Which is better?

[Hammerman80]

Ok, I intend on buying an Axis and Allies game. But my only question is, which is better? The Axis and Allies Minature game, or the Axis and Allies board game? Also, list reasons why one is better and the other is worse, thanks.

[EricM 2404]

don't expect to get unbiased answers here...

A&AM
why
I enjoy collecting things
It's quick to play
It is easy to learn
There is always something new, new expansions
the minis are cool

[Stojakovic]

Both are great. The minis game is more indepth (for the game pieces) but you can also play a bunch of games compared to 1 game of the board game. But the board game is not as addicting and is cheaper.

[Herbavida]

Get them both. They are both excellent games.

[PatrickWR]

Here's the breakdown.

Axis & Allies The Boardgame is a strategic-level game. The decision you as a player make affect how you'll acquire resources, maneuver units, and ultimately win the war. The conquest of an entire territory can be boiled down into a handful of important dice rolls.

Axis & Allies Miniatures is a tactical-level game. The decisions here are much more specialized, but no less complex. Instead of commanding an entire nation's economic and military might, you command a few tanks and a few squads of soldiers. You make specific decisions to keep your soldiers alive and to achieve a turn-based objective.

I prefer tactical games, because I'm no good with economical games.

[Colonel_Coo]

Ok, I intend on buying an Axis and Allies game. But my only question is, which is better? The Axis and Allies Minature game, or the Axis and Allies board game? Also, list reasons why one is better and the other is worse, thanks.
Axis and Allies board game: Sits on shelf nicely. You only buy it once. After a few games (say about six) you'll know the stradegies to win with each country.
Axis and Allies Mini's: Screams at you while you're sleeping to play with them. Just after playing your 4th game you'll discover you don't crap about how to play tactically and lose the next 14 hours of free "mind time" to reworking the last butt whoopin you took.
New sets will come out and further dampin your "beer fund". That's okay though because if you're not drinking more beer (spent the money on mini's) you'll lose weight. Losing weight is normally a good thing, but your wife will want to "see" you more now that you've gotten slim and sexy. That's normally good but you mind is distracted back to the newest set of mini's.
That makes you wife throw out the "you love your toys more than me".
That leads to the whole night being wasted to tell her you love her (never tell her she loves her toys more than she loves you) and then you have to go outr drinking with you.

In the end, the board game is non-disruptive. Axis and allies Mini's is so much fun it will change your idea of what is fun to do in your free time.

[capchris]

Axis and Allies Mini's: Screams at you while you're sleeping to play with them. Just after playing your 4th game you'll discover you don't crap about how to play tactically and lose the next 14 hours of free "mind time" to reworking the last butt whoopin you took.

And THEN you will re-read the rules and discover that you've been playing it wrong the whole time! Your opponent will tell you "no, that's not how that works", causing your precious Tiger tank to blow up! And THEN you'll send hours upon hours combing through the AAM forum. You'll read all of the FAQs and every post in the forum Q&A section. And you will still find yourself being handed your own b.tt by a 9-year old!

Then one day, you'll make an intelligent, thoughtful post in the forums, or ask a question in the Q&A---and not get ridiculed! Much.

Now it's time to purchase yet another case of boosters, to fill out your set with the latest release (it's a collectible game after all). You'll get up in the middle of the night to hunt Ebay for a cheap King Tiger, or those half-dozen SS Panzergrenadiers that you still need. You'll start selling crack to support your AAM habit. The local game store will have a chair reserved in your name at the gaming table.

And THEN, you'll truly be.....One Of Us!

[Photoner Hawkwind]

I'd suggest A&A miniatures over A&A as there are many strategic WWII games that are better done. A&A is too much like Risk in WWII. The miniatures are more in depth.

Then again if your looking for a light WWII strategy game like Risk then either A&A or Eagle Games Attack are then a good fit for you.

[Hiro]

The Boardgame is definitely better if you have 4-6 hours to play and a couple of friends. If you only have a couple of hours I would play minis. Overall you will get more for your buck out of the boardgame.

[polish_horsy]

the boardgame will cost you 40 bucks for the whole game. the mini's will cost you one thousand. did that help?

[Hammerman80]

Ok, Ive decided that I want to buy the board game. All I need to know now is, which version do I buy? I am buying the Revised, unless the older one is better. Should I buy D-Day, Europe, or Pacific? Time is not an issue, any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Herbavida]

Buy the revised, if you really like it get Pacific and then Europe. Get the revised rather than the old one unless you can pick it up for cheap. I have not played D-Day so I cannot comment.

[capchris]

the boardgame will cost you 40 bucks for the whole game. the mini's will cost you one thousand. did that help?

