HBG - Axis & Allies Parts/Accessories and Custom Piece Sets Store!

Does anyone know if the new German set will be produced in Axis minor colors? It would be cool to have Panzer IVs and Bf109 for them.
Will there be anymore Dark grey units from the first German set for the items that are out of stock?

It looks like the German pieces are all the rage right now.  I’d be buying in too if I could afford it.  Every year HBG is becoming more and more into their own, which is just awesome.  I won’t be surprised if they begin to encompass the majority of the A&A oriented market in the future.

I have a question for the community; would it be worth a person’s time to conduct a polling thread to gauge the interest in the French set?  It can be compared against other sets/pieces/projects that are on the go.  It can serve a purpose of giving HBG some market analysis on our part.  Other poll threads can be made to help HBG get an idea as to what the community wants on other things.  I look at it as this: HBG gets valuable info and can generate profit/growth to a certain extent, and we as the community can get what we want more quckly (theoretically).  Win-win, no?

@Ben_D:

It looks like the German pieces are all the rage right now.  I’d be buying in too if I could afford it.  Every year HBG is becoming more and more into their own, which is just awesome.  I won’t be surprised if they begin to encompass the majority of the A&A oriented market in the future.

I have a question for the community; would it be worth a person’s time to conduct a polling thread to gauge the interest in the French set?  It can be compared against other sets/pieces/projects that are on the go.  It can serve a purpose of giving HBG some market analysis on our part.  Other poll threads can be made to help HBG get an idea as to what the community wants on other things.  I look at it as this: HBG gets valuable info and can generate profit/growth to a certain extent, and we as the community can get what we want more quckly (theoretically).  Win-win, no?

Hey Ben, you don’t have to take a poll for the French pieces, because they are next in line to be produced, according to the newsletter HBG sends, and on its facebook page. HBG will let us know when it is time to pre-order them.

I do agree that you could start a poll to generate, interest, on the next pieces being made. Keep in mine that they are no longer selling complete sets, any more. They will be selling them by the pieces for now on.

I didn’t know if you were aware of that or not?

Polls are always cool, so I’m game. :-)

John

@knp7765:

The tanks are great.  Do you guys realize that through HBG we now have sculpts for all the German tanks used (or planned) for WW2 (excepting for Panzer 1)?

Panzer VI-2 (King Tiger) = Amerika Expansion Set

That is pretty cool knp. Didn’t realize that. Would be nice to have the Amerika pieces available for purchase individually, but I can’t fault HBG for wanting to maximize their sales.

The Germans certainly have gotten the most focus from HBG when it comes to pieces and variety. I understand that, since they had one of the cooler vehicle/kit sets of the war. It would be really nice to see that detail afforded to the Germans extended to the other Powers. I believe that is, or at least was, HBG’s intent. That vision has certainly taken strides with the US/UK/Japan, but lately I feel like we have been in limbo of the future with pieces from HBG. Clearly the factory in China is a significant problem from both a timing and quality control sense. The preferred method has moved towards 3D printing. But I for one am a little confused as to how this is all going to work out. There were a lot of pieces and sets planned for that may now not see the light of day. If these recent problems with the German set are the latest example in a trend, is the French set really all that sure? I don’t know.

HBG is a private company and has no responsibility to communicate their business plans with us. But given how much their business is, or was, shaped by this community, it sure seems like it would be in their best interest to do so. I am keeping my expectations low for the future, but am hoping for the best. They still make great stuff.

It would be nice to have nation specific infantry for the major true neutrals like Sweden, Turkey, Spain and Schwitzerland. It would make the map look so cool, and they would probably stay there all the game. I am not sure for the pro neutrals, since they got activated real fast, and a nation specific Finnish, Bulgarian or Yugoslavian infantry would be on the map not much longer than the French units, before they got swapped. But I know this units would be in use more than 5 different types of German Tanks.

