Axis and Allies

Versions

Gameplay

In every edition of Axis & Allies, players play as the major belligerents of World War II: Germany, Japan, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The A&A: 50th Anniversary Edition also includes Italy as the third Axis power and China as the fourth Allied power. The A&A: Pacific 1940 edition includes China and ANZAC (Australia and New Zealand armed forces). The A&A: Europe 1940 edition includes Italy and France. The players playing the Axis powers team up against those of the Allied powers in an attempt to conquer key territories, represented by regions on the map board. In earlier editions, this was done by capturing and holding until the end of a round of play certain territories where the opposing alliance's capital cities are located. In later editions, this also included other territories on the map, where "victory cities" are located. In the original Milton Bradley edition, A&A: Classic, the Axis powers could also win by capturing and holding until the end of a round of play enough territories to gain an economic advantage. This "economic victory" was dropped in later editions of A&A.

Each round of a game involves each of the powers moving in turn according to a specified order; the game ends when either the Axis powers or the Allied powers complete their objectives. When each power takes its turn, they must first declare how they are to spend the IPCs (Industrial Production Certificates, an abstract currency representing one million man-hours of labor) in their possession: this may go into buying new units, improving units through research (in earlier editions), or repairing damaged structures (in later editions). Players then declare any movements made that would result in combat, moving their pieces as appropriate, and after resolving combat, declaring any non-combat movements. At the end of the turn, players then place any units that were purchased at the beginning of the turn and collect IPCs based on all territories that they control at the end of their turn.

Combat is typically divided into several types; in all types, however, combat is divided into rounds. In each round, attackers and defenders roll dice to determine which of their units deal hits on the opposing side. If the number rolled is less than or equal to the unit's attack or defense rating (where appropriate), the unit scores a hit on an opposing unit of the opponent's choosing. During the round if an attacker defeats an enemy, the enemy can do a final retaliation before death, then be taken off the board. Some types of combat, such as strategic bombing raids, naval bombardment, and anti-aircraft defense, last only one round, though in others the attacker has the option of either continuing with another round of battle or retreating. Combat is fully resolved when either side loses all their units or the attackers choose to retreat. Though combat in different territories may be resolved in any order of the attackers choosing, combat in one territory may affect the number of combatants in another territory for later battles, as in the case of an amphibious assault or when attacking units withdraw.

Revisions

Revisions would follow shortly after the game release as the rules didn't always produce results which made sense in the context of the historical setting. For example, the abstraction of submarines fighting airplanes, initially had a restriction that the bomber was the only kind that could attack a sub. This was later revised so that all aircraft could attack submarines.

Although not the very first edition, the Milton Bradley release was the first to establish the well known game mechanics. There were three versions of the rules for the Milton Bradley games, though only the first two were included with the game itself. The third edition rules were exclusive to a computer video game "Axis & Allies" by Hasbro released in 1998 and Axis & Allies: Iron Blitz with minor additional rules released in 1999. The three editions differed by minor details. There is also a newer video game, Axis & Allies: RTS released in 2004, a departure from the original A&A: Classic world map and introducing several tactical battle scenarios. The Axis & Allies: RTS (2004) was followed by Axis & Allies: RTS Collector's Edition (2006) with expanded strategy guide included.

The first major revision to the rules was designed by Larry Harris and Mike Selinker (who would later develop the board game Attack! based on the experiences learned working with Harris), who tried to address many of the Milton Bradley version's shortcomings, including removing the Axis economic victory condition and the requirement of capturing enemy capitals in favor of victory cities, which has been used in every revision since. With victory cities, the Axis and Allies start with an equal number of victory cities (specially labeled territories), and strive to capture enough victory cities to gain a majority of them (the size of the majority being agreed upon by the players prior to the game). This allows players to play shorter or longer games, depending upon the number of victory cities a power must control in order to claim victory.

With each revision, there were also balance changes in order to make gameplay more dynamic: in the Milton Bradley edition, infantry were cheap units that tended to be most useful as defensive cannon fodder, due to their token attack and slightly better defense. This had led to many areas of the game board being heavily fortified, bogging game play down to a matter of who could build more infantry faster. To counteract this, the tank, whose defense ability was equal to infantry in the Milton Bradley release, had its defensive capabilities improved in the revised edition, so as to encourage players to use combined arms. Other balance changes included altering the costs of the various units, and altering the transport capacity: in the Milton Bradley edition, transports could carry only two infantry or one of any other land unit; later revisions had transports able to carry one infantry in addition to one of any other land unit.

The variety of land and sea units was increased by introducing artillery and destroyers from A&A: Europe and A&A: Pacific to A&A: Revised edition. Artillery increased the effectiveness of infantry in attacks, while destroyers limited the usefulness of submarines and acted as a lower-cost substitute for the expensive battleship. Cruisers were introduced in A&A: 50th Anniversary Edition to effectively split the destroyer's many abilities. While destroyers continue to limit the usefulness of submarines, the stronger cruisers now act as lower cost battleships.

The game board itself was also reworked in each revision. The Milton Bradley classic release featured largely vibrant colors, while the revised version featured mainly darker tones. The 50th anniversary edition and 1942 edition has a more realistic terrain with only subtle hints of color to denote which power has initial control over a particular territory. The composition of territories was also slightly altered, for example, the number of territories between Berlin and Moscow had been increased for the revised edition, including adding many Soviet territories of strategic importance.

Strategic bombing was altered over the years. Until the revised edition, strategic bombing caused opposing players to lose the IPCs they had on hand. The 50th anniversary edition changed this so that industrial complexes were damaged instead. Damaged industrial complexes had less capacity to produce units and can be repaired at the cost of IPCs.

