Open Call for Play Testers for Renegade A&A Games

@Krieghund thanks for your answer.

@vodot said in Renegade Con Virtual: Axis and Allies:

This post got moved over from a different thread.

@imperious-leader I’m not sure to what extent the team will feel empowered - or have the appetite - to revise things like rules etc. for the flagship games. They seem, at least right now, content to simply own and reprint the flagship IP while releasing only new entries into the (quite dated) family of “standalone satellite games”. This is after all the age of the timid ‘remake’, for better or for worse.

I would personally hope that we will see an even more revolutionary version of what @Black_Elk has recommended:

@black_elk said in Advice to Renegade! What is on your top 10 for adjustments to G40 3rd edition?:

So the Q was for Global 3rd Ed, but while we’re at it… I just got 3 to add

A legacy version of the base game (midscale board), that is simply called “Axis and Allies” ie don’t include a start date year or an edition number in the name for that one. It should present as the basic starter set. Provide unit set ups for a couple dates like AA50 did, but do that in the manual instead. The idea being that it’s easier to re-print or revise or download material for unit set ups in a manual than on cards/boxes. So you could do 1942 as the default, but also 1941 or 1943 say, just by referencing a page in the rulebook.

Axis and Allies Global - Sell it as a single complete game, rather than 2 separate theater games. For packaging maybe have 1 box be for the maps the cards and all the paper stuff, and then have units sold separately? I think the players that are most interested in the more advanced game just want G40, rather than Europe and Pacific 1940. By selling the sculpts separately there is less need to divide the boards by theater, and then it can build on the starter unit set included with the base “Axis and Allies” game mentioned above.

Include a small Art book/History of the Axis and Allies game and it’s creator, including the images from all the cover boxes and such. Legacy style! I just think that would be a nice touch and cool to see.

I would take this idea even further - a complete restructuring of the product line into a modern “base game + expansions” system with a basic tier (“Axis and Allies”) and then more complex and theater games layered on top of that. How many olive drab colored US bits does one A&A player need?? I have thousands of plastic bits across dozens of different color variations and decades of different injection molders, and tooling changes both major and minor… and I am by no means a “major collector” by the standards of some of the regulars here.

Instead, in 2024 maybe we could begin a new three-tier system, something like:

“Axis and Allies” (essentially, this would be AA41 or, even better, AAZ without zombies) basic units (inf/art/tnk/ftr/bmr/sub/trn/dd/cv/bb) simplified board with drawn-on infrastructure Expansion 1: “Advanced” Axis and Allies this expansion would, when combined with “Axis and Allies” above, create AA50 or AA50+. Contents: bigger/more granular map; maybe add a minor power or two (Axis minors/Italy, etc.) Set of new ‘basic’ units for the added power(s) only New unit rules + sculpts: Cruisers, AAA units, ICs, etc. for all powers This would not come with the basic pieces for the other powers Expansion 2: Axis and Allies: “Global War” this expansion would, when combined with the Base game and Expansion 1 above, create G40 or G40+. Contents: even bigger/more granular map and add more minor powers Sets of ‘basic’ and ‘advanced’ units for the added minor powers only New unit rules and sculpts: Mech Inf, Tac bombers, Minor ICs, Bases, etc. for all powers

These three would be the “mainline” series, which would then be further extensible by at least three additional series:

A “Great Battles” product line that zooms in on battles of particular interest like Guadalcanal or the Bulge; or perhaps even whole theaters and regions like North Africa, the Eastern Front, or Operation Overlord and aftermath.
- These would use but not contain the “Basic” units, rather expanding upon them by adding only the missing needed bits for those battles, scenarios, or theaters. The trucks from Bulge or the Blockhouses from D-Day are examples of these; and these theater games could include rules for incorporating these additional units into the “Global” game as well.

