How official and accurate are the games from Historical Board Gaming?


  • I don’t know which topic to put this in.

    Anyways, how official are the games designed by Historical Board Gaming are? And are they more accurate in simulating the function of the war than the “main” games (Axis and Allies Global 1940 mainly, but 1914, 1941, and 1942)? Thank you!

  • PantherP Panther moved this topic from Customizations on

  • @superbattleshipyamato

    I am not a HBG officianto, and have only played a modified version of their 1939 game but I judge it to more accurately portray several aspects of the war than Axis and Allies.

    First, the addition of Communist China, Free/Vichy France, and minor nation economies show the diversity of the conflict. Canada and South Africa need to build and ship military units to the conflict, resources don’t just teleport across the Atlantic like in Axis and Allies. Communist and Nationalist China make that theater multi-faceted which players can use to their advantage.

    Technology is greatly improved and actually usable. In all out of box Axis and Allies, technology is to Random to reliably use in game. HBG adds a usable system to the game.

    Unit tactics: Axis and Allies started using combined arms in later versions with artillery and tactical bombers. HBG expands upon this with improved Blitz rules and a variety of new unit types.

    Territory and Sea Spaces: I don’t like all of HBG’s choices but I think they made some great changes to the map like making islands border multiple sea zones, and convoy squares/lines allow submarine convoy raiding to occur instead of Axis and Allies where submarines were easily hunted down and destroyed.

    Special Rules: I like that a lost capital does not necessarily mean that a nation falls apart. Russia and the UK can both move their capitals and continue the fight. I think this is historical and a good change to the game dynamic.

    All in all, I think that HBG made a great game that grew past what Axis and Allies culminated at with Global 1940. Their games are much more complex and I would like to see Global War 1939 reinvigorated into more of a step between Global War 1936 and Axis and Allies 1940, but that is why I house rule things. Historical Board Games do not make “official” Axis and Allies but I think for an in-depth war game that the learner has surpassed the master.


  • @sergeant-cutter

    Thank you for rsponding!


  • @superbattleshipyamato Right. alot more complications introduces longer play. More areas means longer play, More units longer play. I wish their was a light 12 page version with only about 6-10 more units, not 60 more. The map would have about 60% less areas and play would take 2-3 hours but still be buckets of dice concept. That would be my wish plus dedicated piece sets or a version that used counters like nova games edition.

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