"Tell me about Axis & Allies models" Topic

To me A&A is an old board game with plastic minis of various scales. But evidently it has morphed over the years into a line of scale miniatures. I've seen the web site, but it doesn't tell me the basics, especially WHAT SCALE ARE THEY? Also, how much do they cost? How good are they? Do they come assembled? painted? if so, how well? etc. etc. etc.

I got totally hooked on Axis and Allies Naval minis. I have been wargaming since the early 80's and have painted thousands of minis. I wanted to get into the naval scene, but not have to assemble and paint the models. I just did not want to take on another major project.

Buy a booster for 110.00 and get 60 painted ships. Very nicely modeled and the paint jobs ain't bad. Sorry I am not sure of the scale, but it comes with its own rules. Great bear and pretzle game.

I seem to remember a thread where this was discussed. The Seach function isn't working for me at this time. But IIRC the scale varies . Robert

The 2nd edition of the miniatures game reset the vehicles to a fairly consistent 15mm. The 1st edition sort of "averaged" at 15mm, but varied quite a bit. WotC actually listened to the feedback and standardized the vehicles.

The infantry are a smidge larger, though.

Not sure if there is a consistent scale for the naval game.

Buck,

Bear and pretzel game? That must be a heck of ride until you fall off.

In our group we usually have beer and soda with our pretzels – but each to their own

As has been stated, the newer edition models are 15mm scale. They come pre-painted asnd their cost varies depending on the Rareness and collectiblity of the models. Your best bet to get an idea of costs is to search ebay for "Axis & Allies" along with the name of various tank models you are interested in, such as "Axis & Aliies Tiger", or "Axis & Allies Sherman"

Dude!!!!

You didn't specify which of the 'minis" games you were interested in.

The Naval game has been 1:1800 since the beginning for all ships. The planes are 1:900 but they look good when used with the ships. I suspect a 1:1800 plane would just be s small sliver of plastic!

The board game, as has been stated, started off with the tagline "15mm miniatures". Buried in the rules, they mention this is 1:120. Which, if you know anything about 15mm minis, is NOT what a 15mm minis is.

As stated above, the vehicles were "close" to 15mm, some smaller, some larger. This went on for a number of release "waves".

Pseudo 15mm scale minis:
Base Set -Sep 2005
Contested Skies -Mar 2006
D-Day -June 2006
Reserves -Nov 2006

Possibly* 15mm scale minis:
1939-1945 -Oct 2007
North Africa -Mar 2008
Eastern Front -Dec 2008

* I say possibly because I have not purchased any of the minis from the newer sets, so I can't measure any of them to known dimensions to get a feel for how much closer they may be to 15mm scale. I do believe they are much better.

Here's a comparison piccy showing the Sherman that came with the initial Base Set, and the updated Sherman that was released as part of the 1939-1945 set:
picture

The infantry figures are a bit larger than 15mm, but they look good next to most of the vehicles.

It's a buckets of dice game, and rather fun.

Really, the only thing that makes it a little tough to use these minis for other WWII rules is that the infantry are mounted one to a base. So if you are fine with a single figure being a squad or platoon or whatever, then great. Otherwise, you will be needing to buy lots of the little blighters, and cut them off their current small round bases, and remount them on a larger base to represent 1:1 figure ratios for such actions.

Hope that helped.
Steve

Sorry, forgot to answer a few more of your questions Don.

So scale, close to 15mm for the initial waves, supposedly 15mm for later weaves. Covered that.

How Good Are The? Not bad IMHO.
Pre-assembled? Yes.
Pre-painted? Yes.

Average Cost? Varies (you knew that). As a collectible game, rarity will drive the price, and as you might expect, many of the vehicles are rare.

Expect to pay:

Less than $1 USD for just about any infantry stand (with values ranging from around .25 – .75 cents each).

Between $1 USD and $5 USD for uncommon vehicles (which will be jeeps, halftracks, armored cars, and some lesser tanks from the likes of the Italians and Japanese for example)**.

Between $5 USD and $10 USD for a rare vehicle (which will be just about ever tank you can think of, with few exceptions).

** Note that a few, like the basic Sherman for $4, the Pz IV for $5, and the T34/76 for $5.50 USD are all uncommon vehicles as opposed to rare. So a few "core" vehicles can be had cheaper than the more normal rare vehicles.

A good place to check out singles would be ebay. Another would be here: link

I've purchased a bunch of stuff from Miniature Market, and they are good folks to deal with. Great prices, fast shipping.

Did I cover everything? If not, fire away!

The models I've the misfortune to see have been horrible, horrible little pieces of ordure. For god's sake spend your money elsewhere.

As you can see by the picture Steve has provided (and Mark's graphic comment :) ), the quality and detail is rather simple. By themselves usable but they do suffer once you add in any quality 15mms. I know quite a few folks who go the other way having bought and substituted 15mm models for the A&A ones as well as 12mm, especially the pre-painted items like Dragon CanDo range.

