First pics of Anniversary map, I beat you, IL :-D
mine……
pic
more
this is from BGG
more…
So the setup will not be on the map? (edit) Probably because there are two set ups for the different start years.
It looks very nice. Like an actual MAP!
The Italian units look very familiar
like the Italian tank and artillery looks very like the japanese pieces
and the Italian battleship and tranny looks very like the german pieces
and the Italian brown colour is close to the russian and japanese colours, they should have went for light gray
Yes, 2 different start dates.
Italy has 10 IPC and is quite limited (unless you get them IPC somehow). But it should be interesting to play.
China will be tough to conquer (like in pacific).
I’m thinking ultimately that more space = better for the allies. But we will see what happens over time.
Greg Smorey has a post on the game he played……
AWESOME!
Can I say any more. Larry was present and showing off the new anniversary game at GEN CON. We, six of us, were able to get one game in while the game was on display at GEN CON. The second game was scheduled, but WotC came and took the game back before we had a chance to get the second game in. And boy were they pretty stern about taking the game…
Anyhow, the play was great! The Allies were played by myself, Eric Mynster and Brandon Roscoe. The Axis were played by James Milazzo, Paul Milazzo and Brian Miles.
Yes, six players. Paul took the Italians and Brandon the US/Chinese. We played the 1941 scenario. Yes, the game comes with two set up scenarios. 1941 & 42.
There are also some great new things about the game; the board, new pieces, new techs (which actually rock) and the way in which one rolls for such, new order of play, new stats of some of the old pieces (ex. transports no longer have any defense value! Great new rule!) and the biggest is the damage IC take during bombing runs. There are more that I will get to but just some of the few off the top of my head.
In game we played, one of the big reasons the Allies won, the Allies just beat down the Germans. The US and the UK just bombed the hell out of Germany and it really hurt them to the point of having almost an impossible time recouping infantry to defend the Russian onslaught…yes, in the new game, bombing IC now places damage on the IC in the amount of hit tokens and the IC’s must be repaired at a cost of one IPC for each damage token on the IC. IC’s may be bombed for up to twice the original amount of the territory cost. SO, in the case of Germany at 10, could be bombed up to -10 in IPC cost. Thus, having to repair all damage before producing out of that IC. And yes, lets say Germany was hit for 7 damage over two runs by the UK and US, then on Germany’s next turn, they could only produce 3 units out of Germany unless damage was repaired to a value in which they could produce more…
I guess I must also prempt all my comments in that, I was one of the play-testers and the only one having experience, so I had some idea what to expect, maybe a big advantage to the Allies but nonetheless, it is what it was.
Moving on…The Russian immediately consolidated forces and had Germany retreating on G2 back into there home land. Now Italy is a pain in butt! They have just enough units and ships on the board to keep Russia and UK at bay. They did so the whole game, basically keeping the UK from taking back Africa and always forcing Russia to keep more than they would prefer in the way of infantry in Leningrad.
As for the Pacific. The Japanese in the 1941 scenario start the game with three VC’s and nine fighters…a really tough, tough torn to get out of ones side…and with the new sea zones, it is very tough for the US to make it over to the Islands to start causing a real havoc at any point in our game. In the last round we played, the Japanese forgot about the transport no defense rule and left 5 transports unprotected and the US were just licking their chops at the opportunity to sinks ships (transports) without dice rolls… yes, the way this works is that with no defense value, a enemy unit just needs to fly over or run a ship into the space killing any unprotected transports. Also, Transports, since they no longer have a defense value can NO LONGER be used as fodder. So, if you have a BB and a transport in a sea zone and two hits are taken to the ships, the BB must take both, it gets it return fire and then both ships are lost at the end of the round of fire…cool!
So, in short, we had a blast. The Allies won decicively and we really looked forward to playing a second game but unfourtunetly, the opportunity did not present itself.
Now, as far as the other that played, I would love to hear your comments as well on the game…
Until the next post…
Peace,
@Craig:
Charles,
Why are there counters for the VCs when they are printed right on the map?Craig
Mayb there are different VCs for the different scenarios?
Wow. The map looks fantastic!
The navy looks much bigger than usual - buy maybe it’s just the angle of the picture.
I’m a little surprised that Italy only starts with 10 IPC though…
Can anyone confirm how exactly the Chinese will be played by the US?
Thanks.
Wow. The map looks fantastic! I’m a little surprised that Italy only starts with 10 IPC though…
Yeah, not much Italy can do with that. It looks like strategy papers for Italy will very short.
LT
@Craig:
Charles,
Why are there counters for the VCs when they are printed right on the map?Craig
I would suspect that the intent is for the VC counters to be in the possession of the player controlling the VC, rather than on the board.
@Craig:
@Craig:
Charles,
Why are there counters for the VCs when they are printed right on the map?Craig
Mayb there are different VCs for the different scenarios?
No, I don’t think so.
I would suspect that the intent is for the VC counters to be in the possession of the player controlling the VC, rather than on the board.
If they are supposed to be on some chart, then put them there. It is just another thing to clutter the board, taking up space.
If they are to be on the board, at least make them two sided, with a contrasting color on the opposite sides. That way you could then flip them when control of said VC changes hands, kind of like the VT counters that I pass out for use in the A&A tournament that I run at WBC.
They do look cool, I just don’t understand the need for the duplication.
Craig
Can we just enjoy the pics for a few days before you start bitching ??? :-D
Hmm… my opinions:
The new naval combat rules sound very nice. Very nice.
The new tech sounds promising, just because Revised had a crappy tech system.
Italy is a bit disappointing… 10 IPC?
The map is beautiful.
Italy’s color looks a little too similar to Russia’s.
It looks very imbalanced in favor of the Allies. Splitting Germany’s income with an extremely weak power and buffing China seems like it is two hard hits against the Axis in a game that already favors the Allies.
If Revised (LHTR) never came out, this game would be overwhelming… but I dunno, it seems a bit like Revised 1.5.
Anyone say what the victory cities/victory conditions are?
We know Italy is only 10 IPC… how much do the rest of the countries make?
Italy 10
Russia 24
UK 30
Germany 30
Japan 30
USA 45
That would be my guess…
Re: Italy
Can anyone who has better eyes than me confirm, but it looks like Italy starts with a BB, 2 DD, and a tranny?
Thanks.
Re: Italy
Can anyone who has better eyes than me confirm, but it looks like Italy starts with a BB, 2 DD, and a tranny?
Thanks.
Either that or a BB, 2 cruisers, and a transport.
@Rakeman:
Re: Italy
Can anyone who has better eyes than me confirm, but it looks like Italy starts with a BB, 2 DD, and a tranny?
Thanks.Either that or a BB, 2 cruisers, and a transport.
Oh yeah - that could be. I wonder what the cruiser ability is?
@Rakeman:
We know Italy is only 10 IPC… how much do the rest of the countries make?
Italy 10
Russia 24
UK 30
Germany 30
Japan 30
USA 45That would be my guess…
Japan 17
USSR 30
Germany 30
UK and USA 40(+/-)
