Sea Battle Question

@Panther oh lol duh, me! Thank you for taking the time to read and answer, Panther. I appreciate it greatly. Thanks, and have a great day and/or game if you’re playing!

@SuperMasterMind Afternoon. You have understood correctly.
Enjoy your game.
Be aware, however, any other Russian territories remain Russian. An ally of Russia cannot collect their income, until either Japan or Germany first capture them. Then they are fair game for her allies. All territories would revert to Russia, once Moscow is liberated.

Do I paint over the plastic pieces that come with the game?

You can but the small, soft plastic miniatures aren’t ideal for taking paint.  The ones like the boats with flat surfaces should do fine.  You can prime them first, but its hard to do detail at this scale unless you’re really good.  Another consideration is that you will have to mass produce quite a few minis in order to have full sets for most of your games, otherwise you’ll end  up mixing painted and unpainted stuff which is kind of confusing to the eye.

-What if I mess up? Do I just wash the paint off and start over?

Not after things dry.  You can use the technique of wiping wet paint (I use cotton gun cleaning rag) away from unintended areas, this works like an eraser.  If you recoat/re-dip a small mini like these all your detail will be lost in layers of paint.

-What is the purpose of buying the expansion miniatures?

for fun.  FMG sells a lot of cool sculpts but they are not universally used in AXA, primarily in other similar games (eg Global
War)

-Are expansion miniatures already painted?

No, unless you buy them that way eg Axis and Allies Miniatures Game

-Can expansion miniatures be used to play my 1942 2nd ed?

Yes, but they are only variant sculpts (eg different halftracks, different tank models) or house rules.

Game questions:

-Is it difficult to learn?

Yes, though not for a wargame.  Rules are fairly simple though subject to much interpretation if not read carefully.  Should take 3-5 games to get good then 3-5 years to get awesome.

-How long does a came last on average?

42.2; About 4 hours to surrender, a bit longer until victory conditions.  G40/G42 take more like 10 hours-14 hours.  WW1 5-7 hours.

-How does A&A compare to say, the hexagonal war games of the 70s and 80s?

It is much less complex than a chit game.  Logistics and “rock-paper-scissors” unit balance aren’t in AxA.  Combat and movement are dramatically simplified.    Where chit games (aka Avalon Hill) games are a detailed, complex and abstract slog, axis and allies is a lighter, more “army men” sort of game with the depth coming from repeat play and learning from mistakes.  The quality of the pieces and the layout of the map are a huge draw in comparison to large paper maps, hundreds of similar, boring pieces and rules that are incomprehensible outside the context of each game.    Games like Memoir 44 and AxA try to capture strategy, tactics in a more playable and engaging format than a realistic, unit by unit, “order of battle” style game, but try to be much more in depth than games like Risk where there are no unit types and every team is essentially the same.

I personally find AAA provides the kind of psychological threat, making the opponent think twice before flying a bunches of fighters and bombers in a battle, as sometimes losing a fighter and 2 in the long run becomes critical, particularly for Axis.

And so the initial AAA is very important as you might not buy another one for a while.

@Bigtasty:

Ok just want to make sure I understand this 100%. If a land unit such as a tank or infantry is attacked by an airplane, it can return fire as if it were being attacked by other land units?

Yes!

Hi Hobbes. Not heard from uou in a while. Hope you have been well.
Thanks for that. With the capture of Moscow( imminentG5) the Axiz score will be 85.
Was very confident of Allied victory, until I set up game where we left it. Not sure now.
Hope yo finish on 11th Nov.

Only one space, from the direction one of your units came(your choice). And you can only retreat from a battle if the defender still has units. Not if you have sunk them all!

I always play a new A&A game the same way. First time through I play the new game as the old rules with a new setup and a new unit or 2. Second time I read the rulebook first and play through checking the rulebook on every move as I go. Takes forever but I normally only do this for 4-5 rounds. Third game is playing the game start to finish trying to remember the rules without checking the rulebook but if I have to then oh well. All 3 of these games are a me vs. me games just to learn the rules.

This learning tactic is what made Battle of the Bulge and D-day such a pain in the ass to learn.