Why I am Excited About Axis & Allies 1941

I am super excited! I love me a game of Axis and Allies, but a weeklong game is to long even for me. I like them around the 8 hour mark at most. A 1-3 hour game sounds perfect! Plus, with such a “short” play time, I can finally convicne all my lame friends who don’t play already to play.

And then the game just looks fun. I’v been going crazy thinking of awesome random things to pull off! Next Stop, Japanese invasion of Panama!!!

I will toss in a vote for the NOT excited crowd. (Just to be a downer :))

Maybe If I moved to a new city and couldnt find ANYONE to play AA with, this would be a good way to get them warmed up. But frankly I think the old MB edition or even a good game of RISK would do that just as well.

I sincerley hope that this becomes the most played edition of Axis and Allies because it will spawn a new generation of players, some of whom will graduate to the upper ranks of players. But you can probabaly count me out of them. I have consistently had more and more fun with each sucessive edition of the global game MB, Revised, Anniversary, 1942, and now 1940 (I actually see the last three as the TRUE 1940, 1941 and 1942 editions) partly because they have each added new and interesting aspects to the game and especially because each edition has managed to add evermore historical aspects to the game steering it more toward the realistic restraints faced in the actual conflict. (As least, more than the game before.)

So for me, this edition is really a step backwards (my playgorup can manage a 1942 game in a day and other versions I just play online). I guess for me it just doesn’t seem like that much fun. It’s like asking a chess player to buy a brand new checkers set with new sculpts for black AND red! Whoo hoo! Sure checkers might be fun but you’re probbaly going to be frustrated by the lack of twists and turns it will take after repeated play.

…unless of course that Jap invasion of Panama turns out to be a bigtime game-changer. ;)

Like I said, I really, really hope this game gets played by a lot of people, but that all depends on how WOC markets the game, which will take a lot of cash that they probably don’t have. And, just like chekers, we might find that a lot of these new players happen to be the age of our kids.

I am glad for the simpler version because I hope my younger children will get into it for that reason.  Only my oldest son will play G40, but it is too long and too complicated for my other sons.  I am thinking that they would play 41 and then as they understand the game they may be drawn to the more complex version.  G40 is the tops for me - fantastic and worth the time in my opinion.  But I play few games because we try and do things that all the family can be a part of.

In this way I share Canuck’s hopes that 41 spawns a new generation of players that graduate upwards to G40.

I am guessing that of all new people that are talked into playing, roughly half might go on to keep playing A&A. Here are my predictions:
25% will love the game and gradually want to get into more complex versions like 1942 and even Global 1940.
25% will like the game but only want to stick with 1941 because of it’s simplicity.
25% will not care for the game for a variety of reasons: don’t like the historical aspect, DO like the historical aspect but don’t like when it becomes ahistorical (Axis trouncing the Allies), or perhaps they just like different types of board gaming.
25% will not like it at all and probably only played due to badgering by one of us A&A fanatics. These people will end up playing one time and then go running back to their gameboys, play stations, online games or whatever else they are into.

So, we may yet get some new recruits for the A&A army.

It will become the best board game in the world eventually, if it isn’t already.

having a stream lined version after the massive global/europe and pacific games is a smart move but im actually afraid they haven’t done enough to cut down on the play time since from the sounds of it this will still be a 2+ to 4hr game.

I think they should have really looked at something like 1812 the invasion of canada to see how you can stream line something but still keep the theme/personality of the conflict.

I think they should have really looked at something like 1812 the invasion of canada to see how you can stream line something but still keep the theme/personality of the conflict.

So long as the white-house gets burned down, I’m game.

@Gargantua:

I think they should have really looked at something like 1812 the invasion of canada to see how you can stream line something but still keep the theme/personality of the conflict.

So long as the white-house gets burned down, I’m game.

ironically neither the columbia games or academy games version of the war involved that territory .

@Azrael:

@Gargantua:

I think they should have really looked at something like 1812 the invasion of canada to see how you can stream line something but still keep the theme/personality of the conflict.

So long as the white-house gets burned down, I’m game.

ironically neither the columbia games or academy games version of the war involved that territory .

Curious if either of those games were designed by Canadians or Brits. Surely if they were there would be a DC and a token for a flaming White House.

As to 41. My hard core group plays, at best, twice a month. I’m hoping to to play at least once a week with my kid with this new game.

@Most:

@Azrael:

@Gargantua:

I think they should have really looked at something like 1812 the invasion of canada to see how you can stream line something but still keep the theme/personality of the conflict.

So long as the white-house gets burned down, I’m game.

ironically neither the columbia games or academy games version of the war involved that territory .

Curious if either of those games were designed by Canadians or Brits. Surely if they were there would be a DC and a token for a flaming White House.

As to 41. My hard core group plays, at best, twice a month. I’m hoping to to play at least once a week with my kid with this new game.

academy games one is designed by canadians, columbia games has at least 1 american but gamma 2 games the original was a canadian company.

Having played both they play in less then 2 hours and the columbia games one can be finished in as quick as 30 minutes if the game goes sour for another player.  The key is that they are quick to set up and each tiny move is a month and after each year/winter you check for Victory points/conditions to declare a winner, I don’t know if that is possible with axis and allies/ww2 but I think they should have tinkered with the formula more to lower the playing time because 3hours on the short end is still a long time.