How true, how true.

And with the boardgame, you can usually count on the other guy to have a copy. This is especially important at game conventions, even if you do own the game (after all, you do have to play it solo a few dozen times to 'understand' the dynamics). Why lug your A&A "Battles of the Burmese Theater" set with the seven pounds of 3rd-party bonus units around, when the only other guy who'll play it with you brought his?

But with AAM, you carry everything you own, and only you get to use it! (I'll lend my opponent my 'destroyed' markers, if he runs out.) You have to buy stuff that duplicates you opponents set, even if you play historical Axis vs. Allies. And cough up $200 every 3 months for the new set (I can out-afford you; I'm King of the flamethrowing Flamingo tank army)!

Wait. This sounds like you should only play regular A&A. That's not what I meant! (......thinking of......great.....excuse.....for....AAM) Aha! You can TURN THE TURRETS of the AAM minis! Try that with your tank-like A&A unit blob!

[komichido]

I have to say I am disappointed in your choice to go with the boardgame. But than again I do like...in some awful B-Movie way to torture myself. Yes I love collecting this plastic crack, repainting it, modding it, reading forums and rules over, and over, and over, and over, and......er.....you get it. I love having my wife say 'are you ever going to grow up' I love hunting down that special piece I need to play a scenario posted....ok th 7 pieces I need to play it. I love the helpless feeling of pure unadulterated addiction....I can not resist...I HAVE become assimilated. But than again I am a freak.

You are missing so much my friend!

Come to the dark side....comon'

Komi :D

[Hammerman80]

I have to say I am disappointed in your choice to go with the boardgame. But than again I do like...in some awful B-Movie way to torture myself. Yes I love collecting this plastic crack, repainting it, modding it, reading forums and rules over, and over, and over, and over, and......er.....you get it. I love having my wife say 'are you ever going to grow up' I love hunting down that special piece I need to play a scenario posted....ok th 7 pieces I need to play it. I love the helpless feeling of pure unadulterated addiction....I can not resist...I HAVE become assimilated. But than again I am a freak.

You are missing so much my friend!

Come to the dark side....comon'

Komi :D

My biggest concern at the moment is money. I dont have alot of it, er, at least not to spend on games. If A&A board game dosent work out, Ill sell it to Bookmans and pick up the minis.

[Colonel_Coo]

Ok, Ive decided that I want to buy the board game. All I need to know now is, which version do I buy? I am buying the Revised, unless the older one is better. Should I buy D-Day, Europe, or Pacific? Time is not an issue, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Don't buy the older version. It is very UNFAIR in the design. You may not think so until you play against someone who knows what they're doing.

The newer design is best.

[Gonash]

If you got a great opponent of A&A board he will probably already own the board game and so you dont need it !

Take your 40 $ and go grad that lucky booster :) !

If you got a Rare King Tiger and uncommon Panzer III, pak 40, archer sell the King Tiger and buy more booster and sell the rhino and by another one and sell the IS-2 etc.... always keep all the uncommon and common stuff, you will get a full army in no time for just the price of one booster :D !

That tactic wont work if you got a Romanian LT-35 and Te-Ke, Ka-Mi, Flamingo in your first booster and a 7 TPdw in the second in that case try to sell all the common and the uncommon to get a few $ back and try to find someone who sell single of chinese officer and riflemen so you might get a 50 points army :eek: !

[fifleche]

Board game: A truly immersing economics & strategic game, where your plan may well take hours to come to fruition. In 15 years I managed to get perhaps 6 games under my belt, all versions included (including two solo games, how sad).

Miniature game: A light & quick tactical game, where your best-laid plan changes heads over heels in a matter of a half-hour. In 15 days I managed to get perhaps 6 games under my belt (including two games with my girlfriend).

That's why I've now relegated my A&A game to gather dust in the bookshelf. Until and unless I find a few dedicated opponents, it will stay that way. AAM costs ALOT more, but even if I paid roughly 10 times more for AAM, I still find it gives me more bang for my buck, at least here, in Quebec city, where most ppl can't read 10+ pages in english...

[Cruizin2000]

Colonel Coo and capchris nailed it on the head!! Too funny!! And what's scary, is that it's true. A&AM IS plastic meth. You WILL be addicted. A&A is fun but A&AM is more fun. $45 for A&A and $800 (so far) for A&AM. I have two cases on preorder so add another $215. Well, there's the $1,000 that polish horsey mentioned. Yikes!!! Don't tell the wife. Do you add in the cost of a divorce? No...well, maybe.

