What is the difference between the board game and the miniatures?


  • Hi, I’m totally new here and I have played with Axis & Allies board game only once.  I would like to know what is the difference between the board game and the miniatures?  Is there a board with the miniatures?  How does it work?

    Thanks for your help!

  • '17 '16 '15 '14 '13 '12

    Hello Hellwarrior,

    What you are about to expierience is something magical…Axis and Allies Miniatures.

    This game breaks down battles with year and country specific units that can be played in 1-2 hours. The minis in general aren’t related to the board games but people do use mini pieces when they can.

    If you get chance, grab a War at Sea, Angels 20, or Ground Starter sets, everything you’ll need like maps, damage tokens, and dice will be there as well as rules and special units. Be warned, the game is very collectable and can get expensive as I am learning, haha. Enjoy!

  • '18 Customizer

    The land side of axis and allies miniature uses 15mm miniature versions of many WWII vehicles and soldiers to play a turn based game on a hex map. Its a lot different than the board game in that its tactical experience is much richer because of the variety of available units and maps. Typically players build armies based on a certain points cost and year restrictions and play head to head. There are Armor, vehicles, artillery, aircraft, Commanders & soldiers to choose from when creating armies. Skirmish results come from dice rolls where units can be disrupted, damaged or Destroyed. A 100 point match generally takes 1 - 1.5 hours to play out so the more point involved the longer the game can take. I hope that answers you questions.

  • Liaison TripleA '11 '10

    PFFTP.

    Skip the Miniatures friend, and buy a copy of the Axis and Allies BOARD GAME.

    Battle it out on a national -not- tactical scale, and crush your opponents forever.  After all - it’s 1942 and YOU are in total command!


  • I agree with Gargantua 100% as usual.

  • '17 '16 '15 '14 '13 '12

    They both are awesome, skip the mini’s if you don’t have a lot of money :-D
    and look at you two, playing nice :wink:


  • if you have 8+hours to burn per game played and like generic plastic both in appearance and stat pieces then the boardgame is for you.  If you like endless variety fighting famous battles like kursk, stalingrad, midway, battle of the denmark strait (or anything you want) etc then the minis are for you, if you have an actual appreciation for the units you will have alot of fun trying out tiger tanks, panzers, wehrmacht infantry, super bb’s like yamato and Iowa, famous aircraft like the fw 190’s , helldivers, swordfish etc etc etc.  If moving generic plastic pieces over enemy territory against generic plastic pieces then rolling dice to determine who wins is more your thing then you probably won’t enjoy the minis as much as the boardgame.

    While this site is #1 for the boardgame its maybe 4th or 5th for the mini’s (Forumini, seas ablaze/axis and allies underground, wotc site , here or boardgame geek) if you get into the mini’s check out the forumini as well it is the mecca of the miniature games line and has the most traffic of any axis and allies site.

    Alot of miniature players come from the boardgames saying they were cool when you were younger and had 8+hours to burn on a weekend but now that you have grown up and have things to do commiting an hour or so for a miniatures game is a much better route to go.  The boardgames some people find are fun a couple times a year but if its something you want to play every weekend you won’t get tired of the mini’s .

  • '17 '16 '15 '14 '13 '12

    @Azrael:

    if you have 8+hours to burn per game played and like generic plastic both in appearance and stat pieces then the boardgame is for you.  If you like endless variety fighting famous battles like kursk, stalingrad, midway, battle of the denmark strait (or anything you want) etc then the minis are for you, if you have an actual appreciation for the units you will have alot of fun trying out tiger tanks, panzers, wehrmacht infantry, super bb’s like yamato and Iowa, famous aircraft like the fw 190’s , helldivers, swordfish etc etc etc.  If moving generic plastic pieces over enemy territory against generic plastic pieces then rolling dice to determine who wins is more your thing then you probably won’t enjoy the minis as much as the boardgame.

    While this site is #1 for the boardgame its maybe 4th or 5th for the mini’s (Forumini, seas ablaze/axis and allies underground, wotc site , here or boardgame geek) if you get into the mini’s check out the forumini as well it is the mecca of the miniature games line and has the most traffic of any axis and allies site.

