Teaching this Game

From my experience, I don’t think the rulebook is very overwhelming. I started playing Axis and Allies a few years back when I entered the 7th grade and didn’t feel intimidated by the rule book. That being said, there were still some obscure technicalities that my father and I didn’t understand. However, as long as you have ONE experienced person playing, then you should easily be able to help guide the others. Learning the gameplay is very easy. Learning tactics and strategy is what will take time. As an experienced player trying to get a newbie interested, I advise you to not kick their teeth in the first game. Try some fun new strategies that normally wouldn’t work against an experienced player and just play a very casual game while the others get into the motions. After a few games, everyone should be on the same level.

I wrote and article some time ago to help A&A virgins tackle 1940 Global, I was particularly proud when Larry Harris endorsed it and posted it on his own site. It wouldn’t hurt your new players to spend 15 minutes to read it, you can find it here….

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=29377.0

@ossel:

@Young:

I wrote and article some time ago to help A&A virgins tackle 1940 Global, I was particularly proud when Larry Harris endorsed it and posted it on his own site. It wouldn’t hurt your new players to spend 15 minutes to read it, you can find it here….

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=29377.0

YG,
Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for. I think along with some NO cards/reference cards, I should be in good shape.

You’re welcome, glad I could help… as for some N.O cards, I don’t have mine as I lost my flash drive after I got them printed. I don’t mean to make you jealous, but my custom table is ideal for beginners, you can watch a video tour here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng_mXs37Cjg

I think the best way to learn the game is to play it.  Download TripleA 1.8.0.3 http://sourceforge.net/projects/triplea/files/TripleA/1_8_0_3_extra_maps/triplea_1_8_0_3_windows_installer.exe/download

@Young:

(…)I don’t mean to make you jealous, but my custom table is ideal for beginners, you can watch a video tour here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng_mXs37Cjg

Just the fact that you don’t mean to make us jealous doesn’t mean we won’t be ;-). I had to wash off my green jealousy-color allright  :lol:.

Btw, from your video, I am not one of those who think that the game is unbalanced in favor of the axis, but I do think the game is exponentially more difficult for the allies to win, mostly because of team effort required. I really like the extra Hurricane in Canada nonetheless.

Thanks LeClerc, The extra fighter is sweet because it doesn’t effect opening strategies, but it saves the UK $10, and it’s there for them to use later in the game.

@Young:

@ossel:

@Young:

I wrote and article some time ago to help A&A virgins tackle 1940 Global, I was particularly proud when Larry Harris endorsed it and posted it on his own site. It wouldn’t hurt your new players to spend 15 minutes to read it, you can find it here….

http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=29377.0

YG,
Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for. I think along with some NO cards/reference cards, I should be in good shape.

You’re welcome, glad I could help… as for some N.O cards, I don’t have mine as I lost my flash drive after I got them printed. I don’t mean to make you jealous, but my custom table is ideal for beginners, you can watch a video tour here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng_mXs37Cjg

With a setup that involved, you’ve clearly given this game quite a bit of thought, YG!  What are the house rules you mention in the video?

Ah, I see you have a video explaining them!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4s1mP4Zvsk

These seem pretty excellent across the board, really.  Russian Winter is especially interesting - has anyone managed to catch any Japanese invaders with that yet?

@Shin:

Ah, I see you have a video explaining them!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4s1mP4Zvsk

These seem pretty excellent across the board, really.  Russian Winter is especially interesting - has anyone managed to catch any Japanese invaders with that yet?

Russian winter is not a big advantage for Russia really, all it does is freezes all units for 1 round… including Russian units. Therefore, any problems with position, getting cut off, or aggression from larger forces will all still be there after the winter ends. The largest advantage of Russian winter is if the Germans are on the door steps of Moscow, the Russians can call for winter and build 10 more men on their capital just before the Germans strike. Another advantage would be if America is making progress in France, and Russia can stall on the Eastern front for one turn to help US keep the pressure on.

@ShadowHAwk:

@ItIsILeClerc:

@Young:

(…)I don’t mean to make you jealous, but my custom table is ideal for beginners, you can watch a video tour here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ng_mXs37Cjg

Just the fact that you don’t mean to make us jealous doesn’t mean we won’t be ;-). I had to wash off my green jealousy-color allright � :lol:.

Btw, from your video, I am not one of those who think that the game is unbalanced in favor of the axis, but I do think the game is exponentially more difficult for the allies to win, mostly because of team effort required. I really like the extra Hurricane in Canada nonetheless.

Is you play the game 1 on 1 it changes around and it becomes verry hard for the axis to win. Financial difference between the axis and allies is huge in favor of the allies. They just need to hold out and do some stalling attacks. But that might be different if you are playing with a lot of players and you cant coordinate that well.

I agree with you, ShadowHAwk. 1v1 mostly sees the allies win in our group (>80%), whereas team versus team sees it the other way around (or even worse).

I hope the OP doesn’t mind me going a little more into strategy as I understand he already got what he wished  for :wink:.

There can be a lot of different thoughts, strategies on how the allies should do the trick so cooperation and prosecuting just 1 grand strategy is of the utmost importance.
I am on the same page about ‘holding out’. IMHO, the allies must trade their economic advantage in the first turns for preservation of their army. Retreat (to keep most of the existing troops alive) and give up territory while building up.

Some strategic points in the game should be recognized as bastions of resistance that should not be given up without a thought on how to turn loosing it into a victory nonetheless! By taking them back for example, or making it so very expensive to take that it cripples the axis if doing so.
I’d name those bastions: London, Gibraltar, Egypt, Middle East, South Africa, Moscow, Sydney, Hawai and last but not least, the USA ( :wink:).

In my book, India is a special case. The allies usually want to come back here after retreating but if the USA/ANZAC are in firm control of Hawai+ Sydney this is no high priority. Furthermore I believe that the allies should not try to defend India at all costs, as this weakens more important bastions, like Sydney for example. Just defend it as long as possible and then retreat. 1 exception: If a lot of japanese aicraft (>10) can be taken down with the Indian army as well, as this usually opens the doors for the USA to enter the Japanese perimeters and liberate the DEI, Philipines, etc…

Wow!  That is some table.  Incredible :)  Can I ask what size is the map you play with?

Thanks, the table is 8’X4’ and the map is 72"X33".