Getting started

[losttribe04]

Hey all,

My buddies and I were wondering if we should give Mini’s a try. Just siting on the outside looking in I would say it looks a little more like a D&D game then a A&A game. If so thats fine I play both. I just had some noob questions.

1. how to get started, how many units are recommended to start? How many of each unit are recommended?

2. About how long does the game take to play? On the box of the A&A revised game it says 3 hours for a game. So I don’t think I can believe any thing Avalon Hill says about game times.

3. Where do you get maps for the game?

4. do you guys / gals like mini’s more then the other A&A games? How are they diffrent?

I know I have a lot of questions but I think you folks can handle it b/c I’m sure y’all had the same questions / concerns when you started. If you could give me the run down I would be thankful.

-LT04

[axisfan]

1)  Can purchase at local hobby store/  On-line Hero town/strikezone.com. (Many, Many More)  To start: a starter set may suffice with perhaps a booster or two. Standard game rules 100 Points, 15 units so you do not need that many.

2)  That is fairly accurate 3 hrs to start(standard game)  Maybe half that time when you get the rules down.

3)    They come in the starter set along with the rules.  You can download some as well.

4)    Different type of game .  A& A is on a global scale this is much, much smaller.  The abilities, pieces etc make it very interesting.  I feel it’s worth while.

Hope this helps

Axis Fan

[Audacity]

Wizards of the Coast have us over the barrel when we start trying to get all the pieces but if you’re happy with a few I would suggest each get a starter and 4 boosters.  You can then each supply an army and pieces for play in different nationalities.  As mentioned being able to create a variety of builds at max 15 pcs is your base capability requirement.

As a game, I enjoy it quite a bit.  I’ve been a miniature gamer for years and have developed quite an 1:72 scale system.  This however is very playable for my teenagers and my friends alike.  I will not try to add up my investment so far as I’m having fun with it.  I do buy the booters by the case (12 in a box) to save some money.  You and your friends could order a case to split.

I’ve never played the board game versions.

[losttribe04]

Other A&A games can take several games just to under stand the basics of what the units do. Then several more games to figure out why you loosing so badly. Then several more games to formulate a strategy. Then several more games to formulate a strategy that works. Do you guys think that Mini’s are that complicated?

I gather from what you guys are saying that you can’t just go to a hobby shop and say I want x of these and x of those? You just have the baseball card pack approach of buying units (aside from e-bay)

[axisfan]

I think the rules are pretty straight forward and you can get the general idea. As far as abilities of the cards go I stick with some basics and add to that.  Yes,  the baseball approach is annoying, but the game has been out long enough to get what you need/want fairly quick + you could always trade or purchase amoung the forum Agent Orange is a good one to start with.

Regards,

Axis fan

[losttribe04]

Sorry to keep bugging you mini’s vets with what must seem like remedial questions. So OK 15 units I understand would be a great start.

1 ) Whats a ball park figure as to how much that would cost?

2 ) What would a good starting line up consits of for units? I’m not even sure what kind of units there are there a site I could look at that can ID all the units and their stats?

thanks guys/gals,

-LT04

[axisfan]

The starter set should be enough maybe with 1 or 2 boosters just to see if you like the game.  all in all maybe $30.00 depends,  I’ve seen starters for $17.00

Since the pieces are random use what you get if you like the game then start stacking your preferences

Axis Fan

[losttribe04]

How many unit have you seen used in one game at a time?

Is there an index some where I can go to, to check out all the diffrent units and their stats?

[losttribe04]

D’oh! Maybe I should open my eyes and look at the board to the part where is says A&A mini’s stats.

-LT04

[Motdc]

I just go into minins myself (I’m still waiting to play my first game, my wargamming friend and I are working through Band of Brothers first to set the tone, and then we are going start playing AAM).

I started with 1 original started and one 2-player starter (I think that was in the 30 dollar range).  Not quite enough to play.  Well not exactly true as you could play with that, but not quite enough to yeild several army configurations.  That’s half the fun of the game is doing different the builds and seeing how they work.  I then picking up a combo special online where you get 2 of each booster (so that 10) for 59 dollars.  That was enough to add some variety.  Finally, you can pick up whole sets of commons and uncommons on eBay for 5 dollars to fill out the core of your forces. Â

So long story short, if you are splitting everything with one or two people you can play for what a regulare board-game costs.  If you are footing it yourself, then your looking at 100 dollars to get going well.  (But they are like potato chips…“I bet you can’t buy just one”…I picked up a second of those booster combos  :-D )

Mot

[losttribe04]

Yeah I just looked at the list of units and stats. There are 48 diffrent units listed!!!

