I would say:

1. The build up to war meaning there is no ‘opening moves syndrome’, which I really dislike about A&A.
2. The softening of ‘just stack infantry and your more expensive units will never die’ philosophy through things like target selection and air superiority rules.
3. The revised rules on blitzing and naval screening forces meaning a single infantry or ship can no longer block an entire fleet or army.

Basically I like the things which take the hard edges off A&As rule set which are an established part of how to play that game but really, a bit s*&t when you actually stop to think about it.

Oh and 4) the revised unit prices for version 3 so that certain unappealing unit types are more likely to be acquired.

I’ve recently taken the plunge and painted up a bunch of HBG 3D printed units to colour match the A&A and HBG plastic pieces (see ‘Base Set 2’ thread for reasons why).

I didn’t want to paint the plastic pieces I already owned to match, as I think the best finish is the naked plastic!

When I’m not playing A&A I like to nerd out in a completely different way by playing with and painting Warhammer miniatures, and over the years I have picked up almost the entire range of Games Workshop model paints, and I am a fairly experienced model painter.

Having such a large range of paints allowed me to explore for some really good colour matches to the plastic colours of the A&A pieces. I thought I’d share here in case useful for people.

Note if you want a good colour match with GW paints you’re going to be getting a brush out (with 1 exception). For a good finish I recommend two thin coats and thinning the paint slightly with water. There are loads of videos on Youtube on how to apply acrylic paint well.

I’ve also indicated the undercoat spray colour in each case, as that will affect the overall darkness/lightness tone of the finish. Its usually white.

Finally I spray finished with ‘semi-gloss’ varnish from Rustoleum, which does a fairly good job of mimicing the sheen of plastic. I think gloss is too much.

Germans, ‘black’ The Germans are your best friends when it comes to colour matching. I used Chaos Black spray by Gamesworkshop but you can get cheaper alternatives. Personally I don’t mind paying a bit extra for a high quality model paint. Then semi-gloss varnish. Dead easy. Great match for the out the box/HBG pieces.

Japanese, ‘pumpkin orange’ There is a GW paint which gives an excellent match to the OOB A&A Japanese figures - Skrag Brown over white undercoat (I used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives).

UK, ‘Tan’ There is a GW paint which gives an excellent match to the OOB A&A UK figures - Karak Stone over white undercoat (I used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives).

France, ‘Blue’ There is a GW paint which gives a good match to the OOB A&A French figures - Caledor Sky over white undercoat (I used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives). It is very slightly too dark so is actually a better match to the HBG French colour, which is also slightly darker than the OOB figures. You could lighten slightly with a small amount of white paint should you wish to match exactly to the OOB, but given it matches the HBG colour, I leave it as I have plenty of their sculpts as well.

ANZAC, ‘Grey Brown’ You can mix two GW paints to achieve an excellent match to the OOB A&A ANZAC figures - Dawnstone 3 parts to Baneblade Brown 1 part (easiest way to do ‘parts’ is take 3 loaded brushes of dawnstone to a pallet, wash your brush, and then 1 loaded brush of the baneblade brown, then mix thoroughly). Again this is applied over white undercoat ( used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives).

Italy, ‘Brown’ There is a GW paint which gives a very good match to the OOB A&A Italy figures - Mournfang Brown over white undercoat (I used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives). Like the French pieces this seems to match HBG Italians more than the OOB colour, but again given I have a mix of both I am happy with this.

Soviet Union, ‘Red Brown’ You can mix two GW paints to achieve an excellent match to the OOB A&A Russian figures - Doombull Brown 1 parts to Dryad Bark 2 parts. This is applied over black undercoat (I used GW Chaos Black spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives).

US, ‘Olive Drab’ This one is a b*&^h. You can mix two GW paints to achieve an ok match to the OOB A&A US figures , this was the only one I wasn’t able to attain a very high quality match with but it was still pretty good - Elysian Green 3 parts to Loren Forest 1 part). Again this is applied over white undercoat ( used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives).

