collection, btw. My collection is almost as up-to-snuff as you, but I no longer own a copy of Pacific (2001) and never owned a copy of the spin-offs. I don't expect A&A: Zombies to crack my top 10 list for scenarios, but I do expect it to take the #9 slot when ranking games as a whole. The game would have to actively try to be more uninspired than Spring 42 or actively worse than Battle of the Bulge.
@@alexkirch8187 I've been there. I got into A&A back in like 6th grade because I saw a copy of Europe (1999) sitting in a hobby store and thought the dude holding a gun on the box looked cool
Yes! Jonathan this is an awesome video, so glad you did this. I love seeing all the games at once and hearing everyone’s thoughts on the games. Great video
You are very welcome!
To my great surprise I've had a lot of success introducing new players to the game with Pacific, giving them Japan of course. Despite the special/advanced rules. Players seem to enjoy the fast-pace, timed game with a big budget for war ships. Generally the sea is a big challenge for new players and this game seems to greatly reduce that learning curve.
Recently won another 1914 as the centrals 2 weeks ago, playing a large group. Hugely fun and intrigueing game. OOB rules. Looking forward to another large group battle in any of the A & A games
Nice video! I agree with most of your takes. The only thing Id say however is I don't feel that spring 1942 is very balanced at all. I don't think I've ever seen an axis victory in all the times I've played it. lol perhaps I'm being too hard on it cause its my least favorite one but ya. I really like Anniversary the most
Great! Do you have other war games as well? I have around 72... i would like to see your collection. Thank you!
Possibly the wrong place to put that, but I own AA1941 as well as AE, D-Day and the original Version, playing around to get 1942 SE as well. And I was thinking about using the heavy tank models (Tigers and IS) from 1941 with other games, say 1942 SE, with rules like: No nation starts with heavy tanks, heavy tanks fight with either 4-4 like Battleships or even 5-3, but they move only one territory and cost 6 or 7 IPC - so kind of the same cost like regular tanks because of the limited movement. Each nation can only have a maximum of 5 heavy tanks at a time. So I try to use some of the components of the rather underwhelming 1941 to a better use to gain some wealth out of it. What do you think? Would this new unit type unbalance the game or would this be a nice addition or just don't have any impact at all?
The Axis I always felt are supposed to be the underdogs, that's why we like the challenge
My favorite is the Europe/Pacific 1940 versions together - AKA Global 1940. I just recently got D Day and I really like it as a quick and fun game on the campaign level. I should have gotten it years ago. I would like to try Battle of the Bulge too but it's too expensive and rare these days.
how rare is that lol i hafe it was my dads
I have a very unpopular opinion of not ranking G40 as highly as most others. This is mostly because I have only twice ever actually managed to physically play a game of it to completion with other human opponents in a face-to-face setting. This speaks more to the sheer size of the game and the attention span/interest level of my particular friend group, but that's just what my experience has been and it does impact my view of the game.
In terms of pure balance I'd rank them something like:
Good Balance (no particular order):
AA50 - 42 Scenario - No NOs
AA50 - 41 Scenario - No NOs
Revised - LHTR
AA42SE - LHTR
Fair Balance (no particular order):
AA50 - 41 Scenario - NOs
G40 2nd Edition/Balance Mod
1914 - Tournament Rules
Poor Balance - Everything else.
