Larry Harris - Creator of Axis and Allies - Full Interview

[@sbuhlig]

How cool is that! Not often you get to hear from the game designer!

[@BoardGameNation]

It was a real treat! He was so nice and his stories were amazing! Thanks for watching!

[@BoardGameNation]

Thank you to Larry Harris and to all who enjoyed this interview. It was certainly a thrill for us. We can't wait to talk with him again. What questions do you wish I would have asked? We would love to hear from you!

[@kpdbt3055]

Terrific interview Gary! Thank you, Mr. Harris for your service to our Country. Your contribution to the gaming community is nothing short of spectacular! Best wishes Kevin Devine.

[@BoardGameNation]

Thanks for the feedback and for watching!

[@wartable]

Larry Harris - the modest Hemmingway of Board Games. Two books here, Larry and his father's story. More reminiscing would be great. ACW would be amazing if can get past the flag issue. War Room is amazing...the secret moves, economy, etc...all work well. Looking forward to Imperial Borders.

[@BoardGameNation]

I agree 100%. His stories about his father, growing up Iran, traveling the battlefields... those were my favorite part of our chat. As I said in the interview, I think we could do a two our special just on his time in Paris. Thanks for watching and subscribing!

[@spencerjensen1993]

Loyal BGN fan!

[@BoardGameNation]

Thanks for watching!

[@hendrikjanssen9075]

I am from the Netherlands born in 1982 and played Axis and Allies from the age of 8-9. I still remember choosing the box in the game shop. I am now listening to your question about playing for horrible regimes in Axis and Allies. When I bought the game it had a sticker on the front giving a summary of the game advantages of the game. Only later i discovered there was a big Swastika behind it 😂 Not something that was considered child friendly in the early nineties I guess.

[@BoardGameNation]

Thanks for sharing and for watching!

[@hendrikjanssen9075]

Just listen to the answer. And there is a swastika on the box. It’s quite big and to the left of Rommel’s head. I had two friends to play with (small farming town). There was a Dutch translation of the rule book. We managed quite well. We never grasped the rocket rule thought so we never used it. It wasn’t easy to understand it from the rule book. Later I payed the pc games and versions. The original version has developed a lot. It disadvantages was that the German Russia battle was so important and soldiers would just add up in Karelia. I like the added territories, units (sea), rewards so some forgotten places on the map get more value. Also fun that some things have stayed the same. Some people at the beginning of the big board game (where you out the birds together) said that Japan should wait. I believe that was a main strategy. But if you played the original game a lot you know it’s important to destroy and occupy as much as possible as quick as possible. If you wait the Allies can regroup.

[@ShivaOO7]

This channel is fantastic. Love what you're doing, brother.

[@BoardGameNation]

Thanks and thanks for watching!

[@phillipjustman]

Big thumbs ups for this excellent and honest interview. What a legend!

[@BoardGameNation]

Thanks for watching!

[@DrBadassBRB]

It was really cool to see a quality interview with Larry Harris!

[@BoardGameNation]

It was a lot of fun to do. Thanks for watching!

[@robejaegs]

Larry Harris said that the A.I. from the Axis and Allies CD for PC "Would steamroll you right out of there" I like the interview, currently playing the PC version

[@BoardGameNation]

Thanks for watching! Are you playing the old CD version or the Beamdog online version?

[@jamieblevins9]

Great interview!

[@BoardGameNation]

Thanks! It was a lot of fun. My production team was amazing! ;)

[@corycardwell]

The swastika is right there on the front of the box. Maybe I have an earlier version. /// I wish your interview would have gone more into a discussion of strategy in the game; ie. what were his thoughts on opening moves.

[@BoardGameNation]

I'll tell you a secret. Larry will admit that he is not particularly good at the game. :) Thanks for watching!

[@douglasmckay5161]

Hi Gary that's for having the creator what a great interview.On a another note I have the Frist addition for 1942 and the manual say there are updated rules how would I get ahold of them .

[@BoardGameNation]

Thanks for watching! The most up-to-date rules and corrections can be found at Axisandallies.org. They also have tons of forums and other cool information. Hope this helps! Have fun!