Note that often the paint colour when wet does not look the same as when dry. Varnish also darkens colours slightly in my experience.

I hope this helps people.

And if anyone else has any good quality matches please share them here!

Hi - Leo and I have discussed and agreed to concede. We think Russia is too powerful and we will lose from here. Plus I am too busy and consistently making you guys wait far too long for the next go, for which I apologise.

So well done opponents!

And I shall duck out of the next game so you can make more rapid progress,

Cred

@hbg-gw-enthusiast

Spray paints are definitely better for time and finish although if you thin your paint on acrylics the difference is marginal.

I just don’t think even with massive range like rustoleum you get a very close match.

So reluctantly If you want a good match paint brushes and patience are the way to go in my opinion (apart from the Germans god bless them).

Having said that if any spray paint matches are ‘right on’ I’m all ears…

@hbg-gw-enthusiast

Spray paints are definitely better for time and finish although if you thin your paint on acrylics the difference is marginal.

I just don’t think even with massive range like rustoleum you get a very close match.

So reluctantly If you want a good match paint brushes and patience are the way to go in my opinion (apart from the Germans god bless them).

Having said that if any spray paint matches are ‘right on’ I’m all ears…

@hbg-gw-enthusiast

Here’s some more then:

Free French - 2 parts lothern blue to 1 part white scar. I’d suggest white undercoat.

Spanish Republicans - 2 parts screamer pink to 1 part white scar. White undercoat.

Spanish nationalists - 2 parts flash gitz yellow to 3 parts white scar. White undercoat.

I’ll do Chinese soon.

I’ve recently taken the plunge and painted up a bunch of HBG 3D printed units to colour match the A&A and HBG plastic pieces (see ‘Base Set 2’ thread for reasons why).

I didn’t want to paint the plastic pieces I already owned to match, as I think the best finish is the naked plastic!

When I’m not playing A&A I like to nerd out in a completely different way by playing with and painting Warhammer miniatures, and over the years I have picked up almost the entire range of Games Workshop model paints, and I am a fairly experienced model painter.

Having such a large range of paints allowed me to explore for some really good colour matches to the plastic colours of the A&A pieces. I thought I’d share here in case useful for people.

Note if you want a good colour match with GW paints you’re going to be getting a brush out (with 1 exception). For a good finish I recommend two thin coats and thinning the paint slightly with water. There are loads of videos on Youtube on how to apply acrylic paint well.

I’ve also indicated the undercoat spray colour in each case, as that will affect the overall darkness/lightness tone of the finish. Its usually white.

Finally I spray finished with ‘semi-gloss’ varnish from Rustoleum, which does a fairly good job of mimicing the sheen of plastic. I think gloss is too much.

Germans, ‘black’ The Germans are your best friends when it comes to colour matching. I used Chaos Black spray by Gamesworkshop but you can get cheaper alternatives. Personally I don’t mind paying a bit extra for a high quality model paint. Then semi-gloss varnish. Dead easy. Great match for the out the box/HBG pieces.

Japanese, ‘pumpkin orange’ There is a GW paint which gives an excellent match to the OOB A&A Japanese figures - Skrag Brown over white undercoat (I used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives).

UK, ‘Tan’ There is a GW paint which gives an excellent match to the OOB A&A UK figures - Karak Stone over white undercoat (I used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives).

France, ‘Blue’ There is a GW paint which gives a good match to the OOB A&A French figures - Caledor Sky over white undercoat (I used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives). It is very slightly too dark so is actually a better match to the HBG French colour, which is also slightly darker than the OOB figures. You could lighten slightly with a small amount of white paint should you wish to match exactly to the OOB, but given it matches the HBG colour, I leave it as I have plenty of their sculpts as well.

ANZAC, ‘Grey Brown’ You can mix two GW paints to achieve an excellent match to the OOB A&A ANZAC figures - Dawnstone 3 parts to Baneblade Brown 1 part (easiest way to do ‘parts’ is take 3 loaded brushes of dawnstone to a pallet, wash your brush, and then 1 loaded brush of the baneblade brown, then mix thoroughly). Again this is applied over white undercoat ( used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives).

