Have classic. Buy 1942 second edition or build Anniversary edition?

Anniversary is stand alone the BEST ever - OOB.

Use Historical Board Games, to get all the pieces you need.  And maybe Field Marshal Games to order 2x full italy sets.

It’s a much better experience than 1942.

But for $… it might be cheaper just to go 42.  Either way, you won’t be dissappointed.

Anniversary is out of print – it was a one-time special edition – so if you want Italy as a player the only commercial game offering it these days is the forthcoming A&A Europe 1940 second edition (due in mid-September).  It comes with a wide range of sculpts, and a large two-part map which can be combined with A&A Pacific 1940 second edition (also due in mid-September) to produce a very large world map.  Buying the two games is probably less labour-intensive than getting IL’s map printed and finding and buying sculpts for it.  I don’t know which option is more economical, however, so it depends on your priorities.

Anniversary is nearly everyone’s favourite. Has Italy(yea!), a great map, tech and National objectives.

I own Classic, Revised, Anniversary, Spring 1942 1st Ed. and I’m waiting for my 2nd Ed. copy to arrive but I’ve already played 10 games online of 2nd Ed.

I like Anniversary but I’ve prefered Spring 1942 1st Edition as a better experience: it’s leaner to play (no NOs, no tech, 5 powers) and the 1st Edition is the most balanced of the ‘big’ A&A games (I never used a bid and they are low when used for the Allies).

And I’d recommend for you to get Spring 1942, 2nd Ed. - the map has been redesigned to include both elements of AA50 and Global and to me it’s superior than the AA50 map. It will be probably cheaper to get the pieces that way than to order them individually.
And you can create a house rule quite easily to add Italy: switch all German units on Libya, Italy and Southern Europe by Italian ones. German/Italy’s turn is now combined (they receive and purchase separately but the combat moves and combat are made together).

@Hobbes:

And you can create a house rule quite easily to add Italy: switch all German units on Libya, Italy and Southern Europe by Italian ones. German/Italy’s turn is now combined (they receive and purchase separately but the combat moves and combat are made together).

I put some thought into this idea a few days ago. But one thing I didn’t think about was the fact that it would work as a balancing factor, making Germany’s production less efficient. Also, I think you would switch the BB and AP to Italian.

@UrJohn:

@Hobbes:

And you can create a house rule quite easily to add Italy: switch all German units on Libya, Italy and Southern Europe by Italian ones. German/Italy’s turn is now combined (they receive and purchase separately but the combat moves and combat are made together).

I put some thought into this idea a few days ago. But one thing I didn’t think about was the fact that it would work as a balancing factor, making Germany’s production less efficient. Also, I think you would switch the BB and AP to Italian.

And you may want to switch the fighter on Bulgaria to Italian as well, although I wouldn’t move it to Italy because then it can hit Egypt on G1/I1.
I’ve made a 7 Powers scenario for 1st Edition that I’m thinking of adapting… if you want a look: Spring 1942 Scenarios

I’d pick up an edition of Spring '42 and '42 special edition. I’m a bit nervous at the price change for the second edition myself because it incates to me that A&A is going to become an expensive franchise from now on. There is a 1941 edition selling at a retail price of $30 USD that is a quick/beginner version that is also pretty cool. I have all editons except Guadal Canal and Europe 1940.

As far as the Anniversary Ed goes, it is VERY expensive and for the price really not worth it.
Whatever you do I would buy a copy or two of the editions you really like and buy anything at yard sales and thrift stores you can find if for nothing other than extra parts.

From what I’m seeing the really good editions have had very limited print runs. If nothing else buy Spring '42 first editions when you find them. They’re cheap in sealed packages and a good “bang-for-the-buck” I bought one brand new on Amazon for $25.00 I would have bought a second if I didn’t have the one I got for X-mas back in 2010.

Aniversary Is cool to have but other than having Italy I just wasn’t all that stoaked about it. The sculpts in mine were really bad in alot of ways I ranted about this along with others when it came out . 1942 Second Ed is awesome and with a bit of tweaking you can probably get a better experience than AA50. HBG and FMG have a set of Italian minis and roundels you could easily use. As far as balancing goes you could simply combine Germany and Italy and simply use your Italian pieces in place of Germans where it calls for them or use some house rules.

You can get the Aniversary rules too but I’m not sure where.

While I might dodge some stones being thrown here AA50, was not a favorite of mine. For what it costs to get a copy it’s not worth it. There are a ton of threads on here as to how to make your own version of AA50.

Personally the attraction of this game for me was to have the game in my AA collection. I have all the board based AA games except for Guadal Canal and AAE40.