Hello, I’m new to the forum. I’m from Los Angeles. I started playing AA Classic in the late 80s when I was a kid, kept my set but kind of lost interest after adulthood. Fast forward to 2009 and I randomly discovered that AA Anniversary was recently released, so I bought a copy and played it (mostly by myself) every once in awhile. I loved the addition of Italy, and the destroyers too. I felt the destroyer bridged the gap between sub and battleship from the classic version.

Fast forward again to 2019, and now I have a few young kids to introduce to the game. I decided to go further so this week I bought AA Zombies and the AA 1940 Global set, with a fancy dice tray to match. I haven’t even had a chance to play the AAZ or the AAG1940 games yet but I figured I’d create an account on the forums here since I’ve decided to dive deeper into wargaming.

I know lots of people are hating on the AAZ edition but I think zombies are cool and I like the idea of having a lighter, faster AA flavor to try, especially if you want to play it with children. I also know that some people say AAG1940 is too complex, but I am not intimidated by the prospect of a board game that takes multiple days to finish. I say that now as someone whose most complex board game experience has been AA Anniversary, but I’m looking forward to trying the depth of AAG.

I noticed that HBG has some expansions that are compatible with AAG1940 so I might try some of those eventually.

And finally I’m also interested in finding local players who want to do a game on the occasional weekend. I’ll probably start a thread in the player locator subforum at some point to find local players.

This community seems really fun and welcoming, and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.

Thank you, that is helpful information. I like these ideas. I’m going to start a new game soon and try some of these out.

That kind of translation would best be done by a paid translating service or from a very fluent writer of both languages, especially because the rules are technical and detailed.

Cantonese and Mandarin use the same written language so you’d only have to translate it once.

It’s a good idea to do IMO if you want to sell some AA copies, because China has a quickly expanding middle class that is educated and loves wargames as much as we do.

A bid is when, before the game starts, you and your opponent negotiate an extra injection of cash for purchase of units during initial setup. The intent is to help balance the game. Since Axis is generally considered the stronger side, the Allies are the side that usually gets a bid or a cash injection.

You begin with a bidding war to assign humans to sides. So if you are willing to play Allies for a bid of $20, but your opponent is willing to play Allies for a bid of only $19, and you refuse to go lower, then he wins the bid and he plays the Allies with a $19 injection to be spent on initial unit setup.

The general rule with spending bid money is that you can only purchase 1 additional unit per territory, and you can only place the extra units in territories where you already have a unit. You don’t have to spend the whole bid but can keep some or all of it for use in later rounds, and can divvy it up between your nations as you see fit.

Oh man, RIP my wallet.

AA games don’t come with enough dice to roll epic sized battles in one throw. So I bought one of those 100 packs of 16mm dice on Ebay, 10 colors of 10 dice each. After a bunch of games and a bunch of throws I got the feeling that these dice aren’t so random. I have a felt-lined dice rolling tray and these dice seem to be very favorable to landing on 4, 5, and 6. After noticing this, I did a bunch of rolls comparing my Ebay dice to the oob AA dice and found the AA dice to be marginally better.

To resolve this problem I first considered using computer dice on my phone or laptop but it wasn’t as satisfying. I tried it but quickly decided I didn’t like it, because it doesn’t have that tactile, visceral feel that draws me to physical boardgames in the first place.

So tonight I resigned to buying some 19mm foil-wrapped and serialized casino dice from GSE. They should arrive in a few days. I’m hoping for a more random performance from these casino dice. They are much more expensive and come in packs of 5 so I bought a couple packs and if they work well then I guess I’ll get some more.

What does everyone here use?

I see lots of oob dice usage in AA games on YouTube. Are you satisfied with the performance of the oob dice? Do you source dice from other places?

Does anyone here use casino dice, and what are your thoughts on their performance?

Does anyone here prefer to use computer dice when doing IRL physical AA boardgames?

I think Someone needs to make a video where they play AA and invoke Loser’s Privilege in spectacular fashion.

Scenario: Germany sends 1 battleship and 1 destroyer to attack a UK fleet of 2 destroyers.

Round 1: Germany rolls two hits. UK rolls one hit.

Question: Is it considered bad form for the German player to assign the single hit to his battleship and save his destroyer from sinking? In other words, is it generally permissible for battleships to be used as hit sinks to spare smaller units from destruction? Do house rules ever prevent or discourage this damage assignment strategy?

Mods, if this is in the wrong subforum please move it.

I noticed that HBG has various GW1936 expansions that are AAG40 compatible. I just bought several. Specifically I bought the Going Nuclear, US Marines, Super Yamato, and BV P170 Fast Bomber expansions.

Has anyone else tried these or other expansions with their AAG40 games? What are your thoughts on them? Are there any expansions you’d recommend that I didn’t mention above?

One expansion I’d like to figure out how to include in an AAG40 game is the HBG Atlantis expansion. That one just looks like a lot of fun! Sadly the Atlantis expansion doesn’t come with AAG40 compatible rules so if I were to incorporate it I’d have to adapt the rules myself somehow.

I’ll report back on the expansions once I receive them and play a game or two with them. One concern I have is that the Going Nuclear rules require 4 turns of successful tech rolls to develop the bombs. I don’t tend to have lucky dice rolls so I’m worried that I’ll even be able to develop the nukes before the game ends. We will see how that goes. I might consider either shortening the development cycle or lowering the tech roll requirements if I am unable to build the weapons in time using the HBG rules.

I gotta say that discovering the Axis and Allies dot org forum has caused me to bleed a lot of money into AA games. I already had AA Classic and AA50, but since finding this place I’ve bought 2 sets of AAZ, bought AAG40, and bought a ton of addons and upgrades, including extra pieces, extra chips, 3D printed factories, acrylic markers, casino dice, dice trays and dice cups, and play money. I’m not exactly complaining, I mean if I didn’t want to spend the money I wouldn’t. It’s just funny… I thought wargaming would be a cheaper hobby than my car racing but I might have been wrong on that prediction!

@djensen Yeah I looked carefully and couldn’t find a better place to post this than in this room. And I agree computer dice are no fun when doing physical boardgaming. I don’t mind computer dice when playing computer games

@leebear In my experience I haven’t run out of any pieces while playing a game.

This looks like lots of fun! I live in SoCal so if I’m not too busy that weekend I’ll come check it out.

@1940_Fan These are great, thank you for sharing! How do I download these flash cards? Do I have to make a quizlet account?

@Young-Grasshopper said in Young Grasshopper's G40 Custom Card Deck (now available):

@Cloudesley sorry, but I took it down because I’m designing a new deck… should be available mid February.

I have the previous version of your deck and I love it. Will the new version be only a cosmetic update or will some of the rules be changed as well?

I’ve heard good things about this movie. It’s on my short list of movies to watch.

@Randy_Randelman1234 I just downloaded the AA50 Zombie Deck. Thanks for sharing. Now to print it and play it!

What the…? Did they custom fab this metal table for the map? Or was the table originally made for something else and the map just so happened to fit in there perfectly?

It looks like a stainless steel table, with drawers! This is like the Lamborghini of GW tables.

If you buy AAZ, it comes with an extra deck of cards for use with the AA 1942 game. This way you can add the zombies to AA 1942.

I’m guessing that zombies could be added to just about any AA game if you were to design a deck of cards to complete the adaptation for said game.

I think Someone needs to make a video where they play AA and invoke Loser’s Privilege in spectacular fashion.

@yanksaldaway Some people use a chess timer with a time limit (like 20 minutes per turn or something) to keep the game moving along.