Axis and Allies is an expansive board game that first appeared in the early 80’s. I bought it while I was in high school and played it several times with some friends… and then let one of them borrow it and haven’t seen it since… same with my nice tap shoes…
Anyway.
I’ve often thought about getting that game again especially since Zach is 9 and would enjoy it. I wasn’t sure who else I’d play with as I didn’t think my teammates were that geeky. However… I just found out that one of them *IS* that geeky!
Casey Bell just left for furlough and I was helping him move his stuff into storage and discovered among his belongings… yup… Axis and Allies. He got it for Christmas a while ago, but hasn’t actually had a chance to play it yet. We’ll change that *for sure* when he gets back to Taiwan in about 6 months. But in the meantime… I asked if I could babysit it for him. He said yes and after refamiliarizing myself with the extensive rules… Zach and I gave it a trial run last Saturday during the typhoon. It went well and Zach did enjoy it.
As I was looking online for some strategy tips, I discovered an open source A&A clone called TripleA. I downloaded it and have tried it out a little bit and it seems very useable!
It is cross-platform… easy to install… and comes with multiple gameplay options including several interesting “house rules”.
There is an option to play by email and an option to play online or on a lan too.
If anyone out there likes to play A&A and wants to give it a go online, just let me know and we’ll get a game started. I probably don’t have time to play an entire game at one sitting, but play by email should be no problem. If you haven’t played before, just download TripleA and play against the computer a few times to see what you think.
Screenshots from the TripleA website following (click for larger image)
Classic Map
In Battle
Purchasing Units
Pact of Steel Mod
5 responses so far ↓
1 Matt Crosser // Oct 12, 2007 at 1:12 am
Hey man….I looooove Axis and Allies. I don’t have time to write much now, but I am definitely interested in playing some kind of game via email. Have you seen there are about five new versions of the game out there now? They include a D-Day version, Pacific Theater, etc… Also there is another game which I hope to buy soon called Memoirs 44 or something like that. Each time it only takes 30-40 minutes to play. I have played Axis and Allies up to 9 hours on more than one occasion. Anyway, too bad you aren’t coming to the Team Leader summit….we could play.
2 Sean C. // Oct 12, 2007 at 2:10 am
Nathan introduced me to Axis & Allies when I was at ARC. I even had a PC version at one point. I too would be interested in playing.
I also got a Risk game for my birthday this past week. I haven’t played that in forever either.
3 sqjtaipei // Oct 12, 2007 at 3:15 am
Matt:
I didn’t notice the new games until I borrowed the original from Casey and started looking online for some tips. There is even an update to the original with destroyers and artillery as well as new divisions on the map. TripleA also has that map/rules, but I’ve never played it. There is apparently a bidding system that is common among regular players to determine who will play the axis side since it is hard to win with them in the original. Basically the person playing as Axis will get a few extra units to place at the beginning. I’m not sure how this works in real life, though… do you?
I know Michael (who comments here occasionally) also plays A&A so maybe he can explain it clearly.
Which version (original or revised) do you play or want to play?
So… that’s 3 counting me… we may as well try to get 5 at this point. Any other takers?
4 Bro // Oct 14, 2007 at 10:15 am
Lets do it.
5 Darren Petrie // Nov 1, 2007 at 8:55 pm
Count me in.
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