A&A'42 new and "refreshed" sculpts

the morons at WOTC

not morons. CHIMPS. This is the work of Chimps.

I spent some time comparing the pieces in the new game to the previous ones.  Apart from the completely new Russian naval pieces, there are a few minor differences with a few units – in some cases visible at a glance, in others so small that you have to squint really hard to see them.

Among the more visible changes:

• the Japanese artillery piece has an identical body to previous ones but the legs of the undercarriage are extended rather than folded together

• the German cruiser piece has an identical superstructure to the one in Anniversary but its hull is more slender and the stern is pointed rather than straight

Among the less visible changes:

• The American / British destroyer now has a gap in between the bridge structure and the first funnel

• The British aircraft carrier no longer has a catapult on the forward part of the deck

Among the almost-invisible changes:

• Some of the ships (like the American battleship and the German transport) have features (like the battleship main guns) which are defined a little more sharply than before, and seem to be smoother and more glossy than previously

• There are very small differences in some of the fine details on some of the tanks and aircraft

• Most of the infantry pieces are a bit taller; the most visible of the infantry changes is the different size of the submachine gun magazine on the Russian piece

Basically, what this adds up to is that most of the units are virtually identical to the previous ones, with just a few totally new pieces introduced and just a couple of partially-revised sculpts whose revisions are significant enough that you can tell the difference at arm’s length distance.

CWO Marc

I just got my copy, and boy is that Russian battleship ugly, geezzz, looks like a gas station. Also the infantry are much bigger than the original

The British, American and German battleship are bigger too. Overall, the units are finer detailed, for instance, the american armour or the german transport are way better than before.

@C_Strabala:

It is not like there will actually be a Red fleet of any significance in the game. Which means that these shiny new units will never, I repeat, Never see the light of day on the gameboard.

And since you can only build naval units(without building an additional complex) in the black sea (that you can’t leave) makes it even more pointless.

@mig:

And since you can only build naval units(without building an additional complex) in the black sea (that you can’t leave) makes it even more pointless.

That is if you are playing with the Dards closed, you can play with them open as well.

Well, one thing I can say for the “ugly” new Soviet battleship is that they seem to have done some homework, for a change.  It looks to be a Gangut-class battleship, as modified in the inter-war years (which is what gives it some of the distinctively ugly eccentricities that so many of you seem to hate so much).

Ironically, the old British-style sculpt is nearly as accurate, though, since the British did transfer the old Royal Sovereign to the Soviets late in the war ('44, I think?).

Is anyone out there up enough on their WW2 Soviet ship classes to identify the new Soviet destroyer and cruiser sculpts?  Just curious…

The cruisers are Kirov class, and the destroyers are Gnevny class.

I saw AA1942 on my games store today for only 30€ and decided to get it (I was expecting it to cost more), despite my previous gripes about it. Here’s what I think about the pieces:

• The P38s are skinnier than the ones on BoB or Revised. A minus for that.
• Same applies to the Russian fighters. Another minus
• The infantry units on 42 are less than 1 milimeter taller than previously and have a bigger base and I can only tell the difference by closer inspection. 0 points there
• Armor for US and Russia definitely better (I love those big arse T-34s), 2 plus there.
• Artillery for US, UK and Russia have a little more definition but I see no big improvement. 0 points there.
• US and UK BBs are bigger, which would be a plus but the board SZs are too freaking small to hold large pieces. They get a plus but barely.
• Russian BB looks awful but I love it. Plus there.
• Russian BMR… can’t decide if the straight wings are an improvement. 0 points
• Russian DD and CA are new, a plus I guess, score another 2 points for naval russian pieces that no one

My final conclusion is that some pieces are worth getting (3 BBs, 2 ARMs, Ger Trn),  others are nice but worthless unless you’re a fan of the Russian Navy (the 3 naval pieces), 2 are a drawback from previous versions (the Yak and the P-38), the refreshed infantry and artillerysculpts are not that spectacular and you could get by without them.

To me, it seems that the miniatures in AA42 have a better finishing. In my AA50 the miniatures are not so good. Russian an Japanese fighters are bend, ships of alla navies have molding problems. Maybe refreshed is intended in the sense they have re-modeled the “original” of each miniature.

@Romulus:

To me, it seems that the miniatures in AA42 have a better finishing. In my AA50 the miniatures are not so good. Russian an Japanese fighters are bend, ships of alla navies have molding problems. Maybe refreshed is intended in the sense they have re-modeled the “original” of each miniature.

I sent WOTC an email about my bent planes, ships, etc. They replaced all of them for me. I recommend the same. Check the box for the web site and go to customer service (not near my box at the moment).