Axis and Allies North Africa Game Play!

[@Matt_Hyra]

Thanks for the video! To answer your questions: 8:00 - Setup rules on page 9 say: "The UK player may place any combination of combat units (not trucks)." Mines and supply are not combat units. 9:00 - Requisition rules, page 13 allows mines, German subs, and Free French to deploy DURING the Requisition phase. 9:48 - The UK variable setup points allow any combat unit to deploy in any of the 3 convoy zones. The ship silhouettes are only relevant when deploying reinforcements. See page 25. Not during setup. 14:16 - USA is only limited to the Casablanca convoy on Round 7 (in the Operation Torch scenario only). See last bullet at top of page 29. PS: Your USA convoy in R7 needs trucks with all of those slow units in the convoy! 15:21 - Did you detonate both mines on the Tobruk border? If so, remove them from the board. 18:00 - Seeing 3 USA Destroyers in play. One is from the Spare Units bag and should not be used in the scenarios provided. See page 5 for the unit counts. 23:30 - Time to starting putting Axis sea mines in the Malta convoy and Tripoli convoy to scare off the UK navy! Then convoy to Tripoli. 24:02 - Reminder that Coast Road Movement is Noncombat. And your UK Shermans have move 2 even without the road. Just to clarify for the watchers. 27:20 - More Axis sea mines! And buy air as well and use them sparingly until you have 3+, then you can convoy land units and escort them. The fighters will die in a round or 2, but that allows 2-4 units on virtual transports to escape. Brits should only have 2 Battleships max (for this reason). 31:24 - 8 Shermans = 48 RPs. USA max is 40 without Kasserine. No saving money. 34:49 - If both of the USA trucks are in play, the Italian truck is not captured, but simply returned to the Italian unit pool. 38:00 - Assuming you spent 1 supply on Malta for 15 RPs, there should only be 2 in the stack now. It only ever has 3 but for a moment when spent. 40:05 - You can attack with any number of units, as you can attack from multiple territories. If you win, you move in units up to the stacking limit. In the case of Tunis, the game is over if the Allies capture it. For an Allied Total Victory, that was pretty close! The Allies were one misstep away from stalling out and giving the Axis a Major Victory (controlling Tripoli and Mareth). Thanks again! Matt Hyra

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Thanks again for the notes, Matt! That spare units bag has caused a bit of trouble, so I will have to go back and put the units away. Not sure how I screwed up the Sherman costs...too much old school A&A making them 5 points each! Just FYI: I bought a TON of sea mines and land mines for the Axis...they were just ineffective for pretty much the entire game. I didn't track it, but I think I remember only 7 or 8 hits the entire game. That's out of probably 15-20 sea mine dice, and over 60 land mine dice. I think I included one dice roll of 9 dice...zero hits. Just bad luck. Yes, it was a pretty close game at the end...I have to remember that Supplies run out quickly in multi-round battles with more than 5 units! I appreciate the help!

[@CBs_Bill_from_Montana]

Hi Matt! Maybe you could play a solo game of this in You Tube? It might help people understand better how to play?

[@VictorB-p2q]

Some clarifications: 4:30 please note that only some infantry (Vichy/Free French) are “self sufficient” and defend without using supply. Check the reference chart. Rules pg 30 8:30 The 12 UK RP must be spent on Combat Units, not trucks, supply or mines. Rules pg 9 9:30 German submarines are placed and move in Phase 2, same as Free French infantry and armor. Rules pg 13 I’ve paused at minute 16 and will add more, but just the last note substantially changes the game balance. It’s in the rules intentionally :)

[@VictorB-p2q]

Last note, minute 23:30 - you’ve skipped the note on page 5, the spare unit bag is exactly that - spares. This game is unique in that you have restrictions on how many units you can buy, the exact unit count is on page 5. UK has only 2 battleships they can use on the board, you have 3…

[@VictorB-p2q]

31:40 I.e. 3 German subs can be built immediately and attack the Casablanca convoy, those Shermans would turn into a new artificial reef. Great videos, excellent quality, looking forward to the next one! With the clarifications above, I think you’ll find it a much more balanced game.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

