Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
D-Day. A great way to play axis and allies in under 3 hrs., October 26, 2005
Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars
My friends and I are big fans of the original 5 armies Axis & Allies game. However, the game needs at least 4 people to be truely interesting, and takes us more than 6 hr.s to play! That's why we found A&A D-Day as a great substitute. Not only is this 2-3 players, (three preferred) but it can also be done in under 3 hrs.
The game's arguements between the partnered British and Americans are hillarious for the Germans to watch, as they debate over strategies and how to allocate their fighters on straffing runs. Allies use their 8 fighters, 2 bombers, 6 bombarding destroyers, 1'st round 9 paratroopers, and 5 landing zones (Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword to try and secure the 3 key cities of Normandy by turn 10.
The Germans, must delay the beach landings with their 11 block houses firing at sea, quickly rally to hold the cities, bring re-inforcements to the front while avoiding allied air power, and defend down to the last man if neccessary until time runs out.
It of course still takes strategy and good die rolls to win as either side. But with the allied edge on having fighters and bombers; and the Germans having supperior ground forces, like the Panzer tanks superior deffense compared to the wimpy Shermans, it promises to be fun for both sides.
But most importantly time! The game is turn based by the use of 16 "order cards" each round. The objective? to hold the 3 key cities by turn 10... if not, the world might be speaking german!
For added fun I say add both decks of optional "tactical" and "fortune" cards (included). It'll take a little longer to play, but the 16 tactical cards add a strategic/stronger edge. And my favorite the fortune cards: roll 2-5, nothing. 1 a blast of superior fire power. 6, well don't roll 6's unless you wanna help out your enemy. Regarless, everytime the die spins for fortune cards you can't help but move to the edge of your seat in anticipation, like rolling for technology in the original. game.
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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Germans would have won this D-Day situation, December 28, 2004
Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars
The old Avalon Hill company produced serious war college type recreations of famous battles. The problem was that they were sold only in limited hobby store outlets and featured 60 page rulebooks in some cases. This update by Hasbro is simplistic, entertaining, is somewhat luck dependent and has flashy plastic pieces of Panther tanks, "88's", Sherman tanks and P-38's but after many plays has been found to be favoring the Germans due to the victory conditions. The Allies are required to occupy 3 essential areas in a time limit game and generally take 2 of the three but the third is always contested due to the closeness of reinforcement areas for the Germans. The Allies have a hard time at Omaha and in several games one whole army was completely defeated (British or American) leaving the other to travel across France to fight out the remaining days. Competent play for the German is to remain calm and not rush in to fight the Allies where they are strongest (the beacheads) but to hold reserves until later and then contest the victory areas and those immediately around them. The Allies can only win by cutting off the German reinforcements with lucky air power and bombing hits and using troops to isolate the victory areas from a German counterattack, which is very hard to do. Still, this game is based on the very popular Axis & Allies system and it has a following but truthfully the world lost a beacon of hope when Avalon Hill was bought out and plundered by the Giant game company, who really does not understand what a wargame is or what it is about and thinks that any game that lasts more than 20 minutes is not a game at all. If you like plastic pieces of WW 2 weapons and don't mind a game that resembles "RISK" in luck method, you will enjoy this game despite the circumstances. If you are a serious wargamer, you will find better Hasbro titles under "History of the World","Diplomacy" and "Acquire".
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent recreation while still preserving A&A feel, December 11, 2004
Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent for solitaire or two people. This means you can still have fun recreating an important part of WWII without needing several people and days to play. Extra care seems to have been taken in historical accuracy. The only drawback is the exactness of the number of pieces that were provided. If you lose a German blockhouse piece you do not have any spares. Also the card-based turns can make for a slightly different feel than normal A&A.
When I first saw the turn cards, I was skeptical, but after using them in a few games, I now appreciate their use to guide a complex turn sequence. They mark out a 16-step turn that accurately reflects the Allied air and sea supremacy while keeping play moving quickly. After a while you don't even need the cards as you have gotten familiar with the sequence.
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