Either way, they're both fun games but you'll learn the common first turn moves in A&A and then the whole game, and they time spent setting up and playing, will boil down to 1 die roll. A&AM has more options. Go with your gut...and wallet.

C2000

[Cruizin2000]

Go with A&A revised or D-Day. Pacific is pro Japan, Europe is pro Allies, and the original is good for "home grown" rules or variants. Better yet, get the minis.

C2000

[PatrickWR]

I don't think it's very ethical for you guys to brag about how much money you've sunk into this game. It's just going to scare away Hammerman, and moreover, it's simply not true. It's entirely possible to spend less than $100 per expansion set on this game and enjoy the hell out of it. I know; I've done it. Sure, you won't have a full set of every unit, but you can certainly grab a complete, playable Axis or Allies army (any faction, even Soviets!) for less than $100.

For those of you who've sunk a grand into the game, that's all well and good. I don't have that kind of money, nor would I spend it on little blobs of plastic (even though I love the game very much!). I'll do my best to stomp you in a tournament, but if I lose, it certainly won't be because I've only spent a couple hundred dollars on this game -- it'll be because my gameplay was in error and I got outmaneuvered.

Hammerman, you can assemble a thoroughly effective Axis or Allies army from online singles sellers for just a bit more than the Axis & Allies Boardgame.

[Momma's Boy]

I don't know that I can say anything new here. But, I enjoy them both. A&A is an awesome game that you'll never have to buy anymore of. It's cheep and if you regularly play, it's fun just to come up with different strategies to beat your opponant. It does take about 5-6 hours to play, but that's its only drawback.
Having raved about A&A, I love AAM probably much more. The huge variety of tactics that are available to you and your opponant, helps to keep things always interesting and fresh. The minis look great and truly bring out the "playing toy soldiers" aspect of the kid in all of us. Its only drawback is that it is EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE. If you want to begin collecting it on any kind of medium to large scale, expect to spend (like most mini games) up to hundreds and even thousands of dollars on it. It's very addicting and you will probably want extra maps, carrying cases, etc, all of which costs even more money.
In the end, if you go with AAM, you might as well throw in another $40 to buy A&A:) Or just ask for it for Christmas or B-Day-that's what I did:)

[Cruizin2000]

Who's bragging about what they spent? I'm not. This game is VERY expensive. I've already spent way too much on this game and will until it ends. He should be warned of this. It's addicting and expensive. Plain and simple. I'm just glad that this is a historical game and eventually it will come to an end - unlike Mage Knight and other fantasy games.

I buy my stuff from the online guys - it's just cheaper and easier on my wallet and my marriage. $8.50 per booster as opposed to $14.99 per booster in the hobby/game stores. Go for it Hammerman!!

C2000

[PatrickWR]

Who's bragging about what they spent? I'm not. This game is VERY expensive. I've already spent way too much on this game and will until it ends. He should be warned of this. It's addicting and expensive. Plain and simple. I'm just glad that this is a historical game and eventually it will come to an end - unlike Mage Knight and other fantasy games.

C2000, I have no quarrel with you personally, but I feel compelled to point this out for Hammerman: any situation you find yourself in where you've "spent way too much" is a personal problem, not a problem with the game itself. There are deeper issues to be dealt with if you find yourself compulsively shelling out hundreds of dollars, then grappling with the moral issues of doing so, then repeating the process all over again. Even for the competitive tournament scene, winning armies can be had for remarkably little money. The game can be enjoyed as frugally as you want, as I have pointed out -- there is no outside force compelling you to continue investing in this game.

Again, nothing personal to anyone, but I want to make this clear to Hammerman before he makes a decision.

[Cruizin2000]

I remember when I got my starter and two boosters - they came with a Tiger I, Easy 8, and the Croc. I had a BLAST with the 30 pieces I had amassed. I had already ordered a case and a half and a starter previously. After that I had the need for more. I paid full price for the two boosters and bought the first starter from my son at GENCON - he won it but wanted $20 for Magic cards - I was happy to help.

I don't have any "moral issues" when it comes to buying this stuff. But, if you get addicted to this "plastic meth" and have the need for more, you'll be buying more. I don't play in tournaments - just at home. We play only historical armies - thus another need for more pieces.

I do agree that you can have a nice force and not spend an arm and a leg for it. It all depends on what your needs are. You can play A&AM and other miniature games with the pieces.

Other than this game, I'm addicted to Heroscape - I have 2 of everything except for the Onyx Viper squads. Pound for pound, Heroscape is cheaper and has alot more plastic in it.

Bottom line, if you like this game, you'll want more pieces. It's best to have a friend buy into it as well. Thanks Kaufschtick!!

