Axis and Allies Revised Strategies

History of Axis and Allies

Axis and Allies was originally released in 1984. It is a war game that focuses on the major combatants of World War II: Germany, Russia, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Players start with a certain number of resources, ships, and combat troops that are arranged in the different territories that are controlled by their country. It is somewhat historically accurate, but the Axis is given more power. Players attack each other, spend resources to buy armies and planes, and try to win the game, which could be achieved by capturing resources or taking over enemy capitals.

The game was revised in 2004 to make it more challenging. People who played the game many times had developed strategies that helped them win the game if not quickly (games can take up to 20 hours) at least predictably. With the new edition Axis and Allies revised strategies are needed to be more successful.

Changes in the Revised Edition

There are many changes, large and small, in the newer version of Axis and Allies, but perhaps the most important is a change in the victory conditions. Instead of having to capture capitals to win, players must instead control "victory cities" including Los Angeles, Paris, Rome, Leningrad, Calcutta, Shanghai and Manila. Each "side" controls six cities at the start of the game.

Players can choose to battle until one side controls all of the cities, or they can play to 8 or 10 to make for a shorter game.

Another big change in the revised Axis and Allies has to do with artillery. This is a new form of army that was not in the original game, and it ranks between a tank and an infantry piece in terms of power.

The interesting thing about artillery is that it can work in tandem with an infantry unit and boost the infantry's attack capability, making them more important as a defensive unit than they were in the original game.

Tanks now defend with three dice in addition to attacking with three, but you may still find artillery a better investment because they can boost the infantry.

A change to the antiaircraft guns makes them more interesting, as the person who is firing can choose which plane to fire out instead of allowing the player who is being fired on decide which plane is being damaged. The price of fighters has been lowered and there are more of them in action at the start of the game, to encourage more air combat.

There are also more territories than there used to be and, more importantly, more sea zones. That means the United States cannot attack Germany on its first round, and transport ships become more important.

In the old rules, a transport could carry two infantry units or a tank or an antiaircraft weapon at one time, but now they can carry two infantry or two of any land units as long as one is an infantry unit.

The rules for submarines have been clarified, destroyers have been added, and map changes in Eastern Europe make for more territories and more battles each round. That means Russia won't be able to accumulate giant armies as quickly as it could in the original game, because more units will be lost each round as territories change hands. Africa is hard to get to, which may affect the American strategy.

Axis and Allies Revised Strategies Ideas

Each country has a different opening strategy that helps you start the game off right. While there are many different ways to open, here are some Axis and Allies revised strategies to think about:

• Russia: build up your infantry, attack Belorussia and West Russia.
• Germany: Try to get heavy bombers and rockets, focus on Egypt, fight to take back Belorussia if Russia got it, and think about attacking the battleship in the Mediterranean.
• UK: Build factories in India and South Africa, attack the Japanese transport to protect India, and attack a Japanese sub with your sub in Australia. You might also consider attacking Western Europe if Germany has five or fewer planes.
• Japan: You have more money in this game, so go for heavy bombers and transports. You'll need transports to move resources around the islands. Attack Pearl Harbor and focus armies on China.
• United States: You can't move much in one round, so don't attack anyone. Try to get heavy bombers since they move fast and are flexible. You could attack Algeria, but it's probably not a good idea because of the large German air force. Depending on how Japan left it, you could also counterattack to take back Pearl Harbor.

Axis and Allies is a game that requires both strategy and flexibility in order to be a success.