1. An Opus goes Magum Review by roblyon

   Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition, A Review
   
   
   While A&A is arguably the best grand strategy game ever produced, the recently released, A&A Anniversary edition, upped the benchmark in every regard (price point included). This, the AE of A&A, has taken production values to a new level, expanded the active nationalities in play, provided country-specific materiel modeling, and made several very well received revisions to the rule set. It’s like THE FINISHED SET (as long as they don’t make another iteration, of course, but why would they would after this magnum opus is beyond me) for enthusiasts of the game, OR a perfect entry vector for the 1st time purchase of a timeless classic.
   The net design of A&A is ambimental, if you will.
   In other words, a game designed for both left and right brained players, not at the exclusion of one or the other. Immersed in a game of A&A, we can tackle the logical aspects of production, expansion, research and economics in best left brain fashion, or we can sit back a moment and appreciate the splay of color across the board, empathizing, perhaps, with the egregious disruption of life in these turbulent times. Point is, with Axis & Allies, the game is both straight forward to play and easy to appreciate. On the one hand, turn decisions don’t boggle the mind; the game does not go off the deep end with excessive detail. And on the other, it’s great to kick back between turns and soak up the experience. More than most games, what’s going in is RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOU in telling quantities of colored plastic. Each of us has a personal fit as regards the playable-versus-simulated continuum of game design, but for me at least, there IS a magic point, that being a game with a blend of history/theme and play dynamic that doesn’t sacrifice one for the other. A&A is one such animal.
   Touted as a gateway game for wargamers, for everyone else who’s interest in World War II or war in general, goes no further than an opportunity to experience it in abstraction, to try one’s hand at Winston Churchill’s job, say, or Togo’s, to manage nations, entities, countries, a single country when you get down to it, in dynamic relation with other nations/players . . . the search can stop right here. Grand strategy, after all, begs a grandly strategic setting, and the big war was that, if nothing else. For those of a decidedly non-warlike persuasion, the game will likely not fly.
   A few specifics on why you might want to shell out the extra dinero for this, the Anniversary edition. Elegance, above all. The box, the gorgeous, hard mounted (no glare) map boards, the handsomely designed and colored storage boxes that fit perfectly into the box and hold ALL of the game tokens, separated by nation. Finally, the rules. Research has been expanded. Strategic Warfare is improved. There are new nations, new ships. All in all, I would buy the game for any of the above reasons, EVEN if I owned a prior iteration, and I would certainly buy it as a first time player.
   
   MSRP: $100
   (Posted on 2/11/09)

You're reviewing: Axis & Allies Anniversary Edition