Later revisions have also included changes in research (which was generally not a worthwhile investment in the Milton Bradley edition due to its high cost and low probability of success) to have more of an effect, with mixed results, 1942 edition eliminates research altogether. Another feature that was implemented but was later dropped was the revised edition's "National Advantages", which represented tactics and technologies used by a specific power during the war. For example, a British ability allowed the British player to delay their combat movement until the American player's turn once per game, in order to have a coordinated attack.

Later editions had minor cosmetic changes in the playing pieces. In the Milton Bradley version, only the infantry pieces were unique to each power in appearance. Unique units was later expanded to include nearly every unit in later editions. Compared to the generic fighters of the Milton Bradley release, the Supermarine Spitfire was used in later editions to represent British fighters, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero was used to represent Japanese fighters, while two different fighters (the Grumman F4F Wildcat and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning) represented American fighters. The color scheme to associate units with powers was also standardized across all Axis & Allies series games, based on the colors used in A&A: Europe and A&A: Pacific, and is different from those used in the Milton Bradley release.

In 2009, an updated version of Axis & Allies: Pacific was released, titled Axis & Allies: Pacific 1940. The 10th board game in the A&A series, A&AP 1940 introduced the ANZAC forces as a playable power, along with two new unit types, mechanized infantry and tactical bombers.

In 2010, an updated version of Axis & Allies: Europe was released, titled Axis & Allies: Europe 1940. A&AE 1940 introduced France as a playable power. Mechanized infantry and tactical bomber units continue to appear after debuting in A&A Pac40. Italy also appears as a playable power in A&AE 1940 after debuting in A&A 50. In A&AE 1940 and A&AP 1940 aircraft carriers and battleships are capital ships that are damaged with 1 hit and sunk with 2 hits. Damaged CVs & BBs can be repaired by moving the damaged CV or BB to a friendly naval base for repairs. Special rules apply for fighters and tactical bombers if a CV is damaged. A&AE 1940 is the 11th A&A boardgame in the series. A&AE 1940 and A&AP 1940 are designed to be played as separate games or may be combined into one game to create a 2-6 player global 1940 scenario, complete with separate set up and national objectives. The combined A&AE 1940 and A&AP 1940 maps measure 175x80 cm (70" x 32"). All 9 major powers of World War II are represented with unique unit pieces and their own unique color.

Spin-offs

Due to the success of Axis & Allies: Classic, as of 2010, there are now ten spin-off games in the A&A franchise. Three are updated or expanded versions of the original global A&A: Classic game. An additional four games are theater games depicting Europe or the Pacific. An additional three games are local games of specific battles.

Additional games have also been published by other game designers with similar mechanics (some requiring components from an Axis & Allies or similar game).

Board games

In addition to designing the board games, Larry Harris had also designed A&A: Europe and A&A: Pacific, which had the core mechanics of Axis & Allies adapted for a specific theater. This, in turn, served as the catalyst for the revised edition. Although there were preliminary plans for a variant that allowed players to combine Europe and Pacific together, it had never been published. Larry Harris has announced two completely new editions, Axis & Allies Pacific 1940 to be released in December 2009 and Axis & Allies Europe 1940 to be released in Summer 2010, which will also include a variant that combines both games together.

Other Harris-designed Axis & Allies games were more tactical in nature, and focused on individual battles: Axis & Allies: D-Day (2004) focused on the Allied liberation of France, Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge (2006) focused on the Battle of the Bulge, while Axis & Allies: Guadalcanal (2007) focused on the Solomon Islands Campaign. Though these games retained many of the traditional mechanics, some were specific to the particular game.

Video games

There have been two Axis & Allies video game versions released each of which had an updated version release. Axis & Allies released in 1998 and Axis & Allies: Iron Blitz with minor additional rules released in 1999. A&A: Iron Blitz has marines, paratroopers, destroyers and kamikazes. There is also a newer video game, Axis & Allies: RTS released in 2004 and an expanded version, Axis & Allies: RTS Collector's Edition was released in 2006. The two RTS games are a departure from the original A&A: Classic world map and introduce several tactical battlefield scenarios. The A&A video games are known to have some bugs. There are A&A video game patches available on various A&A websites.

In 2008, Wizards of the Coast created an online version of Axis & Allies as part of their Gleemax game site. When Gleemax was cancelled the game found its way to the GameTable Online game site, who programmed the game for Wizards of the Coast. The initial version was based on the 2004 Revised edition. In September 2010 GameTable Online has developed a new version based on the Axis & Allies: 1942 set. Unfortunately, Game Table Online is no longer available, as it shut down in 2015.

Also available is "TripleA", an open source adaptation of Axis & Allies made using Java. It is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. It allows users to play single player against an AI, or hot-seat against other friends in the same room. It allows multiplayer on an online lobby, and also over email (PBEM) and network connections. Originally released in 2002, it has been steadily improving and is now on stable version 1.9, which is able to play the major versions of Axis and Allies: Classic, Revised, 50th Anniversary Edition, Spring 1942, and others. It also hosts many fan created maps, which have similar rules to Axis and Allies, but use a different setup or a different map or era altogether (like maps based on other conflicts, like World War 1 or Napoleon's conquests).

Miniature games

In 2005, Axis & Allies Miniatures was released as the series' first foray into miniature gaming. This was followed up by Axis & Allies Naval Miniatures: War at Sea, with Axis & Allies Air Force Miniatures: Angels Twenty being released in October, 2011. There have been several additional A&A Miniatures booster releases. Currently there are 20 countries represented in A&A Miniatures.