[@johncantone40]

He makes the best games. Truly gifted designer

[@BoardGameNation]

True, and a really nice man. Thanks for watching and subscribing!

[@Meowmeow.age.6]

I am Cow. I wrote the strategy guide called the Japan playbook for Global 1940. I declare war round 1 religiously, because it is more fun and I have plenty of Pacific victories under my belt. I own all the boards made by Larry Harris. For latest 1942 board I also own it on Steam. I am rank 1 with the Allies in season 1 and 2. I am currently rank 1 Allies season 6. I took a 4 season break so I am shaking off some rust. The current board doesn't need a strategy guide so I haven't made one. Allies players should be more open to buying bombers with USA. I would have liked to see USA start with an additional infantry unit to clean up the buys for the first two rounds for those seeking to do Pacific or D-day strategies. It is why I lean towards bombers and 6-8 transports. Bombers bomb Germany and then land Caucasus then usa can use air units to attack small squads of japanese forces moving towards Russia or the small stacks of german units. Yes it is cost inefficient but so are transports. Transports cost 7, have to be protected to there are additional costs. Where as bombers do industrial damage right away. Then if I have say 5 bombers ready to bomb germany and I h ave 4 other bombers and 3 air units... that is enough to kill a small stack of 3 infantry in one go. Since USA goes last / before Russia it can hit 1-2 units so all Russia has to do is move 1 infantry to collect money. I hope you bring back national objectives someday. The 50th anniversary board is my favorite. Played with and without national objectives, Good stuff!

[@BoardGameNation]

Thank you for watching and for sharing your thoughts. I'd love to get in a casual game with you some time. Good luck in Season 6!

[@stumeister6891]

so has anyone ever done an interview ( newspaper/magazine) with the creator of Risk? the French filmmaker guy

[@BoardGameNation]

I'm not sure. That would be a cool interview.

[@robejaegs]

i would ask him why was there were a limited amount of units, especially AA guns?? sorry you cant build AA guns but you can build tanks at the same price

[@BoardGameNation]

I'm not sure I understand. I don't recall the number of units you can build being limited by the number of pieces in the box. You could build AA guns galore if you wanted. Not sure I have ever had that problem, but you can if you'd like. Am I understand your question correctly?

[@thegoodcaptain1217]

@@BoardGameNation Axis and Allies "Classic" (Milton Bradley 2nd Edition) does, in fact, have a strict 'piece count limitation'. This is stated in the rules as well as the FAQ. In my experience, the limitation most affects the remaining AA guns (3) and IC (4) left after the game is completely setup. Piece count limit was dropped in all future edition of the game. This is most certainly what Rob Jaeger was talking about. P.S. I enjoy your work.

[@BoardGameNation]

I did not know that! Thanks for the correction! P.s. Likewise. :)

[@KabukiKid]

They need to make a PC version of the Anniversary Edition. :-) That's my favorite version of the game.

[@BoardGameNation]

I would love to see that! Thanks for watching!

[@phd_angel]

Interesting interview but I was disappointed with Larry Harris' incredibly shallow answers. Garry was way more articulate and thoughtful in his observations. A side note: banning the swastika while having fun with a game about the most tragic war is hypocritical, isn't it... Ban both or ban neither.

[@BoardGameNation]

What would you have liked him to go into more detail about? I really enjoyed his stories. Imperial Borders is getting ready for Kickstarter. So, I imagine we will be talking again soon. Thanks for watching!

[@phd_angel]

@@BoardGameNation HI Gary - It's less about the questions than the answers we can get. But this may help: I noticed that some of your questions were very loaded (you clumped many sub-topics in a single rambling question, and he asked you to be more specific a couple of times). I suggest that you make your questions more specific and simple. Don't be so polite or appreciative. You are promoting his work that we purchase. He owes us good answers! 🙂

[@BoardGameNation]

Thanks for the feedback! I'll keep in mind for next time.

[@nightflyer40]

Great interview!

[@BoardGameNation]

Thank you! He is a really nice guy. We are working on another interview in April to talk more about War Room and Imperial Borders. I'm also hoping for more stories from his life. Thanks for watching!