Axis & Allies Review 1

	Rating	Grade (1-10)
	Graphic Presentation	8
	Rules	8
	Playability	6
	Replay Value	1
	Overall Rating	5,75 (7)

PRO	Great graphic presentation, clear rules
CONTRA	Crowded mapboard, static gameplay, far too long

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Axis & Allies
Review #1
written by: Andreas Ludwig

Graphic Presentation On the first and even on the second glance, Axis & Allies looks quite attractive. A nice mounted world map with pleasant colors and a geomorphic presentation with nice detail. In addition, you get very well produced, high quality plastic figures, packed in a sturdy, impressive game box. The game invites you to unpack it and start playing right away. To allow this...

Rules ..the game has some very well written rules which are easy to understand. Their accessibility is even enhanced by many drawings, portraying different game turns and actions in detail. These pictures and examples blow up the rulebook, not the rules themselves. They are printed in a relatively large font - this fact shows that the rulebook is aimed at classic boardgamers and occasional gamers, not at experienced wargamers or even grognards used to large rulebooks often printed in small letters. You can jump into the game right away, it's a so-called "Universe in a box", a game which can be played immediately, because all components are included in the game box. Because of the clear rules, A&A can be played without encountering any major questions or the necessity to work out the rules or even frequent an internet forum before playing.

Playability
A&A is a fast playing game, considering the single game turns. The basic game mechanics aren't overly complex; besides a production phase, where you buy your units, combat and movement are the most important aspects of the game. Movement isn't a detailed maneuver, but a simple form of pushing a unit from country A to adjacent country B, followed by a battle. Despite these simple mechanics, experience shows that an A&A game can take a very long time, even a whole weekend. Fun depends on 2 vital factors: First, the more games you play, the more the fun decreases - it doesn't take long to discover the few possible and useful strategies (at least when playing with the classic rules without house rules such as bidding etc.). Besides some "working" strategies, you don't really have an alternative. Second, in a multiplayer game, fun depends on your faction, because the Russian player's options e.g. are rather limited. There are some core strategies which are similar in each game you play, because they cannot be ignored (otherwise, one would be defeated any time - they are the road to victory). Examples for typical strategies are that Germany MUST conquer Africa to get enough IPC to buy enough units, or the Allies' usual concentration on Europe while neglecting Japan, or the need for Germany to go against Russia. This leads to very static initial game turns, showing a historical distortion - in this game, Africa is vital for the Axis player, while historically this front was of propagandistic value only, especially on the background of Mussolini's plans. Hitler's idea of uniting the Africa forces with the Wehrmacht forces breaking though the Eastern front and the Caucasus wasn't as important as the propagandistic effect. But you cannot reproach this game with this fact in mind; it isn't a historical consim but designed as a fun wargame. In addition, this game is a dice fest and depends on good dice results, so that it offers very few strategic options.

Fun strongly depends on what you expect from the game; in my opinion, it simply takes far too much time to play it and the actions and possibilities are to limited for such a long gaming session to be entertaining.

Replay Value
Of course, there are A&A players who are of the opinion that this game offers enough fun and variation to be played over many years, but these players tend to play with a "bidding" system - which became quite popular among A&A players. I myself lost interest in this game, because it offers too few possibilities to entertain me over a long period of time. This is why I gave 2 overall ratings, to be fair to these players. If you think the replay value is higher (out of your subjective impression), my rating can be increased up to 7.

In my opinion, it belongs to the kind of games which are "solved" one day - you found out the strategies leading to one side's victory and that's it. Once solved, it isn't possible to play interesting games anymore. You are even forced to use a bidding system to get a certain amount of variation over a longer period of time, but I cannot judge the amount of variation, because I never played with bidding - I lost interest in this game before I could try this variant. Before spending time on A&A with bidding, I prefer playing wargames which offer more without the necessity of introducing a bidding system.

Creativity A&A is a conservative, classic boardgame with classic game elements, not offering innovate ideas or even new aspects.

Simulation Value The simulation value tends to zero. It mainly is a classic family boardgame with a WWII topic. The game mechanic is far too simple to portray historical events in a satisfying way even on the most basic scale. In fact, it even distorts historical events (Africa etc.).

Solitare Value Not very entertaining, but the high luck value could support solitaire play. I wouldn't recommend it, though.

Can be compared to A&A belongs to a series of similar games: The Gamemaster Series by MB. All these games use an area movement map, plastic figures, simple rules without much depth. The most interesting (and most complex) game of this series is Shogun / Samurai Swords because it isn't as static as A&A and offers a convincing combat system.

