The New Sculpts…

[lozmoid]

Well, knp7765… the line that I find intriguing is this one:

There’s even an all-new combat unit: the Antiaircraft Artillery!

I mean, I don’t know about you but I think we could be looking at an all-new combat unit with its own unique stats and abilities. At least, that’s what I’ve gathered.

Perhaps Artillery and AA Guns get combined into one unit now?

[knp7765]

Hey Lozmoid,
I don’t think they will combine artillery and AA guns. Two of the new sculpts mentioned were UK and German artilliery pieces. I think you were right in the first place, that we are getting a whole new unit with it’s own unique values. If that is the case, then they may well be nation specific as well. If they decide to transfer the Alpha+3.9 AA gun rules over to these new games, then countries will be able to buy many AA guns and have them all in one place for maximum effect. Also, since AA guns get destroyed when an enemy captures that territory, they don’t need to be the neutral grey color anymore, unlike ICs that can still be captured.

[lozmoid]

I hear you loud and clear, my friend. Yes it follows that they would incorporate the new AA Gun rules into this version (and the new 1941 game?). So I wonder what this new ‘Antiaircraft Artillery’ unit will do? I agree that they will be nation-specific mould/sculpt and colour. I am highly anticipating this game, and if it’s cheap enough, I’ll definitely pick up a copy.

[Guest]

When there was talk of a 1941 game with cool new sculpts I thought “Hmmm maybe I’ll buy it for the sculpts”.  But now it seems there may be some new sculpts in a 1941 game and some others in a “new” 1942 game.  You can bet some community college business school graduate in their marketing department dreamed that up to soak the “enfranchised” players.  Nope.  Count me out.  I won’t buy either one if they did that.

[reloader-1]

Vance…

I think it makes perfect sense. A game that retails for $20 will get 5 new sculpts, and another at a slightly higher retail gets 16 new sculpts (I don’t think they will overlap). It’s a free market, and a brilliant idea. If you want the new units, buy the games.

I really don’t see anything wrong with that. They are trying to increase sales of the 1942 version, including to players who already own it. Therefore, they need to offer something “extra” to entice those players.

If they instead followed your concept of packing ALL the new units into the new 1941 game, they would sell less total games, which means less profit, which means less likelihood of new A&A games coming out.

Again, I have no problem with the strategy.

[Guest]

Oh it makes sense alright, and I understand why they would do it.  But it shows a cynical disrespect for their fan base and a move like that would be in very poor taste.

[Yavid]

I’m thinking the old AA gun is going away. Everyone wave bye bye to the oddest piece in the game. The German AA Artillery will be the 88mm thus German would ‘need’ a new artillery piece. And 21 new scuptors would be awesome. I hope that’s 4 per nation and of course US gets the extra. Plus everyone gets the new AA Artillery.

[reloader-1]

Disrespect? Disrespect would be releasing the game without any new content.

I understand where you are coming from, and I see arguments like yours constantly (“I bought my super BMW/Mercedes and the new model has 50 more HP! How dare they!”). Every manufacturer has to differentiate their product from previous iterations, else no one will buy it. Also, it is much more likely that a person will be a repeat buyer than a brand new customer for any given product, as it is a much tougher sell to have someone buy something without any previous experience with the product.

All in all, I’m glad that we have the opportunity to buy 21 new sculpts (I don’t think the 16 and the 5 new sculpts will overlap). Whether we take advantage of that opportunity is up to us. If WotC wanted to release a super 1939 game with 200 unique new sculpts and powers, and charge $2000, I would still be happy, even though I most probably would not buy the product. Opportunities can never be a bad thing, as long as no one forces you to buy the product.

[Imperious Leader]

I think the 5 new sculpts in 1942 ARE part of the 8 unknown in 1941.

The games are being released like 1 week apart and i doubt they did anything except invest in 16 total sculpts and just include 5 of these in the other game to save money. 16 sculpts for WOTC is alot of investment for them. Their is no way the game with 16 sculpts does not include the 5 sculpts in 1942 2nd edition.

[reloader-1]

I disagree, IL. Look at the wording in both flyers - 5 “All New” sculpts would not be all new if they appeared in another game. Also, it makes financial sense NOT to put the same mix in both, so that people have an incentive to buy both.

[Guest]

If what IL guesses is correct then that will be fine (cool actually).  But to sell the 1940 games with cardboard AA guns and then release this thing expecting some of us to shell out $65 just to get real ones would be pretty crappy.  They probably have warehouses full of white AA guns leftover from classic but they are hoarding them for themselves!  (kidding)

[reloader-1]

$23 for all the AA guns and factories you need  :-D

http://www.fairplaygames.com/gamedisplay.asp?gameid=6286&Ref=Froogle

[reloader-1]

If we go by IL’s supposition that the 5 named sculpts in 1942 are the same as 5 of the unmentioned 8 sculpts, we have:

Confirmed Sculpts:

US

P-40 Warhawk

UK

AVRO Lancaster
HMS Hood
“Artillery”
“Submarine”
“Destroyer”

USSR

IS-2 Tank
“Submarine”

Germany

Tiger Tank
FW-190
He-111
"“Artillery”

Japan

Akagi Aircraft Carrier

–---------------

I find this rather unlikely, leaving two powers completely overhauled (UK & Germany) while the US, Japan, and to some extent Russia are nearly untouched. However, we shall see…

[Yavid]

IL i know you probally misspock but the games are to be released 5 weeks apart. June 19th (day after my b-day) and July 27th (x-wife’s b-day)
With the wording of both ads I think we are getting 21 new pieces plus 5 AA artillery. On the grounds that it’s not all new when it was released a month before.

[Imperious Leader]

But think of the waste of buying the first game and buying old sculpts only to have to buy another game to get 5 more new sculpts…

It seems they are making these games because inventory of parts are totally out of stock ( 1942 is close to being out of stock) , so why would WOTC invest in 10,000 new games with old sculpts if they could for a more economical strategy use the 16 new sculpts and just make two different games that use these parts?

I hope more more sculpts, but WOTC is notoriously cheap and seldom misses a trick to save a buck.

[reloader-1]

IL, remember that running parts using old molds is very cost-effective.

[General Richtofen]

@reloader-1:

If WotC wanted to release a super 1939 game with 200 unique new sculpts and powers, and charge $2000, I would still be happy,

Hell ya! 8-) anyone need a kidney?

[GoSanchez6]

I think IL is right on this. The same scultps are going to be in both of these games. That seems to be what they do. Make a bunch of pieces,throw in a map and rules and voila you have a new game. When those games run out. Call Larry for a new game with rules. Make pieces and here we go again.

[knp7765]

Just for kicks, I took a couple of comparison pics with the new pieces from 1941.
First is Tiger tanks from Table Tactics, The War Game and 1941.
Next are pieces that are common to both The War Game and 1941: 88mm Flak AA gun, Tiger Tank, He-111 Bomber, Fw-190 Fighter and Bf-109 Fighter.

It’s too bad The War Game pieces are so much bigger than A&A pieces because they look really nice.

[Lunarwolf]

knp just wanted to say i am grateful you take your time to post up pics like these. i love seeing how other pieces hold up to A&A pieces