By Fred Manzo
We’ve been big Axis and Allies fans for a great number of years, but we haven’t really played it at the club lately. So last week we got together what is probably one of the strongest Axis and Allies club games in the country. The Axis team included Roger, who runs an Axis and Allies wiki site, Joe Gioia, who won the Axis and Allies tournament at the World Boardgaming Championships this year, Harvey and Gary, who always finished in the final round in the Origins tournaments when they competed, Barry and, of course, me (who brought up the tail end in terms of ability to play Axis and Allies.)
We played the Global 1942 version of Axis and Allies. The combined board is about 6 feet long by 3 feet wide. Gary, Harvey and Barry were the Allies. Roger, Joe and I were the Axis. I played the Japanese with some help.
The Americans seemed to have split their resources between the two theaters. Harvey played the Russians, Barry played the Americans and Gary played the British. The Anzacs were a shared. responsibility.
The British and Americans first attacked the Med, but the Italians held their own with some German help.
The quickest way into the European theater was through Africa, so that’s where the Anglo-Americans first concentrated.
The Japanese headed for India and took out as many Chinese troops as possible along the way. They also took enough islands in the Pacific to get one of their National Objectives. This is a picture of the first turn. By turn three the Japanese were on the doorstep of India. But the British were preparing a counter-attack. This has turned out to be a great game, but with 6 players and a 6 foot by 3 foot board it is also a VERY slow game. Once you get into Axis and Allies at this depth the calculations involved are quite complex. It easily becomes multi-player chess.
