Axis & Allies 1942 Online by Beamdog - now available on Early Access

[Makabb]

Early reviews are... mixed (45%). Skimmed a bit, looks like the gameplay itself, being an adaptation of the popular game, is fun, but specifics of adaptation - graphics, UI/UX, modes - are bland and the program is unstable and clunky (well, early access after all).

beamdog quality seal of approval

 

[BlackAdderBG]

E, looks like the gameplay itself, being an adaptation of the popular game, is fun,

(But A&A isn't a fun boardgame)

(like, at all)

(Eat me alive now, thread)

All boardgames aren't fun

 

[Galdred]

E, looks like the gameplay itself, being an adaptation of the popular game, is fun,

(But A&A isn't a fun boardgame)

(like, at all)

(Eat me alive now, thread)

A&A is way too long for what it is, but with a good UI, and asynch play, the computer adaptation could be much better.

When it comes to bucket of dice wargames, I wish they had adapted Nexus Ops or DnD: Conquest of Nerath instead (the other suffers from some balance issues, but they could be patched in an online version).

 

[LESS T_T]

Looks like they're... "overhauling"... the game: https://steamcommunity.com/games/898920/announcements/detail/1617282814882108891

Dev Letter - Patch 5: Turning Point

Hello friends,

Since my last developer letter we’ve been hard at work on Axis & Allies 1942 Online, developing exciting new features that we’re pleased to share with you for the first time today:

• New Control System
  
• Redesigned Movement Arrows
  
• Online Ranked Matchmaking
  
• Online Ladders and Leaderboards
  
• Player Profiles and Stats
  
• In-Game Notifications
  
• Redesigned Game Cards
  
• Redesigned Custom Games Screen
  
• Redesigned World Map, and
  
• A new Rendering Engine
  
• Updated Tutorials

I’m proud to announce that Patch #5: Turning Point contains all of the above features, in addition to bug fixes and stability improvements.

I want to extend a huge thank you to our community for your continued feedback and support. Our goal through Early Access is to engage with your feedback as we develop our favorite game. Read on for my breakdown of the latest features.

New Control System and Redesigned Map Arrows

We’ve overhauled the movement arrows, aiming for a more readable and approachable design.

New Arrow Design (Left) vs. Old Arrow Design (Right)

Updated Movement Controls:
* Left-Click: Select / Deselect
- Left-click to select a unit, region or destination marker
- Deselect the selected unit or region with another left-click.

* Right-Click: Action Button
- Right click region to move units during Combat & Non-Combat Movement Phase
- Right click region to mobilize / place units
- Right click region during combat phase to begin combat in that region

* Move Unit Stacks:
- Left Click: select unit stack
- Shift + Right Click on region: Move all units in a stack to the region

* Review Movement Plans:
- Left Click on the diamond icon / destination marker, or Shift + Left Click to open the info panel / dossier.

* Cancel Movements
- Shift + Left Click to open the info panel / dossier in the bottom left (or Left Click on the Diamond Icon). In the dossier, hover over unit you wish to cancel and hit the cancel button.

* Cancel All Movements to a Region
-Shift + Right Click on the diamond icon / destination marker in the region where you want to cancel.

* Load & Move Transports
- Left Click: Select Transport
- Right Click Unit: Load unit to transport. Continue to right click units to load transports in a stack.
- Right Click Region: Move transport and unload units. Continue to right click region to move multiple transports and unload units.

* Move a Specific Transport in a Stack
- Load the transports
- Left Click the diamond icon in the sea zone.
- Left Click the transport you want to move from the dossier (panel) that pops up in the bottom left.
- Right Click a region to move the transport / unload units

* Fast Load Transport Stacks:
- Left Click on transport stack
- Shift Right Click on unit stack to load as many transports as possible in the stack.

* Mobilize Units
- Right click region
- Left click diamond icon / destination marker to review mobilization plans in the dossier (panel in bottom left)
- Cancel mobilized units in the dossier (panel in the bottom left)

* Create Map Note:
- Keyboard shortcut (default key: “n”).
We plan to update map note controls in the future.

Previous Movement Features:

• New arrow created for each unit type moved
  
• Unit tokens move along arrows to the border of their destination
  
• Multiple arrows and units overlap

New Movement Features:

• The arrows are separated and color-coded by unit type

- Land Units: Yellow
- Air Units: Red
- Sea Units: Blue
- Special Unit Movement (Strategic Bombing Raids, Offshore Bombardment, and Amphibious Assault): Thin white line within movement arrow

• Movements of the same type (i.e. land, sea, air) merge, rather than overlap.

• Arrows move to target destination; unit tokens do not

[*] Numbers at each end of movement arrow indicate how many units are committed to the movement vs. how many remain in the original territory.

• Tanks and Naval Units

- Players can customize unit paths for tanks and naval units.

Combat movement arrows

Matchmaking, Ladders and the New Game Cards

We’re also pleased to introduce Matchmaking and Ranked Ladders into Axis & Allies 1942 Online. We know there is a competitive A&A community out there who we hope will have fun with our new ranked play.

Matchmaking & Ranked Play

Ranking & Matchmaking
We’ve added a 1v1 competitive mode in a formal ELO system. The ranking system includes five different ranks (Wood, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum). Players must participate in 5 placement matches in order to determine their initial rank. Once ranked, you can select your preferred team (or no preference) and you will be paired with someone of a similar rank.
*Note: Current player win/loss records will have no impact on the ranking ladder.

