Can I play 1942 with 1941 rules?

Forget about 41. Just buy 42 and enjoy. 41 and 42 have the same game mechanics but 41 has less unit types and less territories. This and the corresponding shorter play time is what makes it “better for beginners”. 41 has 8 unit types and 42 has 10. Simpler, but not by much. Get 42 and be happy knowing you got a better game with more pieces that will take longer to get stale.

And to supplement the points which Bob77 has made, also note that the 1942 game can’t really be converted into the 1941 game just by removing or changing a few things.  Let’s take, for instance, the IPC values of the territories which you mention.  Changing the territory values printed on the map would be manageable (for instance by putting numbered labels over the printed values) if that’s all there was to it…but there’s also the more fundamental problem that the 1942 map has a greater number of territories and different country borders than the 1941 map, and that’s something that can’t be modified without actually re-drawing the map.

If you’d still rather start with the simpler 1941 game, keep in mind that it wouldn’t actually be a case of “buying the same game twice” if you were to get 1942 later.  They’re really two different games, just as the combined Europe 1940/Pacific 1940 Global game is a different game from 1942.

@karvajo:

The problem is indeed the duration of the game :/
I would like to be able to play a match that doesn’t last much longer than a usual Risk match.
Am I able to play the game in, let’s say 3 hours?
Do you think it is doable to maybe just remove Artillery, AAA and Plants, to speed up the game the first times,
or this maneuver would just make the game worse?

The results would be unpredictable in terms, for instance on the issue of game balance.  Remember that a properly designed game is a system, with all the elements designed to work together in a particular way.  The greater the number of elements are changed, and the more radical the nature of the changes is, the greater the likelihood that the result will be an unbalanced game that won’t work properly.  An extreme and deliberately funny example of this principle can be found in an old episode of The Red Green Show, in which the TV’s program’s titular handyman says that he’s going to demonstrate how to convert an old pickup truck into a bicycle, using a hacksaw and duct tape (“You may need a couple of rolls,” he cautions.)

If playing time is an issue, keep in mind that 1942 takes longer to play than 1941, and that 1940 takes longer to play than 1942, for a good reason: because they’re bigger and more complicated games.  Buying 1942 and then stripping it down to make it smaller and easier is basically a time-intensive and work-intensive way of ending up with a clunky version of 1941, which you’d be better off just buying in its authentic form if your priority is having a fast-to-play game.

41 is WAY too stripped down- A territory encompassing Poland, the Baltic States, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria? Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece as one territory controlled by the Germans and worth 1 IPC?

Buy 1942 at least. The only reason to get 1941 is the special piece molds.

On the plus side, it’s the cheapest Axis and Allies game available.