Axis & Allies

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Axis and Allies
Axis & Allies
Game data
author Lawrence H. Harris
publishing company Nova Game Designs (1981),
Milton Bradley (1984, 1987, 1991),
Avalon Hill (2004)
Publishing year 1981, 1984, 1987, 1991, 2004
Art Conflict simulation
Teammates 2 to 5
Duration 6 hours
Age from 12 years

Awards

1991 Games 100 War / Adventure Game Nominee
1992 Games 100 Real-life Strategy Nominee
Games Magazine Hall of Fame Inductee

Axis & Allies is a game that, in the broader sense, belongs to the conflict simulation games. It is by Lawrence H. Harris and has been published in various versions. Nova Game Designs first released the game in 1981 as Axis and Allies on the American market. Three years later, Milton Bradley (now the daughter of Hasbro ) released a new version of the board game, which was marketed in three different editions in 1984, 1987 and 1991 in the United States. In 2004 a new edition came out under the Hasbro label Avalon Hill . Two to five players play the five parties. If there are fewer than five players, one player takes on several parties, but this does not lead to any problems due to the alliance structure.

Structure and brief description

In this game the world is recreated during the Second World War , more precisely in the spring of 1942. The different characters represent the war machines of the warring nations. At this point in time the German Empire was in its greatest expansion.

The course of the game itself now consists of leading the war to an end based on this basic constellation with the five participating nations - Germany, Japan, Great Britain, the USA and the Soviet Union. This is done with the help of a complex set of rules. In the 50th Anniversary Edition for the 50th anniversary of the Avalon Hill publishing house , Italy is added as the third axis power and China can be played as an ally of the USA.

particularities

Since the game reproduces a very sensitive topic in Germany due to the difficult handling of the story, it is hardly available in regular toy stores.

It is noteworthy that, provided that the maximum number of players is played, no single player can win, but only the respective team, either the Axis powers ("Axis": Germany and Japan) or the Allies ("Allies": Great Britain, USA and Soviet Union). In the newer editions of Axis & Allies , however, an individual winner can also be chosen with special rules. If the number of players is lower, the players control up to three nations.

Due to the very complicated and detailed rules, there are numerous forums and clubs on the Internet in which it is discussed how exactly individual rules should be interpreted. Furthermore, the manufacturer repeatedly adds additions to the rules of the game in order to clarify the most controversial passages more precisely. A revised edition has now been published. In the 2004 version, artillery and destroyers are now available in addition to the classic units. The world map shows innovations and there is an improved set of rules with “national advantages” for the individual parties.

There are also countless expansions and independent games such as “Axis & Allies Europe”, “A&A Pacific”, “A&A D-Day ”, “A&A Battle of Bulge ”, “ Guadalcanal ” and “World at War”, which are thematically related rotate the respective locations or make the course of the game more interesting with new units or circumstances.

There is also the possibility to play the game online or PbM (Play by Mail).

Under the name Axis & Allies Miniatures or Axis & Allies Naval Miniatures , Avalon Hill also offers collectible miniature games that focus on tactical combat.

PC conversions

In total there are at least four implementations for the PC:

  1. Realization of Hasbro Entertainment as "Axis & Allies" (1998) and "Axis & Allies Iron Blitz"
  2. Realization by Atari Inc. "WWII Axis & Allies" (2004) - this game is a mixture of round and real-time strategy
  3. Implementation is an open source development and is called " TripleA " or "AAA" and is a clone of Hasbro's "Axis & Allies" (2005)
  4. The unofficial implementation of "Dogs of War"

Related games

Other games have been released within the Milton Bradley Gamemaster series :

Broadsides and Boarding Parties was published by Citadel Game Systems in 1982 .

Web links