experiments to find a better way to mount aircraft for wargaming.
Axis and Allies: Guadalcanal and the North Africa miniatures set made their big debut at the Spring Gathering VI convention in Cincinnati last month.
The event is organized by Greg Smorey every year, and was held at the Cincinnati Museum Center on Saturday, April 12. A casual gaming session was hosted at ACME Comics the night before.
Mike Davis, of Mason, Ohio, organized several demonstrations for players interested in learning the basics of the new Guadalcanal boardgame. Kelly Thye, of Cincinnati, gave it a try, and said it was a lot of fun because it's easy to get a lot of units on the board quickly.
"It played really smooth and I think I picked up the basics quickly," Thye said. "I'm ready to play again."
The game focuses on the strategic battle for the Solomon Islands, and includes air, land and sea units - but no tanks. Supply tokens allow players to build airfields and repair damaged equipment. Kelly said transports are more important than in the Revised edition, because both players are trying to shuttle large formations of troops from island to island.
The battle box is also a new innovation, and requires players to shield their more important units with escorts or cannon fodder. Players put their dice in the battle box, and use it to determine what units are destroyed according to a casualty chart. Without an escort, bombers will be destroyed before they can attack their target. Without destroyers, carriers and transports will quickly go down in Iron Bottom Sound.