    Alot of miniature players come from the boardgames saying they were cool when you were younger and had 8+hours to burn on a weekend but now that you have grown up and have things to do commiting an hour or so for a miniatures game is a much better route to go.  The boardgames some people find are fun a couple times a year but if its something you want to play every weekend you won’t get tired of the mini’s .

    +1

  • '18 Customizer

    @Azrael:

    if you have 8+hours to burn per game played and like generic plastic both in appearance and stat pieces then the boardgame is for you.  If you like endless variety fighting famous battles like kursk, stalingrad, midway, battle of the denmark strait (or anything you want) etc then the minis are for you, if you have an actual appreciation for the units you will have alot of fun trying out tiger tanks, panzers, wehrmacht infantry, super bb’s like yamato and Iowa, famous aircraft like the fw 190’s , helldivers, swordfish etc etc etc.  If moving generic plastic pieces over enemy territory against generic plastic pieces then rolling dice to determine who wins is more your thing then you probably won’t enjoy the minis as much as the boardgame.

    While this site is #1 for the boardgame its maybe 4th or 5th for the mini’s (Forumini, seas ablaze/axis and allies underground, wotc site , here or boardgame geek) if you get into the mini’s check out the forumini as well it is the mecca of the miniature games line and has the most traffic of any axis and allies site.

    Alot of miniature players come from the boardgames saying they were cool when you were younger and had 8+hours to burn on a weekend but now that you have grown up and have things to do commiting an hour or so for a miniatures game is a much better route to go.  The boardgames some people find are fun a couple times a year but if its something you want to play every weekend you won’t get tired of the mini’s .

    Well said.

    If you really want to know why the miniatures games are so fun and historical take a look at these two cards databases and see the wide variety of units that are ready to play. You can play by battle, theater and most importantly by year. So you can play a 1941 North Africa match using desert hex maps and historical weapons unique to the time period. Were not limited to a certain year or theater, its wide open. Pretty much every nation that fought in the war is included in the miniatures games. Basically any battle, campaign or skirmish can easily be scenarioed into a game.

    Land game dbase: http://www.aamcardbase.com/search_AAM.aspx

    Sea Game dbase: http://was.tamgc.net/


  • Oups, I forgot to answer this post.  Thanks for your comments and advices everybody.

    Finally, yesterday I decided to buy another similar game called Flames of War.  The thing is that I have to assembly and paint all the vehicules.  It will be a long work but I will see if I like it and if I want to buy more vehicules.  Maybe I will like the game.  Maybe I will prefer the modelling.  Maybe I will discover that it’s not for me.

    I just want to try something new and learn more about world war II.

  • '18 Customizer

    Have fun with FoW. I hope you have more fun than I did. IMO its way over the top for rules that try to simulate real combat making it way more complex than it needs to be. But the up side is you can use most of the vehicles and artillery to play Axis and Allies miniatures later. :wink:

    Cheers


  • @Field:

    Have fun with FoW. I hope you have more fun than I did. IMO its way over the top for rules that try to simulate real combat making it way more complex than it needs to be. But the up side is you can use most of the vehicles and artillery to play Axis and Allies miniatures later. :wink:

    Cheers

    Yes it’s a good idea but I’m not sure that I will love the game.  I will probably prefer the modelling thing.  In Axis & Allies Miniatures, do we have to assembly and paint the vehicules?

  • '18 Customizer

    No they are all painted and assembled but a lot of people sub FoW minis and repaint WotC minis to their liking. The cards are easy to print for the database.


  • @Field:

    No they are all painted and assembled but a lot of people sub FoW minis and repaint WotC minis to their liking. The cards are easy to print for the database.

    Sorry but what do you need exactly by WotC?  Are the miniatures of Flames of War the same size than those of Axis & Allies?

  • '18 Customizer

    WotC - Wizards of the Coast (makers of AAM)

    FoW, WotC, Old Glory, Peter Pig, Plastic Soldier company, Skytrex, Zvesda and Gaming models all make 15mm WWII miniatures……and Ive built them all.

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