C2000

[Vulturedoodle]

Ok, I intend on buying an Axis and Allies game. But my only question is, which is better? The Axis and Allies Minature game, or the Axis and Allies board game? Also, list reasons why one is better and the other is worse, thanks.
About the only thing the two have in common is the phrase "Axis and Allies", and the fact that both derive their inspiration from World War II. Comparing them is a little like comparing Monopoly and Poker. There really isn't any appropriate comparison.

IMO, If you like playing Risk better than building scale models (tanks, airplanes, whatever), get the boardgame. Otherwise, get the miniatures game.

--SEF

[Avoll]

there both good

if you do decide to go with the board game
be sure to get the nuke expansion, and number off your board sections like a grid A1 and A2 – B1 B2 and so on, so you can submerge your subs and record there coordinates
also your going to want to order a spare set of the plastic troops that come with the game, unless there packing more into a box now
also you might need another pack of money

[capchris]

I don't mean to imply that AAM is not the right game for a new player. I am saying that because it is a collectible game, like Magic was/is, you have to spend lots of money to buy the new sets as they come out.

Unlike Magic, though, you are still allowed to use your original Set 1 units in any AAM tourney. And very unlike Magic, you can build a very competitive army from just Set 1 units. You don't get to play with all the 'new' card rules tweaks, and using the same build over and over for what should be a 'social' wargame gets sorta old. But it's possible.

The SS Panzergrenadier, a 'common' Set 1 unit, is the most cost-effective unit in the game, by far! (Sadly, AH's definition of 'common'--one SSPG in 15 boosters--is somewhat lacking.) But I imagine that if I were to dust off my ancient Magic beta-release deck I'd find it hard to put 60 cards together that aren't banned in all but old-timer's games.

[Richter von Manthofen]

Get them both. They are both excellent games.

Nothing to add.

[Redgar]

I imagine that if I were to dust off my ancient Magic beta-release deck I'd find it hard to put 60 cards together that aren't banned in all but old-timer's games.

WHAT!!! Dust it off and sell it... you'll probably make a killing (to sink back into AAM ;-))

I have spent ~$100 CDN on AAM, and have a good Set I collection, and a decent Set II collection (King Tiger, Nashorn, IS-2, and C/U). I pick my pieces very carefully, buy AAM on sale/cheap (one local store sells boosters for $13 CDN retail), and if you are serious about this game buy cases! Online if it's cheapest: ~$100 US for 12 boosters, including shipping is usually the best price. +3 boosters from FLGS, and $2-3 postage for a couple of trades, and you have the full set. (I'm not all that serious about the game: it's a fun and amusing diversion, but I know I'm not that good at it, and don't have that much money to spend, so I buy the occasional Brick and Mortar booster.)

I own the old A&A, plus A&A D-Day. I prefer D-Day: fewer players (2-3, instead of 5), much shorter (10 turn limit), and a smaller scale/faster pace. Larry Harris/AH is releasing A&A: Battle of the Bulge this year; I'd wait until that comes out before buying any.

My parents bought me A&A for X-mas one year, and it (sadly) collects dust nicely. D-Day I've got much more utility from, but AAM beats them all for playability (plus the turrets spin! Wheee!). I look at A&A as $40 US down the drain, v.s. AAM as $80 good investment.

Anyway, just my 2 ep worth,

Redgar

[Muenchausen]

Most of us, if not all of us have probably owned at least one A&A board game. I own them all in addition. To compare the board games with the minis game is like comparing apples to sirloin steaks. I like all the games, the only one I would not recommend is the original A&A game, unless you want it for collecting purposes.

For those of you who want to compare this to an addiction look at it this way. A&A/A&Are are you entry level game (drug). Europe/Pacific/D-Day is a little more hard core, your addiction has advanced. A&A minis, you've become a full blown addict. :D

[shadowhooch]

Go AAM DEFINITELY.

I originally played the boardgame; but it takes WAY too long and is hard to get people to play. And it's not that much fun playing by yourself.

I spent $40 on AAM getting a Starter pack and 2 boosters. I've been playing with that for 3 months now; getting multiple games in with multiple people. Games take only about an hour or two.
Another plus is that it actually IS fun to play against yourself. I have no idea which side will win and you just play each side to take advantage of the units they have.
The fact that there are 6 different maps and different ways to play makes replay much more fun. The boardgame got old because the first few turns were almost always the same.
Finally, you don't have to get more units if you don't want to and the game is still super fun. Though, if you like the game, and I imagine you will, you will probably buy more in the future. I just wait mainly for birthdays and Xmas; but I also buy 1 booster a month. $10 a month aint bad if you are having fun. So for less than 3 beers a month, your army can grow steadily.