Just How Old Are We Axis and Allies Players?

1985 in collage, Oklahoma State. The 6th floor of the student union Bldg went to find D&D players and found them there, and some other games as well I’ve been playing ever since then. I’ve lived in 4 other states during that time and have found players everywhere I have been. I’m 49 yrs young

I think I was 13 or fourteen when I first played. I am now 18 and I still love it.

This is an intresting thread and seems to be the right place for everyones anecdotal orgin story.  :-D
So heres mine:
    I started playing Axis&Allies at age 11, few years after my father died in 1994. He was a big history buff and my fascination for history came from wandering around his house and looking at all the pictures in his book collection. The one book I remember most was a big red glossy book that had WORLD WAR II written on the front of it in big gold print. After he passed I kept the book and I would casually flip through its big pages whenever I got bored, occasionally stoping to read what the pictures were about. While on a day trip to a mall a few towns away I looked in the window of what looked like a toy store (turned out to be a wizards of the coast store) and saw this big huge box with art on it that looked like it had come from starit from my big red WW2 book called Axis&Allies(old gamemaster version). I went in and stared at it for hours looking over the box art and the pictures on the back. I was, however, from a working class family and knew that my mother wouldnt (or correctly couldnt) buy it for me. So when we got home a checked how much money was in the ol’ piggy bank and bent myself towards buying that game. A few weeks later after saving every penny and mowing every neighbors lawn I returned and bought the game. Im 26 now and since then I have bought and played every single version of this game that has come out, much to my freinds annoyance.  :-D
    On another note, to all the older players of Axis&Allies, do you have trouble finding players equal to your level and experiance? In my small part of the world(Connecticut) I havent met other players who are as fimilar with the game and its rules and mechanicas as I am. I think having the perspective to look back at the game as a whole, through its many incarnations, gives us a unique perspective on it and perhapse a more in-depth understanding of the game itself. I wonder if we havent completely alienated ourselves from the new players to this game who dont have the background we do in A&A. I’m bring this up because in my small town there was one ONE other player who was my equal and who it was actually fun to play against. When he beat me I knew it was from a superior understanding of the game and its mechanics unlike when I lose to other new players who, in all cases, just got better dice rolls. It cheapins the win in my eyes and makes it a lot less fun to play. Just my idle musings on a slow day at work, that and it has been just over a year since my friend (my gaming equal I mentioned before) met with his tragic accident leaving him crippled and blind. It makes me look at how I got into this hobby, looking for some escapism in the wake of a tragedy, to where it is now, my playing having largely dropped off in the wake of another tragedy. something to think about I guess  :wink:

Enjoyed your story, Clyde.  Have you looked into playing by forum on this website?  You will find many experienced and formidable opponents who can provide you with many good times playing different versions of A&A.

I’m 47    First started playing A&A in 1993
some friends and I went to Homer AK in oct '92
My buddy bought a risk game for a dollar at their 2nd hand store
We met a guy off of a catcher processer at the Salty  Dog a bar on the spit
I had played risk before and we soon were the top players
he ended up taking the ferry south with me and he told me about A&A
I  bought the original A&A and xeno games after that
I also was Avalon Hill gamer before A&A but had few opponents
I am surprised at how many people actually have been exposed to A&A that I have met since then
Truly one of the greatest games of all time and as my brother says it’s the little dudes that make it cool

I am 50 years old. My first Axis & Allies purchase was in 1986 from Toys “R” Us. I worked at the fire department then and we played quite a few games there.

I think the best games are a mix of strategy and luck. You need some strategy to feel like your decisions are important, and random luck just makes it fun. For me, chess isn’t so fun because there is no luck at all. Risk has too much luck, where you can trade in cards for hundreds of armies. Axis and Allies has an addicting balance of skill and luck, plus the time frame is my favorite era of history.

Great reading your stories!

I played my first game 2 years ago now I am 13.

Constantinople,

I request that you add my 63 y.o. brother, and my 87 y.o. father to your totals. They are regular A&A players and are hooked like the rest of us!

“Tall Paul”

Dude…

Constantinople asked this question in 2008…

Do you not allow for slow typists? Was 18 when I joined the Games’ club at Lancaster University(Oct. 87). Bought first game(stupidly binned) in 90 in London. Went especially!

