Subjective Complaints about AAZ (Zombies are stupid thread)

[Narvik]

@Requester45:

I totally agree with all of you, however Vann is right when he says that it’s probably to appeal to the younger crowd.

I am 50 and it appeals to me, man, so dont blame the age.

Oh, and since many of you wont buy it, I will buy 10 copies, just to support WOTC.

Yes, my way to honor and respect the veterans is to buy as many copies of A&A Zombies that I can afford, and store in my basement.

Enough

[General Veers]

This thing is just plain goofy and incongruous to me, if we’re gonna infuse some pop culture to the game I’ll add Colonel Sherman Potter as a tiptop field surgeon (before he would go on to lead the 4077 later on in Korea) who can save one American infantry per turn. Then of course Colonel Bob Hogan can wreak havoc in Western Germany from his POW camp.

[DoManMacgee]

We are talking about a game where you can win World War II as Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan. Is that not disrespectful to the people (civilians and veterans alike) who suffered as a result of their tyranny and gave their lives to wipe them off the face of the earth?

As I said before, I can understand not wanting to buy AAZ or future A&A titles from WOTC over this, but don’t tie AAZ to the games that Larry made. Larry has demonstrated his respect for the veterans of WW2 countless times over the years and it’s absurd to blame him (or his creations) for a game that he likely had nothing to do with.

[IWillNeverGrowUp]

@DouchemanMacgee:

We are talking about a game where you can win World War II as Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan. Is that not disrespectful to the people (civilians and veterans alike) who suffered as a result of their tyranny and gave their lives to wipe them off the face of the earth?

As I said before, I can understand not wanting to buy AAZ or future A&A titles from WOTC over this, but don’t tie AAZ to the games that Larry made. Larry has demonstrated his respect for the veterans of WW2 countless times over the years and it’s absurd to blame him (or his creations) for a game that he likely had nothing to do with.

Well said.

[CWO Marc]

@DouchemanMacgee:

As I said before, I can understand not wanting to buy AAZ or future A&A titles from WOTC over this, but don’t tie AAZ to the games that Larry made. Larry has demonstrated his respect for the veterans of WW2 countless times over the years and it’s absurd to blame him (or his creations) for a game that he likely had nothing to do with.

Good point.  Whatever criticisms can be aimed at AAZ, it should be kept in mind that they pertain to AAZ; they don’t retroactively disgrace all the previous A&A games that came before it (including the still-in-print ones that continue to be published and purchased and played and appreciated).  Even the Klingons, who have a cultural tradition along those lines, operate by the principle that a person’s dishonour affects his descendants – for seven generations, as I recall – but not his ancestors.

To me, the worry isn’t the idea that AAZ somehow spoils the previous A&A games; the real worry is what this new game might potentially mean for the future of the A&A franchise.  If AAZ turns out to be a one-off anomaly, I can live with that.  Even better: if AAZ turns out to be the starting point of a new cycle of A&A games being published, and those games are more conventional in nature, then I’d even be prepared to give AAZ qualified credit for being that starting point, regardless of what I might think of the game itself.  But if AAZ turns out to be the first of a whole string of wacky reconceptualizations of A&A, then that would be another story entirely.

[Imperious Leader]

zombie crap and attack

that’s a good name to use

[DoManMacgee]

@CWO:

To me, the worry isn’t the idea that AAZ somehow spoils the previous A&A games; the real worry is what this new game might potentially mean for the future of the A&A franchise.  If AAZ turns out to be a one-off anomaly, I can live with that.  Even better: if AAZ turns out to be the starting point of a new cycle of A&A games being published, and those games are more conventional in nature, then I’d even be prepared to give AAZ qualified credit for being that starting point, regardless of what I might think of the game itself.  But if AAZ turns out to be the first of a whole string of wacky reconceptualizations of A&A, then that would be another story entirely.

This is basically my stance, which is why I’ll continue to give the game the benefit of the doubt until we learn more.

However, the the low IPC incomes and small map size from the back of the box do worry me that this game might end up being nothing but…

@Imperious:

zombie crap and attack

[General 6 Stars]

@Imperious:

zombie crap and attack

that’s a good name to use

Thats my Patent lol

[GeneralHandGrenade]

I can tell you right now that I won’t be purchasing this game or making any videos of it. Ever.