👍
Basically agree with/understand everything but, actually, I believe 1941 has some hidden impact/innovations (though it’s always hard to judge impact in recent history while in it;)…. It was made more playable for casual gamers and new people… Stripping just about anything you could imagine while still keeping some of the core experience…. Designers and people like Steve Jobs sometimes obsess about how difficult it is to make something less complicated... It is innovative in terms of price and how cheap it is to manufacture. And it will possibly influence getting more people into the game system than anything else, though I’m not sure how much data we have on that... Obviously I’m not the biggest fan if I have my choice in games to play and time to play them with people but I don’t quite knock it and even threw together a few boxes, some glue and magnets to make a portable version out of wood in a form that evokes a D-day landing craft :-)…. And I guess we now have the knowledge that 41 influence zombies probably. I suppose Zombies contains “innovations” and still cracks me up every once in a while just knowing that it exists… And a few more people have been willing to play it with me :-)…. Zombies was actually brilliant and that includes an introductory low scale game that you can play faster and learn the mechanics with… That might be one of the biggest innovations in axis and Allies ever for getting new players interested and up and running! :-) And although I usually hate shuffling cards for things in strategy games like axis and Allies I actually like that in zombies (and the fact that the game designers themselves say make up your own rules and don’t take it too seriously:)…There’s also of course the online version which I have not touched but I have started playing “Triple A” with people during Covid - anyone is welcome to hit me up in and let me know they want to join in on weekends, etc. ;-)… It is innovative because it is free, theoretically customizable, and I have (perhaps) never played more Axis and Allies since being able to gather together friends from Italy to Las Vegas and saving if we ever have to end at a certain point (Despite being quite reticent at first with that system)…. All that said, the tactile feel of the pieces, the spatial experience of looking at at the board from different angles, Even the clickety clack of the dice and slowing down (especially as an adult in our modern world) to the pace, sustained attention, and flow of a beautiful version like the anniversary edition (while sharing nonlinear discussions and experiences with the players not playing at the moment) can’t be beat :-)…
I'll do my top 10 here before seeing your own list.
10. Pacific (2001)
9. Revised - OOB
8. 1914 - LHTR
7. AA50 - 41 Scenario - OOB
6. AA50 - 42 Scenario - OOB
5. 42SE - LHTR
4. G40 2nd Edition/Balance Mod
3. AA50 - 42 Scenario - No NOs.
2. AA50 - 41 Scenario - No NOs.
1. Revised - LHTR
Mine is soley based on subjectivity. My main areas of concern are balance and actual play-ability.
Now, if we're counting *just the game as a whole* (i.e. taking a copy of Europe - 1940 to count as a copy of E40, G40, P40, G40 2nd Edition, G40 BM, etc.), the list changes to:
10. Battle of the Bulge (scraping the bottom of the barrel here)
9. Spring 42
8. Classic
7. Europe (2000)
6. Pacific (2001)
4/5. 1914
4/5. 42SE
3. G40
2. Revised
1. AA50
Reaction - The spin-offs (Guadalcanal, D Day, Battle of the Bulge) have terrible balance. Don't bother.
Reaction #2 - Classic 3rd Edition has pretty good balance OOB (compared to the rest of the series) if you follow the "Soviets can't attack turn 1" house rule and follow the rule where Axis can win on economy (via attacking Africa heavily)
Reaction #3 - G40 is a complete mess balance wise OOB. Even with BM/2nd Edition current league on A&A.org is like 40 bid for Allies and Axis are still at a ~70% win rate. This unbalance only applies at the highest level of play, though.
Reaction #4 - AA50 is more unbalanced if NOs are turned on. With NOs turned off it's balance is top-tier.
FYI #4 - 1914 is a mess too balance-wise.
My opinion aligns with you on quality of production/impact/etc.
Nice collection, btw. My collection is almost as up-to-snuff as you, but I no longer own a copy of Pacific (2001) and never owned a copy of the spin-offs.
I don't expect A&A: Zombies to crack my top 10 list for scenarios, but I do expect it to take the #9 slot when ranking games as a whole. The game would have to actively try to be more uninspired than Spring 42 or actively worse than Battle of the Bulge.
Wow I only have the anniversary edition and I'm looking to expand my collection. (I'm in grade school and its hard to find kids my age to play with)
@@alexkirch8187 I've been there. I got into A&A back in like 6th grade because I saw a copy of Europe (1999) sitting in a hobby store and thought the dude holding a gun on the box looked cool
@@superilikeeggsyo same except anniversary edition