Please Read Before Opening your Anniversary Box 2017!

I just opened my copy this morning (arrived on Monday, but work week yadda yadda).  The cardboard space insert looked to be rotated 45 degrees and smashed its exact form into the piece boxes and the rule book. The only box undamaged is the Japan box, but everything in the middle is wrecked.

I’ve already opened mine off camera and have had it for a couple of days already, too late I’m guessing?

Send hem an email anyway

Evidently this issue is widespread. I called them last night after getting mine and told them what I had and the nice lady on the phone said let me guess, you have damaged boxes. Took my info and they sent me an email with a case number. She told me to expect the replacements in 8 - 10 weeks.

I’ve seen several un-boxings now,

I’ve noticed a trend of pattern, and it all goes back to how the box was packed. If you have the two sheets of roundels, Set up Cards etc on top of your storage boxes then generally they come out fine (Mainly I am guessing due to the two sheets acting to disperse any pressure on the boxes. However if you open the box and all you have is the spacers (which are horrible) on top of the boxes with the rule book and money, chances are the spacers will have caused the creases as they will have buckled under some kind of foreign weight being introduced onto your box during shipping.

That being said, I suspect this is a combination of manufacturer error in the packing process as well as in shipment, the boxes were obviously stacked or placed into some situation where stuff was placed atop them and despite being double boxed, the weight of the foreign objects was enough to cause the spacers to cause the damage.

As for broken pieces or warped boards, more than likely those are cases of quality error as, let’s be honest with ourselves, despite quality tests, quality workers on assembly lines and programs to look for and take out such malformed boards and pieces, there are the cases of those pieces which slip through the cracks and sneak into the boxes.

All I can say is yes, contact Wizards of the Coast and have pictures aplenty for evidence, as, I suspect that as this issue goes on, they may become more stringent on requirements for replacing pieces, or, they may simply put this edition out of print either temporarily or for good if this keeps up.

Yeah, my copy has four issues:
1. Dented setup boxes (all of them!)
2. Deformed infantry rifles (1-5 each side)
3. Molding defects (short shots, delaminations, burn marks)
4. Sprue/cutting defects (large/sharp white burs)

I haven’t done an OCD count or anything, but I’d estimate that most of the ships (esp. Carriers) suffer from #4, and at least a handful of the other units for each side appear to suffer from #3. Contacted Wizards and got the high volume response; hopefully we’ll see some replacement pieces and boxes flowing out eventualy.  It’s a bummer for WotC and the A&A brand, but this really does look like 100% MFG/China error given that the molds look identical to 42.2 and those pieces came out nearly perfectly.

On the plus side, my map does not have the warp/gap that some others are describing; and all of the counters/etc. look great.

UPDATE: got a new message from WotC asking for pictures before they will escalate to the parts replacement team. More than happy to oblige. No additional update yet.

SO ANOTHER ISSUE HAS COME UP!!!

THE BOARD PIECES ARE STARTING TO WARP LIKE CRAZY FOR NO APPARENT REASON!

PINK PANZER’S BOARDS ARE WARPED AND COMPLETELY UNUSABLE!

JUST HAD A SUBSCRIBER SHARE WITH ME THE SAME PROBLEMS WITH HIS BOARDS!

WTF… CRUSHED BOXES AND WARPED BOARDS??? I’M TERRIFIED MINE WILL DO THE SAME SOON!

@Young:

SO ANOTHER ISSUE HAS COME UP!!!

THE BOARD PIECES ARE STARTING TO WARP LIKE CRAZY FOR NO APPARENT REASON!

PINK PANZER’S BOARDS ARE WARPED AND COMPLETELY UNUSABLE!

JUST HAD A SUBSCRIBER SHARE WITH ME THE SAME PROBLEMS WITH HIS BOARDS!

WTF… CRUSHED BOXES AND WARPED BOARDS??? I’M TERRIFIED MINE WILL DO THE SAME SOON!

Concerned for everyone else as well. Major Black Eye for the Brand. Would’ve been better if they never released it.

@barney:

Concerned for everyone else as well. Major Black Eye for the Brand. Would’ve been better if they never released it.

Hush you. I waited a long time for them to gin up a new version. It’s imperfect, what else is new? I’m just glad I could get one for myself for less than the price of a used car.

As for board warp-age, a little bit of plexiglass over the top, and Bob’s your uncle.

-Midnight-Reaper

Sometimes a difference in humidity between the manufacturing location and the final destination can cause warping.  Try weighting the boards down with heavy books for a few days and see if they straighten out.

@Midnight_Reaper:

@barney:

Concerned for everyone else as well. Major Black Eye for the Brand. Would’ve been better if they never released it.

Hush you. I waited a long time for them to gin up a new version. It’s imperfect, what else is new? I’m just glad I could get one for myself for less than the price of a used car.

As for board warp-age, a little bit of plexiglass over the top, and Bob’s your uncle.

-Midnight-Reaper

I agree.  Even with these defects I’m really pleased to get a copy. It doesn’t hurt that I got mine for a phenomenal price, either!

Hmm…should I buy it ? A lot of negative reviews here. I had planned on buying this for a Christmas present for a friend. Try and get someone who would actually want to play the game.

If they get a shitty copy, well… how many games have you played that were Fckde from the get go ?

Most of the issues are cosmetic. Creased boxes and rulebook dont affect the game. If you want something more involving then 42 but not as complex as global, its a must. I recommend for your friend

Thanks Bob77  I was getting a bad impression reading these reviews. AA50 is a great game but don’t want him to be bummed when he opens it.

I’ll hope for the best because he’s getting it.

@Krieghund:

Sometimes a difference in humidity between the manufacturing location and the final destination can cause warping.  Try weighting the boards down with heavy books for a few days and see if they straighten out.

Unfortunately this is an EXTREMELY common occurrence. It’s entirely based on the humidity differences between where the components are manufactured and where you live.

There are ways to help mitigate the effects, but not all manufacturers do so, or do so as well as they could.

As Krieg says, weigh them down for several days and that should do the trick.

@IWillNeverGrowUp:

@Krieghund:

Sometimes a difference in humidity between the manufacturing location and the final destination can cause warping.  Try weighting the boards down with heavy books for a few days and see if they straighten out.

Unfortunately this is an EXTREMELY common occurrence. It’s entirely based on the humidity differences between where the components are manufactured and where you live.

There are ways to help mitigate the effects, but not all manufacturers do so, or do so as well as they could.

As Krieg says, weigh them down for several days and that should do the trick.

That should be stated on the box then

all storage boxes in various states of denting/creasing/imprinting from the “spacer”
silly, they  should have just reduced the size of the box.
rulebook also got damaged.

when I opened the box, the “spacer” was flattened so it must have been pushed on a lot. (rough seas?)
Strange the outer box shows no signs of damage.

Waiting to hear back from WOTC. Usually they are good about replacing damage.
Everything else is fine thankfully and all the pieces match the list in the rules.

Disappointing to see when first opening the box though.