The Return of Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition


  • $72 free shipping @ game nerdz


  • @Baron:

    Will you post pics or tell us the real changes?

    I will do an un-boxing this weekend and post a vid on YouTube! I will provide a link and post some pics as well!


  • I just got back into A&A after last playing about 20 years ago when I was a kid. I was excited to see the Anniversary Edition was taking pre-orders, and I should get mine by the 24th!!  :-D

    I’ve been catching up with the classic edition online (WWII on gamesbyemail) but it seems like I’m going to have to study strategies for some newer versions considering the addition of Italy, cruisers, and artillery. Where do I start??


  • http://www.axisandallies.org/forums/index.php?board=62.0
    This is the anniversary thread. Pick whichever game you want to brush up on.


  • Here are the sculpts from the Anniversary Edition reprint, fresh out of the box I picked up from a local gaming shop.  As far as I can tell, the sculpts are mostly the same as what was in the original version of Anniversary, with the remainder being sculpts that we’ve seen in either the 1942 or 1940 games.  If so, then the references which have been made to new sculpts mean “new to Anniversary” rather than “new to the A&A franchise.”

    I’ll post the pictures in pairs, due to the posting limit on attachments.  Click the pictures to enlarge them.  First: US and UK.

    Anniv. Reprint 1 US.jpg
    Anniv. Reprint 2 UK.jpg


  • Next: USSR and Germany.

    Anniv. Reprint 3 USSR.jpg
    Anniv. Reprint 4 Germany.jpg


  • Next: Japan and Italy.

    Anniv. Reprint 5 Japan.jpg
    Anniv. Reprint 6 Italy.jpg


  • Finally: China, plus the common IC and AAA units.

    Anniv. Reprint 7 China IC AAA.jpg

  • '17 '16

    Hard to tell with the resolution… are they using “nation-specific” for all nations and unit types, or are some “borrowed” from other nations equipment… like is the Italian Battleship Italian, or is a German Battleship in brown as an example? Is every unit modeled on something from that nation?

  • '18 '17

    Mine is out for delivery! Should be there when I get home tonight!


  • @Wolfshanze:

    Hard to tell with the resolution… are they using “nation-specific” for all nations and unit types, or are some “borrowed” from other nations equipment… like is the Italian Battleship Italian, or is a German Battleship in brown as an example? Is every unit modeled on something from that nation?

    Apart from the infantry and tank units, the Italian pieces are what they were in Anniversary.1 and/or Europe 1940.1: a mixture of German and Japanese units, produced in brown rather than black or orange.  I say “and/or” because, as I recall, the Italian set in Anniversary.1 and Europe 1940.1 weren’t quite the same.  Notice, for example, that the “Italian” cruiser in the picture above is the transom-stermed version of the German Hipper-class cruiser, not the later cruiser-sterned version.


  • And as for the other nations beside Italy, the sculpts partially reflect the era when the UK and the USSR had American units like the gun and the sub and the transport ship, and partially reflect the later practice of giving them nation-specific units like the new UK tank and the new USSR heavy surface-combat vessels.


  • And note also that Germany is back to using the old small 88mm FLAK sculpt as a field artillery piece, in contrast with the later practice of having a 105mm howitzer as a field gun and using an enlarged 88mm FLAK gun as an AAA unit.

  • '17 '16

    So, as a whole, national units for countries like Italy and Russia are “more Italian and more Russian” in 1940SE than they are in AA50(SE)? Is that the gist I’m getting?

  • '18 '17 '16

    I’m just uploading a video of an unboxing that I took a minute ago. I can’t believe how much lighter the pieces are. They feel like they can’t be much more than half the weight of the Global 40 pieces.


  • I wish the Germans had the updated Artillery unit from AA42.2

    Its so much better

  • '17 '16

    @Imperious:

    I wish the Germans had the updated Artillery unit from AA42.2

    Its so much better

    I don’t think there’s a law against using the 2nd Ed German artillery with the new AA50… I have a pretty good stash of them I know I will use once I get AA50.


  • @Wolfshanze:

    So, as a whole, national units for countries like Italy and Russia are “more Italian and more Russian” in 1940SE than they are in AA50(SE)? Is that the gist I’m getting?

    Yes, though Italy is a more extreme case than Russia.  In Europe 1940 2nd ed., all of Italy’s units are Italian-specific, whereas in the Anniversary reprint (which has fewer unit types than 1940.2, and has common generic AAA units), Italy only has nation-specific infantry and tank units; the rest of its equipment is German or Japanese.  The USSR has a British aircraft carrier, and American designs for its artillery piece and its sub and its transport ship; the rest of the units are Russian-specific, however, including the Soviet-design battleship, cruiser and destroyer that were introduced in one of the more recent games, and which is an improvement over the original Anniversary game.

  • '17 '16

    @CWO:

    Yes, though Italy is a more extreme case than Russia.  In Europe 1940 2nd ed., all of Italy’s units are Italian-specific, whereas in the Anniversary reprint (which has fewer unit types than 1940.2, and has common generic AAA units), Italy only has nation-specific infantry and tank units; the rest of its equipment is German or Japanese.  The USSR has a British aircraft carrier, and American designs for its artillery piece and its sub and its transport ship; the rest of the units are Russian-specific, however, including the Soviet-design battleship, cruiser and destroyer that were introduced in one of the more recent games, and which is an improvement over the original Anniversary game.

    This sounds like a job for my “common unit bins” from my 2nd ED games… you wouldn’t happen to have a unit count for Italy would you? I have some Italian units as “flavor” for Germany in 1942SE, but I wonder if I have enough to cover a “full nation” like Italy in AA50.


  • The D. Jensen article on here shows the piece counts for the game thats how i ordered my “subbing” in pieces for what ill use.  also ordered the nation specific AA’s as i want to play with the updated rules for those. I was actually hoping to hear some feedback on how this may/would affect the gameplay using the new AA gun rules. (as far as taking for casualties )also if  it affects the battles much per the setup and if it should be the one AA shoots 3 planes or one AA shoots them all. getting game as xmas gift so cant check but was hoping someone can look in the setup boxes and see if the 2 dividers can come out or not. i have  the 80’s classic edition foam trays painted for storing the units i was hoping to use.

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