T34s in North Africa? link

And they look like e.

The 2nd ed base set T-34's I saw looked great. The magic-wash they had even looked really good. On the whole, most all of the 2E A&A (land) minis have been at least pretty good, much better than first old edition minis.

I have poked around on the Wizards Avalon Hill boards, and the consensus seems to be that most all the 2E vehicles are as scale-accurate as anyone else's offerings; someone had posted the comparisson math of model vs. actual vehicle dimensions. I had lots of 1E AAM's before I sold ages back, I can't recall any but an aromored car that were anywhere near 1:100.

I recommend the naval minis game; it's B&P fun, the minis aren't bad (the latest expansion seems better than earier offerings, OMO), and the whole random packaging deal makes more sense for navies, which did not have the TO&E that land forces had, so long as you don't pull an aircraft carrier and no planes, it really isn't that big a deal. I like the land game, but didn't find the blind-packing at all prctical, so traded my (2E) minis to a fellow here on TMP.

OK, now I'm more informed and more confused.

The Axis & Allies game I know (and still have) was a big box game from Milton Bradley, probably published in the 1980s(?). The infantry figures were 20mm, the (generic) tanks were c. 1/300, the (generic) ships and planes even smaller scale, etc. All plastic. Is there a connection between that game and the current(?) miniatures?

What does Avalon Hill (the defunct boardgame company) have to do with it?

To clarify: I'm not interested in a game (as such), nor in naval miniatures or airplanes. I'm interested in the WW2 armor miniatures (and infantry to a lesser extent) for use with my own rules. I do not currently have 15mm figures in that era. I don't play FoW. I would like to find an inexpensive line of WW2 (land) stuff smaller than 20mm/1:76 and larger than 6mm/1:285 -- emphasis on "inexpensive" (and without a lot of assembly work, as with 1:76 or 1:72 kits). But I want consistency of scale (i.e. not PzIIs that are as big as Tiger IIs) and not obviously mis-proportioned. Pre-assembled or just a few pieces to assemble. I can paint them myself (tho pre-painted infantry would be nice).

What's with this "rare" and "uncommon" stuff? Are they not being made any more and only available used?

What's this about random packaging?

Re infantry: Are they prepainted? individual basing is OK -- in fact, preferred.

Is there a good selection of all or most of the fairly common types of AFVs for (at least) Germany, Russia, USA, and the UK?

Thanks for your help!

What's with this "rare" and "uncommon" stuff?

What's this about random packaging?

Same question. Same answer. The "version" of A&A being talked about is a CMG.

There are three different "lines" using the name "Axis & Allies". The first is the original boardgame and its off-shoots, generally named for theaters of the war.

The second and third are CMGs, both are current, and both have multiple sets. One is the land warfare game, in 15mm. The other is the naval game in 1:1800. The land game has had two editions, as described by SeattleGamer. The first wandered around in scale, while the second is, for the vehicles, pretty firm at 15mm/1:100.

A secondary market exists on eBay and (probably) elsewhere, so you can avoid most of the 'collectable' pitfalls. Rarity within the CMG will still have an effect on price, however.

If Don, one of the founders of the hobby in the US, is asking "what's this about random packaging?" it seems safe to assume that he is not familiar with the concept and that "it's a CMG" will not help him.

Don, the A&A boxed game is still in print, and has gone through a number of editions. It has numerous spin-offs, some of which use the same basic system (A&A Europe, A&A Pacific) and some that cover specific campaigns.

The connection between the games and the miniatures is that Hasbro finds it a useful franchise and markets them under the same name, but they are not otherwise connected.

The land and naval miniatures are separate lines. Each is marketed in boxes that contain a random selection of five figures, so you don't know what you are buying until you open it. In the naval version, which I find appealing, you get 3 "common" models, one "uncommon" and one "rare." After buying a few packs, you will have many destroyers and only a few battleships or carriers, in a ratio not unlike a real navy.

For some people, collecting randomly is half the fun. If you just want 5 T-34s (which are rare), it would be an expensive way to get them. There are dealers (on eBay and elsewhere) who sell single models so you can get just want you want. "Common" models are of course cheaper than uncommons or rares. Common ships are available for less than a dollar, rares go for up to $10, occasionally more. I would guess that the same price range applies to A&A land miniatures.

I hope this is helpful

To clarify the terminology used in GypsyComet's answer above, "CMG" stands for Collectible Miniatures Game.

It's essentially like a CCG (Collectible Card Game) such as "Magic: The Gathering", "Pokemon Card Game" or "Yu-gi-oh", but instead of collecting cards you collect miniatures.

So when one refers to "A&A Miniatures" these days, everyone assumes that he/she is talking about the CMG version.

As with all such collectible games, the "booster packs" come with a random selection of miniatures, with some rarer than others.

