How many pieces are actually used in this game?


  • Hello, I’m new to these forums and glad to be here.  I’m one of those guys that got the wild idea of painting my axis and allies pieces.  While I’ve painted nearly every piece needed for A&A Europe and A&A Pacific (the versions that came out around 2000) and more than enough for the original and 1941: A&A Global came out while doing this project and of course I just have to try to paint all of those.  I’ve probably painted around 500 and my poor wife is growing weary, so I don’t want to paint more than I’d realistically need.  I play with everyone from tournament winning veterans to 1st timers.  I’d like for newb purchases to be accounted for, but not over the top… I don’t need 2+ carriers for Russia, or 12 Italian fighters for instance.  I own, but haven’t played '40 Global yet as I want to play with a painted set: don’t want to get guys together to play with a half finished set where we have to mix plastic pieces.

    In order to assess how many and which kinds of additional pieces I need to paint, can anyone give an estimate of how many pieces would actually be used during your Axis & Allies Global '40 game’s lifetime?  I already have plenty of soldiers, artillery, and tanks for every country except for France.  I already have enough allied and Japanese boats except for cruisers (I don’t have enough Russian, Italian, French, and German navies though).  I probably need a larger air force for this game for each country.  Primarily I’m concerned about the new units: trucks, AA guns, Tac bombers, cruisers; but also any needs for the other pieces compared to A&A Europe and Pacific.


  • Lots of views, but no responses.  I think people, understandably so, don’t have 30 minutes to spend typing out how many of the hundreds of pieces are used in this game.  With that in mind, if you could answer any of these, that would be helpful.  Here’s what would help to know, in this order of importance:

    1.  How many trucks (Mechanized Infantry) could each country reasonably use in a game?

    2.  How many AA guns could each country reasonably use in a game?

    3.  What naval ships could the Italian player use?

    4.  What ships should Germany and Russia use?

    5.  Relative sizes of A) Italy’s air force B) Everyone else’s

    6.  How many cruisers from each nation?

    7.  Any pieces other than what France starts with that should be painted?

    7.  Any other differences in unit use between A&A Pacific (2000)/A&A Europe (1999) and A&A Global?


  • It sounds like you are trying to limit certain pieces that you feel would not get used in the game, which would also limit players’ strategies. For example, if you only paint one Russian carrier, that pretty much eliminates any possibility that Russia might build a navy if they get huge. Or what if Italy sweeps down and takes all of Africa and the Middle East? They may want more fighters then.

    I have 25 tanks for each country - they usually never get used, except one of my guys likes to see if he can get all 25 tanks out on the map for fun.

    I don’t usually play Global so someone else will have to answer your specific questions…


  • @iwugrad:

    I own, but haven’t played '40 Global yet as I want to play with a painted set: don’t want to get guys together to play with a half finished set where we have to mix plastic pieces.Â

    Keep in mind that this wouldn’t be a permanent situation.  If you’re willing to make a temporary compromise about playing a few mixed-piece games, this could provide you with an answer to your question that fits precisely with your gaming group’s purchase preferences.  Play a game, make a note of the unpainted pieces which end up being used, then target those as your first priorities for painting.  Repeat the process one or two times, using each game as a part of a feedback loop to determine how many pieces of which type get used by your group, and keep painting the units that get identified by the process.  With each game you play, the number of unpainted pieces which get called into action will go down until it eventually reaches (or at least approaches) zero.  My guess is that just one game will suffice to reduce the size of the problem significantly, and that a second game should be adequate to catch most of the remaining statistical outliers.


  • I considered playing with a half finished set, but I live in a small town and the people I play A&A with (mostly in-laws) are not die hard.  If they play this version once and don’t have fun, they’ll never want to play it again, so I’ll probably only have 1 shot.  They like A&A Europe (1999) but are mostly into sports and video games, so getting them to play at all is a rare occurrence.  Playing with myself is also not easily done for reasons I won’t bore you with (kids taking pieces off the table, trying to eat them, to name a few), but just trust me.  I appreciate everyone’s advice.

    I’m afraid that if I get a guy that wants to build 25 tanks or an over-sized Russian Navy, I’ll just have to apologize and tell him that would be for a later release: just want to have enough painted to reasonably play a game.  For instance, in A&A Europe (1999 version), you probably wouldn’t need more than 5 US tanks and 8 should be plenty to be safe.  You don’t need any Russian aircraft carriers, but one might be nice in case you’re playing with a 1st timer.  You probably only need 2 German bombers, but probably no one would build more than 4 unless they’re goofing off (remember that you can use chips if they will be on the same territory).

