Advice for newbie, Please!

[canoehead]

I’m coming from a Risk background (and I realize there is no comparison with AA).  I have absolutely no AA experience and I don’t know anyone who plays AA.  I’ve been aware of the franchise for some time and wanted to take the plunge for the more in-depth experience.  I purchased 1941 and have read through the rules and have read a lot of '41 related posts. I’ll be playing with my sons until we find more players in our area.
My first read through of the rules was overwhelming but after reading a number of posts here, I’m starting to feel a bit more prepared. I’m looking for advice from experienced players; given my profile so far, what is your best advice for someone like myself to have a successful and enjoyable start to my AA career?

[ABWorsham4]

Welcome to this forum.

[DarthShizNit]

Well to start off with you should probably play the game  :-D!!! Consult the rule book often during your first playthrough, and anything that doesn’t make too much sense just remember it and play on, but then come ask us here on the forums latter.

[1Bean432]

pro tip - play as the Axis.

In all seriousness though, you might need to give the Allied players some extra units. The allies in this game are seriously disadvantaged.

[DarthShizNit]

definitely use the alternative setup given in this thread (http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=28759.0) if you want a remotely balanced game lol.

[WILD BILL]

This game was developed to introduce new players to the Axis & Allies world. The first game will be trial and error, but muddle through it best you can. The first thing to note is the turn order for each power (page#6 of the Rule book), and how much income they start with (USA starts with 17 IPCs by the way, not the 15 IPCs the book says). I would suggest that you use some sort of paper money (maybe from Monopoly), or poker chips to distribute the starting income for each power (it is easier for first time players). Each power has several phases to play through in his turn, just follow them. Page #10 of the rule book has the turn order (power that goes first and so on), and the phases that each of those powers go through per turn. It also has a chart of the unit stats (cost, move, attack & defense values).

1. Purchase units Phase
   Here is where you use your starting income to buy units that you will place at the end of your turn. Familiarize yourself with the costs of units, and there uses. As the game(s) go on you will figure out which units to buy. Heads up, powers like Germany or Russia might buy mostly ground units, but England, USA, or Japan might buy some naval units or transports to get where they need to be.

2. Combat move Phase
   Here is where you move units to lay out your attacks. You will generally be setting up multiple attacks at the same time. Each unit has a movement range that you will need to know (like inf move one space, tanks move two sea units move two etc….) Air units are a bit different, because they move in this phase and also must land safely later with-in their movement range (in the non combat move phase). Read the air units part carefully, and also how fighters work with aircraft carriers.

3. Combat Phase
   Here is where the fun starts (dice start to roll), as the attacker you determine the order of your attacks. You must complete each individual attack before going to the next. At this time you will need to know the attack and defense value for each unit (dice roll for a hit). It is also worth noting that a units attack and defense values may differ (like infantry attack at 1, but defend at 2). See the reference chart on page 12, or use the battle strip. Keep in mind that when a unit says it has an attack value of 3 (like a tank), it is that number or less so if it rolls a 1,2, or 3 you get a hit. You will normally roll units of the same value together.

Example:
Say you are Germany attacking Russia.
Germany attacks with 3 inf (roll three-1’s), 1 tank and 2 fighters (roll three-3’s). Tanks and fighter both attack at 3 or less so roll them together.
Russians defends with 2 inf (roll two 2’s), 1 tank (roll one 3), and 1 fighter (roll one 4).

The attacker will roll first, and the defender assigns the hits (move units off battle strip, or just note it in your head). Then the defender will roll his dice (including the units that took a hit). The attacker then chooses his casualties and this round of battle is over, so both sides remove causalities (units removed from play). If there was no winner yet, the attacker decides to continue the battle (repeat above step with surviving units), or retreat (everything retreats together to the same territory form which at least one unit came from). PS in order to take a territory (collect its IPC value) the attacker must have a ground unit survive the battle.

4. Non Combat Move Phase
   In this phase you can move any ground, sea or air unit that didn’t move in the combat move phase. So use this time to bring in reinforcements or move units in the direction you need them to go (to the front). In this phase ground units can only move through friendly territories (yours or one of your allies) including territories you just took this turn. You will also need to move (safely land) any air units that participated in the combats. Note that air units can’t stay in a territory that you just took, nor can they stay at sea with out a carrier. Tip,you can however leave a fighter at sea if you bought a carrier that will be mobilized in that sea zone later in your turn.

5. Mobilize Units Phase
   Now is when you place the units you purchased earlier in your turn. New units get placed in territories you have controlled since the beginning of your turn that you have an industrial complex (IC)). Sea units get placed in the sea zone next to your industrial complex. Fighters can be placed on your carriers in sea zones next to your IC as well. Hopefully you made purchases that will help you on your next turn.

6. Collect income Phase
   Now is when you get paid so you can purchase units on your next turn. You count up the IPC value of all the territories you are in control of. These would include territories you started the game with and still control, as well as any gains you made during this turn. If its Germany’s 1st turn its pretty easy. I start with 12 IPCs in territory value (didn’t lose any territories), I gained a couple territories from Russia worth a total of 3 IPCs so I now collect 15 IPCs (to use on my next turn). By the way if you didn’t spend all your starting income at the beginning of your turn (it happens), you would just roll it into your bank. So say in addition to the above scenario you saved 1 IPC (only spent 11 IPCs of your 12 IPCs starting income), you now would have 16 IPCs for the next turn.

I personally don’t like to use the income tracking charts provided. We just add things up at the end of each players turn to determine a powers income. It seems much easier and like I said before paper money, or poker chips also helps new players a lot (should have been provided).

As far as strats, I’ll just say that it is generally in the best interest for the Axis to be aggressive, but they  must be smart and not lose valuable units early due to counter attacks (protect your air and tanks with many infantry). The Axis have more starting units, but less over all income to start with. They need to close that gap ASAP by taking territories from the Allies. The Axis should also look to destroy as much Allied fleet as possible from the get go (UK ships are always an early target). Time is normally on the Allies side, so anything they can do to slow down or delay the Axis assaults should be looked at. Early in the game the Allies will generally pull units away from the front to preserve them for later use when possible looking for opportunities to pounce. A typical Allied strat would be for the UK and US to build war ships and transports in the Atlantic and safely merge them together (they can’t attack at the same time, but they will defend as one fleet). This will allow them to threaten the German held European coast line, and put boots on the ground.

Anyway, there is a lot more stuff involved, but it will come as you play. Hope this helps and good gaming

WB

[CWO Marc]

@canoehead:

I’m coming from a Risk background (and I realize there is no comparison with AA). […] given my profile so far, what is your best advice for someone like myself to have a successful and enjoyable start to my AA career?

Welcome to the world of A&A!  One thing that may help you get a conceptual handle on A&A is to keep in mind that, when you strip away most of the details, A&A and Risk do in fact have a fundamental resemblance.  A&A is powered by a “four-stroke engine” whose cycle can be described as follows:

• Territory generates income

• Income buys units

• Units fight battles

• Battles win territory

From what I can remember of Risk (it’s been ages since I’ve played it), it operates using a similar mechanic – though as I recall Risk doesn’t actually use money, and therefore Risk’s version of the first two steps I’ve listed above takes the form of a single “territory provides units” step.  So keeping this resemblance in mind as you play A&A could be helpful, both in terms of giving you a parallel with a game you already know and of helping you keep track of which phase of the A&A game you’re in at any particular moment.