Just How Old Are We Axis and Allies Players?


  • I read a review of A&A in Games magazine in 1984 and anxiously awaited its release. Didn’t find it until January 1985 in a Toy’s R Us store. I’ve been hooked ever since.


  • played my first in 1991.  a friend and i worked at mcD’s and the boss said come on over and play. we were 15 and  he was new in town and got us hooked.  he has since moved on, but that same friend and i play aa50 almost twice a week.  we lost some interest during revised, got into again during AAE and AAP, but aa50 has been “The Game”.  i am now 33, and my 8 y/o daughter and 2y/o son are getting into it.  she plays(kinda) and he loves to just play with the pieces.

  • '20 '18 '16 '13 '12

    Would have been about '97 for me. A friend of mine bought it and we were so excited we played our first 3 games before we even read the rule book.

    It took buying the old '95 PC version before I actually understod how the game mechanics worked. And we kicked that lame IA’s ass every single week.

    Played AAR with a friend about 2 years back and have been absoloutely addicted ever since.


  • MB version in ~86…


  • It’s good to see that there are a lot of players over the age of thirty. I’m about to leave my twenties behind.


  • my first game was in early 2009. I instanly loved the game

    I ordered my AA50 copy soon after

    Robert 22 years old

  • '10

    I think I played my first A&A game around 84 or 85.


  • I was 12, bought my first copy in 1987 (must have been the 86 version)- also bought Shogun later- awesome game!!!  I played it for about 3-4 summers with my baseball buddies after games/practices.  We would always play with all 5 players, roll the dice on the pool table and battle.  It brings back great memories.  We had some legendary battles!!!

    Played only a couple of times during high school, then put it down- played lots of sports then.  After 10-11yrs I happen to see Europe and Pacifc at the store- talk about a revival!!  I bought both games and read the instructions during my 2-week honeymoon in the Keys- pretty sad I know.  My wife is very gracious though- not a big AA fan but loves Catan!!!

    It doesn’t surprise me to see that most of the AA community is in their 30s- we all grew up with the game in the 80s.  Its nice to see the 20’s and Teens players get involved and discover this classic series.  I believe Axis and Allies will continue to rise as a classic like Monopoly, Risk and Catan!  The Revisions this decade have been fantastic!! :-)

    One of my favorite games- I was Japan and holding on to the island of Japan (that’s all I had left after 15 rounds or so) but I had some 80 infantry, 40 tnks and about 25 ftrs and 10bmrs on it- we were playing total domination.  My friend said “Give up already!!!”, I said “NO you haven’t beat me yet!!”- he finally quit and I claimed victory.  I didn’t lose too many games in those days- very competitive.

    At 34, I still love it and play when I can!!

  • '14 '13

    Played A&A for the first time in 8th grade History class for one week.  Found the game that summer and had it all these years.  Just bought the 50th Anniversary Edition this past Monday.  Can’t wait to get it and play with my friends.


  • @ABWorsham:

    It’s good to see that there are a lot of players over the age of thirty. I’m about to leave my twenties behind.

    Hahaha - no need to feel embarassed or ashamed!
    Yes, I’m in my mid :-o 30’s, and I will be playing all kinds of games to my dying day.


  • Since we’re talking about our first exposure to A&A, I’ll share my fond memory.

    I recall being with my Dad on a trip to the Quad Cities (we live in rural Iowa) when I was about 12-14?  So 1987-1989? 
    They didn’t even sell Axis and Allies in many towns in our area.
    I believe it was in a toy/game/hobby shop in Davenport, Iowa where I saw this war game behind the window.  I remember looking at the back of the box and seeing the cool looking ships, planes, men and tanks on the board.  I distinctly remember the units on and around India on the map.  Boy, did I want that game.  I’m trying to remember the pricetag.  I think it was $25-$30, which is like probably about $50 in today’s dollars.

    I knew it was too much for my Dad to buy it - I’m not even sure it was Christmas time.  But his objection wasn’t so much the money.  My Dad absolutely shuns some kinds of games.  Any farming game where it’s easy to get rich (he’s a farmer who’s had his rich days and poor days), any war game, and most games where you accumulate a lot of wealth easily.  So he gave me an absolute “no”, along with some scary story about how horrible WWII was.  <will continue=“” post=“”>  Glitchy scroll bar thing…</will>


  • It was obvious just from looking at the box that this was one cool game.
    However, after that I never saw it for years.  Then my nephews (who aren’t much younger than me) got it.  They had played it a couple times, and I played the younger one (he was probably 12-14 at the time).  I had the Axis, because his brother always took the Axis and so he had only played the Allies.
    What’s funny, is I remember his strategy with the UK.  He spent all of his money on fighters every turn, for defense.  I remember he had about 8-10 fighters on the island, and he was probably flying some to Russia.  Apparently his brother had taken him over on the UK, and he bought fighters because they had the highest defense value.
    I’m embarassed to say I don’t know how many games it took us to realize that infantry was the best defense.
    And this makes me laugh to this day - His aggressive older brother would always take the Axis, buy all tanks with Germany, attack Karelia with everything in round 1, and try to steam-roll Russia.  This always worked against his young brother, but when he came to my place to play (I think I had bought my own by this time), I bought 8 infantry in R1 and then the going wasn’t so easy.