Also I think that specific units for the Tech would be nice too. Like when you get Jet Fighters, you just swap all your fighters on the map with a new Jet sculpt, you even dont need to change the OOB rules, just the plastic piece on the map, and it would be so helpful. Usually after a few rounds you forget you got the Jet Tech, but with Jet pieces you wount forget, man

@Narvik:

Also I think that specific units for the Tech would be nice too. Like when you get Jet Fighters, you just swap all your fighters on the map with a new Jet sculpt, you even dont need to change the OOB rules, just the plastic piece on the map, and it would be so helpful. Usually after a few rounds you forget you got the Jet Tech, but with Jet pieces you wount forget, man

Well that’s what the jet sculpts HBG has already made are for. We already have an Me 262, P-80 and a Meteor the Kikka, right?

Got mine too, last week, and have to generally concur with the mixed feelings: quite happy that they’re finally out and give us some great new options (Pz IV, PBB, greatcoat inf, etc) but a little disappointed in the mold quality/ detail.  I actually thought the PBB was even worse than the Bismark!  The Leipzig was rather misshapen, too, but it’s so small on this scale that its a little hard to tell, really.  After the amazing near-perfection in the sculpts/ molds for the Amerika & Amerika Expansion pieces, this was a real let-down… but then we should maintain perspective: compared head-to-head with oob pieces, even the worst ones in this set aren’t bad in terms of detail; just maybe a little less… oh… “crisp” I would say, maybe partly because of the duller, less “shiny” plastic material (which is consistent with previous HBG products.)

So, overall, while I’d say that they only fall a bit short of the original/ usual HBG standards; it’s just because they fall so far short of the raised bar that was the Amerika piece set that it seems like it’s worse than it really is…

Was there something radically different in the whole production process between the Amerika set and the Germany #3 set that explains the big quality gap, though?  It does seem a little mystifying to me…

@DrLarsen:

Was there something radically different in the whole production process between the Amerika set and the Germany #3 set that explains the big quality gap, though?  It does seem a little mystifying to me…

I have a theory.  A couple of years ago, the main focus was on the new piece sets, particularly on the new 3-d modeling of the prototype sculpts for each set.  A lot of time and effort went into designing and perfecting each sculpt and I think they took a lot of pride in each and every piece.  Thus HBG demanded near perfection and would not present them to us, the customers, until they were absolutely right.
If you will remember, there were a couple of sets that came out very good, just in an odd color shade.  First was the Axis Minor set that was supposed to be in Italian Brown.  The first time they came out in too dark a shade of brown.  Second was the Russian set that was supposed to be in the same OOB color of Maroon, a dark brown with a reddish tint.  They came out more of a plain dark brown.
When each of these “mistakes” came out, Coach apologized to us profusely and sold these pieces at a very reduced cost so as to not take a total loss on the cost of them.  He immediately demanded that the factory tweak the colors to get the right shade and then filled our pre-orders and had those sets ready for sale on the site.
At this time, they did produce some games but these mainly consisted of special rule sets with some specific parts and sometimes new map/boards using mainly existing OOB and HBG pieces to play.
Then the Kickstarter campaign for Amerika was successful and HBG was able to start serious work on their first totally boxed game with all the parts necessary to play it.  In other words, you could have absolutely no gaming pieces or accessories, buy this game and still play it.
Amerika became HBG’s baby, taking most of the focus of their efforts.  There was a huge amount of work to go into this, designing the box, all the cardboard art of the inner boxes, the game board, the playing and reference cards, all of the new playing sculpts for the game (24 different totally new sculpts), all of the new Expansion sculpts (20 different totally new sculpts) and all of the neat little bonus items earned through the Kickstarter Level goals (special dice, dice bags, 1st player marker, mouse pads, tee shirts, etc.)
Now, all of these items would take a lot of effort even if they were sub-par, slapped together games with average piece quality (Xeno games comes to mind).  However, this would not do for HBG.  They worked hard to make sure every piece was the highest quality.  This was especially true of the plastic gaming pieces.  They are some of the highest quality I have seen in any retail board game.
Since Amerika was such a huge undertaking, most other projects simply had to be put on hold or at least move at a slower pace.  Even with this, they still managed to make the fabulous US Expansion set in parallel to working on Amerika, as well as a number of smaller projects like special markers and such.
With the great success of Amerika, Coach and his team want to turn out more new games.  Several projects are in the works now, from a number of special battle games like Kursk and Midway to the Global War series.
Unfortunately, the piece sets that we have all grown to love have now seemed to have taken a back seat to new game designing.  While the US Expansion set came out nicely, I fear that the Germany 3 set suffered from the new direction that HBG seems to be taking.  It just seems to me that if the Germany 3 set came out a couple of years ago, Coach would not have accepted the somewhat lesser quality, particularly with the Bismarck, and would have demanded the factory correct the problem.  Unfortunately, I get the feeling that selling and designing the pieces is no longer a priority and have been superseded by new game design, 3d units and acrylic markers.
I would note that the only problems were with the ship pieces, and those are the hardest to make good at these tiny scales.  The infantry, vehicle and plane pieces all still look great to me.
HBG has already announced that future pieces will no longer be available in full sets but in quantities of five units.  Personally, I am not sure how I feel about this.  I kind of got used to the sets and think I will miss them.  On the other hand, it will be easier to get the right amount of certain units that you really want.  For example, with the Germany 3 set I would not have gotten any of the bi-plane fighter because I don’t use them in my games.
I still do not understand how HBG will be accepting pre-orders for new piece sets if there will be no full sets available anymore.  Perhaps future gaming pieces will not need pre-sales?
Anyway, that is my theory for what it’s worth.  New game design has taken over from piece sales.