@@VictorB-p2q Thanks for the note...that 'spare bag' was very confusing out of the gate. Never seen that before. I appreciate your help with this! I did note the German sub deployment AFTER I uploaded the video. I wish I had seen it previously. I'm not convinced it will make much of a difference, though. If the UK puts another mine, and a couple of destroyers, it doesn't make much sense for the Germans to spend money on subs. I think they can be locked out of the Med pretty easily. I will have to play it properly to know for sure, though... The "self-sufficient" attribute seems tacked on. It is listed in the unit descriptions for infantry, but then only given to the French? What's the point in putting it in the rule book? Just write "French Units do not require Supply tokens to attack or defend." Done. The rule book is not well-written. Too many "exceptions" and "notes". Instead of saying, "The US cannot requisition air units" under the Round 7 rules, just write, "The US may requisition air units beginning on Round 8". And there are a number of those. I know I'm no expert, but I found the rules to be difficult to muddle through. The German sub thing should be on the Phase chart under Phase 2. Just add "Deploy German subs, mines, and French units now." Why bury it in the rules in one spot? I want to like the game, and maybe once I get all the nuances figured out, it will become a favourite. The jury is still out, as it looks pretty easy for the Allies to overwhelm the Axis, especially if the mines don't slow down the Allies. And, if that is the case, (depending on mines to even the game), then I suspect we will see a LOT of house rules and setup changes.

[@GreyBearLine]

Great stuff - thanks for putting these videos up, It is a big help to those of us who are also trying to nail down the rules and game mechanics. And thanks to Matt for providing a very helpful reply- much appreciated. Would you, or someone else mind confirming that in land combat, the attacker must use a supply token/tokens, for each round of combat within one battle? And if so, they have the option to retreat some units between rounds in a battle in order to manage their supply? And finally, does the defender just spend one token to defend, and that is it for the entire battle regardless of the amount of rounds, or must they spend one supply per round of defending? Thanks to anyone in advance.

[@christopherwilson2606]

I'm pretty sure the defender only spends one supply to defend the entire battle. You're right on the other stuff.

[@GreyBearLine]

@@christopherwilson2606 much appreciated.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Yes, that answer is spot-on!

[@TheLoyalcitizen]

@@christopherwilson2606 The defenders must spend 1 supply per round. The attackers spend 1 for every 5 attackers (or fraction thereof) each round of combat.

[@christopherwilson2606]

@@TheLoyalcitizen thanks for the clarification

[@marksmith768]

This is an awesome game. My son and I played each scenario once. Allies won both, but barely.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Yes, it seems to be a very balanced game!

[@ednguyen3822]

I played a round of AA once where my figthers attacked a small group of transports. Seemed like a duck shoot, right? The fighters all missed, and the transports rolled… all ONEs! Wiped out the planes. I was shocked.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Ugh...that's tough! I don't like those game-changing rolls, but that's part of the experience.

[@TheAdmirableAdmiral]

I do have a question about "advancing" your convoy to land and then moving it. Can you move them after they have advanced? It seems a little cheaty to land land units then immediately attack, but I have been playing that landed units can non-combat at the end of the turn, but cannot combat move. Also I think you are playing the German sub rules right, or at least better than me. For some reason I forgot sea units couldn't stack chips (I remembered aircraft couldn't). And germany had two doomstacks of 5 subs each destroying the US convoys. It held up the entirety of the American advance until america started building destroyer doomstacks of their own.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Welcome to the game! Yes, the convoy boxes are advanced, and those units can immediately join the war effort. Yeah, I figured out the sub rule and finally got it right. Thanks for watching!

[@christopherwilson2606]

Glad I read through the comments because I was going to ask the same question. Rules are clear on aircraft but I couldn't find anything in the rules addressing land units after convoy advancement.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

@@christopherwilson2606 As I understand it, as soon as convoys are advanced, any units on land may move or do combat, or both.

[@TheLoyalcitizen]

@@christopherwilson2606 Check out the updated rulebook online on Renegade's store page. It makes it more clear that land and air units do not use any of their move to land at the start of the turn. So they can spend their full move and even attack. They did spend 1 round at sea, so it's not like they are really attacking the moment they appear on the board.

