New Player Question

[AllTheWhine]

what version do most people play?

I'm interested in playing but don't know what game to activate


any other new player advice would be helpful

[Hobbes77]

Axis and Allies 1942 is the latest boardgame version. The previous version (also available here) is called Revised and the main differences relate to transports/subs/strategic bombing plus other changes in north america and the UK line-up.
1942 is also considered to be balanced between for both sides while Revised is usually played with an Axis bid of 7-9.

[smalldog47]

most people play revised and it will be extremely easy to find games if you choose it........its abit more stodgy(or traditional if you like) but seems to be way more popular than 42....i advise start with revised then branch out into 42...gl2u

[rem400]

The AA Revised player pool is significantly larger at this time that the AA42 player pool. That translates into more AA Revised games with players at your level. There are a lot of opportunities for multi-player games in Revised; whereas, multi-player games are fairly rare in AA42. With a few notable exceptions, the Revised rules, strategies and skill set is transferrable to AA42 so the transition to AA42 is fairly easy should you decide to play AA42 in the future.

To ease the learning curve, I strongly suggest you read through some of the Revised strategy threads in the forum. There is a LOT of useful information that would normally take many games to learn - especially, as Hobbies notes, information concerning the bid process to determine who plays which side.

Welcome to GTO.

[commander_chaos]

The AA Revised player pool is significantly larger at this time that the AA42 player pool. That translates into more AA Revised games with players at your level. There are a lot of opportunities for multi-player games in Revised; whereas, multi-player games are fairly rare in AA42. With a few notable exceptions, the Revised rules, strategies and skill set is transferrable to AA42 so the transition to AA42 is fairly easy should you decide to play AA42 in the future.

To ease the learning curve, I strongly suggest you read through some of the Revised strategy threads in the forum. There is a LOT of useful information that would normally take many games to learn - especially, as Hobbies notes, information concerning the bid process to determine who plays which side.

Welcome to GTO.

I agree with Mr REM but would like to add that 42 is closer to the latest greatest versions of axis and allies that have come out in the past few years- revised is however less expensive to activate and has more games available to play live.

Good gaming!

[Hobbes77]

With a few notable exceptions, the Revised rules, strategies and skill set is transferrable to AA42 so the transition to AA42 is fairly easy should you decide to play AA42 in the future.

I disagree on the strategies. The changes on Spring 1942 (transports, subs, strat bombing, UK naval units on the Med, etc.) deeply impact the game. On 1942 now you things like a Soviet R2 attack on the German Med fleet, Germans taking out SZ2 on G1, no combined UK/US landing on Algeria on UK/US1, more efficiency of subs/planes against fleets, no US strategic bombing campaigns, etc. etc. I also see more players trying to go Pacific with the Allies with 1942 and with a better rate of success than in Revised - the overall changes weaken Japan's position compared to Revised. The UK/US start also weaker (have to invest more resources on fleets to transport the same amount than on Revised) while Germany starts stronger (its initial subs survive longer and the planes are more effective against fleets).

[rem400]

All true Hobbies.

My point was that if a new player starts with Revised, the transition to AA42 can be easier than starting AA42 cold turkey. This is especially true given the vast knowledge base related to Revised contained in the Forum.

[Hobbes77]

All true Hobbies.

Hobbes, as either the comic fluffed tiger or the English philosopher of the XVII century.

My point was that if a new player starts with Revised, the transition to AA42 can be easier than starting AA42 cold turkey. This is especially true given the vast knowledge base related to Revised contained in the Forum.

I completely agree with both points, the easier transition (I've played Classic, then Revised, then Spring 1942) and the knowledge base for Revised, due to the years that Revised was basically the game.

However, at the same time players who start on Revised will be less likely to migrate to Spring 1942 because they'll get used to the old rules and most won't want to relearn rules and strategy again.

My opinion would be that new players should just skip Revised and go straight for Spring 1942, it's not that Revised isn't a great game but to me Spring 1942 is even better and they'll learn the current rules that are compatible with Europe/Pacific/Global 1940.

[isaacs18]

Axis and Allies 1942 is the latest boardgame version. The previous version (also available here) is called Revised and the main differences relate to transports/subs/strategic bombing plus other changes in north america and the UK line-up.
1942 is also considered to be balanced between for both sides while Revised is usually played with an Axis bid of 7-9.

Lol, can't think of the last time I have played with such a high bid. I average g4-5 n my games. Guess I either love axis or am getting cheated LOL

[BKBrawler]

Axis and Allies 1942 is the latest boardgame version. The previous version (also available here) is called Revised and the main differences relate to transports/subs/strategic bombing plus other changes in north america and the UK line-up.
1942 is also considered to be balanced between for both sides while Revised is usually played with an Axis bid of 7-9.

Lol, can't think of the last time I have played with such a high bid. I average g4-5 n my games. Guess I either love axis or am getting cheated LOL

Yeah, I'd say 95% of revised games are G6-G7 bids, while it seems that 42 is slowly moving to R3 as a majority bid. Only a unit difference between the two, so I think that speaks to how balanced both games are. However, I would point out that Germany's possible opening strike on the UK fleet is probably the most decisive opening in either version.

[Hobbes77]

Axis and Allies 1942 is the latest boardgame version. The previous version (also available here) is called Revised and the main differences relate to transports/subs/strategic bombing plus other changes in north america and the UK line-up.
1942 is also considered to be balanced between for both sides while Revised is usually played with an Axis bid of 7-9.

Lol, can't think of the last time I have played with such a high bid. I average g4-5 n my games. Guess I either love axis or am getting cheated LOL

Yeah, I'd say 95% of revised games are G6-G7 bids, while it seems that 42 is slowly moving to R3 as a majority bid. Only a unit difference between the two, so I think that speaks to how balanced both games are. However, I would point out that Germany's possible opening strike on the UK fleet is probably the most decisive opening in either version.

95% of games at GTO. I've played Revised since it come out and the standard Axis bid has always been 7-9. And I never thought the Allies needed a bid on Spring 42.