Band of Brothers is bad a**! My wife even liked it. Its about as cheep as getting started in AAM.

What would you guys consider as good fodder units and good auxiliary units? I mean there are a lot to choose from I don’t want to get stuck buying a legion of the crappy INF that don’t have rifles and have to attack with knifes. (I hope there isn’t a unit like that but you get my point.) And what would be a good auxiliary units be by that I mean like what a fighter is to the A&A games its versatile gets more blood for the buck and if you do your move correctly won’t get killed.

And yet another question. How do you deploy your troops in AAM? Do they all start on the board like in the other A&A games, or do you leave a bit of mystery flanting your versatility of units waiting to be called at a whim?

-LT04

[dezrtfish]

Well, if your like me you’ll be hooked and spend more money than you wanted to.  As an example I have 16 M4A1 Shermans, I don’t even like them very much…

Anyway, afew of the younger guys on budgets I’ve seen just specialize in a specific country ie Germany or West Europe allies.  Then trade off units to build a good specific army.

You’lll find with builds it’s about what units work good together as well as balencing cost vs effectiveness.

for example a Tiger I is 63 points and 11 Mosin Nagants are 63 points.  with proper tactic either one could come out on top, but say there is very little cover, the Mosins may be in a lot of trouble conversly in the forest that Tiger is dog food.

So… what I am saying is get a starter pack and some boosters and study the cards, I think this is a game that is varried enough to not really have a clear cut single winning strat.

Good luck and have fun…

[losttribe04]

OK here’s another NOOB question what are points and how do they work?

-LT04

[dezrtfish]

Each unit has a point value.  Basicly it’s the value of the unit.  Big Tanks are worth more points than little infantry.

BTW there are 48 units in set 1, there are 5 sets I think a total of 228 pieces, (some pieces are obstacles and not actual units) :)

[losttribe04]

OK so you determin a magic number to start then you can add as many units as you want as long as you don’t go over that number?

I keep asking all these questions b/c I know how addicting all A&A games are. I want to be 100% sure at least one of my buddies invests into AAM b/c I hate to have $100 plus invested and be all dressed up and no place to go.

-LT04

[dezrtfish]

That’s the basic idea, in the standard rules they use a 100 pt game.  That is a good starting point, bu tif yo uwant to get into using more of the big point units you eventualy move up to the 200, 300 or more point games.

[Motdc]

Damn, I wish we had some AAM games posted on here so you could review them (we’ve been working on that in another thread).  I think everyone would be hooked once they saw a game in action.  Heck, I’d like to review some real games before taking on my friend, though at least he doesn’t know what he is doing either!

Mot

[dezrtfish]

I personaly am a little thick some times, so it took me a good 4 or 5 games to get the rules strait.  There is still a bit of ambiguaty at times, I guess because I tend to think out of the box.  But as long as you and your friend(s) are amicable it’s all good.

[losttribe04]

OK I bought a “two-player starter set” and a “booster pack” this morning. I am less ready to play the game now from  reading the directions then I was before I bought them. HELP

1 ) Can an allied army have soldiers from any allied country fight for one player? Or are you supposed to keep like soldiers with like soldiers (i.e. Russians with Russians and so on)

2 ) How the hell do you get started!? I got the maps the starter box came with do you lay them down side by side, or do you only use one at a time?

3 ) Do you both place your units at the beginning?

4 ) Does cost = points?

5 ) Any tips for getting your maps to lay flat? I think I’m going to stack my encyclopedia set on them to keep them from wanting to fold back up. Didn’t know if you guys / gals had better methods.

6 ) Can you mix units from set I, set II, and so on?

This game looks awesome and overwhelming all at the same time. I hope with the help of you kind strangers together we can muddle through,

-LT04

[dezrtfish]

1. That is personal preference. Some tounament games even allow mixed axis and allies on the same team.

2. Again it’s preference, the maps line up to be as large as you want.  I’ve heard of games with 20 maps or more.  Generaly the more units you use th more maps you use.  ther are a couple diferent examples of configureations in the rule book if I remember correctly.

3. Generaly in a head to head game you roll to see who places first.  if your playing defence vs offence defence generaly places first.

4. Yes

5. I folded all my map the opposite of the way they came for a few minutes and then stacked them flat under a box.

6. Definately, that’s why it is so hard to give an answer to what the best strategy is.

To start off just build 100 point or even 50 point armies and play on a small map.  You’ll catch on fast…