Axis and Allies

This review is based on the 3rd edition. Axis and Allies was one of the first board games that brought me into hobby gaming and I played it a lot starting in middle school up until college.



I enjoy the nation management: collecting income, territory expansion, choosing which units to purchase, developing technology, etc. My favorite country to play is Japan because you're in the thick of things, but you get to spend your money on cool stuff like battleships, aircraft carriers, bombers, fighters and whatnot. Unlike some countries (Russia) where all you do is buy infantry.



I hold a special place in my heart for Axis and Allies, and I doubt I'll ever get rid of my copy but I don't really ever want to play it again because every game pretty much plays out the same way, with the exception of a few lucky dice rolls or crazy strategy by lunatic players.

Was my first real WWII game. It's fun, but usually takes way too long to end. It really drags on if the allies start to win. Has really cool bits, which is nice. It was the game that got me interested in more complex games. I haven't played it in forever (and I never feel like playing it) because I have other war games I enjoy more.



The most effective strategies make the game feel scripted, which isn't good. Also, heavy bombers are a bit broken. It's totally random if you get them or not, and they are just SO good, they usually decide the game.

She hasn't aged all that well, she's still too long for the depth she yields, but hot damn, you still can't open that box without going nuts over the bits, or remembering "that game" you played that time in college where you were grinding out Russians with a wave of Panzers, sweating as Great Britain got on her feet from your early raids, and hoping the Japanese fleet could hold off the Americans long enough for you to achieve your goals.



Never worked out that way, but hey...





This game is the father of a lot of modern AT. It was the Risk-style game that bothered to differentiate units and give you a little bit more to do than just toss the bones against each other. The production scale was ramped up to "11". No one forgets the first time they laid eyes on A&A. Nobody. It was the first time I had any idea there were games like this out there.





So a nod to the old girl, even if she is too high maintenance for these modern times.

This is the game that got me into board games, lots of war, little dudes and dice are what I'm about and this game was the first one to do that really well. The original board and rules aren't all that great anymore but with the revised edition and the new anniversary edition coming out it has been cleaned up balanced and polished to sparkle. This is one of the purest ameritrash games out there.