[@dimetronome]

Is there no El Alamein on the map? It's really odd if that's the case.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Yeah, that was the one place I thought would be on there, but the ones that are there had some key moments!

[@bb_commander5921]

The game rings to me similar notes of Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge with the importance of trucks and supply markers. It certainly isn't Larry Harris quality and clarity yet. However, I do think it's a good first foray into the franchise for Renegade Games and their dev team. Me personally, I wish there was more use of the Italian and Greek areas of the map; allow for an extended scenario going from the invasion of Greece and Crete, all the way to Operation Husky. I might house rule such an expansion as well as expanding naval play and units on the board but overall, I'd say this a decent entry into the A&A family.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

These games always spawn house rules, and that's a good thing. I don't know this game well enough to say if it is balanced or not. The last game came down to the final Supply Token for the Germans, so it was close!

[@georgebrunacky9321]

Regarding German subs (page 13). Just like mines German subs are deployed during phase 2 Requisition Reinforcements. That’s why they can be used immediately in the next phase the combat move.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Thanks for the note! I found that right after I posted the video...bad timing!

[@kodakgold2009]

Fun game :)

[@rokassan]

My son and I played our first game. It went just like it did historically. My rolling was atrocious on land, but in the air and sea Italy did well. Allies got a major victory in the end. We are gonna add Churchills and Semovente 75/18 to the game. Give the Italians something with a decent punch. The Semovente was respected by the Allies and preformed well. The game seems tilted in the Allies favor. I guess it should be, at least in torch. We’ll play test the new units to make sure they don’t unbalance the game. I picked up the Semovente and Chrchill’s from GHQ. Gotta figure out the correct brown and beige for the two countries so they match. Don’t know why Italy doesn’t have battleships, they had 6 or 7 of them. Also on a few rules. I don’t think aircraft and trucks count against stacking limits. At least that how we interpreted it. Also I think purchased aircraft get deployed to Italy Sicily, Sardinia or Crete. Germany into Italy or Crete, Italy into Italy, Sardinia and Sicily. They don’t go into convoys.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Glad you are thinking ahead on the units! Yes, the dice seem to play a very critical role in this game, as there aren't as many rolls as typical games. Each roll has more impact, so cold dice can really set the stage for a bad day. You are right about stacking limits, but aircraft do count when they are just sitting there. When they fly into a combat, they do not. Trucks, mines, and supply tokens don't count at any time. Have fun with the upgrade units!

[@superilikeeggsyo]

A bit late to the part but chiming in again as a member of the [REDACTED]. No wall of text this time from me but I will say that the rate you improved after just one game in the driver's seat is pretty impressive. I will again note for Axis that it's extremely important to launch air raids against Malta. Letting UK pump out 15 extra IPC/turn is a recipe for Axis defeat because of the sheer number of cascading problems it causes: 1.) UK can make gains against Italy more quickly, further improving their economy once they push into Benghazi. 2.) This leads to UK being able to easily afford additional supply for Malta, along with air and naval cover coming out of Gibraltar, which will both lock down the convoy going into Malta *and* start disrupting the Axis convoys bound for Tunis. 3.) This in turn forces Axis to spend more resources on defending their convoy (and thus less on actual land units to take/defend territories), which speeds up their collapse across the board. Miscellaneous note: French units are extremely potent because they can move/attack on the same turn they're built instead of lingering in the convoy for a turn. Their stats aren't great but their best use is as meatshields for your better units and to apply pressure across a wider front.

[@PMMagro]

This is not a solo game really. Might be a bot fan-made for the Axis but.. it is way easier to handle one side espcially with strategy and change of planning? I don't know this game unlike other Axis & Allies ones but it seems to be a bit of a siege theme, As the Axis you just want to stall and hold out as long as possible (counterattacking sometimes).

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Yep, siege theme is correct. Stall tactics and have enough supply to fight a lot is the key for the Axis. Last game was close!

[@mastrangelosart]

How did you mamage to get one of these? Is still not out yet right?

