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Not to dampen anyone else’s excitement, but France is dead last on my list of anticipation, besides maybe China. Boring units with little to no war contribution and present for about 5 minutes of A&A gameplay. 99.85% of the pieces will never be used.

If France is ever in a position to actually buy anything, the German player should be quitting before it happens. No point in prolonging the inevitable.

I am rather interested in their ships though. That is one usable unit, which I would personally love to modify rules for… such as French naval units having the possibility of being taken over by Germany. Would make games a bit more interesting.

@LHoffman:

Not to dampen anyone else’s excitement, but France is dead last on my list of anticipation, besides maybe China.

Fair enough, though my suggestion wasn’t about changing HBG’s production schedule or about adding a new set; it was a question about a possible one-unit tweak to a 20-unit-type set that HBG is already designing and planning to produce.

@LHoffman:

Not to dampen anyone else’s excitement, but France is dead last on my list of anticipation, besides maybe China. Boring units with little to no war contribution and present for about 5 minutes of A&A gameplay. 99.85% of the pieces will never be used.

If France is ever in a position to actually buy anything, the German player should be quitting before it happens. No point in prolonging the inevitable.

I am rather interested in their ships though. That is one usable unit, which I would personally love to modify rules for… such as French naval units having the possibility of being taken over by Germany. Would make games a bit more interesting.

I’m excited because I make up my own home games. I live so far from anyone that plays, that I make up games sometimes, and the more pieces from different countries, the better for me.

I played some games with Tall Paul, but we never have time to finish them, and he lives over 2 hours away. I only get to play every couple of months with him, so anything new just adds to my game.

I like to develop, “what if scenarios?”.

That is the cool thing about axis and allies and HBG making these pieces, because you can develop your own games and house rules.

You can have a 21st century battle with just France and England, if you choose. You could pretend the Chinese and Russians are on the same side and use the red Japanese armies as China and the OOB or Maroon HBG pieces to represent Russia, taking on the world.

Most people will play the global game, but there are some of us that have other games in mind that we can use these pieces for.

That is what so great about HBG, they think outside the box. They cater to all kinds of players.

One of the things, I hope they produce someday, is a Vietnam Boxed game with expansions later for it, with plastic Huey helicopters, Chinooks, Riverboats for Seal Teams, LRRP patrols, Green Beret, Marines and other special forces, F4 Phantom and other bomber planes, NVA, Vietcong, and many units used in the war.

I wouldn’t mind them having French units from 1954, when they were there and it stretching to 1975, or the Australians involvement during the war.

Of course, it wouldn’t play like axis and allies, it would be a different game, but I guess point I’m making, is not everyone will like the same things, but HBG has something for everyone.

I’m excited about the next couple of board games.

Many people wanted Amerika and that is great, but it wasn’t my cup of tea, but Midway, on the other hand, I’m excited about.

So there is nothing wrong if your not excited about it, but your not dampening my excitement, because I know what I want to use them for.

What set are you excited about the most? :-D

@LHoffman:

Not to dampen anyone else’s excitement, but France is dead last on my list of anticipation, besides maybe China. Boring units with little to no war contribution and present for about 5 minutes of A&A gameplay. 99.85% of the pieces will never be used.

If France is ever in a position to actually buy anything, the German player should be quitting before it happens. No point in prolonging the inevitable.

I am rather interested in their ships though. That is one usable unit, which I would personally love to modify rules for… such as French naval units having the possibility of being taken over by Germany. Would make games a bit more interesting.

I like that idea Hoffman. Imagine Britain does a successful Taranto, only to discover the French Med ships come after them!
Even a 33% chance would throw a spanner in the Works and make the UK player think twice.

I am looking forward to the French WW2 set. Sometimes I have made up variants. In one, France was a member of the Axis so they stayed in the game for a while and were actually able to buy other different units. That was fun.
I’ve also tried out a RISK type game using the A&A map and units. You can have all sorts of armies with all the different colors now available.

@CWO:

Fair enough, though my suggestion wasn’t about changing HBG’s production schedule or about adding a new set; it was a question about a possible one-unit tweak to a 20-unit-type set that HBG is already designing and planning to produce.�

Yes, I did realize that. I was just stating something that I thought was sort of relevant and have been wanting to say for some time anyway. It wasn’t really directed at anyone in particular. No problem though.