Hey moderators, any chance this topic can be moved and maybe stickied to the General Discussion forum or something? It’s a good thread and shouldn’t stay here in the 50th Anniversary forum. I would like as many new joiners to see this as possible. Many thanks.

I started playing in 1995. My dad made us kids go on a cross country trip part of it was Mall of America. I saw the game in a hobby store there and had to have it. My first game was in the hotel that night. By the end Germany had tanks pushed all the way to the Pacific ocean. When we got home I started the obsession buying up every expansion I could find.

Well said Loz. Totally agree.

Cool.  I played my first game in 1987 when I was 14 with some friends, then I met my best friend “Death from above” in 1988 and found out he and his dad were big AA fans.

We played a lot and I introduced them to "Fortress America in 1989/90 so we played that quite a bit too.  We played on and off in the 90’s.

In 2000, I saw AA Europe for sale at a game store and just picked it up and thought it would be cool. The three of us played together and that really rekindled our lust for AA, haha.

In 2001, a trip to Pearl Harbor, along with the first pacific release really got us playing as much as we could. Wives and kids came along and we still get together and play.  My friends 9 year old has become quite a player.  Our new favorite is the navel miniatures.  Whether it be Guadalcanal or bulge, our best days are spent at the kitchen table.

I played my first game in 1987 as a young boot Marine on Camp LeJeune NC.
I remember it well since the board got turned over due to the submarine rule…Hahah!!
I haven’t really played much since but it got me into 1/285th scale modelling. I actually scratch built tanks for each faction and started collecting most of the A&A games when the pieces started getting more accurate in their portrayals.
I actually got to serve with the descendants of the Desert Rats during Desert Storm, while ironically using West German military vehicles, all allied together  rather than enemy.
I love the evolution of the pieces and will eventually get to painting them all. However, I’ve been modifying the A&A pieces into more realistic pieces and having more fun doing that than actually playing the game. With the advent of 1941 and the 1942 reprint I plan to have some gaming fun…If I can get the pieces painted.

On a historical note, My maternal grandfather refused to surrender with MacArthurs forces and fought on as a guerrilla. I was in Desert Shield Storm and Calm while my cousin flew AS choppers in the Navy.

Can you put pictures up?

It would be great to hear more from you, sgt!  Only 4 posts?  That is our loss

By the way, I’m 44 now. Sorry but I can’t post pics til I hit 20 posts. I’ll see when I do manage to get it high enough.
Here’s what I have been working on.

100+ PzIII from HBG in the following Aufs. G,H,J short barreled versions
20 Revised Panthers into Aufs. A,D and protoyping G with the newer version of Panther
30 UK Shermans into M4A1 early with 3 piece Tranny and Cast tranny.
20 UK Matildas 1 prototype finished. Just added more detail to make them look like the real thing.
30 HBG Stuarts. basically refining them
50 US Shermans into M4A1 remanufactured, 76 wet, and M4A3 76 HVSS. So far I only have prototypes
60 USSR T34s into 41,43, and T34-85 versions
16 M13-40 from FMG which I got from HBG (was shorted 2)
15 38T hulls with puma Turrets in a what if build basecoated

90+ PzIIIs are built and need basecoating
30 Scratchbuilt PzIIIs already finished and base coated
15 PzIV scratchbuilt and basecoated
30 PzII  Scratchbuilt and basecoated
10 HBG 38T with scratchbuilt turrets basecoated
10 Scratchbuilt Crusaders basecoated
30 Scratchbuilt US shermans 10 M4A1s, 10 M4A3s, 5 M4s, 5 Fireflies
10 Scratchbuilt ShinHoto Chi-Has
10 Scratchbuilt T26s
10 Scratchbuilt BT-7
10 Scratchbuilt T-34s (Turrets are good but the hulls are kinda crappy)

Still tons more to do and that’s only land units before the new shipments of 41 and 2nd edition pieces come in.
Might be worth looking out for. Still working on these and will need to set up a photo shop to get pics.
Some pics are here
http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?topic=28013.0

Man, just post 4 more times right here - it’s no problem!

@Krieghund:

I first played in 1984.  I got the Milton Bradley version as soon as it hit the shelves.

same here…loved the game ever since and it also fed my hunger to learn more about world war ii…now i have many books and dvds on the subject and i love the stories and history

I was born JUST before 1984… you guys are old men. lol…