I'm not sure how A&A booster packs are packaged, but to take "Magic: The Gathering" as an example, the ratio of common:uncommon:rare content is 6:3:1.
So if you buy a booster pack of 10 cards, 6 of them are from the "common" group of cards, 3 of them from the "uncommon" group, and only 1 of them is from the "rare" group.

Considering that all the cards in a given range is divided into the 3 groups in a roughly 1:1:1 ratio, it implies that you need to buy an enormous amount of booster packs before you can have a complete set of "rare" cards.

In case of A&A Miniatures, each booster pack contains 5 miniatures, out of which 3 are from the "common" group, 1 from the "uncommon" group, and 1 from the "rare" group.

(Some websites state that the distribution ratio is 2:2:1 instead of 3:1:1, so I'm not sure which is correct)

Don, if you want inexpensive preassembled (and minimally prepainted) 15mm miniatures and aren't too concerned about detail etc you might want to try Gaming Models (email gamodls@neo.rr.com) for all-resin tanks and other vehicles for US$4 each. Only slightly more expensive are Command Decision metal tanks/guns/infantry from Warweb but you have to assemble (usually only sticking the tracks and gun barrel on) and paint them yourself.

Stephens-
Not a lot of gamers up in this neck of the woods, so we trained a nice brown bear(the game is that easy) to fill in. Feed him pretzles and he stays when he starts to lose. He's like a lot of gamers I know- big bellied, shaggy, and a little on the smelly side- and grouchy.

Stephens-
Not a lot of gamers up in this neck of the woods, so we trained a nice brown bear(the game is that easy) to fill in. Feed him pretzles and he stays when he starts to lose. He's like a lot of gamers I know- big bellied, shaggy, and a little on the smelly side- and grouchy.

Ah, OK, I'm beginning to catch on. Since I'm a gamer, not a collector, I think I'll pass on the A&A. Leadgend, thanks for the tips, I'll look into those.

Are Gaming Models and Command Decision compatible in scale?

As has been said. The 3 latest sets are all as close the 15mm, here are the galleries of those 3 sets

link

link

link

Most vehicle hulls are hard plastic, usually single peice castings, turrets and others items more a rubber like plastic (with associated barrel droop issues).

Game play is I go you Go, movement based on hexs and movement points with modifiers for terrain, there is a move phase and a move or shoot phase.

Combat, bucket of dice, range and target type (soldier/artillery count as soldier, vehicles/tanks count as armour) dictates how many dice, Hits are anything over x on the dice, need to match or exceed a target number of "hits" to effect the target. Exceed targe to damage, double to destroy outright.

Like collectible games, most units have a card that has a few special features. Many of these add period/force flavor EG Tally Ho on a UK officer, an extra move for adjacent friendly units, or flammable for tanks known to be delicate (most Italian tanks, even though they were diesels!,or the early war Sherman, the infamous Tommy cooker) meaning if the tank gets damaged, it has a 50-50 chance of going bang!

It is a fun little game, many unit combination to toy with that boost each other, you can play mixed bag or single nation (most I know play single nation)

OK if your going to use them for more than one thing, more than OK if you get a load cheap that are useful, but hunting for specific stuff, not so OK, unless you want a load of Panhard Armored cars!

Basic French and Italian vehicles seem unpopular with most players so probably the cheapest on the trade market, many players have the the usual WW2 big cat/Koool kit syndrome and stick to German, UK, Russian and US. All will hoard trucks/jeeps etc because they can move troops and more importantly guns around.

Are Gaming Models and Command Decision compatible in scale?

As much as any two companies 15mm models are.
See wargames.nordalia.com for comparisons of various companies models and some info on gaming models.

If you are prepared to spend substantially more or are looking for uncommon vehicle types then Quality Castings, Peter Pig, QRF and Battlefront all do extensive ranges and there are lots more smaller companies doing niche items.

I have 21 A&A T70s from the 2nd edition stuff, and they cost me about £30.00 GBP total. After repainting and basing at any reasonable distance theyre indistinguishable from other 15mm, and in fact at the last tournament I played my opponent said he thought they were better than Battlefront. They're also pretty much bulletproof as short of dropping them and standing on them, or setting fire to them they survive intact.

Having said that the quality does vary a lot. The new
Marder III is very nice. Dont bother with the rares as they work out more expensive than the "real" wargaming models.

One advantage is that if you do want to see one, theyre cheap and easy to get as a sample before you buy in bulk.

I have some Brummbars too – again with a repaint they look like 15mm Brummbars

Ken

"Are Gaming Models and Command Decision compatible in scale?"

While I am a fan of some of the Gaming Models ranges I can't say I like their Germans :( While the Germans are consitent with each other they are not the same scale as for example the Russians. I use a mix of Gaming Models and Command Decision for my FoW Russian armies and there are no scale issues worth talking about.

That said I tend to buy one each of a few things I want to check out before diving in with a big order. At the moment I own well over 100 of their tanks and intend to buy more.