Having read the comments on this thread, I have a few thoughts.
Having Pakistan on the map in a WWII game would put me off a bit, too. It would be sort of like having a game on the Civil War and having the states of Oklahoma and Nebraska on it. It is annoying – but neither situation involves an area that is likely to see much game play.
Having all the units, Allies AND Axis, be German would give me considerable pause as well. This seems like an unfortunate choice to me; I would have thought it would be better to go with more generic units like in the original game – or default to US if nothing else. I realize this is rather nitpicky to some, but it would bug me. On the other hand, I’m assuming that most, if not everyone, who is a potential buyer of this game has other games with more appropriate units that they could sub in. Still, I think this is a legitimate gripe, and one that the creator should have considered before production.
As to the other gripes – really, has anyone ever produced a game that didn’t raise objections from people about something that was in the game, be it a rule, the map, a component, etc.? I’m not trying to start a fight or anything – personally, I have pretty high standards myself for things I’m going to spend money for. But ultimately, isn’t the question of whether or not it’s a good game the most important thing? From what I’ve read about The Wargame, it seems that just about everyone agrees that it’s a good game, with good rules and a lot of fun.
Here’s a test – which game has a more accurate map – Axis & Allies or The Wargame? Axis & Allies? OK. Now, which game is a better GAME – Axis & Allies or The Wargame? I’m guessing most people here would say that The Wargame is better. If The Wargame is the better game, does it really matter if there’s a minor glitch or 2 on the map? Another way to look at it is this – which of the two games are you most likely to want to play?
I have Axis & Allies and Axis & Allies Revised at home. I played A&A for years back in the 80’s when the Milton Bradley edition came out, and got a lot of enjoyment out of it. I’m not for a moment saying that A&A isn’t a good game. But after buying and playing WWII: The Struggle it’s unlikely that I’ll ever play A&A again. Not because A&A isn’t a good game, but because The Struggle is a better one, and I’d rather spend my gaming time playing it.
I think everyone who likes the A&A-style games and is interested in a more complex game should buy The Wargame if they can afford it, and if they think they’ll get enough play out of it to justify the cost. My reasoning for this is quite simple.
I think it’s extremely unlikely that you will ever see a major game company produce an “Axis & Allies On Steroids” kind of game.
The problem is that such a game is going to have a limited appeal. Sure, wargamers are always at least interested in a game that takes an existing game system to the next level. But I’d wager that isn’t the attitude of the average Joe who has the game. How many people who own A&A are going to want to go out and buy a bigger and better version of a game they already own? My guess is not very many – I’d say a very optimistic figure would be 10%. That kind of number isn’t enough for an established company to take a chance on. I suspect that companies that are pitched that sort of idea would say “There’s already a game like that in the market – Axis & Allies.” I also wonder if the failure of Eagle Games might discourage efforts of this sort.
The point is, if we want “bigger and better” designs they’re going to be games like The Wargame and WWII: The Struggle – games that are the dream of a guy like us who has the creativity and determination to put an idea together and see it all the way through to completion. They’re going to be labors of love that are developed in the basements of guys like this, not creations motivated in the interest of pure profit in the offices of a company like WotC. Because of this, I think we should do all we can to support these sorts of efforts. It rewards them for their efforts, and encourages them and others to create more games – which also is to the benefit of us all.
