MI-80 De Oppresso Liber

Rule the Battlefield!

From 1939 to 1945, the largest and most terrible war ever fought raged across the world. From the deserts of Africa to the jungles of the Philippines, from the icy waters of the Barents Sea to the sweltering islands of the South Pacific, millions of soldiers fought under the flags of dozens of countries. World War II's stories of heroism, valor, determination, and sheer military daring still inspire sixty years after the guns fell silent. This introduction to Axis and Allies Miniatures quickly makes it clear what the goal of this game is, fun but authentic miniature combat like never before. How well did Avalon Hill and Wizards of the Coast do? How does the new miniatures game compare to the long renowned board game? Well, read below.

Upon opening up the box the first thing most people will notice is that which makes this game unique, the miniatures themselves. The Starter Set comes with 12 prepainted miniatures, made from durable soft plastic. With the exception of major damage and bending smaller flexible pieces like the barrels of guns, the miniatures aren't going to be damaged easily.

Obviously this is a first of its kind. The fact that they're prepainted is a savior to gamers looking to enter the tabletop field but who are intimidated by the idea of painting. The detail on each unit is simply stunning. From wrinkled uniforms to detailed faces, the attention to detail will impress even the most hardcore fans looking for authenticity, with logos, vehicle detail (including rotating turrets and such), driver view port locations, and everything you could practically pack onto a miniature.

The best part is the attention to detail doesn't stop there. While every thing's balanced for gameplay to keep it fun, unit statistics and cards have also had an incredible attention to detail. All stat cards will list basic statistics, art, a table of damage against soldiers and vehicles at various ranges, as well as their special abilities and a small historical description at the bottom. The cards are also fairly durable, noticeably thicker than most CCG cards.

Gameplay-wise is where the balancing act comes into play. Overall the game's balance is very well done, but it's not perfect. Because of the nature of collectible miniature games, where they expect you to purchase 100 units to obtain all 48 unique units, those who only buy the starter pack and a booster pack will be at a disadvantage. Having a starter pack and booster pack in our hands, we had a vast number of duplicate Ally units, but only enough Axis units for a 75 point army (each unit has a point value, and army sizes are kept in check by point limitations). The player playing the Axis side was also at a disadvantage as their pool isn't nearly as heavy in armor as the Allied side. However, this issue is of course resolved as you obtain more units and build fuller pools of available units to put together your army from. Realistically don't expect to buy a "two player starter set" and have a fair two player game at hand.

The balancing is of course the main place where historical accuracy was sacrificed. While not major, there are some general inconsistencies. The Allied armor especially tends to out armor and out damage Axis armor, while Axis units tend to out range Allied armor.

From a gameplay perspective the balancing is done well though, again assuming you have a full pool of units to chose from. Armor are easily checked by a larger number of antitank guns and bazooka units, while infantry can quickly be put in check by machine gun nests, artillery, and even certain armored units. Most players will want to build balanced armies for best results, while some will risk unbalanced armies in hopes of exploiting weaknesses in the opposing player's army or in the battlefield itself. One major tactical consideration in the construction of one's army will be the layout of the map. Large open spaces will favor armor, while areas heavy in forests and marshes will bog down heavy armor and make them susceptible to anti-armor infantry units. This balance is kept in check by artificial rules, such as armor being required to succeed in a roll before entering forests. Besides adding authenticity these minor touches also help alleviate the random nature of any game depending on dice rolls by adding a good tactical layer. You can't always rely on things always going your way, so smart players will not only plan ahead, but will plan for different contingencies.

The game tends to go fairly quickly, with experienced gamers taking turns in under a minute. Games can easily range from an hour to several hours, depending on the size of the battlefield, the size of the armies, and the experience level of the players. Early games will tend to drag on as everyone will still be learning and consulting the manual, but later games will also last longer as experienced players can easily create their own maps and engage using armies much more vast than the standard 100-point army.

Each round consists of three phases. To begin each round each player rolls their initiative, determining who goes first in the following phases. After that begins the movement phase, where each army can position their units, normally not breaking into combat. The exception here is when an enemy unit enters a hex adjacent to one you occupy, when defensive fire is allowed. After the movement phase completes the assault phase occurs, where the real action occurs. It's basically a repeat of the movement phase, but this time the battlefield erupts. The basics of this phase deals with hits, allowing units to be disrupted (no movement in the following movement and assault phases), damaged (two damaged hits becomes a destruction), and destroyed for vehicles (soldier units can only be disrupted and destroyed). After the assault phase comes the casualty phase, where units are marked as disrupted and damaged, and destroyed units are removed from the battlefield. Because the casualty phase is completed after both players have commenced their assaults, Axis & Allies Miniatures manages to do an excellent job at simulating real time combat, despite being turn based.

Beyond the basics, this game has pages upon pages of intricate rules to learn. From how soldiers and vehicles enter different forms of terrain to memorizing each individual unit's special abilities, the box's claim about being for ages 12+ is very accurate. While the basic game could appeal to younger gamers, the many minor details could prove confusing, especially when it comes to things like cover rules, line of sight, and other issues which are at best blurry to the average or novice gamer. This isn't anything that won't be solved by consulting the manual, but after reading through the entire manual and playing three full games since then, we still check it a few times per game to confirm we're remembering minute details correctly. There have also been some minor arguments because the wording of certain rules isn't clear enough, leaving room for debate as to things like if vehicles get a bonus to their movement when starting on a road, or when traveling entirely on a road. Other things, like if a machine gunner gets two unique shots per phase or two at the same target, are things that aren't ever explicitly said. These are all minor complaints that most experienced gamers would probably answer easily, but have proved distracting to us newcomers.

As already stated, the attention to detail lets the art truly excel. Units and cards are all very well done, including the maps you play on. Unfortunately, the maps don't sit flat right out of the box, due to the fact that each one is folded twice (there are four unique maps which combine to form larger unique battlefields). This becomes a pain, but is easily enough rectified with a little scotch tape or by laminating them. The game's packaging is sufficient, but nothing extraordinary. The cover art's well done but the rest is just an ad for the different units, reminding you that it might take another five or six booster packs to collect all 48. Another minor gripe is the glue used to close the boxes. It appears to be cheap glue from a standard hot glue gun, leaving it very noticeable and causing damage to the box as you open it. A very minor complaint, but worth mentioning to collectors who prefer to keep all packaging in good condition.

As for the other areas we critique, WotC has slightly let down players looking for more information before launch. They exploded at Gen Con with an amazing presentation to a crowd that lined up for hours for their first glimpse. However, now two weeks from the official September 16th release, they haven't so much have put up an official website. This is a slight annoyance to those who are looking for more information in an attempt to get a foot up on the release. However, between WotC's fabulous treatment of us at Gen Con, and their traditionally excellent support of their player-base, it's hard to dock them any points for their community support. It should be noted that another 48 unit set is set to release in December, so WotC is already working hard to expand the line.

Overall I think we were extraordinarily lucky to report from Gen Con and get an early sneak peak at Axis & Allies Miniatures. While a few very minor complaints abound, overall it's a superb CMG well worth any CMG gamers time. Even for those who have never touched one before, if there's a hint of WW2 buff in you it's well worth checking out. The detailed art, well balanced armies, and overall extremely authentic feel lend it an air that few games can create.