Axis & Allies

The other day I was flicking through my photos, looking for something, and saw a few snaps I had taken of my 50th anniversary edition of the classic board game, Axis & Allies, which I sold sometime last year. It gave me a quick sense of nostalgia, for what is likely my favourite board game of all time. Alas, one that I have not played for decades, as it takes a certain kind of person to both enjoy and commit to a gaming experience that can take all day to play. I have had many games of A&A over the years that have gone for eight hours or more. I discovered it back in Cobram, sometime around 1989 I think, likely with Andrew White, one of the nerd community that I hung around with sometimes. I had a variety of friends during that period of my life, none of whom I am still in regular contact with unfortunately, although I have bumped into a couple of them periodically. That is another story! Here are a couple of photos of both the classic A&A box and board.

The thing with A&A is that whilst the luck of the dice does play a significant part, understanding the dynamics, being able to predict other players, and getting the balance right of where to spend your cash, where to attack and where to defend, is not easy. It's especially good to play with 3-4 people, so that you get a whole lot of different flavours to the game. 

After the Cobram experiences, there was a bit of a hiatus. I don't recall playing at uni, but I definitely do recall playing with Brunty, an old uni friend, who I spent some time with in Kalgoorlie too. I am pretty sure that is where we played. I don't recall much about that, other than the famous Brunty rage quit, when he had rolled 80 out of 100 1's. If you know, you know. Poor bugger, his massive tank attack, that should have steamrolled me, failed spectacularly! Kind of like history really. I think of that with a grin, as it was funny, but I do also feel a little bad. Not because of the game, but because I didn't do very well by Brunty at one point, and whilst not deliberate, I did take advantage of him, and for that I am sorry. Alas our friendship never really recovered after that. As I am currently experiencing in a relationship much closer to home, actions speak louder than words, and even if my intentions were never bad, what I say, do, and sometimes not say and not do, can be very impactful. It's easy for me to say I'm sorry and get over it, but I can't expect others to feel the same way.

Anyway, I digress. Back to A&A. Of course, as is my wont, I went overboard. I loved A&A so much that when they started releasing other versions (Europe, The Pacific etc.) I bought them all, and don't think I ever played a single game with any of them! At one point I had about six versions of the game. I loved it so much, it was such a fun interlude. Setting up the pieces, either trying to mimic or rewrite history, and yes, even sometimes enjoying playing the bad guy, and doing what the fuckers should have, if they weren't so up themselves. Fortunately for history and freedom, they were. So yeah, all those versions. I don't think I ever played the game again, not on the board anyway. I ended up donating all of them, literally hundreds of bucks worth of games. But that's ok. Assuming there is any karma to be won through the donation of goods, well I have given away many housefuls of stuff over the years - on one occasion at least, it literally was an entire houseful, including bike, golf clubs, and all the rest.  

But the A&A story does not end here, not even close! Many years later - I think the donation of the collection was in the early 2000's - I was living in Asia, and saw online a copy of the 50th anniversary edition for sale, as per the photos below. I snapped it up. It was the base game, but with playable China, Italy and a few others, plus new units. I was STOKED for this game! 

I held onto it for a lot of years and took it around the world with us as we travelled from Malaysia, to Australia, back to Malaysia, back to Australia, to Indonesia, and then once again, back to Australia. I opened it a few times, marvelled at the many pieces and the awesome-looking 3-piece board, but ultimately, never played it. The kids were too young, wifey not interested in this kind of game, and my friends in later life, well the games they liked to play did not involve dice. So I sold it online a year or so ago, and got my money back. Sad that I never played it, but as time goes on, I am more and more coming to realise that life goes by in waves - some aspects stick with us, but others are prevalent for a time, and then fade away.

But the story is still not over! There is the online version of the game. There was a PC game back in the 90's that was fun, but with lame AI and SO easy to beat. Then someone came up with a free online version of A&A that was very customisable. That was awesome. AI still not great, but better, and with the opportunity for many more spots on the board, expanded rules, etc. I loved it, but with lame graphics, it got dated pretty quickly, and eventually faded away too.

So imagine my UTTER DELIGHT when Steam announced a new PC version of the game a couple of years ago. I was SO excited and bought it immediately. And look, the game looks smart and whilst the AI is not good still, playing other people online is bloody challenging and makes for a great experience. The problem is the interface. Not only is the dice-rolling maddeningly rigged, the amphibious assault part of the game is near impossible to manage, and so damn frustrating. I tried this game a whole heap of times, but always ended up with the same issues, and in the end had to give it away. It is just not a well-designed game I am afraid, and has been sent to the scrap heap. Like Brunty, that was my rage quit!

Will A&A have a final comeback, worthy of more investment and time from me? Frankly, I think WW2 gaming is slowly dying away, so I doubt it. But I hold out hope, as I have many fond memories of this game from earlier in life, and would love to give it one more go.