Global or Anniversary for better 6 player game?

[Warhawk77]

I have a group of guys that are wanting to play Axis & Allies but not sure which edition to break out. We have a mix of player experience two never played, two with less than 3 games and two with around 10 games. All the games have been a mix of A&A games.

At first I was thinking I need to buy A&A 1940 Europe so we can play Global(already own pacific) but then I remembered Anniversary will play with 6 players. Global would give me a reason to buy another game but it will also add Anzac and France to the mix and while not major factors it would make things a little more complicated for those players. Where Anniversary would make things more simple for all the players with only the USA controlling china also, plus rules feel a little easier for new players.

Really leaning toward playing Anniversary but buying 1940 Europe if we start playing more. What do you all think?

I’m also thinking I will play as Italy because they feel like the slowest and I think it would be fun to see if I can take over Africa.

[CWO Marc]

Given that your players are a mixed group with different levels of experience at various other A&A games, I think your best option would be a two-part strategy: start with Anniversary, play a few games to get everyone up to speed, then make the jump to Global. In terms of size and complexity, Anniversary is nicely positioned between the 1942 game and the Global 1940 game, so it’s a good tool for transitioning from the former to the latter. Jumping straight into the deep end of the pool might be less comfortable for the less-experienced players in the group; ideally, you want to set up a situation where the whole gang gets into Global with more or less the same level of skill and enthusiasm, so that nobody feels like an odd man out.

[taamvan]

@Warhawk77

Even though I haven’t played AA50, I agree with Marc. The tournament game of AA50 is 4-5 hours, whereas G42 is 7-9 hours.

We worked our way up to Global play after ~10runs of each board individually…setup, questions and uncertainties make the first few games drag. However, once we played often and most of the rules were hashed out, we typically assume Global play and rarely play anything else. In that sense Global may focus everyone on playing the “big kahuna” whenever it can be done, and other lesser versions of the game are laid aside.

At this point, I’d actually prefer to play AA50 or AAZ, as the Global games run from 1000h-2000h on Saturdays and that is my prime exercise and son time!

You do have a good idea about playing a lesser team, as the most experienced player you can advise and observe all players, to ensure they everyone is on the same page and is applying the rules correctly. However, it is one issue that even Global really only has 5 seats (US UK RUS GER JAPAN) because the other smaller teams don’t provide enough engagement for an experienced player across a whole day. In that case, we usually break into 2 (or more boards) based on how many players show up—that creates the opposite dilemma as with 3 players, one player is left with an entire side (which is 90% engagement and focus for 10 hours…almost too much)

Short version; Play AA50 three times first–then right when things are getting familiar with that, blow their minds and head straight for Global 40.

[Warhawk77]

Thanks for the feed back guys. I think I will do the AA50 game for our first few games then move up if others are wanting to.

We just need to decide if we are doing 41 or 42 start.

[Striker]

42 is closer to even balance out OOB, and debatably a little quicker. It may be worth looking at that for the first game and try the more unique(compared standard games) 1941 scenario after.