Short Review Well, my previous words show that A&A doesn't belong to my favorite games. In my opinion, there are too few strategic variants and I feel disturbed by the historical inaccuracies. The game mechanic is too simple to keep me interested over a longer period of time. But I must commit that I'm a realism freak and I prefer historical conflict simulations - I never was a classic family boardgamer and don't have much interest in this kind of games. But I think that people who love boardgames could be introduced into the wargaming world by Axis & Allies, which increases the game's value by serving our hobby as an introductory game. There are many A&A Clubs which initiated an own cult about this game (something I find very positive!) and who won't share my negative opinion about the replay value, long time motivation and entertainment value. I think, you like A&A or you don't. At least, you should know it because it's one of the hobby's classics - and everyone should have built his russian towers in Karelia at least once ;-)

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Axis & Allies Review #1	written by: Andreas Ludwig
Graphic Presentation	On the first and even on the second glance, Axis & Allies looks quite attractive. A nice mounted world map with pleasant colors and a geomorphic presentation with nice detail. In addition, you get very well produced, high quality plastic figures, packed in a sturdy, impressive game box. The game invites you to unpack it and start playing right away. To allow this...
Rules	..the game has some very well written rules which are easy to understand. Their accessibility is even enhanced by many drawings, portraying different game turns and actions in detail. These pictures and examples blow up the rulebook, not the rules themselves. They are printed in a relatively large font - this fact shows that the rulebook is aimed at classic boardgamers and occasional gamers, not at experienced wargamers or even grognards used to large rulebooks often printed in small letters. You can jump into the game right away, it's a so-called "Universe in a box", a game which can be played immediately, because all components are included in the game box. Because of the clear rules, A&A can be played without encountering any major questions or the necessity to work out the rules or even frequent an internet forum before playing.
Playability	A&A is a fast playing game, considering the single game turns. The basic game mechanics aren't overly complex; besides a production phase, where you buy your units, combat and movement are the most important aspects of the game. Movement isn't a detailed maneuver, but a simple form of pushing a unit from country A to adjacent country B, followed by a battle. Despite these simple mechanics, experience shows that an A&A game can take a very long time, even a whole weekend. Fun depends on 2 vital factors: First, the more games you play, the more the fun decreases - it doesn't take long to discover the few possible and useful strategies (at least when playing with the classic rules without house rules such as bidding etc.). Besides some "working" strategies, you don't really have an alternative. Second, in a multiplayer game, fun depends on your faction, because the Russian player's options e.g. are rather limited. There are some core strategies which are similar in each game you play, because they cannot be ignored (otherwise, one would be defeated any time - they are the road to victory). Examples for typical strategies are that Germany MUST conquer Africa to get enough IPC to buy enough units, or the Allies' usual concentration on Europe while neglecting Japan, or the need for Germany to go against Russia. This leads to very static initial game turns, showing a historical distortion - in this game, Africa is vital for the Axis player, while historically this front was of propagandistic value only, especially on the background of Mussolini's plans. Hitler's idea of uniting the Africa forces with the Wehrmacht forces breaking though the Eastern front and the Caucasus wasn't as important as the propagandistic effect. But you cannot reproach this game with this fact in mind; it isn't a historical consim but designed as a fun wargame. In addition, this game is a dice fest and depends on good dice results, so that it offers very few strategic options. Fun strongly depends on what you expect from the game; in my opinion, it simply takes far too much time to play it and the actions and possibilities are to limited for such a long gaming session to be entertaining.
Replay Value	Of course, there are A&A players who are of the opinion that this game offers enough fun and variation to be played over many years, but these players tend to play with a "bidding" system - which became quite popular among A&A players. I myself lost interest in this game, because it offers too few possibilities to entertain me over a long period of time. This is why I gave 2 overall ratings, to be fair to these players. If you think the replay value is higher (out of your subjective impression), my rating can be increased up to 7. In my opinion, it belongs to the kind of games which are "solved" one day - you found out the strategies leading to one side's victory and that's it. Once solved, it isn't possible to play interesting games anymore. You are even forced to use a bidding system to get a certain amount of variation over a longer period of time, but I cannot judge the amount of variation, because I never played with bidding - I lost interest in this game before I could try this variant. Before spending time on A&A with bidding, I prefer playing wargames which offer more without the necessity of introducing a bidding system.
Creativity	A&A is a conservative, classic boardgame with classic game elements, not offering innovate ideas or even new aspects.
Simulation Value	The simulation value tends to zero. It mainly is a classic family boardgame with a WWII topic. The game mechanic is far too simple to portray historical events in a satisfying way even on the most basic scale. In fact, it even distorts historical events (Africa etc.).
Solitare Value	Not very entertaining, but the high luck value could support solitaire play. I wouldn't recommend it, though.
Can be compared to	A&A belongs to a series of similar games: The Gamemaster Series by MB. All these games use an area movement map, plastic figures, simple rules without much depth. The most interesting (and most complex) game of this series is Shogun / Samurai Swords because it isn't as static as A&A and offers a convincing combat system.
Short Review	Well, my previous words show that A&A doesn't belong to my favorite games. In my opinion, there are too few strategic variants and I feel disturbed by the historical inaccuracies. The game mechanic is too simple to keep me interested over a longer period of time. But I must commit that I'm a realism freak and I prefer historical conflict simulations - I never was a classic family boardgamer and don't have much interest in this kind of games. But I think that people who love boardgames could be introduced into the wargaming world by Axis & Allies, which increases the game's value by serving our hobby as an introductory game. There are many A&A Clubs which initiated an own cult about this game (something I find very positive!) and who won't share my negative opinion about the replay value, long time motivation and entertainment value. I think, you like A&A or you don't. At least, you should know it because it's one of the hobby's classics - and everyone should have built his russian towers in Karelia at least once ;-)