Axis & Allies and Zombies is REAL

[questioneer]

@Dajokr:

This is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen or heard. Disrespectful to the memory of those who fought and mentally lazy game design.

First A&A game I won�t own.

As a long time AA fan, 110% agree.

[questioneer]

@Krieghund:

@djensen:

The upside is that a younger generation might see this game and become interested in the regular Axis & Allies game as well as WWII history.

Precisely.  This is the reason that Larry created A&A in the first place.

This may be controversial, but anything that gets new players interested is a good thing.

Company line…c’mon guys, please give me a break.

[Imperious Leader]

These muppets at WOTC basically don’t know how to make a proper History based wargame using the AA system. What they know is bullcrap and the ability to interject fantasy into reality. The result is AAZ, which is in their wheelhouse and since they are attempting to revive the Avalon Hill brand and keep AA people somewhat in the loop, this is the result. Normally, we would get something like Barbarossa AA or Civil War AA or even an enlarged 1914 game with all sorts of new units and sculpting into national specific sculpts. That is NOT in their wheelhouse. I suspect after this debacle, they may reemploy Larry to make a proper game.

[taamvan]

They lost DnD to Paizo  by being inflexible and refusing to serve their market

They lost Magic to “Pay to Win” -ism and trying to re-print an overly simplistic and inflated game system for 30 years without modding it

They lost Gencon to legal squabbling, overexpansionism, and being territorial about an all-industry convention

They took all their national tourneys and made them stand alone outside the national circuit

Fantasy Flight has basically demonstrated that if you design good games and serve your customers then the licenses and the fan base will come

They had so much money and bought every classic property but they fell victim to GE like conglomeration…games are not that suited to a monolithic TSR like management structure and there are endless examples (from TSR) about why you don’t build a game company that way.

[Imperious Leader]

Yea Tragic:The Disbursement was a sucky game.

[variance]

this is dumb

[DessertFox599]

I don’t think that many young ppl who have never played a grand strategy game will spend alot of time playing a very dumbed down version of a&a, then all the sudden be playing 1940. Especially for zombies. Its a sad excuse and a waste of time to be making a A&A zombie game. Chainsaw tanks? Maybe.  Again so many things could have been done. But its all wasted by developer, who are good at fantasy games, be making war games. Create your own brand, don’t befoul a classic one.

[Young Grasshopper]

I think it’s an insult to A&A enthusiasts, a disgrace to WW2 veterans, and a shameless way to treat a classic franchise title within their own industry.

[DessertFox599]

No truer words have ever been spoken.

[robert t]

there is a reason the company is referred to as “Has-borg”.

It consumes smaller companies and assimilates their products.

Every large company (and there aren’t that many independents)  is profit driven today. The customer’s wishes are secondary.

This product will succeed/fail as a result of a younger generations interest.
WWII is another generation removed from being well known/remembered.
Just as WWI, the Boar War, the American Civil War before have now been remembered by history enthusiasts and wargamers.

[Nowhere Man]

Well if you’re upset about the Direction this franchise is taking,  what would your reaction have been if they instead released “Axis & Allies: Napoleon”?

If this would have interested you more than Zombies,  it already happened in everything but name alone… search for “Worthington Games War and Peace”… Reviews can be found on Board Gamer Geeks website, YouTube, Amazon and I even think it was mentioned in the other games forum on this site… I’ve had it for a number of years and it really is Axis and Allies Napoleon… right down to the battle board and needing to roll some 1’s.

[robert t]

I wish they had expanded the map more though.
Caribbean and the far east were points of conflict, not to menton Egypt and the middle east and Ottoman empire.
Tilst edition Napoleon Risk has a better map.

[Nowhere Man]

@robert:

I wish they had expanded the map more though.
Caribbean and the far east were points of conflict, not to menton Egypt and the middle east and Ottoman empire.
Tilst edition Napoleon Risk has a better map.

The Napoleonic Wars of Emperor Napoleon and the French Empire from 1805 to 1815 did NOT include those areas as points of conflict… they were limited to continental Europe from Spain to Russia which is covered in the game.

The Ottoman Empire wasn’t involved directly in the Napoleonic wars, and the Egypt campaign while Napoleon was there, was during the Republic of France,  before Napoleon was ever Emperor… I find no fault with the map of the game, it’s about the Napoleonic wars between 1805 and 1815 and the map covers all of those campaigns using the Axis &Allies system.

[robert t]

Agreed, but there were some good battles in the middle east and Napoleon did take troops from there to add to his army.

There were minor battles happening all over the world between Britain and France during N’s reign though.
It would have made ships more of a factor too by making them into transports.

Now, while Bonaparte crowned himself Emperor in 1805, there were 8 years of war previous which France was engaged in.
Napoleon started as an artillery officer and worked his way up before seeing his chance to seize power.
He was not well respected and often feared during this time too. Hence the reason they sent him to Egypt.

I feel adding more map/areas, like in later A&A games, adds more options and enhances re-playability.
If sticking with Europe only, adding more areas would also work.

Just my take on it.

[Nowhere Man]

While I understand what you’re pointing out, I wholeheartedly disagree that it should have been incorporated into the game. Saying the Egypt campaign should be included simply because Napoleon was there before he came to power is like arguing WW1 battles should be included in a WW2 game because Hitler fought in WW1.

As for the “world wide” conflicts during the Napoleonic wars… sure… some skirmishes occured outside Europe, but once again,  they were so minor and so infrequent, it would be like insisting on playing on a global map for a WW1 game because there was a cruiser battle off the coast of South America… ya, it happened, but that doesn’t justify losing scope on the main theatre of action in Europe.

If you like Axis and Allies, and/or the Napoleonic wars, War & Peace does a great job of merging the two together into a fun game, focusing on the battles Emperor Napoleon fought in Europe from 1805 to 1815, covering from Spain to Russia… which was my whole point of suggesting a different version/take of Axis and Allies, even if it doesn’t have the official name tag…

I disagree that the game just isn’t worth the effort because a Frenchman stubbed his toe on an Englishman’s carriage in the Caribbean where some obscenities were said, and that means the game should have had a global map. I think the game is plenty fun focusing on the real battles in Europe… a global map would have lost a ton of focus for the gain of incredibly minor sideshows.

My 2-cents… your mileage will vary.

[Imperious Leader]

I suspect most of the territories would be carved from Canada, since Zombies originated there.

https://zombielaw.wordpress.com/2012/03/10/canadian-zombies-conscripted-soldiers/

[robert t]

well, we also gave the world Insulin, so I’d call it a draw. :-D

here are some other things we did:

https://canadaalive.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/invented-in-canada/

[Imperious Leader]

Zombies made that?

[Young Grasshopper]

Canada also produces the best Axis & Allies players in the world… my tournament in September proved that (must be all those brains we eat).

[Charles de Gaulle]

Hold on a minute there.  I take insult.  Move to a more densely populated country and you’ll find out that there are plenty of social A&A masters that don’t feel the need to express their love of the game by traveling across borders or starting zombie wars online.

It’s the quiet fans across the Americas, Europe, and Asia that generate the thousands of views this site gets.  We just provide the content.

And if you ever lose to a Canadian, you can always blame it on the fact that his cold environment deforms the dice and makes you role poorly.

The best AA gamer I ever met was born on Bermuda.
:|
really
I’m serious.