Having played Axis & Allies Miniatures, I liked the potential it had, especially with all the 10mm/1:144 and 15mm armor available out there. But I didn't like the outcome and some of the mechanics, it just didn't give the right WW2-feel. So I've tried to solve that with ANAM-2:
Depositfiles: dfiles.eu/files/mdyzyeq1a (click the free slow download option)
and BGG: link
It's playable straight from the QRS, if you've ever played A&A-M before, or any other WW2 company-level board or miniature game. It's now more of a real wargame than the original or games like Memoir, but much easier than FoW and the like.
I've added the option to use a grid of squares, to facilitate making your own maps, or using miniatures and model terrain. (A small engagement is 2-3 platoons or 100 pts on a 10x7 grid, 2-3x that on 15x10. You can find armies and stats here: link
For those less familiar with A&A-M: a hex is 100m, each force around 2-4 platoons of infantry/armor for a 100pt game. Personally I use bases with 2-3 men to represent infantry teams, instead of the game's 1-man unit bases.
For veteran A&A-M players, these are the major changes compared to the official editions:
a- Play shifts between players, each 'activates' units one a time, until a unit receives a hit or fails to score a hit with an attack, then play passes to the other, etc. This also means all effects are IMMEDIATE, so if a unit has a marker, it is what that marker represents. Disruption and Smoke are added until there are 2 such markers in that hex: the number of markers doesn't change the effect, merely the duration.
b- The game is far too bloody, so outcomes are now: disrupted if equal/higher Def, damaged (now called Broken) if equal/higher 2x Def, and Destroyed if equal/higher 3x Def.
c- Defensive Fire was too weak in the first edition and too strong in the expanded. It now has appropriate minuses for being a reaction to something.
d- Historically when a Vehicle got damaged, most of the times it meant it couldn't move anymore, but still shoot. In any other situation the crew would leave it immediately. So Damaged is now Broken, can't move anymore.
e- Infantry dies too easily, they should first be 'damaged' like vehicles (most represent squads of 2-3 teams): S can now be Broken.
f- Historically infantry and guns had a facing just like vehicles (how they took cover etc), so added that: all S get R -1 and Ar without gunshield also F -1 (making Enfiladed and Gun Shield rules superfluous).
g- Also, the whole point of armoring a vehicle is to allow it to move while under fire. So Disruption doesn't stop vehicles anymore, it only slows them down (yes, including unarmored vehicles, but chances are they'll be destroyed instead of disrupted anyway).
h- Stacking is too limited: one hex is 100m across after all, normal tank formations would have 2 tanks along such a front. So no more limits, except for Aircraft, and penalizing overcrowding Vehicles (more than 2 per hex).
i- If there are enemy units of the same type in the same hex, those cannot be ignored anymore during an attack.
j- Added rules for Overwatch and Tank Shock, changed some Move rules (wheeled and tracked vehicles in Clear, and proper Road bonus: count each hexes as 1/2, but no Cover).
k- Added new Advanced rules: Buttoned Down, Fog of War, Hull Down, Spotting, Smoke, Planned fire missions, Time-on Target.
l- Scrapped some now superfluous Abilities, renamed some (to fit my own unit sheets, but old names are mentioned in this QRS), added a few Abilities (Extra Armor, Incoming!, Reverse, Short Barrelled), and corrected the effectiveness of Mortars.
m- Gave Commanders the extra ability to activate any adjacent friendly units of their type along with themselves (that's what they did: coordinate stuff).
I'm using the following markers: Disrupted (a '1' and a '2'), Smoke (also a '1'and a '2'), Broken, Activated, Buttoned Down, Hull Down, Overwatch (with direction), Planned fire mission and on its reverse Time-on-Target fire mission (both just numbers, corresponding to a written list).
The 1-and-2 markers can either be counters that can be flipped from 1 to 2, or 3D things (bullet sprays, cotton 'smoke'), in which case when adding, you add until there're 2, and when removing you remove 1. If using 3D, I suggest using black cotton/a casualty for "Broken", a crew figure in an open hatch for Buttoned Down, and some wrapped around terrain for Hull Down.
If using the Fog of War rule you'll also need FoW screens, one type for S and one for V.
I've tested the game as a board game (easier to bring along to friends), and that works great, especially for stacking and using the Fog of War rules.
Enjoy. Comments welcome!
bases more of his German artillery tractors.
