Transforming spring 1942 into 1941 questions

If I were going to turn a copy of Spring 1942 (1942, First Edition) into a copy of 1941, I would do it this way.

• Find a good, large copy of the 1941 map in printable form.

• Download a copy of the Rule Book from Avalon Hill/WotC

• Download a copy the FAQ as well

• Take note of the revised setup for 1941 in the FAQ: Adding infantry to China, Russia, a Destroyer to the US East Coast fleet, and noting a higher IPC total for the US

• Take the pieces from 42 and strip out the Artillery and the Cruisers - those pieces aren’t used in bog standard 1941 (they are often house ruled (back) in but aren’t in the OOB OOB for 1941). (Keep the Arty and Cruisers around, just separate them from the other pieces.)

• Print out a copy of the 1941 map

• Apply a light coat of rubber cement to the back of the printed 1941 map

• Now apply the rubber cemented 1941 map to the 1942 board

Viola, 1941 out of 1942, 1st Ed. By applying the rubber cement to the printed map of 1941, with luck and patience the 1941 map can be removed from the 1942 map board if you ever decide you would rather play on that map.

My 2 IPCs.

-Midnight_Reaper

@robert:

Thanks for the response.

You are certainly welcome. Rejiggering A&A to meet what I want is one of my favorite things to do.

@robert:

I’ve done pretty much everything on the list except the map.
Printing a map out would run up near the price of the game new.

I was thinking about just printing out color pages on an at home printer. Will that really cost you 30CAD to print out some color pages at home?

@robert:

Plus, having done the process you described, before, the folds always end up damaged or ripped.

I’ve never actually done that, so I can’t comment either way. Perhaps an at-home, color printed map; some clear plastic tape (to hold the printed pages together); and a few paperclips (to hold the printed pages to the cardboard map) would work better? I don’t know.

@robert:

I just thought that the maps were very close in nature that I could use the 1942 1st ed. one instead of the 1941 map.
Guess I’ll just lay out everything and rejig the IPCs where one territory is two in the 1942 1st ed.
Once I see how it affect the countries income, I can better judge the game play.

I’ve the maps from both 1942, 1st Ed and 1941. While they were made in a similar fashion, I don’t think that they are much in common. But perhaps some paint, a marker, and a steady hand will get you exactly where you want to go.

I’m curious to know how it turns out in any case…

Alternatively, there’s a small market in people who want the plastic bits and nothing else from 1941, so that they can take the plastic bits from 1941 and put them in their other games. Perhaps putting up a request for a 1941 map board in the A&A Marketplace section of the forum will get someone who can hook you up with a cheap map board. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

-Midnight_Reaper

I don’t know if this helps you or not, but I figured I’d post it and let you decide.

There’s a seller on eBay, selling just the game board for '41 for 8 USD. Shipping charges to Canada listed as 13.77 USD. Currency conversion on the interwebs says that 21.77 USD is 28.24 CAD. So, for about 28 CAD you can have your own map. Still spending 30 CAD, but at least it would be for a cherry map.

Link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Axis-Allies-1941-Game-Replacement-Parts-Board-Only/152912175984?hash=item239a46a370:g:67sAAOSw0t1aiKfx#shpCntId

Just trying to help.

-Midnight_Reaper

In case this might be of any help, there’s a low-cost technique which I used to convert my Global 1940 map into a pre-WWII map…and by pre-WWII, I mean just prior to the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the first of the feeder conflicts which ultimately developed into WWII.  Basically, I researched the historical status of all the map territories (the results can be viewed here: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=36590.0) and then I used double-faced tape to attach roundels to the various territories which needed adjustment.  (Actually, I attached roundels to every territory on the map because I wanted to use custom roundels, but the out-of-the-box roundels can be used in the same fashion.)  You can see pictures of the modified map here: http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=32700.0 .  I covered the map with a sheet of acrylic to produce a smooth playing surface, but that’s entirely an optional extra.  The basic technique of sticking roundels on the map only requires the purchase of a roll of double-faced tape, plus the expenditure of a few of the OOB roundels that already come with the game.

I’m going to point at the large elephant in the room that everyone is ignoring… why do you want 1941 over 1942?

IMHO, 1942 (either edition) is a superior game to 1941… there’s just more of everything in 1942 vs 1941.

Having said that,  sometimes that’s the only appeal of 1941 vs any other game in the A&A franchise.  Less units, less income,  less territories, less strategic options, less paths to victory… LESS PLAYING TIME… the latter is about the only thing I can think of that might make 1941 more appealing than 1942.

As for the steps to convert 1942 to 1941… you already have more than enough pieces, the rules are easy to print up or look at online… the only issue is the map… and there’s the sticking point… it would cost more to print the 1941 map (short of making a really poor quality map) than it would cost to just buy it in the store new.

Personally, I don’t recommend 1941 to A&A veterans unless you’re looking for a very quick game or just want the unique sculpts… I only recommend 1941 to new players to the franchise… if you really want 1941, it’s probably just cheaper to buy it than to try and print a 1941 map.

@robert:

As to why, well, I want a short game which I can introduce to my kids.
Even a revised game will go on for a long time.
I heard 41 plays a lot faster.
Therefore, consider it a gateway to longer versions if it is a hit.
I believe that was its intended purpose anyway.

That’s all true… 1941 is a shorter game and an introduction to the series that plays faster (I think the biggest problem with 1941 though is there’s so little money, there’s practically nothing to buy every turn… but I guess that’s why it plays faster).

@robert:

Pieces are sorted, double everything of the original 1941, just in case.
I’m now going over the map to renumber the IPC values in the 1942 1st ed. map.

Well if you DOUBLE the number of units that 1941 comes with, you’ll almost have enough to play 1941~! Lol… little joke there… another famous thing about 1941 is that it comes with so few units, its barely enough for initial setup!

How are you renumbering the 1942 map… are you literally making pen and ink style changes, or are you doing something fancy? I’m interested how you go about doing this (just from a “i’m bored and curious” aspect).

Our group used to play Global when we had the time and 1942.2 when we didn’t have time for Global… now we pretty much just play AA50 all the time, as it’s a happy medium between the two and well balanced.

1941 is intentionally an introduction to the game and priced to not be a serious commitment. I’d find it hard to commit to playing 1941 long-term… its just not as fun with the incredibly ham-stringed IPC budget of all nations.

Personally, I think trying to convert the old 1942 map to a 1941 map is more trouble than it’s worth considering how inexpensively you can get a copy of 1941 ($20.99 on Amazon at this moment, and I’ve seen it lower). I would recommend just buying a copy of 1941 and put the map and rules in your 1942 box. As a bonus, you’ll have four more dice and several new pieces to add to your 1942 set. If you’re not into mixing in the different 1941 sculpts, you can at least combine the infantry pieces since those are identical between the two sets.

@Mr_Tricorder:

Personally, I think trying to convert the old 1942 map to a 1941 map is more trouble than it’s worth considering how inexpensively you can get a copy of 1941 ($20.99 on Amazon at this moment, and I’ve seen it lower). I would recommend just buying a copy of 1941 and put the map and rules in your 1942 box. As a bonus, you’ll have four more dice and several new pieces to add to your 1942 set. If you’re not into mixing in the different 1941 sculpts, you can at least combine the infantry pieces since those are identical between the two sets.

We’ve already had this conversation. Rob lives in Canada. It costs him 30 CAD to buy a copy of '41. He already has more than one copy of '42.1. He’s trying to do this as cheap as possible. He thinks that he can do it cheaper than 30 CAD. I agree.

-Midnight_Reaper