New player resources?

You can try this:   http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/52059/oldschool-charts  Not sure if this is what you are looking for. It gives the steps but not an explanation. The only thing wrong with this but is easily fixed is the US starting income. You could also try this: http://files.boardgamegeek.com/file/download/4hyb4h8s4w/AnA_reference.jpg? but I think it will be the same for you. I have some in my group that forget a couple of the steps and the charts in the first link above has been helpful in remembering the steps to play.  Enjoy AA42. This is the only game, besides Revised, that I have in the AA lineup and really enjoy it.

I just reread your post and saw that you have already checked out BGG but not sure if you saw the two items that I linked.

Take, for example, the not-immediately-obvious Japanese air to Ukraine/West Russia/Caucasus trick.

I recently played a game against my friend, where I was the Axis, and I think that the above move probably won me the game. On G1 I threw pretty much all of the available ground units and fighters at the Caucasus in attempts to capture it… this turned out to be a vital move in crippling the Russian deployment options… later on in the game you only have one “front”/IC to worry about. I also moved 1 or 2 fighters to Norway to harass the various allied ships that were not yet organized into a fleet. On J1 I flew 4 fighters to the Caucasus… later on in the game these fighters are even more valuable becuase they can be used to shore up the holes in your German lines, especially when you are pushing to Moscow. Using this joint J and G strategy, I didn’t even have to devote many of my IPCs to attacking Russia as Japan.

Overall, you definently have to be agressive as the Axis right out of the gate.

@iGuitar93:

Yes I have previously played risk. I thought it was too much of a game of luck so I tried this one.

A&A is also a mixture of skill and luck, although you can use a Low Luck system that greatly diminishes the random factor built into it.

@MrMalachiCrunch:

Dan, did the Russian build of a bomber on R1 cause you not to attack Sz2 in G1 for some reason?  If so, was the reason because it could hit Norway and perhaps the german fighter would be lost as you used those troops against Kar in G1 there would have been no defense for the surviving bomber?

No, it wasn’t the bomber build that stopped the attack on z2. For other readers, here’s the situation. R1 build is 4 inf, bomber. Russia takes West Russia with 7 inf, art, tank and takes Ukraine with art, 3 tanks. For the precise move: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=19028.0
In short, I wanted a Karelia stack on G1. Germany couldn’t afford to defend Norway if I did this. I would be more afraid of surviving German planes on Norway being attacked by the UK’s potential inf, tank, 2 fighters, and bomber. Realistically, if the German planes are naked, the Allies don’t need to commit so much. Also, the German destroyer to z3 could force the UK to peal off a plane from the ground attack. Any time a Russian plane dogfights an Axis plane on fairly even odds is a good day for the Axis. I’d invite that bomber versus fighter battle.

Make sure you have the “Axis & Allies 1942” map chosen in abattlemap (from the New tab), because the “Axis & Allies Revised” map is exactly the same (with the same pieces starting), except that in Revised z63 DOES touch Western Canada, while in 1942 they have the map fade out into white so that z63 DOES NOT touch Western Canada.  In abattlemap, the 1942 version map shows a white block labeled “Frozen Perry Channel” to show that z63 does not touch.

In different versions of Axis & Allies, they sometimes had the Perry Channel open, in which case z63 touched Western Canada; and sometimes they had the Perry Channel frozen, in which case z63 did not touch Western Canada.  The Revised map/setup and the 1942 map/setup are exactly the same except for this one important detail.

Short version:
1942 = z63 does NOT touch WCan
Revised = z63 DOES touch WCan

@Hobbes:

Okrug = Russian/Soviet administrative division (like a province or a state).

Yep.  I enjoyed the history lesson when I looked up “Evenki National Okrug” a year ago.

any chance of close up photos comparing AAR and AA1942 scuplts?