In addition to being a new real-time strategy game, Axis & Allies is a cult classic board game that pits the Axis powers against the Allied powers at the height of World War II.
The new computer game is not the game of previous, however. You don't collect resources in Axis & Allies; as an alternative, you have a constant income of money, ammo, and oil. You gain an increased rate of income by building ammo and oil depots, while a negative inflow of these two resources penalizes your money income. Temporarily, money accumulates if you have a positive income, and you'll use this money to construct buildings, research technologies, and build military units. Instead of recruiting individual units, you'll recruit companies. Companies include squads of multiple units that act as single units. So if you build three armor companies from an infantry headquarters, those units will be supplied as long as the headquarters survives.
There are four modes of play in Axis & Allies: World War II, campaign, skirmish, and multiplayer over LAN or Internet. World War II mode is the one that's most similar to the board game. You'll use cash on your turn to research technologies and purchase armies, which are used to attack and capture territories under enemy control. Your three army types--infantry, mechanized, and armor--can only move one space (there are no mechanized units in the board game, and armor could move two spaces). As an alternative of rolling dice, you can fight battles in the RTS mode. For example, a mechanized army means you can build infantry and mechanized units in the battle, but you can't build armor units. The strategic AI on the world map isn't very bright either. It will spend too much money on technologies early on rather than spending this money on armies. The inconsistent AI and broken map make this mode a disappointment.
The two campaigns in Axis & Allies follow each side's road to victory. In all three modes in which you battle the computer AI, you'll probably be severely disappointed at how poorly it plays the game. The computer does a good job of directing its forces to attack different locations, but when it comes down to strategy, the computer fails unhappily. For example, you can have a single infantry group attack an enemy base from one direction.
Mass infantry raids dominate the field.
Rushing with infantry is how you can get miracle victories against the chances, and doing so also exposes a fundamental weakness in the game's build order. To construct mechanized and armor buildings, you have to erect an infantry building. While you're saving up money to construct these buildings, the opponent can buy cheap infantry and attack you before you can even have units...unless you choose the same strategy. It will slowly produce a couple of infantry units before saving up to build a mechanized building, thus leaving itself wide open to attack.
Basically, if two opposing forces are in a town's district, then the town is contested. You can then attract the enemy units into the bunker's firing range and decimate the force.
There just isn't much strategy in the single-player portion of Axis & Allies, even without these AI problems. Since companies get resupplied quickly, it's hard to overcome an conflicting computer army if you're evenly matched. As a result, the game boils down to sheer numbers. Attack with more guys than the computer and you win. It doesn't matter if you have infantry or tanks. As mentioned before, the computer can't come up with a counter to mass infantry.
Infantry are cheap and fast to build, and they're very effective. It's disappointing that the game essentially discourages the use of diverse fighting forces.
Humans can plan ambushes, trap fleeing units, and effectively use general powers. Expect multiplayer games to last much longer than single-player skirmishes when facing opponents of equal skill. The Internet in-game browser is adequate, and it lists both available games to join and players who are online.
Axis & Allies isn't the greatest game to look at. While the game's multiplayer portion can be enjoyable, it's hard to recommend Axis & Allies based on that aspect alone, especially since the real-time strategy genre is filled with so many excellent, well-rounded games. Only a few campaign missions are remotely challenging, and even these cases are due to poor AI with Allied forces. Simply put, there are much better World War II games on the market, and Axis & Allies board game fans are encouraged to steer clear.
The new computer game is not the game of previous, however. You don't collect resources in Axis & Allies; as an alternative, you have a constant income of money, ammo, and oil. You gain an increased rate of income by building ammo and oil depots, while a negative inflow of these two resources penalizes your money income. Temporarily, money accumulates if you have a positive income, and you'll use this money to construct buildings, research technologies, and build military units. Instead of recruiting individual units, you'll recruit companies. Companies include squads of multiple units that act as single units. So if you build three armor companies from an infantry headquarters, those units will be supplied as long as the headquarters survives.
There are four modes of play in Axis & Allies: World War II, campaign, skirmish, and multiplayer over LAN or Internet. World War II mode is the one that's most similar to the board game. You'll use cash on your turn to research technologies and purchase armies, which are used to attack and capture territories under enemy control. Your three army types--infantry, mechanized, and armor--can only move one space (there are no mechanized units in the board game, and armor could move two spaces). As an alternative of rolling dice, you can fight battles in the RTS mode. For example, a mechanized army means you can build infantry and mechanized units in the battle, but you can't build armor units. The strategic AI on the world map isn't very bright either. It will spend too much money on technologies early on rather than spending this money on armies. The inconsistent AI and broken map make this mode a disappointment.
The two campaigns in Axis & Allies follow each side's road to victory. In all three modes in which you battle the computer AI, you'll probably be severely disappointed at how poorly it plays the game. The computer does a good job of directing its forces to attack different locations, but when it comes down to strategy, the computer fails unhappily. For example, you can have a single infantry group attack an enemy base from one direction.
Mass infantry raids dominate the field.
Rushing with infantry is how you can get miracle victories against the chances, and doing so also exposes a fundamental weakness in the game's build order. To construct mechanized and armor buildings, you have to erect an infantry building. While you're saving up money to construct these buildings, the opponent can buy cheap infantry and attack you before you can even have units...unless you choose the same strategy. It will slowly produce a couple of infantry units before saving up to build a mechanized building, thus leaving itself wide open to attack.
Basically, if two opposing forces are in a town's district, then the town is contested. You can then attract the enemy units into the bunker's firing range and decimate the force.
There just isn't much strategy in the single-player portion of Axis & Allies, even without these AI problems. Since companies get resupplied quickly, it's hard to overcome an conflicting computer army if you're evenly matched. As a result, the game boils down to sheer numbers. Attack with more guys than the computer and you win. It doesn't matter if you have infantry or tanks. As mentioned before, the computer can't come up with a counter to mass infantry.
Infantry are cheap and fast to build, and they're very effective. It's disappointing that the game essentially discourages the use of diverse fighting forces.
Humans can plan ambushes, trap fleeing units, and effectively use general powers. Expect multiplayer games to last much longer than single-player skirmishes when facing opponents of equal skill. The Internet in-game browser is adequate, and it lists both available games to join and players who are online.
Axis & Allies isn't the greatest game to look at. While the game's multiplayer portion can be enjoyable, it's hard to recommend Axis & Allies based on that aspect alone, especially since the real-time strategy genre is filled with so many excellent, well-rounded games. Only a few campaign missions are remotely challenging, and even these cases are due to poor AI with Allied forces. Simply put, there are much better World War II games on the market, and Axis & Allies board game fans are encouraged to steer clear.
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