@wittmann:

@LHoffman:

I am rather interested in their ships though. That is one usable unit, which I would personally love to modify rules for… such as French naval units having the possibility of being taken over by Germany. Would make games a bit more interesting.

I like that idea Hoffman. Imagine Britain does a successful Taranto, only to discover the French Med ships come after them!
Even a 33% chance would throw a spanner in the Works and make the UK player think twice.

I do believe that the idea of a French defection/commandeer scenario has been thrown about before, both with the naval element and some sort of Vichy France rule. I personally do not care for any Vichy France additions since it is superfluous and would unnecessarily complicate play.

Now, maybe it is just because I am a sucker for seeing capital ships on the board, but I think it would add another dynamic to the game if Germany could somehow commandeer French ships on the board after they take Paris. Similar to what (almost) happened in the war. I don’t know, maybe Germany has to roll a 5 or 6 to obtain the ships. Maybe they keep getting a chance to roll every turn that the ships are on the board, until then they remain a sort of pro-Axis neutral. Unless Germany rolls a 1, in which case they move to Allied control. … I don’t know this would have to be worked out a bit.

This would also open up the ability for Allied ships to come in and destroy them, similar to a Mers-el-Kebir situation.

I think this would make games a bit more interesting and also realistic, since French naval squadrons did not actually fight with the Allies like often happens in the game. (I know individual French ships did, but not on the scale that is referenced in A&A.)

@John:

What set are you excited about the most? :-D

Well, in terms of upcoming sets that we know about, I would have to say Axis Minor Set 2, with US Expansion being a very close second. I am very excited for a decent Panther sculpt, as well as Bismarck. But my favorite piece in the set has to be the Deutschland-class pocket battleship. … Like I said, I am a sucker for capital ships.

I tend to be less excited for whole sets than I am really pumped up for certain pieces. The Deutschland is one of these, others include:

Yorktown-class carrier USA (confirmed) - I said before and will say again, if this is the last piece they do, I will be eternally satisfied.
Lexington-class carrier USA (?)
Pzkpfw. IV Germany (?)
Pzkpfw. VI Ausf. B Tiger II (?)
F6F Hellcat USA (?)
Hood-class battlecruiser Britain (?)
Shokaku-class carrier Japan (?)
Vittorio Venito-class battleship Italy (?)
B-24 Liberator bomber USA (confirmed)
Nelson-class battleship Britain (?)
SBD Dauntless TAC bomber USA (?)
Takao-class cruiser Japan (?)
Fw 200 Condor bomber/transport Germany (?)
Alaska-class cruiser USA (?)

Granted some of these may not fit into HBG’s production theory, but I would love to see them regardless.

Below are some that HBG has already produced, but could really use a do-over in terms of sculpt quality, size, proportions or detail. They are not at the same level as the pieces HBG is currently producing:

F4U Corsair fighter USA
P-51D Mustang fighter USA
P-40 Warhawk fighter USA
Nevada-class battleship USA
Fw190 fighter Germany

LHoffman, I like your list a lot. those are much needed pieces and some could be redone, as well.

@LHoffman:

I do believe that the idea of a French defection/commandeer scenario has been thrown about before, both with the naval element and some sort of Vichy France rule. I personally do not care for any Vichy France additions since it is superfluous and would unnecessarily complicate play. […] I think this would make games a bit more interesting and also realistic, since French naval squadrons did not actually fight with the Allies like often happens in the game. (I know individual French ships did, but not on the scale that is referenced in A&A.)

The part of the OOB rules which says “This game doesn’t deal with the German installment of the Vichy government in France. All French units, after the fall of France, will continue to be controlled by the player that was selected to control France (US or UK).” is noteworthy because, essentially, it means that the game depicts an alternate-history scenario in which France set up a government in exile rather than surrendering and that it kept fighting on the Allied side from its colonial empire.  So while the actual historical events of WWII did set up a situation in which the Vichy-controlled French fleet was mostly inactive, the game itself provides a good justification for giving the French fleet a more active role.

