Game Tips for Axis & Allies 1942

9

Lozmoid {Strategy Gamer}

Sep 5th, 2012| Tip

16 of 17 gamers found this helpful

“1942 Second Edition now available”

Just point out that there is an even more recent version of Axis & Allies Spring 1942 available which has only just recently been released: the ‘Axis & Allies 1942 Second Edition’ which can be found here

http://boardgaming.com/games/board-games/axis-and-allies-1942-second-edition

It is far superior to Spring 1942, in my opinion. It has new rules, new Antiaircraft Artillery units/sculpts, and the board has many more territories and sea zones. I know I won’t be playing Spring 1942 anymore as it is now obsolete.

Check out the Second Edition!

9

Lozmoid {Strategy Gamer}

Oct 31st, 2012| Rule

16 of 17 gamers found this helpful

“Transports can now defend against air units!”

In the real war, transport ships did not have any real surface-to-surface attack or defence capability but they were sometimes armed with an antiaircraft gun. Allow me to introduce a new house rule which my gaming group have been using recently that allows each of your Tranports a one-shot-only defence roll against attacking air units:

Transports now have Defence 1 and can only fire once per combat round (like normal units), but any hits scored can only be assigned to attacking air units. So if your Transports are attacked by a mixture of enemy air and sea units, any 1′s rolled by your Transports cannot be assigned to the sea units. Just remember that any hits scored by the attacking force may only be assigned to the defending Transport(s) once there are no other defending units left. So in effect, your defending Transports may continue to fire at attacking air units for every round of battle that they survive!

However, unlike the regular Antiaircraft Gun units in the game, each Transport may only fire ONCE (roll one die) and any casualties are removed after the all the defending units have fired, as per normal.

Essentially then, defending Transports are no longer considered to be ‘defenceless’ as they can shoot back at Fighters and Bombers, and therefore are not simply taken straight off the bame board when attacked on their own by enemy airforces (normally, if you sent an air unit out to attack an enemy transport you would destroy it automatically). But with this house rule, that Transport will get a chance to take down 1 of your air units with it!

(Remember that attacking Transports are not normally considered ‘defenceless’ because they always have the option of retreating.)

Some examples then:

A – 1 Transport is attacked by 1 Destroyer and 1 Fighter. The Destroyer does not need to roll as it automatically kills the Transport, but the Transport does get to return fire because of the presence of Fighter. It rolls and gets a 5 (a miss, luckilly for the attacker!) and the battle is over.

B – 1 Transport is attacked by 3 Fighters. The Fighters roll a 1, a 3 and a 5 resulting in 2 hits, more than enough to sink the Transport. The Transport then returns fire with one die and luckily rolls a 1! One Fighter is removed and the battle is over.

C – 2 Transports are attacked by 2 Fighters and 1 Bomber. The Fighters roll a 3 and a 6, and the Bomber rolls a 1. The attacker scored two hits and therefore both of the Transports are chosen as casualties. However, returning fire the Tranports roll and get a 1 and a 4, resulting in one hit. The attacker chooses a Fighter as a casualty, and the battle is over.

D – 1 Transport and 1 Cruiser are attacked by 1 Destroyer and 2 Fighters. The Destroyer fires and misses, and the Fighters fire and get a 1 and a 3 (two hits). Both hits must be assigned to the defending units. The Cruiser returns fire and gets a 2 (hit) and the Transport gets a 1 (hit). The hit from the Transport MUST be assigned to one of the Fighters as it cannot sea units. The attacker assigns the hit from the Cruiser to his Destroyer. The battle is over with one attacking Fighter surviving.

I find that this new rules adds a lot of variation to sea battles and always makes the attacker think twice about sending out his airforces to sink your transports! Just remember that defending Transports are still helpless against attacking sea units.

Give it a try!

9

Lozmoid {Strategy Gamer}

May 4th, 2012| Tip

17 of 19 gamers found this helpful

“Official Errata/FAQ”

Here’s a link to the official Errata/FAQ from the game’s own designer, Larry Harris. I hope you find it useful!

http://www.harrisgamedesign.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=2440

9

Lozmoid {Strategy Gamer}

May 6th, 2012| Rule

17 of 19 gamers found this helpful

“Submarine Submerge - House Rule”

Normally, the presence of an enemy Destroyer unit will stop your Submarines from Submerging duing combat (due to their anti-submarine capabilities). However, we have been allowing Submarines to submerge AFTER the first round of combat. So in effect, the Subs would have to endure one round of combat before being allowed to dive and escape. I think this adds a little realism to the game – submarines were crafty little things after all.

If you wanted to take it further, merely set the rule to function at a 1:1 ratio. In other words, each enemy Destroyer may only stop ONE of your Submarines from submerging during the first combat round. I.E. if you had 6 Submarines and your enemy had 2 Destroyers, the result would be that 4 of your Subs could submerge BEFORE the first combat round, and the remaining 2 could submerge after the first combat round (providing they survived the enemy fire). This adds quite a bit more realism and tactical choices to the game and gives a slight advantage to the player who has lots of Submarines!

My gaming group have been using these house rules recently and we like the way they play out.

9

Lozmoid {Strategy Gamer}

May 27th, 2012| Tip

17 of 19 gamers found this helpful

“Use the Technology rules from 50th Anniversary eddition for a better experience!”