Italy, ‘Brown’ There is a GW paint which gives a very good match to the OOB A&A Italy figures - Mournfang Brown over white undercoat (I used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives). Like the French pieces this seems to match HBG Italians more than the OOB colour, but again given I have a mix of both I am happy with this.

Soviet Union, ‘Red Brown’ You can mix two GW paints to achieve an excellent match to the OOB A&A Russian figures - Doombull Brown 1 parts to Dryad Bark 2 parts. This is applied over black undercoat (I used GW Chaos Black spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives).

US, ‘Olive Drab’ This one is a b*&^h. You can mix two GW paints to achieve an ok match to the OOB A&A US figures , this was the only one I wasn’t able to attain a very high quality match with but it was still pretty good - Elysian Green 3 parts to Loren Forest 1 part). Again this is applied over white undercoat ( used GW Corax White spray for the undercoat, you can probably use cheaper alternatives).

Note that often the paint colour when wet does not look the same as when dry. Varnish also darkens colours slightly in my experience.

I hope this helps people.

And if anyone else has any good quality matches please share them here!

Had a reply from Doug. It was pretty brief:

‘Its been delayed’

I’ve caved and just bought the 3D printed versions instead where I need them as maybe it will never arrive (given the focus on individual nation sets instead).

I’ve given up waiting for the ‘Base Set 2’ as suspect will be ‘vapourware’ - this thread highlights why - there is no point HBG printing off a unit in 10 different colours, if certain sculpts are rarely if ever going to be bought by a certain nationality (and hence bought from HBG), and that will apply for a lot of the advanced tech stuff.

Therefore bought the 3d printed versions of the Base Set 2 items I needed, so Maltas for heavy carriers etc.

My approach has been to paint up at least 1 of each advanced unit, for each major power, and then more where I think countries need them/are likely to use them in game.

So Russa can build 1 attack transport and heavy carrier before I’m stuffed, but America has 3 sculpts of each of these units (for example)

By means of an update and for those interested I emailed Doug around New Years Eve but haven’t had a response yet. I will chase next week if I still
haven’t heard anything.

Cred

@Noneshallpass I agree - there are still a load for of annoying holes for a load of countries (Anzac marines for example have been out of stock forever)

If you don’t want to paint there are some of the advanced units you can’t get for any countries atm though (or very few). Heavy carriers and battleships being great examples.

So base set 2 is still helpful - what would you like to see in there?

Video 1

This was the video where Doug talks at length about it. Year old now though.

Also this one (9 minutes in):

Video 2

My thoughts were:

• Where is the light cruiser sculpt? (Britain and Italy both missing one atm). Would prefer this to the heavy bomber sculpt as already lots of options for every nation to have a heavy bomber (even France where you can use the massive Russian bomber sculpt which comes otb).
• surely a seaplane sculpt is required! (Appears in one video but not the other).
• not sure nautilus is big enough to be differentiated as the allied heavy sub.

Otherwise all looks good.

Would much rather be able to fill the gaps with this set than have some more nation specific sculpts I don’t really need… (Italian coverage already very good, as was Russian, although when the singles come out it allows for some useful range fillers - Russian jet and advanced artillery in particular).

What do you think?

Cred

Hi all,

Is there any news on one Base Set 2 is going to land? I’ll email Doug directly if not. I’ve watched a batch of their recent Youtube videos and not mentioned at all.

Now the Russian set is out hopefully this is the next area of focus, although I know an Italian set has been mentioned…

Cred

Hi Chris, cruisers, battleships and destroyers are all cheaper than they were. Fast battleships look like one of the most overpriced units now at 3 IPCs more than a regular battleship, as most (probably all) of the countries which can buy one have legacy battleships slowing their fleets down anyway so is it really worth 3ipcs for a fast one?

With cruisers taking two turns to build but only being marginally more expensive than destroyers they become much more appealing than they were.