@robert:
So, with G40 2nd ed., you’re fine with WOTC releasing a product while actively working on a 2nd ed. at the same time?
New sculpts take time to create, proof and sign off on.
P40 was 2009, E40 was 2010.
G40 2nd Ed. was released in 2012. A two-year gap. The only real differences besides minor cosmetic changes to the map (correct me if I’m wrong) are the use of the Alpha 3 setup/rules as an attempt to balance the horrible mess (balance-wise) that was the 1st edition. The Alpha 3 rules were basically over-glorified house rules crafted by the community over the years with Larry’s blessing, if you recall.
So, like I said, G40 2nd Edition is nothing you can’t play by house-ruling 1st edition, which is exactly what I do, since there’s no point in my owning both 1st edition and 2nd edition.
@robert:
WOTC would have to have been working on this while getting 1st ed. out the door.
That’s incorrect, based on what I explained above (AFIK Wizards had nothing to do with the Alpha 3 rules beyond Larry’s input). I doubt that G40SE took very long to cook up, seeing as most of the components are identical or nearly identical to 1st edition. If anyone has insider info regarding what went on at Wizard’s from 2009-2012 feel free to correct me.
@robert:
As for house ruling, why do I have to? I just paid $200 for G40.
You don’t. No one’s holding a gun to your head and forcing you to use the Alpha 3 rules (or the balanced mod, for that matter). It’s just for the sake of game balance. If money’s an issue just play TripleA like most people. If you just want the sculpts just buy them for cheap off HBG.
@robert:
1942.2 was again released too soon after Spring 1942. Both games existed at the same time in different stages of being finished.
WOTC used people as play testers and had them pay for the privilege.
I agree with the release dates being too close (it over-saturated the market and is probably a main reason why both versions of 42 aren’t as well-regarded as the rest of the franchise). It also didn’t help that the name “1942 2nd Edition” was completely and totally misleading, as 422E has almost nothing to do with 42, aside from there only being 5 playable countries and there not being NOs.
I don’t see any grand conspiracy about 42 being a “test run” for 42SE, though. 42 was just a lazy copy/paste of revised using AA50’s map design, rules, and units. It probably took WOTC about 3 months to finish soup to nuts, and as a result, it’s probably the worst version of A&A barring 1941. It’s not that the rules or gameplay are bad, the board is just hideously small/cramped and the physical components were atrocious (IIRC it was the start of the whole “no paper money, no battle board” cost-cutting fiasco that’s plagued the franchise in recent years).
42SE, while an unbalanced mess (and still having awful physical components, for the most part), is a true successor to Revised/AA50 in terms of map size/scale, and a good way to ramp new players up to G40.
I know I’m coming off like some sort of drone for Wizards, but I’m not (they pushed out way too many A&A products in too short a span of time between 2009-2014, some of them good, like AA50, G40 and 42SE, and the rest ranging from okay to terrible).
As for Zombies (not responding to robert t, just a general note for the thread):
I understand the visceral hatred for the concept of zombies removing any semblance of historical accuracy or “wargame tradition” from A&A, but what’s stopping us, as a community, from house-ruling out the Zombies and enjoying the rest of the game? The A&A community took G40 from OOB to Balanced Mod and has made bids for practically every game in the series, I doubt that a few zombies are too much to handle.
