I Think Joshua From "War Games" Said It Best….

WotC has little interest in making games for small hard core fans.

They are in the business of making money using the latest pop culture theme.

However, like just posted, if it is a hit, the A&A community will benefit with more main stream A&A games being produced.
(some off the wall stuff too)

Hopefully they will revisit the battle series or do a campaign game.

Regardless, we will know soon enough what this game brings as it is close to Oct 31st.

As I said before, the CEO of Wizards is a huge Axis and Allies fan so we know AnA isn’t screwed with what the grown adults whining on these boards could called “childish” zombie games. And as I said before, they have ideas on the table, none that they would talk about and I did “try” to pitch two games I wanted to see with AnA; Korea and some kind of global cold war.

@robert:

They are in the business of making money using the latest pop culture theme.

They are in the “business of making money,” is exactly correct. That’s the function of a business.  :-D

Not sure I agree with the pop-culture reference. At the WotC event Scott relayed the story as to how this game came to be. He’ll explain it an upcoming post, but IIRC it was not really planned… somebody said something, they tried it, tested it, and it “worked.” Again, that’s the terrible re-telling of the story. Stay tuned for the details.

I think most games, especially euros, are wrapped in a thin layer of the latest crazes happening.

mankinds survival/space/medieval/fantasy are all popular themes right now.

It surely played a role in Scotts likes/dislikes at the time.

Possibly. My “interview” of Scott, which included a question about how the game came to be, is arriving soon.

@Imperious:

Or just buy 1941 for about $25?

Take out the zombies and AAZ is still a richer game than 1941. More unit types, more territories, and Recruitment Centers.

@djensen:

Take out the zombies and AAZ is still a richer game than 1941. More unit types, more territories, and Recruitment Centers.

Now, that is a valuable piece of information! The fact that, not only is the the game playable sans zombies, but also offers better experience than one of the “canonical” titles does gives one pause before rejecting the concept outright.

Now, I cannot, yet, comment on the game setup balance without zombies. But it’s definitely something worth a try.

The opening attack and stack from Russia is pretty strong (11/2/2?), so without any zombies in the way or cards to mix things up Germany would be on the defensive for most of the game.

Honestly I think the Recruitment Centers are going to be the one thing from this game that breathes new life into the franchise, especially if they become purchase-able in future editions as cheaper ICs.

Imagine a game of G40 where Ukraine and Novgorod were Recruitment Centers instead of ICs. That wouldn’t be enough to turn the balance in the Allies’ favor but it would definitely stop scenarios where Germany rolls into those territories and starts pumping out Tanks 2-3 territories away from Moscow the very next turn unless the Soviets resort to gamey tactics (purposely not repairing the ICs when Germany bombs them, etc.).

they work both ways in AAZ, because you can pour out infantry, which just makes more zombies.  I believe US/China and UK/India are the ones on the printed board, UK has a full-fledged factory in Austrailia too–so while there is a temptation to churn out that infantry, it just means one thing is going to happen.

More zombies.

@DoManMacgee:

Honestly I think the Recruitment Centers are going to be the one thing from this game that breathes new life into the franchise, especially if they become purchase-able in future editions as cheaper ICs.

That certainly seems hinted in the rulebook.  Looking at the rules for porting zombies to 1942, you can buy recruitment centers for 10ipcs AND one of the chinese territories starts with one. In fact, I’m interested in using the ported setup(Edit: As soon as they errata the American scuba soldiers out!) as a zombieless “patched” setup for the current 1942.  Tougher china, british navy/australia may be a positive change.

@Striker:

@DoManMacgee:

Honestly I think the Recruitment Centers are going to be the one thing from this game that breathes new life into the franchise, especially if they become purchase-able in future editions as cheaper ICs.

That certainly seems hinted in the rulebook.  Looking at the rules for porting zombies to 1942, you can buy recruitment centers for 10ipcs AND one of the chinese territories starts with one. In fact, I’m interested in using the ported setup(Edit: As soon as they errata the American scuba soldiers out!) as a zombieless “patched” setup for the current 1942.  Tougher china, british navy/australia may be a positive change.

That’s a different take on re-balancing 42SE that I’d be willing to try. Having a Recruitment Center spawn in China would go a decent amount towards slowing Japan down in Asia (currently there’s basically nothing stopping them from running over the Allies in China and driving straight to Moscow).

What are the rules for placing units at a recruitment center? Is it tied to the IPC value of the territory like it is for ICs (haven’t got my copy of AAZ yet or I’d check for myself).

@DoManMacgee:

What are the rules for placing units at a recruitment center? Is it tied to the IPC value of the territory like it is for ICs (haven’t got my copy of AAZ yet or I’d check for myself).

Exactly like regular ICs except they cost 10 IPCs and only spawn infantry.

@zooooma:

@DoManMacgee:

What are the rules for placing units at a recruitment center? Is it tied to the IPC value of the territory like it is for ICs (haven’t got my copy of AAZ yet or I’d check for myself).

Exactly like regular ICs except they cost 10 IPCs and only spawn infantry.

Bummer. I don’t see that being very helpful in 42SE’s China then. Aren’t all those territories worth only 1 IPC each? I doubt 1 INF/turn is going to do much in the face of the Japanese onslaught.

@DoManMacgee:

Bummer. I don’t see that being very helpful in 42SE’s China then. Aren’t all those territories worth only 1 IPC each? I doubt 1 INF/turn is going to do much in the face of the Japanese onslaught.

Of course Japan will have to kill each infantry twice…

Yes, just got the game and the three new factories are limited to 2 units, 2 infantry, and 1 infantry.  Seems lean.

Also, limiting UK to 4/2/(2) and Russia to 4/2 total units seems lean, but remains…to be…seen

@taamvan:

… but remains … to be … seen

And depending on the roll results, have to kill the remains again…  :-P

-Midnight_Reaper