Compelling theory knp.

@LHoffman:

Compelling theory knp.

Yes, and a close (but shorter) variant of knp’s theory would go like this: for what are probably factory-related reasons, HBG finds it harder to manufacture injection-molded sculpts than other types of gaming equipment, so they’ve gradually been shifting their focus away from those types of sculpts.  Which is regretable in my opinion, because those sculpts have always been the HBG product line in which I’ve been most interested.

@CWO:

@LHoffman:

Compelling theory knp.

Yes, and a close (but shorter) variant of knp’s theory would go like this: for what are probably factory-related reasons, HBG finds it harder to manufacture injection-molded sculpts than other types of gaming equipment, so they’ve gradually been shifting their focus away from those types of sculpts.  Which is regretable in my opinion, because those sculpts have always been the HBG product line in which I’ve been most interested.

Okay, that sounds a little scary.  I would hate to see the day that HBG no longer offers the plastic sculpts.

@knp7765:

Okay, that sounds a little scary.  I would hate to see the day that HBG no longer offers the plastic sculpts.

I’d hate that too, and I’d be happy for my theory to be proven wrong.  Note that I said “shifting their focus away from those types of sculpts”, not “dropping their sculpts entirely.”

Well, I hope you’re wrong about the de-emphasis on sculpts, too.  I try to spend money on all kinds of HBG products to show my support, but it’s the new pieces that make the whole thing worthwhile for me.

As for the 3d modelled ones, I’ve ordered quite a few, both from the HBG site and directly from Shapeways, but I continually find it frustrating that they’re such a mixed bag… So far we have available super-BB’s for Germany, Japan and France… and the Netherlands… but not the USA or UK?  We have a “Taiho-Kai” but no Midway or Malta?  And does anyone get what his obsession is for flying boats?  I can’t for the life of me come up with a use for them…

Meanwhile, though the Amerika piece set + its expansion gives us nearly every jet or heavy tank we could want, they’re available only in a very limited color palette, so they’re not in the colors that I’ve been using for elites (Dark Green for US, Red for Japan & Black for Germany.)  On the other hand, if I switch and have the darker colors be the “normal” and the lighter Amerika shades be the “elites/ heavies” the holes in HBG’s legacy line-up make this difficult, too.  (e.g., no small ships at all available in the dark green…)  It’s like the company has ADD and can’t focus on the little details enough to maintain consistency or logically-fleshed-out model lines across individual products…

