.

There are several things I like about the 2ed.
First…the board. The bigger size is way better than that little board of 1ed. And I like the new sculpts of the pieces…although I was dissapointed that the tigers and Japanese naval sculpts from 1941 weren’t included in any of the 2ed releases. The new artilleries and AA guns are pretty cool though.
I also like that the US fleet at Pearl is most likely to survive after J1…in 1ed the US usually never got to use that fleet because it would always get eliminated on J1.
The IC in India is also a good addition… the UK doesn’t have to spend any money to place one there now. And the additional naval units in Australia help the UK out also…you can link those up with the US in the Pacific, or get them to Gibraltar by UK3.
As far as dislikes…
It seems that Russia is underpowered with the initial setup. Now I wouldn’t go as far as saying that the game is out of balance or requires a bid, but I have had to change my tactics regarding Russian offensives in the early rounds of the game.
Also… one of my favorie US tactics in 1ed was to place an IC in Brazil.  By having an IC there I could launch amphibious assaults on centra Africa, north Africa or Western Europe. Since Brazil was only two sea zones away from all those areas the axis really never knew where they were going to attack. Now, with the bigger board,if I want to go to western Europe it takes two rounds…so they see you coming.
That’s all I have for now…may think of something else later.

Spring 1942 2nd Edition is growing on me. After playing multiple games, it’s not as imbalanced (in favor of the axis) as I first assumed.

I don’t see it as a replacement for 1st Edition, however, but as a (fun) map and setup variant. The 2nd edition accommodates certain strategies that 1st edition does not, and vice-versa. Playing both versions is more fun than playing either one exclusively.

Both versions are “playable” face-to-face in an afternoon, though by “playable” I really mean ending in round 5 with a mutual “it’s getting late, good game” and a handshake. 1st edition’s out-of-box board is unusable (due to its cramped tiny size), hence to really experience 1st edition you have to play on a board you print yourself or via Triple A PBEM. That makes 2nd edition my go-to version for most of my face-to-face games these days.

Spring 1942 (both versions) are my favorite titles in A&A.

Hey Varn.  A local friend (not Flip) picked up a copy of 2nd edition, its sitting in my dining room but we have yet to play it, house renovations going a bit into overtime!  Nice looking and larger board but I won’t look at it more until my buddy comes over to play.  I don’t want to have an advantage because I studied the board for hours in his absence!

Why do you feel it’s not a replacement?  I’m glad you do, I hate relegating old versions to the dustbin of history.

Both versions are “playable” face-to-face in an afternoon, though by “playable” I really mean ending in round 5 with a mutual “it’s getting late, good game” and a handshake.

Ain’t that always the way brutha……

@MrMalachiCrunch:

Why do you feel it’s not a replacement?Â

Think of a movie you like where the sequel was just as good if not better than the original. An example for me might be one of the original Star Wars movies (Episodes IV - VI). Saw Episode IV, blown away. Now the sequel comes out, Episode V, Empire Strikes Back - best damned Star Wars movie ever. The sequel is even better than the first. Do I stop watching “New Hope” now that “Empire” is my favorite? Of course not. I still watch them both - repeatedly I might add -somehow never getting sick of either one. Experiencing the one movie complements the experience of the other, expanding the universe and the mythos and the idea of “what if?”. The two together become more than either movie alone.

Spring 1942 1st and 2nd editions are like that for me.

Hey Varn.  A local friend (not Flip) picked up a copy of 2nd edition, its sitting in my dining room but we have yet to play it, house renovations going a bit into overtime!  Nice looking and larger board but I won’t look at it more until my buddy comes over to play.  I don’t want to have an advantage because I studied the board for hours in his absence!

A man of Honour! I like it.  :-)

Honour, except if you ever see me roll a special bone coloured die……double check it.  It might be my one special dice that only has 1s, 2s and 3s!  A gag die, I never use it in a real game situation, just when I am ‘warming’ up a dice for an important defense roll like an AA shot.  Nothing like the look on the face of my opponent when ‘warm up’ and roll it 30 times and NEVER get over a 3…wry grin

Haha nice that would be crazy tank die for sure.