So I noticed my nearest brick and mortar game shop has the Anniversary Edition of Axis and Allies for 70 Australian dollars.

I am wondering whether it is worth it to get this or Dust instead.

I could wait and get Battle Cry but I really don't know, the epic scale of Axis and Allies appeals to me even though Barnes said it was a dinosaurian reenactment of World War II.

Which to get? Which to consign to... the Dustbin of History, as it were?

The Aniversary Edition is more a collector's edition (kind of like the WOTR one, just not nearly as pimped out). I'm a poor young dude who has to stretch his gaming dollar myself, so I wouldn't bother unless you feel you'd get a whole hell of a lot of play out of it. Not sure about Australia, but it's not hard to find the regular A&A 1942 (like the 3rd or 4th ed of the regular game) for under $30 online here in the US. You can't go wrong with that.

I loathe A&A, but if you're going to play it, this is the one to get.

But personally, I go with Dust.

I don't have a firm grip on either game, so this is a bit fuzzy.

The anniversary edition changes a few rules to fix some complaints (which I'm not sure are warranted) that the original version is solvable. It looks fantastic.

But I'd go with Dust. A&A takes something like 10-16 hours to play. Dust is playable in an evening (4-5 hours). Dust also has less downtime and it has some innovative changes to the conquest genre (eg to turn order, diplomacy, etc) that make for a more dynamic game.

I found Dust to be about as dry as it's name. Besides the pretty art, and a funky Nazi mythology story(which hey, if you want story, make it an RPG). The play was just...well, boring and repetitive. It fell too much on the Risk side, and not enough of the A&A side. Ebb and Flow the whole game, but it never felt like I had any control of what would happen. Then with too much turtling, the game ends up becoming a big Mexican standoff.

Axis and Allies does run long, especially for first time players. I used to be in an Axis and Allies league back in college, and played with a group of "lifestyle" gamers that took it to a whole other level. But I'm a fan of A&A, and it has strategic depth, but it is a little too chaotic playing it only one or two times. It really shines after starting to understand the balances of the game.

If nothing else, buy it and sell it on ebay. Or buy it and send it to me to sell on ebay.

But, I do generally enjoy a game of A&A once in a while. Hatchling, how the fuck does it take you 16 hours to play? We easily kick out games in a few hours, occasionally hitting 4-5 if things are hectic and there is lots of negotiating. Dust I really wanted to like, but like Chapel said, it doesn't grab you at all and it doesn't offer much in the way of enticement to not turtle.

What do you think about some of the revised/alt Risk editions? Too simple for what you are looking for?

My buddy is trying to get me to play his copy of A&A. If it goes past 4 hours I'm quitting.

Might as well quit before you start - it will go beyond 4 hours.

To the OP, if nothing else buy the AA Anniversary Edition and flip it - you should easily make your money back - recent Ebay auctions seem to indicate $300 US is a price you could get.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/35052/axis-allies-anniversary-edition

I played Axis and Allies just once. The opening moves seemed almost scripted, and I was bored after the first hour.

Browncoat wrote:


This, without having played Dust.

I fucking hate Axis and Allies. What a POS. But you might not, and my observation is that a lot of non-geeks people love Axis and Allies. They think they are being super hardcore by playing it and that it is the most complicated game of all time and they feel all proud.

Dunno why that is, but there it is. I guess it's the mass market familiarity. A lot of people will get pumped to try it.