I’ve already moved away from A&A recently and this is one of the main reasons why. My Grandfather fought in WW2 and had to live with his extensive injuries from the war for the rest of his life. He told us all a lot of stories from his experiences and I’m damn sure that none of them included zombies. I’m not buying any crap about equating the Axis winning the war in the game being the same as including zombies in the game. Give your head a shake. Germans, Italians, and Japanese people existed then and still do now. Playing a game where you try and see if you can change the outcome of that war theoretically is a challenge that A&A gamers have accepted to further their understanding of a monumental historical event. On the other hand, zombies don’t exist. They never have and never will. They have no place in a historical game of any kind.

That doesn’t mean that there can’t be a game set in the future that includes zombies. Fantasy games can be fun. That’s why it is so pathetic that WOTC chose to put zombies into an existing franchise of games where clearly they aren’t appropriate. How lazy can you get? How greedy can one company possibly be for trying to shove this abomination down A&A player’s throats?

They could have easily invented an board game with mechanics similar to A&A set in a post-apocalyptic world, complete with new sculpts that included conventional weapons and scored a home run with it. Instead they took the lazy way out and threw some zombie sculpts into one of the best historical board games ever made. Shame on them. Shame on any of you gullible people for buying it.

[Imperious Leader]

Grenade… When’s your next Zombie video?

[GeneralHandGrenade]

Instead of doing an unboxing I would be willing to do a box burning of the unopened game. You send me the game and I’ll take it out to my cabin and light it up.

[Imperious Leader]

I might take you up on that, i did pre order it $40 on amazon

[robert t]

A lot of sci-fi borrows from or appropriates history. This is nothing new in that sense.
From what I’ve read, the zombies don’t fight for one side so much as occupy a territory
which has seen a lot of casualties.

This is just a fantasy version of A&A not a upgrade of the core series. WOTC have been trying to cash in on A&A brand for a while. The “collectable” minis used the A&A brand and they had less to do with the game.

I really don’t understand why people are leaving because of things like this WOTC are doing.
It’s not as if they are forcing you to buy and play this game.
From what I’ve read, a lot of you have countless hours of fun playing A&A with your own house rules.
How has a new game announcement changed this?
Larry has left A&A, so unless the community comes up with a new version/rule set/map/etc, I think it is safe to say A&A is in its final edition.
This is fine too as it is a fun and great game to play with friends.

I’m just sad that the battle series didn’t take off. I really enjoy D-Day and Battle of the Bulge.
Kursk or Stalingrad would have been awesome.

[Nowhere Man]

@Col.:

Why? I understand not buying it, but why would you quit? That’s sort of like saying I’d never watch Caddy shack again because I hated Caddy shack 2

I dunno, Highlander II: The Quickening was so bad, it made me wonder why I ever liked the original Highlander movie.

[robert t]

Agreed, Highlander had such promise but was ruined by the sequels.

This movie is a must do remake IMHO.

[Requester45]

I’m glad that you are in the same boat with me GHG.

[DoManMacgee]

In my defense, I’m only planning on buying the game if it’s actually worth buying (which it likely won’t be, judging by the apparently miserable size of the map on the back of the box that was revealed a few days back).

Like I said in my previous posts, I can understand (but can’t relate to, it’s just a board game to me) people being offended by the shameless, quasi-disrespectful cash-grabby nature of the game, but I cannot for the life of me understand why you’d quit G40 (or any other edition of A&A, for that matter) over a separate game that should rise or fall on its own merits (or lack thereof).

[Rank Carcass]

I intend to buy this game.

I understand the complaints about this title. But to me it is just a board game. If you don’t like it don’t buy it. I’m buying this for a bit of variety new pieces etc. It will probably become just like the original E/P Dday Guadalcanal and just get pillaged for pieces.

I’ve already looked at the zombie rules and plan to house rule them into a type of historical plague. Similar to influenza, dysentery, spoiled rations or many others. Since this was something I have been distracted from but considering for a long time. Large casualty battle fields are likely to be a source of diseases. I just won’t use the term zombie. WW1 influenza epidemic sound familiar to anyone?

Plus my daughter isn’t interested in AnA but was interested in playing the version with the zombies… maybe this will get her interested in the franchise.

Looking for the positive rather than the ridiculous in this title. Their system may work well as an expansion for my games House Rules. At least

[Nowhere Man]

Aside from the Zombies themselves, there are no new sculpts with this game, so buying this just for pieces seems wasteful, every unit in AAZ is already available from multiple sources (except the zombies)

[Wolfshanze]

@Rank:

Plus my daughter isn’t interested in AnA but was interested in playing the version with the zombies… maybe this will get her interested in the franchise.

That’s going to be the case in my home… I’m not really interested in the zombies personally, but anything to get my kids more into daddy’s A&A is a plus with me, and I know my son, who is big into zombies, will be attracted to this angle.