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48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strategically Interesting, October 12, 2001
Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars
I've just completed playing one game with my 45 yr. old brother as the allies, and I have to say that I enjoyed the game. I used to play regular A&A quite often with him, so I think the test of wills was a fair comparison.We learned early on, that it is critical to use CAP to slow enemies movements or to channel them into specific sea zones. If you play Japan, prepare to execute flawless turns, because the game is fairly unforgiving to mistakes on their part. Conserve your carriers! They are irreplacable. At 75 IPCs, the industrial might of the US is truly impressive. Even after getting my clock cleaned on turns one and two (at the expense of the entire Japanese Eastern Pacific Fleet), I was still able to build 2 carriers, 2 destroyers, 2 transports, a sub and a marine! Japan can expect only to delay the US, not defeat them. A better strategy is to press the Aussies and Indians. The game is better than vanilla A&A and the tactical possibilities are truly interesting because players tend to do a lot of unexpected things on every turn. Combat Air Patrol, US Marines, air and naval bases, submerging subs and destroyers added greatly to the pleasure of this game. This one's a squid's dream, boys and girls and we will be playing it again I'm sure. Kudos to AH and Hasbro!
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed Messages Here..., March 10, 2004
By A Customer
Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars
I don't tend to write reviews, but I think this one is justified for the new purchaser of A&A:P. First of all, I find the game to be quite challanging and enjoyable for intermediate to expert A&A players. I leave out beginners beacuse, as other reviewers have pointed out, fronts are relatively nonexistant. I think that standard A&A will prove to be easier to catch on to for a more inexperienced player as you can clearly see where the fronts are, why they are there, where the reinforcements are coming from, etc. On A&A:P, with all the sea zones (not to mention the airports and naval bases which add movement to planes and boats respectively), a novice might think his fleet is relatively safe when, in fact, it is threatened by a ton of the enemies stuff.The main reason I'm writing this though is because I have seen a couple reviewers say that a win with Japan is inevitable and others have said that the Americans are too powerful and they will eventually win. I just wanted to post what I have found so far. Japan, typically, has the advantage (and this is further evidenced by online tournaments where the players "bid" over who has to take the allies). In 9 games, I have seen 3 Victory Point wins, and two India Takeovers. Of note is also that Japan was maybe one or two rounds away from submission on 3 of those VP wins (America and Aussie right on the doorstep and pounding away with their bombers which reduces Japan's VPs). India most certainly has enough resources to defend itself. On the two India captures I have seen, the British player allocated more money to Australia than India. The key to holding India is too give ALL the money from the British Convoys to India and build a ton of guys and a ton of artillery. You have to have an offensive threat to Japan over there, otherwise they will build up with impunity and eventually crush (or win with VP). To the reviewer that said America is overpowered.. If you have a smart Japanese player who expands fast, BUT THEN contracts just as quickly, you should eventually be facing this navy: 3 Battleships; 4 Carriers; at least 15 fighters; 2 bombers; and about 8 destroyers and maybe 10 transports. That's just what Japan STARTS with. By turn 3 they should be earning at least 30 IPCs per turn. Let's see, at America's 72 dollars a turn (they immediately lose 3 on the phillipines unless Japan players is on crack), or 3 battleships, that's QUITE a lot of catching up to do. And don't forget: you only have about 8 turns to do it. I have seen four or five Allies wins, but they all been through very interesting tactics (ie Bombers racing to China; no Pearl Harbor movement until 6 battleships and 2 carriers were up and running, etc). Bottom line: This game, in my opinion, is quite well balanced at the intermediate level. I think once people become experts at it (not that I am by ANY means), the game eventually favors the Japanese, but for different reasons than stated in these reviews.
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75 of 86 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Unfortunate Disappointment, December 19, 2001
Durability:2.0 out of 5 stars Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars
I have been an avid Axis & Allies player for over ten years, and was eagerly looking forward to this game's arrival on the shelves. Sadly, I was very disappointed. It is very clear to me that not only did the game designers not properly play-test this game, they also didn't read their history texts. First of all, the game allows the impossible: the US can INSTANTLY place a huge amount of shipping IN HAWAII on the FIRST ROUND. Aside from total lack of historicity, this creates a huge game imbalance because it instantly forces the Japanese onto the defensive. Pearl Harbor simply didn't have that kind of productive capacity - not even close. Also, even if it were produced on the West Coast rather than Hawaii, it would still be ahistorical. After a debacle like Pearl Harbor, the Japanese had lots of room to maneuver in the Pacific, and it took a LONG time for the decidedly superior American production to kick in. But the game imbalance this "instant fleet" causes is huge. If both players are experienced, the Japanese can NEVER challenge the Americans at sea. This is because American productivity in the game is SO superior that if the Americans lose at a Midway-style battle, the outcome does not matter - they just plunk down more carriers. In reality, Midway would have given the Japanese free reign in the Pacific for much longer. Also, the Japanese will NEVER be able to take Australia or India if both players are decent. It's too easy to reinforce them, and the Japanese have too long of a supply train. That leaves the "sit and wait" strategy for the Japanese (in which they accumulate "victory points" for conquering pacific islands). After enough points, the Japanese win, even if they've lost their main fleet and the Americans are sitting offshore waiting to pound the home islands. As if America would get bored and just go home. Perhaps today, but not in the 1940s. Totally ridiculous! The Japanese player is left with the odd feeling that he walked away a total loser, yet somehow cheated the American player of victory. Neither player is happy with this outcome. Nor would either be happy if the American player wins because of the "magically appearing ships" he receives. Another serious problem is the spacing. It tends to favor America. The pieces and setup are pretty accurate, but those are easy to do. The fact that both sides begin with so much shipping was an exciting plus (you could name individual carriers!!!) There are plenty of other, obvious ways to be realistic about production differences and still give the Japanese player a fighting chance. Take away American production in the first round or two, and reduce it in subsequent rounds to around 50 or so. Remember, 85% of Allied resources went to the European theater (Samuel Elliot Morrison, Strategy & Compromise, Yale, 1958 I believe). You might want to give the Japanese a few more IPC points to work with, and assign economic value to more Chinese territory. GET RID of that factory in Hawaii. Get rid of the victory points, (worst idea ever) and just fight over India and Australia. My friends and I came up with a few other variations as well, but those are the most important ones. In short, the game is salvageable with some modifications - but if you're rating it "as sold" it deserves a D (the pieces, map, and a few interesting rules are the only thing that saved it from receiving an F). (...)
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