  • I remember like it was yesterday. Me and my friends were playing video games and they were arguing about pieces being moved, money being switched etc. (my friends were two brothers). I asked what the commotion was about and they said, “Axis & Allies.” What a revelation, this was like 1996-97, I was 11 and my friends were 12 & 14 at the time. We played a couple of rounds, (never finished a game) but I absolutely had to have this game. So for my 12th birthday I went down with money from family and bought my own copy of the original at a Toys-R-Us. Man I would spend weeks playing this over the summer with friends and family. Like many other people though I kinda lost interest until I was reading on the internet and found out that there were new versions of the game out. I had to have them! Now I just got AAP40 and me and my dad play when we get some free time, trying to find more friends that will play but most of my friends just don’t have the patience for a game that can last an entire day. I miss those old days when I was in middle school and just played until we passed out in the wee hours of the morning, man those were fun times.


  • @maverick_76:

    I miss those old days when I was in middle school and just played until we passed out in the wee hours of the morning, man those were fun times.

    There was one time that I pulled an all-nighter between workdays.
    Yeah, it was Axis and Allies, circa 1994.
    My little nephew (16?) said, at about 2:00 AM, “Come on, you know if you go to be now you’ll be more tired tomorrow than if you just stay up”.
    Yeah, that’s all it took.  (I started work at about 5 or 5:30 that summer - construction job)


  • I am new to this site. I remember my brother and uncle playing the MB version in the '80s but never was interested in the game until a few years ago. I bought a copy of the MB version off of ebay and have bought all the board games since then except 1942. I do plan on getting 1942 and AAE40. Just picked up AAP 1940 yesterday. I was not sure of getting 1942 since I bought AARevised this year after I heard that AA1942 was coming out. My uncle that used to play in the '80s has played all the others with me as well as my oldest son who is now 13. I do not get enough game time in as I would like. Is there any one on here that lives in Omaha, NE that would be interested in beating a newbie and his son and maybe my uncle? I am 37. We play mostly on the weekends and a game usually carries on for 2 or more weeks at a few hours on a saturday night.


  • Well, skinny, I live just a bit too far from Omaha (SE Iowa), but since you say you are new to this site, did you know that you can play by forum?

    I love playing by forum because you can play at your leisure with A&A afficianados from around the world.  Sometimes you can play several turns in one day, if you’re both online.

    There is an “ABattlemap” program that you can download from this site that enables PBF play.  The site has a built in dice roller, and moves in the “Play Boardgames” section of this site cannot be edited or deleted. (so, no cheating)

    I would be happy to play you AA50 on PBF (Play by forum).  It sounds like you are a true blue A&A fan, owning all those games, and buying them in just a couple years time.  I actually only own Classic and AA50.


  • I don’t have time to pbf even though i wouldn’t mind trying it out sometime. My uncle came over last night and we played as the Axis against my boys as the Allies. We played AA50 1941 scenario. Called it a night about 1:30 this morning with the Axis in great shape. We hope to continue/finish on Christmas Eve then start a game of AAP 1940 for our next game. Can’t wait. TTYL.

  • '10

    @skinny1:

    I am new to this site. I remember my brother and uncle playing the MB version in the '80s but never was interested in the game until a few years ago. I bought a copy of the MB version off of ebay and have bought all the board games since then except 1942. I do plan on getting 1942 and AAE40. Just picked up AAP 1940 yesterday. I was not sure of getting 1942 since I bought AARevised this year after I heard that AA1942 was coming out. My uncle that used to play in the '80s has played all the others with me as well as my oldest son who is now 13. I do not get enough game time in as I would like. Is there any one on here that lives in Omaha, NE that would be interested in beating a newbie and his son and maybe my uncle? I am 37. We play mostly on the weekends and a game usually carries on for 2 or more weeks at a few hours on a saturday night.

    I believe “katfishkris” who plays on this site lives in Omaha. You can PM him about a ftf game.


  • @Battlingmaxo:

    I believe “katfishkris” who plays on this site lives in Omaha. You can PM him about a ftf game.

    Yes, he does.  Why didn’t I think of that?


  • Me and katfishkris have been PMing and we are trying to line something up for after the first of the year. Can’t wait to play others and was hoping that there would be some more players in this area. I know that there has to be but maybe they are not on this site.

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