Don’t forget that this A&A 1942 title does not come with any rules for technology, which some players may find a little annoying. However! Do not despair for you can simply incorporate these (optional) rules straight from the Axis & Allies 50th Anniversary Edition, here: http://boardgaming.com/games/board-games/axis-and-allies-50th-anniversary-edition

As the technology rules are not described in detail on the A&A50 game page, I will summarise them here. Please remember that the rules for technology are optional in the A&A50 game, so it would be totally up to the players to decide if they wished to use them for A&A 1942. Here goes then:

The player turn sequence will now be:

1. Research & Development (optional rule)
2. Purchase Units
3. Combat Move
4. Conduct Combat
5. Noncombat move
6. Mobilize New Units
7. Collect Income

How the technology rules work:

PHASE 1: RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

In this phase, you may attempt to develop improved military technology. To do so, you buy researchers that give you a chance for a scientific breakthrough. Each researcher token will grant you one die that provides a chance for a breakthrough. Should your capital be captured by the enemy during the game, surrender all your current researcher tokens back to the box.

Research & Development Sequence:

1. Buy researcher tokens
2. Roll research dice
3. Roll breakthrough die
4. Mark developments

Step 1: Buy Researcher Tokens:

Each researcher token costs 5 IPCs. Buy as many as you wish, including none.

Step 2: Roll Research Dice:

For each researcher you have, roll one die. Success: If you roll at least one “6,” you have successfully made a technological
breakthrough. Discard ALL your researcher tokens and continue to step 3. Failure: If you do not roll a “6,” your research has failed. Keep all your researcher tokens and continue to the Purchase Units phase of the turn.

Step 3. Roll Breakthrough Die:

If you rolled a “6” on any research die, choose one of the two breakthrough charts (below) and roll a die to see which technological advance you get. You can only receive one advance each turn. If you have already received the same result on a previous turn, reroll until you get a new technological advance. Once you have received all the advances on a chart, you cannot gain any more advances from that chart.

BREAKTHROUGH CHART 1 (Land & Industry)

1. Advanced Artillery: Each of your Artillery units can now provide greater support. One Artillery unit can support two Infantry per attack. Two Infantry when coupled with one Artillery unit each
have an attack value of 2.

2. Rockets: Your anti-aircraft guns are now rocket launchers. In addition to its normal combat function, during the strategic bombing raid step of your Conduct Combat phase each turn, each of your
anti-aircraft guns can make a single rocket attack against an enemy Industrial Complex within 3 spaces of it. This attack does 1d6 damage to that complex. In each turn, only one AA Gun per territory may launch rockets, and each Industrial Complex can be targeted by only one rocket launcher.

3. Paratroopers: Each of your Bombers can act as a transport for up to one Infantry, but it must stop in the first hostile territory it enters during a turn and drop off the Infantry, ending its combat movement. Both units must begin their movement in the same territory. The Infantry is dropped after any anti-aircraft fire is resolved, so if the Bomber is hit, the Infantry it carries is also destroyed. The Bomber may still attack during the Conduct Combat phase, but it cannot make a strategic bombing run in a turn that it transports an Infantry
unit. The Infantry unit may retreat normally to a friendly adjacent space during combat.

4: Increased Factory Production: Each of your Industrial Complexes in a territory worth 3 or more IPCs can now produce two additional units beyond its listed IPC value. For example, Germany (worth 10 IPCs) can now produce 12 units. Also, when repairing a damaged Industrial Complex (removing damage markers), you can remove two damage markers at a time for the cost of 1 IPC (half price).

5. War Bonds: During your Collect Income phase, roll 1d6 and collect that many additional IPCs.

6. Mechanized Infantry: Each Infantry that is matched up with a Tank can move two spaces along with the Tank.

BREAKTHROUGH CHART 2 (Air & Sea)

1. Super Submarines: Your Submarines are now Super Submarines. The attack value of your Submarines is now 3 instead of 2. The defense value of your Submarines remains at 1.

2. Jet Fighters: The attack value of your Fighters is now 4 instead of 3.

3. Improved Shipyards: Your sea units are now cheaper to build. Use these revised costs:

Battleship 17
Aircraft Carrier 11
Cruiser 10
Destroyer 7
Transport 6
Submarine 5

4. Radar: Your anti-aircraft gun fire now hits on a 1 or 2 instead of just a 1.

5. Long-Range Aircraft: Your Fighters are now long-range Fighters, and your Bombers are now long-range Bombers. Your Fighters’ range increases
from 4 to 6. Your Bombers’ range increases from 6 to 8.

6. Heavy Bombers: Your Bombers are now Heavy Bombers. You roll two dice for each Bomber and select the best result whenever you attack or make a strategic bombing raid. On defense, your Heavy Bombers still roll only a single die.

3

Nik {Avid Gamer}

Jan 26th, 2012| Rule

17 of 20 gamers found this helpful

“Russians go first but cannot attack”

I cannot recall where I saw this house rule but I do believe it was endorsed by Larry Harris, the designer of the game.

In order to be a bit more historically accurate, since the Soviet Union is the first of the 5 sides to go first, they cannot attack. This give ths Axis a bit of breathing room in the first turn.

3

Nik {Avid Gamer}

Jan 26th, 2012| Tip

17 of 24 gamers found this helpful

“Get Informed.”

Reading the instruction booklet more than once prior to playing your first time is key. Get familiar with the rules and relationships between the different types of units.

Axis & Allies 1942 - Tips & Strategies

Tips & Strategies (7)

Add your own Tip, Strategy, or House Rule

Recent News