Compatible Game Pieces and 3-Axis Player Variant

[dannery]

Hello all. For most of my life I’ve always thought that A&A should be a game I should get. I finally broke down and ordered a used complete copy of Spring ‘42 a few weeks ago. My buds and I have played 2 games so far, and we love it, especially playing on a 5’x3’ map.

We’ve noticed that the units get a bit scarce, especially in the later stages of the game, including the gray and red marker chips. That brings me to my first question: If I’d like to pick up a booster copy,what used versions of A&A should I keep an eye out for whose pieces are already compatible with the Spring '42 version? That goes for unit type and color. I see a lot of listings for Spring '42 on eBay, but the boxes look like the original A&A version.

My second question: Is there a good variant (i.e., play-tested and balanced) that includes Italy as a playable Axis power? I assume this would require the download of a new map. What is the most efficient way of acquiring units for Italy? Would I split my current 5-player stock into 6 groups and paint the 6th group accordingly?

Thanks for any advice!

Dan

[gtsg]

hello, you can download a map for anniversary edition wich has italy as a playable power and get units from field marshal games, there should be a link to their site on this forum. Or if your willing to pay the steep price on ebay for  it you could buy A&a anniversary or buy europe 1940 :p cheers

[dannery]

Thanks!

There’s a Craigslist ad with someone selling A&A Spring '42 for pretty cheap, but the box looks like an edition of the original version. Any idea if those units are compatible with the actual version of Spring '42?

[knp7765]

When you say “original” version, are you meaning the Milton Bradley version that came out in 1986 (often referred to here as ‘Classic’)? If you are, then the pieces will be quite different from the pieces in Spring 1942, both in shape and color. The 1986 game had common unit sculpts for all five nations just in different colors (except for infantry). Also, they didn’t have destroyers or artillery back then. As for the colors:
                    Original        Spring 1942
Russia          Dark brown  Maroon
Germany      Grey            Black
UK                Beige            Tan
Japan            Pale yellow    Burnt Orange
USA              Dark Green    Olive drab

On a side note: the Classic game (1986), Revised (2004), Spring 1942 (2009) and Spring 1942 2nd edition (2012) all begin the game in the Spring of 1942 which is after Pearl Harbor and Operation Barbarossa so all nations are at war. So, all of these games tend to be referred to as “Spring 1942”.
Pay close attention to the picture of the box. It should be easy enough to tell between Classic and Spring 1942. If they don’t have a picture, I wouldn’t mess with it.

[Hobbes]

The best way to check for piece compatibility is to check this thread: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=23386.0 -  Evolution of Axis & Allies pieces

It has images of all pieces released so far for each nation. One thing to look out for is that, starting with Spring 1942, the infantry pieces became taller and with a bigger circular base.

[dannery]

Thank you Hobbes and knp; that was exactly the info I was looking for!  I have been searching for a concise list of unit comparisons between versions and couldn’t find anything. I guess my Google foo isn’t as good as I thought it was. And thank you gtsg for directing me to the anniversary map! There’s so much information under the A&A umbrella that it can be a little tedious for a newcomer like me to sort it all out.

Cheers to you all!

Side note: I found a listing on eBay yesterday for some sculpts from 1941 for $10. I jumped at the opportunity. As far as I can tell these should be OK with Spring '42.

[knp7765]

Those 1941 sculpts will work with your Spring '42 game and will be the same in color.
However, they do have different sculpts from Spring '42. All three Allies share the same sculpts and both Axis share the same sculpts.
For example, look at the tanks: In Spring '42, USSR = T-34, Germany = Panther, UK = Matilda, Japan = Type 95 and USA = Sherman.
                                              In 1941, USSR, UK and USA = IS-2, Germany and Japan = Tiger.
Since they will be the same colors as Spring '42, you could simply ignore the differences and use them with your existing pieces. You could also use the 1941 pieces as “upgrades” to the Spring '42 pieces. It’s totally up to you. It sounds like you got them for a pretty good price.

[Ben_D]

Just a suggestion, not promoting anything.  You could go check out the Historical Board Gaming site,  they might have a few things you’re looking for.  They pretty much have everything.