To me it seems simple: if you’re going to do Super-BB’s, do them for everyone before you stop and do flying boats for some nation…

@DrLarsen:

To me it seems simple: if you’re going to do Super-BB’s, do them for everyone before you stop and do flying boats for some nation…

Wait, on second thought, just skip the stupid flying boats altogether… And those silly gliders and all the other ridiculous and useless units (Landkreuzer P 1000 Ratte, here’s looking at you!)  Has anyone actually gotten any use out of those flying boats or gliders or ridiculous uber-weapons?  Am I missing something here…?!?

@DrLarsen:

@DrLarsen:

To me it seems simple: if you’re going to do Super-BB’s, do them for everyone before you stop and do flying boats for some nation…

Wait, on second thought, just skip the stupid flying boats altogether… And those silly gliders and all the other ridiculous and useless units (Landkreuzer P 1000 Ratte, here’s looking at you!)  Has anyone actually gotten any use out of those flying boats or gliders or ridiculous uber-weapons?  Am I missing something here…?!?

I don’t think you are missing anything. That is your opinion, but I happen to agree with you. The standardization that was planned for the sets has been semi-maintained in the sets themselves, but now that HBG has said they are no longer making sets, I am afraid that idea is going to be thrown out too. That is unfortunate because I really appreciate consistency.

I have been under the impression from the start that HBG was to create batches of new game usable pieces in sculpts not found in the OOB Axis and Allies. There would be some versions of sculpts found in the OOB game (e.g. Shermans, Zeros, Bismarck, etc…) but most of them would be heretofore unseen (e.g. Liberator, Tiger II, Me262, etc…). Then, once the “new” sculpts were deemed mostly complete, HBG would start work on OOB replacement pieces (P-38, B-17, etc.) which would be up to the HBG standards of better detail and consistent sizing.

Apparently this is not the case any more, if it ever was. While I don’t think it is necessary to stick to that exact formula, the premise is pretty good: new sculpts to replace OOB unit types, with a few logical riffs such as jet fighters and heavy units. I would prefer to see a bunch of OOB replacement sculpts than historically obscure, non-regular use pieces like superweapons, alternate history vehicles and niche unit types with no concrete use with basic A&A rules.

Yeah, it’s one thing to have a set of advanced weapons that are 1 notch (or even half a notch) better than the typical, but so many of the new 3d-printed “expansions” just seem so out there…

IMO, HBG has far too many irons in the fire and has lost sight of both what we want and what they originally set out to do.  The large number of roads half taken have caused me to lose faith in them.  When they were at the top of their game, the pieces they were producing were excellent.  It’s a shame we have so many unfinished product lines and essentially dead projects.  I used to check their website often.  Now, it’s something like once every six months and dropping.  That’s too bad too because they showed great promise at one point.

Most of the custom made pieces and units at HBG reward points if purchased (At least that’s what the website claims). My last order I was suppose to be rewarded a bunch of points but never did. This was my third order at HBG and the first time this happened. When I contacted HBG via facebook (they reply within minutes if not seconds) they said not all orders reward points which puzzled me. So I specifically made a list of my purchased pieces with the corresponding amount of reward points according to the HBG website and send it off. No reply back. Anyone else experience something like this before?

@Erocco:

Most of the custom made pieces and units at HBG reward points if purchased (At least that’s what the website claims). My last order I was suppose to be rewarded a bunch of points but never did. This was my third order at HBG and the first time this happened. When I contacted HBG via facebook (they reply within minutes if not seconds) they said not all orders reward points which puzzled me. So I specifically made a list of my purchased pieces with the corresponding amount of reward points according to the HBG website and send it off. No reply back. Anyone else experience something like this before?

Are you logged in to your account when purchasing and trying to redeem points or check your balance? I have not personally had this problem.

@LHoffman:

Are you logged in to your account when purchasing and trying to redeem points or check your balance? I have not personally had this problem.

Yes I am logged in.