How many Players is the perfect number for Axis and Allies?

I think two players is the best for the following reason.  The Allies must have complete coordination to win.  The Germans and Japanese can act individually and still be quite competitive, but if the Allies are not in agreement on a single strategy, they are lost.

To emphasize the matter further, try not having any table talk to plan strategies.  The Allies would most likely lose.

Five players is fun for a friendly game to get people involved, but once it becomes serious, 1 on 1 is best for game play.

I would try to have as many as possible, because of the “the more the merrier” rule.

if you have the booze, five person game is great. so many mistakes on every side. the game usually results in outlandish battles that take place just because; kinda like huge battleship fights or things like that….but if you want the most solid game you want to do 1v1 allies MUST be cooridinated.

@Octopus:

I think two players is the best for the following reason.  The Allies must have complete coordination to win.  The Germans and Japanese can act individually and still be quite competitive, but if the Allies are not in agreement on a single strategy, they are lost.

To emphasize the matter further, try not having any table talk to plan strategies.  The Allies would most likely lose.

Five players is fun for a friendly game to get people involved, but once it becomes serious, 1 on 1 is best for game play.

That was exactly what I was going to say.  I play for fun, and love a challenge, but enjoy 5 players most.  This clearly puts the Axis at an advantage.  Coordination is definitely the Allies’ strength, so when there are only two players, the Axis have a harder time.

5 forces you to work with guys that do not think in the same light… Of course this does not apply to newbs who you tell what to do…

@Guerrilla:

5 forces you to work with guys that do not think in the same light… Of course this does not apply to newbs who you tell what to do…

You WILL attack Brazil.  There’s no reason not to!  It’s completely undefended!!  And 3 IPCs!!!

yeah unfortunately Red BB’s are reaaallly cool… how much do they cost again?

yeah unfortunately Red BB’s are reaaallly cool… how much do they cost again?

Lol your ENTIRE INCOME for one round  :roll:

Yea they should have made more tanks and artillery pieces…

We have four, so thats what we play with.

We just have one person play as Britain and Russia.

Altho my first Revised game is this week, our group played many games of the original from mid 80’s to late 90’s.    We also played 4-player the majority of times, and that was our favorite.  We had Britain and USA split Russia, and that often led to some unique confrontations as they might have differing opinions how to handle the Red Machine.

I find that playing only one ally is pretty boring (specifically the UK). Nowadays we usually all just form a team and don’t have individual countries. As long as everyone is on the same level of play it pretty much works out, and if there are any disagreements you can always consult the die to arbitrate. We usually have a designated roller for each country just so we can claim the largest snake-eyes roller, but otherwise a country’s actions are a teams decision.

While you may think…

@triforce:

Anything with two heads is a freak.

I would agree. I think what most people need to realize is that the axis and the allies are each a “thing”, and playing either of them with two heads, let alone three, is going to result in a problem. If not socially, than certainly tactically.

Of course, it’s always fun to have your very own country that you make all decisions about, but I assure you that germany buying 2 bombers every round is likely to upset me as japan more than me being able to call him an idiot for 30 minutes before he makes that buy.  :evil:

2!

then you are always busy doing something…
calculating odds, determing what to buy next,…
you always focus on the game…

when you’re with 3,4 or 5… then it’s getting really boring…
so you start doing totally different things and aren’t thinking about axis&allies at all…
you get distracted more easily…

No one in the group I play with (a pool of 10 or so, lets say) ever gets bored. We all stare and drool at the board regardless if we are playing teams or not. Maybe, triforce, you play with a bunch of spineless people, and your coalition is run by a dictator (which would be appropo for the axis). I tend to play with people who see logic and can make reasonable arguments about why X is good and Y is bad. Sometimes I am the X, sometimes I am the Y.

2. I’ve tried playing with five. But unfortuneately most of my friends have short attension spans. So I just play against one now.

i like 5 since i dont get to play very often and this makes it more of a social event where we can all talk friendly trash to each other.  we also avoid blatant suggestions “buy 3 transports and two infantry, move these pieces here and these there” because then they become nothing but a dice roller.  it is more like “hey jap buddy, get your butt into asia as fast as you can, i’ll meet you in moscow!”