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

I pre-ordered in February...long wait!

[@stevengarland697]

I'm kind of slow. I learn better by going through rules as if an actual game. But thanks for what is in there.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

It is important to realize that this game bears little resemblance to any Axis and Allies game out there. Doing that will help focus on the neat things in this one!

[@QuintoRegimiento]

Do you think this is balanced?

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

On the face of it, I think it is. I still have to get through a game without screwing up the rules, but that should happen shortly. While the Allies tend to have many, many more units by the end, they can still lose the game if the Axis hold key territories. I like that mechanic, as the "trade space for time" game plan is a fun, albeit difficult one to figure out. If by "balanced" you mean "each side has an equal chance of winning", I cannot confirm or deny. There are too many variables in all of these games to be able to say if a game is balanced. A lot of people say OOB G40 is unbalanced, but I have seen it go both ways, even with equal player strengths. Sometimes the dice decide, which is unfortunate, but that is war.

[@georgebrunacky9321]

Regarding truck rules (bottom of the page 19). Allies do not put their marker under the truck like Axis do. You replace axis truck with allied truck. If you do not have a truck left in your pool then the axis truck is destroyed. In US case this is a problem because they have only 2 trucks in the pool and UK has 6. You have to be careful with trucks and how you use them. Also I noticed you had 3 US trucks on the board. That is one US truck too many.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Yeah, I even knew that from the first game, but I was in a rush and screwed it up - among other things! Thanks for the note!

[@rokassan]

@@georgebrunacky9321 in reference to the trucks and piece limit, can’t you just put chips under the units? If so I don’t see how adding the extra pieces unbalances anything.

[@VictorB-p2q]

The piece limits exist for a reason. This game introduces some new concepts to A&A, such as asymmetrical national rosters and unit abilities. The values of units have been adjusted to better incentivize a balanced approach, and the unit limits established to represent that, like in all aspects of life, there is compromise. Axis & Allies doesn’t model constraints very well, as most games allow you to purchase unlimited amounts of “x” units, as long as you have enough IPC/RP. That doesn’t factor into the complex issues of supply and logistics, manufacturing capability, priority of that relevant to other fronts, etc. More importantly, from a game balance issue, the unit limit prevents lopsided rosters that in gameplay would change the entire experience. The US has a truck shortage, for example, which is what was historical. They face issues getting enough supply to the front, and that makes for a challenge that enables for the German defender to counteract their moves. Without a unit limit, and with the large US RP value, just buy 4 chipped trucks round 7 and there are zero issues the rest of the game… and that’s just one example.

[@VictorB-p2q]

See above for the reason for unit limits, regarding chips “Air, Sea and Truck units and tokens are strictly limited to the figures and tokens supplied. They may not be represented on the board by plastic chips.”

[@rokassan]

Was not aware of the chip restrictions.

[@richardpomeroy9290]

I'll still buy it but wish they made it more balanced.

[@TheHilltopPillbox]

Well, it was pretty close at the end...it's like D-Day that way. LOTS of Allied stuff, almost no German stuff, but the Axis can still win.

[@varovaro1967]

This doesn’t sound and feel Larry Harris….

[@VictorB-p2q]

He was the game designer, along with Matt Hyra!

[@pietrosmusi6001]

I dont know how to feel about this game, im surprised they realesed this game in this way, this might be the most unbalanced axis and allies i have ever seen , Like italy is almost useless ,even in the late rounds, germany also cant keep up with uk,usa ,and that few france infantry ,this game is doomed from the start sadly😢

[@varovaro1967]

Even more than 1914?

[@pietrosmusi6001]

@@varovaro1967 i forgot about that one lol

[@VictorB-p2q]

Piotr, keep an open mind. Remember that so far you have only see a couple player experiences, there are a lot of mistakes being made and there is a lot to discover ;)

[@thegwnhq6247]

You have to understand that they designed the axis to lose. They win the game by not losing as badly as they did in reality.

[@Matt_Hyra]

I would hope that you can wait to watch a playthrough with all of the rules being followed by experienced players before calling the game unbalanced. The dozen+ playtesters played well over 100 games to get the balance right.