Axis & Allies 1942 2nd Edition Announced!

http://www.wizards.com/ContentResources/Wizards/Sales/Solicitations/2012_04_18_AA1942_Solicitation_en_US.pdf
Here’s the link from Wizards. It’s possible the 41 was a dummy PDF but why would they do that?

Most Holy, this isn’t the 1941 forum. Also, you can pre-order 1941 already, so it isn’t a hoax. Moving on…

@knp7765:

There is just no way they can incorporate all the rules from Global 40 into 1942 2nd Edition. The AA Guns rules would probably work okay, but you know 42 is going to have a smaller map with less spaces than Global does. So Naval and Air bases just won’t work unless you eliminate the movement bonus and just keep naval bases for repairing capital ships and air bases for scramble abilities.
I don’t think Major/Minor ICs will work with a smaller map either, not sure about this one.
The Convoy Zones would cover much more area since there would be fewer spaces. It might be too easy for some nations to bankrupt others (Germany > England, USA > Japan).

Airbases could work, it doesn’t change that much the dynamic and can benefit both sides, although… I don’t think the investment would be worth the money, even with the scramble ability. You could also have the naval repair being done by ICs, instead of having a unit just for it.
Other than fixing the mistakes with the AA42 map (borders unclear on Europe, lack of UK roundel on Iceland, UK connection with SZs around it more clear) I don’t see them changing much from the current map - it already didn’t change much from Revised other than adding Iceland and Formosa (which they could as well remove since they’re useless) and the changes on North America.

Old board is 32" x 19".

New Board is 40” x 26". Don’t know if the new board still includes the IPC chart like the first edition.

You know, that was a pretty neat idea. I liked having the IPC chart right there at the bottom of the map. It sure made the map even smaller, which kind of made the combat units look gigantic, but it was still convenient.

@djensen:

I think my favorite coloring is still the original Axis & Allies board. Clear delineation between countries. Very clear boards […]

I actually prefer the Global 1940 board for precisely the opposite reason.  Because the colour differences between the countries is more subtle, I find that the Global board lends itself better to alternate or variant game scenarios which start in different years, rather than reflecting in a hard-wired way the Axis territorial conquests of the first half of the war.

I’ve never once used an IPC chart.  Even a separate IPC chart is a waste really.  End of your turn, count what you are up/down and collect some paper money or write it down.  Why update a chart twice for every territory worth money that changes hands.  Anything that makes the usable part of a map smaller is a bad idea IMHO.

Any web site have preorders for this yet?

@djensen:

I think my favorite coloring is still the original Axis & Allies board. Clear delineation between countries. Very clear boarders and most of all, nostalgia.

You mean the one from Classic, the 1984 game, right? One thing I really liked about that game board is the little blow-up boxes along the edges. That made things much easier, especially for the capital territories. I would put the IC, AA gun and Bombers in the blow-up box and all the infantry, tanks and fighters on the actual territory.

It’s a great way to “hide” defense for UK & Germany. We always put everything in the territory except the planes.

@djensen:

I think my favorite coloring is still the original Axis & Allies board. Clear delineation between countries. Very clear boarders and most of all, nostalgia.

Agreed.  My game Europe at War I decided to use the same stule of colouring for ease of use.  The original is the most player friendly.  (Battle of the Bulge - even though I like it - is the most player unfriendly map I have seen from them)

@jim010:

Agreed.  My game Europe at War I decided to use the same stule of colouring for ease of use.  The original is the most player friendly.  (Battle of the Bulge - even though I like it - is the most player unfriendly map I have seen from them)

Bulge isn’t very aesthetical but I think that is due to more to the hex system, still it could use some colour but then again the battle was fought in the middle of winter…

But Spring 1942 1st Edition has the worst board of the games I own. Size, everything seems to be crammed into it (IPC chart) and the borders in Europe aren’t very clear.