@CWO:

The part of the OOB rules which says “This game doesn’t deal with the German installment of the Vichy government in France. All French units, after the fall of France, will continue to be controlled by the player that was selected to control France (US or UK).” is noteworthy because, essentially, it means that the game depicts an alternate-history scenario in which France set up a government in exile rather than surrendering and that it kept fighting on the Allied side from its colonial empire.  So while the actual historical events of WWII did set up a situation in which the Vichy-controlled French fleet was mostly inactive, the game itself provides a good justification for giving the French fleet a more active role.

The reasoning seems okay, and gameplay is not radically altered from history because of it. I just think it would be more fun to include other options for the French fleet. The game is an exercise in alternate history already, so including a French Navy rule would not be anything very different, or radical. I understand their justification though. And perhaps for a mass marketed game it was just the simpler thing to do.

@LHoffman:

I just think it would be more fun to include other options for the French fleet. The game is an exercise in alternate history already, so including a French Navy rule would not be anything very different, or radical.

Agreed.  One nice thing about the game is that it offers a lot of scope for house rules that allow players to explore scenarios in which WWII might have deviated (in ways either probable or fanciful) from its actual course.  And this has been made even easier as the OOB sculpt sets have been (and are continuing to be) expanded by the addition of new pieces and sets from HBG.  It’s great to have lots of options available to us like this.

LHoffman & others,

@LHoffman:

Not to dampen anyone else’s excitement, but France is dead last on my list of anticipation, besides maybe China. Boring units with little to no war contribution and present for about 5 minutes of A&A gameplay. 99.85% of the pieces will never be used.

––While I agree 100% with you concerning the use of any French units in our 1940-Global games,….I must point out they would definately be very usefull in any Global Warfare-1939 games. I point this out not to correct my good friend “LHoffman”, but acknowledge that in general:
I’m axiously awaiting any & ALL units that HBG wants to produce,….in whatever order!
––I would say, my only exception to this might be the “Zombie Appocolyse” 1939 Expansion set.

Tall Paul

@Tall:

I must point out they would definately be very usefull in any Global Warfare-1939 games.

That is true.

Gents.

I agree all the sets that are being produced will be excellent additions to AA.  That said Zombies?  I live in state where there a nuts jobs who really believe in them and drive around with the words Zombie Emergency Response Team on their vehicles in case we have a real zombie invasion. They even give a valid local number and cell phone to call if you have a zombie problem to deal with.
As for a game, my jury is still out on this one.  I would prefer another Super Weapons set with UK, France and Italy instead.

WARRIOR888

About how long do you expect before the new Japanese pieces are available individually?

Will there be transports included in the Axis Minor set 2?
I ask since the picture on the main page of HBG doesn’t show a transport yet the list on the set page includes a transport.
Also, it says the set would have 30 pieces, but counting all of them leads to 32.

@coachofmany:

UK Set, U.S. Set, Axis Minor Set, Facilities, French WW2, then French WW1

I’m really looking forward to the facilities set, what you got online looks great!

@Spirou:

@coachofmany:

UK Set, U.S. Set, Axis Minor Set, Facilities, French WW2, then French WW1

I’m really looking forward to the facilities set, what you got online looks great!

I second that, and this set should be next IMHO, I don’t need any more Japanese infantry, I need plastic factories

@ch0senfktard:

Will there be transports included in the Axis Minor set 2?
I ask since the picture on the main page of HBG doesn’t show a transport yet the list on the set page includes a transport.
Also, it says the set would have 30 pieces, but counting all of them leads to 32.

Yes, a Transport, but still tweaking what will be in the set.

@WARRIOR888:

Gents.

I agree all the sets that are being produced will be excellent additions to AA.  That said Zombies?  I live in state where there a nuts jobs who really believe in them and drive around with the words Zombie Emergency Response Team on their vehicles in case we have a real zombie invasion. They even give a valid local number and cell phone to call if you have a zombie problem to deal with.
As for a game, my jury is still out on this one.  I would prefer another Super Weapons set with UK, France and Italy instead.

WARRIOR888

That falls under the “If you don’t have anything nice to say…” so yeah

@ Coach,

I hate to be “That Guy” and ask about time-frames just on the heels of releasing the second Japanese set, but I have to ask. What’s a good estimate for the release date for UK?