A product line that adds rules, units, and complexity for the “Global” game. These would be “packs” of additional sculpts and units, with each including enough units to add a particular unit for every power or new rules for the Global game; adding things like Transport Planes, Heavy Tanks, Mobile Artillery, Oil/resource bits and rules, new maps and overlays, etc. This could even introduce goofy/fun shenanigans like a “Zombies” deck with zombie figures, or other bizarre and alternative scenarios.

A product line for aesthetic game/sculpt changes - blister-packs releases of special/interesting replacement sculpts for the given powers.

Very good comment. As I said before, RENEGADE, look here! BE and I talked about this in another location. I would add, alternative set ups, even mid game set ups from top tier players actual games. And of course, official house rules like rails, marines, additional or reduced national objectives and national advantages.

@djensen said in More Announcements from Renegade:

Not included in the article is that I have made contact with the community manager and Renegade will now be working with us for updates and so forth.

Very good news, David. Very good to hear that Renegade wants to make good use of the huge amount of knowledge, experience and enthiousiasm that is availible at #AxisAndAllies.org :)

Cool. Maybe now we can get a FAQ for the Zombie game?

And the first step toward that is here with Axis & Allies Online. Although, I’m not sure he wanted to digitize “for phones.” The small format may not be conducive for A&A games.

Also, you all have been super quiet on the news today. What’s up with that?

One thing I’ve been wondering is why can’t you buy WofTC stuff including Avalon products directly from the company?  Did they screw themselves by signing all sorts of restrictive distribution agreements with wholesalers?

Seems like a big mistake if they did. Probably contributes a serious percentage cost to the end product. Imagine buying 1940 2nd for $50 right from WofTC. Or replacement pieces right from them.

Who knows, maybe they are trying to shutter the A&A brand so their distributors let go of their contracts?  Maybe too savvy for them.

IM thinking Federation, Klingon, Romulan, Possible others

Dreadnought 4-4
Heavy Cruiser 3-3
Destroyer 2-2
Space Station 5x5-5x5?
Transport

Hey everyone, sorry this is a little late.  The dicetower is a website that produces some of the top reviews (video) and podcasts in the boardgaming world.  They have a partnership with coolstuff.inc (top online retailer of boardgames) so that should tell you something.  They give excellent reviews.  For the last couple of years the show’s host Tom Vasel has allowed the people to choose the top 100 boardgames for that particular year (usually Sept.).

Tom has reviewed many many great games and is a pretty good reviewer in my opinion.  However, he has not reviewed the lastest Axis and Allies lineup.  He doesn’t really care for the game, so it gets no publicity or love- at least from him.  This is our chance to voice our opinion about AA.  900+ people have voted already and the poll can be compared to boardgamegeek.com poll.  What’s nice about the dicetower poll though is that people can only vote their games positively not vote down or negatively like boardgamegeek.com.  This give this particular poll some better credibility IMHO.

Anyway, go vote, it will take 2 minutes.

1. Go to this site: http://www.dicetower.com/

2. On the top bar click “Top 100”, then “People’s Choice Voting”

3. Register- Name and email only (emails are not shared).

4. You may be returned to the homepage after registering so then just repeat step 2, log in and vote.

Ranking your top 20 games DOES matter as games near the top will get more points.  Collectively it would help if we all could rank AAE40, AAP40 and AA1914 in the top 3 spots with maybe AA42 and AA42 after if you like.  You don’t have to fill out the rest of the spots unless you want to.  There is an automatic search engine that looks for the game as you type it in and press “search” with the corresponding BBG number (boardgamegeek.com listing).  You should always check this to ensure you have the right version as there are over 30,000 games in the BBG database.

Voting will close sometime Wednesday or Thursday Tom said so don’t delay!

Vote:

1. Axis and Allies Europe 1940 (bbg id: 61692)
2. Axis and Allies Pacific 1940 (bbg id: 55829)
3. Axis and Allies: WWI 1914 (bbg id: 133956)
4. Axis and Allies: 1942 (bbg id: 41863)
5. Axis and Allies 1941 (bbg id: 123158)   :-D :-D :-D