Which Axis And Allies to buy?

[Mattoise]

I've been looking into buying an Axis and Allies set for a while now. At first I thought about getting Europe, but then I heard that it had a fatal design flaw that allowed one side to win all the time. Does Pacific have the same flaw? Does the original still stand out above the rest? Anyones' thoughts wanted. :confused:

[zooooma]

Hello Mattoise. My opinions:

All three games are top notch strategy board games. Buy all three!

The games increased in complexity (mechanics wise) with time. A&A being the simplest, A&A:P being the most complicated. This argues for the original as a first aquisition, being the easiest to learn.

There were major changes in mechanics between A&A, and A&A:E. Transports are trickier to use, submarines and battleships are different, Strategic bobming raids are different, etc. Contrastively, the new rules for A&A:P were simple additions (to A&A:E), and not fundemantal changes. This argues for A&A:E first, as it will be easier to move up to a different game.

As for A&A:P, the main advantage of that game is that I think it is simply the best. I beleive it allows for the most variance in strategies, it seems more dynamic.

So, if you want to learn as painlessly as possible, try A&A. If you want an easy time learning a second varient, try A&A:E. If you don't mind a few extra rules, and you want a very complex game, buy A&A:P.

There are other reasons upon which to decide. If you want huge stacks of tanks and infantry, play A&A:E. If you want to play with a lot of pieces, and like boats islands and planes, go for A&A:P. If you like the extra element of five players, and the large scale, play A&A.

The new games (which I do think are mostly a little better) are quick games - two to six hours for Europe, two to eight hours for Pacific. Classic A&A can go for quite a long time.

I wouldn't worry much about the "fatal design flaw". While it's true that an efficient march to Moscow is dificult to beat, if all the Allies play well they can win with just a little bit of luck. Actually, all the games are unballanced. The difference is that the other two have optional rules to adjust.

Enjoy A&A.
-Luke

[simply4est]

One thing I liked in the old AA that the expansions dropped was the option to develope new technology. I would love to see an AA2 that had an improved Tech RnD system - there have been many variations imagined. (there are a bunch of possibilities on Thrasher's AA page)