    I detail each piece after an actual unit, so I don’t just paint a bunch of green airplanes, for instance: I model an actual airplane including any numbers, letters, etc.  It’s not uncommon for an airplane to take 1 hour or a boat to take 2.  This is why I don’t want to overdo it.


  • @iwugrad:

    1.  How many trucks (Mechanized Infantry) could each country reasonably use in a game?
    In my (albeit, limited) experience, Japan, Germany, UK, and Russia–if Germany goes Sealion–require the most. Say, a dozen for starters. Italy could use half a dozen, US forces are usually consolidated (4-6?), ANZAC rarely buys them (2), and France rarely buys anything (0-1).

    2.  How many AA guns could each country reasonably use in a game?
    AA guns are rarely purchased in my experience. Maybe one or two by UK and/or Russia the turn before a big Moscow or Calcutta attack. I’d say paint enough for the set-up, then add two for UK and Russia and one for everyone else but France.

    3.  What naval ships could the Italian player use?
    Italy is very swingy. Either you need tons of ships, or you never need more than you start with. I’d say double what they start with, add two carriers, and add a few subs.

    4.  What ships should Germany and Russia use?
    I’ve never played a game where Russia built ships, but that doesn’t mean it can’t or shouldn’t be done. Maybe add one of everything plus an extra sub and destroyer? Germany often does buy ships. Two carriers, 4-6 extra destroyers, 3 extra transports, and an extra battleship would probably suffice. You often lose a lot of starting subs on turn 1, so those would probably be enough.

    5.  Relative sizes of A) Italy’s air force B) Everyone else’s
    Again, Italy is very swingy. However, even when Italy is getting beat down, air units are often a good buy, because they can support stranded Afrika Korps units, threaten Russian can-opening and defend Western Europe. I’d say half a dozen extra fighters, three tacticals, and a second bomber for starters. It’s possible for Italy to get huge and do big air buys, but for a typical game, that should do.

    6.  How many cruisers from each nation?
    Personally, I never purchase cruisers with any nation as they aren’t as cost efficient as destroyers/subs/carriers. So for me, I would only paint enough to set up the board–perhaps one or two extra for US/Japan. If you’re concerned about allowing options for new players, add two for Germany, two for UK, and three for ANZAC.

    7.  Any pieces other than what France starts with that should be painted?
    Not really. Maybe a mech.

    7.  Any other differences in unit use between A&A Pacific (2000)/A&A Europe (1999) and A&A Global?
    I haven’t played those games in quite some time, but major differences I can think of off the top of my head: mechanized infantry are incredible, fighters are cheaper/bought more, armies can get HUGE. Make sure you have plenty of chips available. I actually make the green chips count as 10s instead of 3s in my games.

    Hope this helped. Keep in mind this is all based off my small experience with pretty vanilla progressions.

    Also, it is really cool that you take the time to beautify your A&A games like this. Please post pictures when you’re through so we can ooh and ah :)


  • Yes we’d like to see your creations in the customizations section!


  • Thanks for the feedback guys!  Very thought out reply TheMethuselah, that helps, thanks.  I was thinking that 8 Mechanized Infantry might be enough and that some might only use two, so I was surprised to see that 12 can be used by many of the major powers.  Are you sure that there could be 12 different Mechanized Infantry on 12 different territories?  I could see that if Russia was attacking Japanese forces in Asia by land or vice versa.  I was also surprised to see 6 additional fighters for Italy, which would make 8 total.  I had thought that 4 might do it, so I really appreciate your input.  If anyone has a different experience, I’d love to hear from a variety of people, since I never know who I might be playing with and what units might be realistically used with the various strategies out there.

    I imagine my mental estimate for fighters and bombers of other countries is off as well.  Do you have an aircraft estimate for some (or all) of the other countries?

    Right now I just have some sub par quality photos of the Europe pieces, but maybe I can post those some time; the IJN probably is my best work, but I don’t have any good photos right now.  If I have free time I should be painting rather than setting up a photo shoot.  I’ll plan to post a link here if I end up posting them.  Thanks for the interest.

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