A few thoughts after one play

Uncle_Joe

Ok so we finally got a chance to sit down and play our first game. None of us really new what to expect since we hadn’t read much about it in the pre-release.

At first we were sort of overwhelmed - seriously? Japan has THAT many aircraft?!?! ;)

Some initial thoughts:

Production quality - this has been touched on by plenty of others, but I guess it’s worth repeating. The production quality is DEFINITELY a step down from A&A50. Not having paper money sucked, but for us we had plenty from other games so not a big deal. The cardboard Ind/AA/bases? Well, at first we didnt like it, but after playing a for bit we realised we really wouldnt want more plastic in some of those crammed territories. Now for the biggie - the game comes with a COMPLETELY inadequate number of pieces for the major combatants. Japan simply does not have enough Tac Air. It’s ridiculous. If Japan tries to scatter out AT ALL, you run out of Tac and there is no Tac in any older sets to help make up the difference. If they are going to START THE GAME with a huge number of these units then the plastic mix should support it. Similarly, the US gets an INSANE amount of income in the game and only 4(!!) CV models? FOUR? Seriously? The lack of plastic for Japan/US is inexcusable IMO.

Also, not have the National Objectives or the sequence of play or the costs on player aid cards is also pretty lame. Needing to reference the rule book for the NO’s sucks.

New units - OK, at first we were sort of luke-warm at best for Tac Air. But a number of new dynamics really make them worth it. First of all, there are more territories on the board. This means that that 6-range bomber can no longer span the whole Pacific. Carrier power is definitely the name of the game and if you want a versatile piece that attacks at ‘4’, you’ll need Tac. Secondly, the Air Bases allow tac to scramble which bombers cannot do. Granted fighters can, but a good mix of Fighters and Tac seems required to get the best attacks off. One thing we noticed is that attack power is more expensive now without Tac. Tanks cost more and BBs are simply NOT worth the cost anymore (without the constant free hit). Sooo, if you want offensive power its Tac or Bombers and Tac are more versatile.

For the Mech Inf, we really didnt feel a major need for them (prolly expected for the Pacific).

Air/Naval bases - these really change the game a LOT. The ‘scramble’ ability means that a few air units backing up a DD/CA at an island base can be a tough nut to crack. The +1 range for air units gives CV air more flexibility, but doesnt do that much for LBA (that we could see). The +1 range for ships from a naval base is KEY.
The new NAs are interesting. I like that there are less of the ‘no brainer’ ones and more that make you reach out a bit.

Overall we were pretty pleased by the gameplay. It took a turn or two for Japan to start to maximize all that air (I think the Japanese player wanted to spread out more, but the lack of models hamstrung him a bit). We are looking forward to playing again and learning from the mistakes made in our first foray. ;)

Razor

Stop being cheap and buy the two copies you know you will need. The other copy will finance the Europe game.

tarkonis

Razor,

Buying two games is no excuse for not including enough parts. Some people don’t want to shell out for 2 games and nor should they need to. Myself I have aa50 so can use some of those parts, I have also modified some fighters by painting them to distinguish them as tac bombers. I am not shelling out for 2 games to get more tac bombers and a load of tripe I dont need. Although I would have paid $20-30 more for more pieces to be included in the game. I’m sure Uncle Joe would have too.

Unlike you, people have other priorities in life, family, christmas is coming up… things of that nature. So i’m sorry if some of us don’t want to shell out nearly $200 for board games, no matter how much we like them. You can call us cheap all you want but I call it intelligence. But it’s ok for you because it appears your goal in life is to get to 1000 karma on a gaming forum…

Another example of Aldertag living up to his reputation of being a total schizophrenic asshat. If you don’t have anything productive to say instead of just mindlessly bashing any justified critisism of the game, then just don’t post.

This rant may get me a warning from mods but I feel someone needs to shut this moron up IMO. Sorry if I offend anyone else.

Merry Christmas.

Woodstock

@General:

Razor,

Buying two games is no excuse for not including enough parts. Some people don’t want to shell out for 2 games and nor should they need to. Myself I have aa50 so can use some of those parts, I have also modified some fighters by painting them to distinguish them as tac bombers. I am not shelling out for 2 games to get more tac bombers and a load of tripe I dont need. Although I would have paid $20-30 more for more pieces to be included in the game. I’m sure Uncle Joe would have too.

Unlike you, people have other priorities in life, family, christmas is coming up… things of that nature. So i’m sorry if some of us don’t want to shell out nearly $200 for board games, no matter how much we like them. You can call us cheap all you want but I call it intelligence. But it’s ok for you because it appears your goal in life is to get to 1000 karma on a gaming forum…

Another example of Aldertag living up to his reputation of being a total schizophrenic asshat. If you don’t have anything productive to say instead of just mindlessly bashing any justified critisism of the game, then just don’t post.

This rant may get me a warning from mods but I feel someone needs to shut this moron up IMO. Sorry if I offend anyone else.

Merry Christmas.

Quoted for truth.

@General:

Razor,
Buying two games is no excuse for not including enough parts. Some people don’t want to shell out for 2 games and nor should they need to. Myself I have aa50 so can use some of those parts, I have also modified some fighters by painting them to distinguish them as tac bombers. I am not shelling out for 2 games to get more tac bombers and a load of tripe I dont need. Although I would have paid $20-30 more for more pieces to be included in the game. I’m sure Uncle Joe would have too.
Unlike you, people have other priorities in life, family, christmas is coming up… things of that nature. So i’m sorry if some of us don’t want to shell out nearly $200 for board games, no matter how much we like them. You can call us cheap all you want but I call it intelligence. But it’s ok for you because it appears your goal in life is to get to 1000 karma on a gaming forum…

Another example of Aldertag living up to his reputation of being a total schizophrenic asshat. If you don’t have anything productive to say instead of just mindlessly bashing any justified critisism of the game, then just don’t post.

This rant may get me a warning from mods but I feel someone needs to shut this moron up IMO. Sorry if I offend anyone else.

Merry Christmas.

I agree, we are not all Nerds with no lives that live to buy endless copies of a game for…really nerds!

Funcioneta

@Razor:

Stop being cheap and buy the two copies you know you will need. The other copy will finance the Europe game.

Two words: economical crisis :-D

katfishkris

+1 to func, mwindianapolis, woodstock, and general chang.

nicely said. i like the idea of painting some of my older planes to make them tac bombers.

i will not -1 to razor. sometimes he cracks me up. :-D

A few thoughts after one play

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