Trashdome - Axis & Allies VS Starcraft: Board Game

the*mad*gamer wrote:

Because Hasbro has way more money than FFG and therefore has more money for marketing and advertising?

I haven't seen an Axis and Allies TV commercial, since.... since... I don't know when.

"Knucklebones" and Undefeated magazines folded so I haven't seen any print ads

FFG has the power of the internet and so does Hasbro.

Hasbro has more money due to higher games sales. Better products sell better.

Obviously neither has TV spots. But I've seen ads for A&A in comic books and magazines. And if you go to any of the Wizards of the Coast Web sites you're going to see ads for Axis & Allies. I wonder how many people out there play Dungeons & Dragons and Magic and are going to see those ads?

I wonder how many people are going to FFG's site to check out Midnight and see Starcraft on there.

Interesting discussion!

It is good to be talking about games again instead of a Skeletor hissy fit!

STARCRAFT

It keeps everything cool about DOAM games and loses all of the trappings (length, turtling, randomness, downtime, basically everything A&A has been trying to fix about itself with all of the expansions).

Alright, it's time to cast my vote. And this may come as a shock seeing my previous posts, but I'm sticking with my strategy of voting for the game I've played.

Vote: Axis & Allies

Now hear me out people, my track record on voting for the winners in Trashdome is poor. I've sided with almost all of the losers. So what I'm really trying to do is sabotage Axis & Allies with my vote.

Axis & Allies was great when I was 14-18 years old. It introduced me to complex board games. And boy was it awesome. It was like Risk but with differing units, different objectives, multiple paths to victory, uneven starting locations, developing technologies and ALL THOSE MINIS! But at around 22 I realized how incredibly scripted the game was and how boring it could be. This Thanksgiving I finally managed to give my brother's dingy, beat up copy back to him after having taken it from our parents' house years ago. I gave it to him because I was sick of seeing it on my shelf and knowing I would never play it again.

I would love to play Starcraft. It sounds great. Modular maps. Tech trees. Diceless combat (not that I have anything against dice), armies that play differently. Can't wait to give it a shot some day.

Axis & Allies is pure awesome. Vote Axis & Allies.

metalface13 wrote:

I would love to play Starcraft. It sounds great.

It doesn't play like it sounds!

Michael Barnes wrote:

Two trashdomes in a week? MOTHERAGOD!

This is an easy one. Sure, the old folks around here that stink of cigar smoke and cheap whiskey are going to say AXIS AND ALLIES.

Well, since I just got back walking the route of Pickett's charge at Gettysburg smoking a cigar (a rare occurrence, though)---I do stink of cigar smoke....so I'm going to vote for Axis and Allies.

I have played both---and I agree with some of the weaknesses of Axis and Allies, but I still have far more fun playing Axis and Allies.

VOTE: Axis and Allies

Axis and Allies is a great game to bring people into wargaming, especially kids. The rules aren't too hard, you get tons of plastic, and lots of dice to roll. Plus you can play it with 4 other friends. And I love WWII games.

But A&A is broken. A turn or two in and the fate of Germany's attack on Russia will decide the fate of the game.
And the game lacks replay value -- unless you count the games where one player keeps getting all the tech advances and swarms you.

Starcraft has a bunch of replay value and is more fun to play. It does suffer from the feeling that it's over once things start to get going (like Warrior Knights) but it's still a cool game.

Vote: Starcraft

Starcraft without a doubt due to the replayability factor alone.

I've never played A&A, but I'm sure Starcraft is the better game. Fast paced, tense, and action packed with lots and lots of replay value. And I for one really like the end game because all players - unless they've played poorly - usually has a small chance of pulling a win.

What I don't like about the game is that setup can be way too important and many times the way you yourself place your planets will have little impact on how the board actually ends up for you. This is especially the case in a six-player game. Also some builds are rarely used, but I hope Brood War will make up for this.

Vote: STARCRAFT: TBG

Never played Starcraft, so I can't really vote.

However, Axis and Allies does have alot going for it. Especially the revised version.

How about the revised version of Joe Stalin?

One thing I think people resent STARCRAFT for- and I think this is really, really stupid-is that you can't build everything in one game. I've heard this A LOT.

The point is that you build what you need, and you plan your building strategy based on observing what everybody else (or your immediate neighbors, at least) are building. That is _totally_ in line with RTS strategy. Most good RTS players don't _want_ to build everything, that's pointless. Why build pikemen if your enemy isn't building cavalry?

I think it gives the game another dimension of replayability too- you can try out different combinations, find out what you like and don't like. It's a layer of flexibility, and I'll take that over scripting that leads you to build the same crap every game.

Two a week! Are you mad?

StarCraft

Axis & Allies: Saddled with trying to be all of WWII on one map. Not enough territories and an attritional combat system means the game is one of grinding economics and not maneuver. Strategy is funneled down certain channels dictated by geography drawn far too crudely. Most of the board goes unused. The gameplay is pretty dated and bad.
ON THE OTHER HAND - it's all of WWII on a single board in one (long) session. I admire the ambition of the design, and it works to some extent.

StarCraft: All the modern conveniences. Awesome technology system, map creation, and production. Combat and Order system are novel and mostly work. Excellent bits. 100% pure goodness w/expansion.
ON THE OTHER HAND - Combat sometimes feels dry without dice. Getting your order stacks wrecked because of seating order can be annoying.

VOTE: StarCraft