Ranked Matches Are Timed
In order to keep ranked games moving quickly, we’re introducing stricter timing for these matches. Players will have 24 hours to complete their turn before they are automatically forfeited from the game.

Separate Ladders Per Faction
We’ve separated the ladders for games played as Axis and those played as the Allies. You will receive two separate ranks for matchmaking purposes.

Ranked Games: Larry Harris Gencon v3.0
The starting condition for ranked games will be the Larry Harris Gencon v3.0. Since launch, we have been keeping an eye on statistics for the win and loss ratios for both factions:

• 1942 2nd Edition out of the Box (Online Games)

Allies Win Rate: 35%
Axis Win Rate: 65%

• 
  Larry Harris Gencon v3.0 (Online Games)

Allies Win Rate: 45%
Axis Win Rate: 55%
The overall win gap between the two factions is significantly narrower with the Larry Harris Gencon v3.0 compared to the out of the box setup. We feel this represents a fairer and more competitive setup for ranked play.

Player Profiles
You can view your current statistics for both ranked and custom games from your Player Profile. You'll also see details from your five most recently completed games. You can expand game cards to view more information about it.
Note: Statistics from custom games completed prior to the release of this patch will not be included in your profile details.

Updated Custom Games List
The Custom Games will now appear in list form, as will your Active Campaigns. You’ll now be able to review your games at a glance in a cleaner aesthetic.

Redesigned World Map
We’ve adjusted the Axis & Allies 1942 Online map territories to better visually represent their real world counterparts. Our previous design was a direct adaptation of the 1942 2nd Edition board, which was never designed to wrap around or scroll infinitely.

New North America layout

In Game Notifications
Players who opt-out of receiving emails can now choose to receive email notifications of in-game events only. Game notifications will be viewable from both the main menu and a new Notifications button in-game.

Main Menu Notifications

New Rendering Engine
Lastly, we’ve updated our rendering engine, which significantly improves the speed and smoothness of the game. We’ll continue to improve the rendering engine in future development.

THANK YOU!

Thanks again to all our players. We’re eager to hear your thoughts on the update— we’ll be sending out a feedback survey after the patch goes live, so watch out for that announcement in the coming weeks.

Sincerely,

Cody Ouimet

Producer, Axis & Allies 1942 Online

 

[Infinitron]

 

[Grunker]

how are the graphics worse than in the 1998 game

 

[Grunker]

for comparison:

Spoiler

 

[AdamReith]

Wow Beamdog still have the uncanny ability to fuck up something that's already been perfected.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.beamdog.com/news/early-access-six-month-retrospective/

Early Access: Six Month Retrospective

Dear friends,

Axis & Allies 1942 Online just celebrated six months in Early Access! We’ve heard from Axis & Allies fans all around the globe: your cheers, your woes, your bug reports, and your feedback. We’re hugely grateful to everyone helping us make this game the best way to play Axis & Allies (beyond the tabletop).
Thank you!

Of course, our launch wasn’t without challenges. Since July, our valiant dev team launched an aggressive assault on bugs, and bolstered server infrastructure to defend against crashes. They also added major features to the core game, including competitive gameplay, a new starting variant, and overall polish.

The work is far from over, but we’re proud of our progress to date. Check out Patch #8 Notes here, and read on for highlights from six months of Early Access!

Sincerely,

Cody Ouimet
Producer, Axis & Allies 1942 Online

P.S. Never miss an update— join our Newsletter, and follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

Spoiler

FEATURES AT LAUNCH: JULY 31, 2019

• Digital adaptation of Axis & Allies 1942 Second Edition
• Learn-to-Play Tutorials
• Online Multiplayer
• Offline Single Player
• AI players for single and multiplayer
• Hotseat

FEATURES ADDED DURING EARLY ACCESS (SO FAR)
Server Stability & Speed

• After a bumpy start, we've vastly improved the servers
• Gameplay is now stable and speedy

Bugs Squashed

• 1,012 bugs squashed and counting!

New Visuals

• Updated designs for all buttons and in-game windows
• Adjusted appearance of North & South America
• Arrow Design: No more spaghetti arrows!
• Clean, smooth arrows display your planned movements
• Check out our new trailer for a preview:

Ranking & Matchmaking

• We added ranked games— practice up, because the competition is fierce!
• Rankings include:
  1. Platinum
  2. Gold
  3. Silver
  4. Bronze
  5. Wood (this one was controversial)

• Play five ranked games to get an initial ranking, then work your way to the top or (defend your title )
• Matchmaking pairs you with players of similar skill

Player Profiles
Check out your stats:

• Allies Ranking
• Allies Win/Loss Ratio
• Axis Ranking
• Axis Win/Loss Ratio
• Custom Games Statistics

The Rules

• They matter!
• We listened to the community and made some tweaks to align with official rules as written. For example:
• No more refunds for non-mobilized units
• Choose to ignore unaccompanied enemy submarines / transports

Starting Variant

• Axis & Allies creator, Larry Harris, designed a variant starting condition for the 1942 Second Edition, granting Allies a bit more strength at the outset of the game
• We've added Larry's variant (...Larriant? ️ ) as an optional starting condition

AI Improvements

• Smarter robot players!
  *Note: AI players present a decent challenge for newcomers who want to learn the game. Our robots aren't yet a threat to expert strategists, but we're working on it!

Notifications

• Get notifications in-game!
• Directly load into the game from the notification

Update to Controls

• Added New Left + Right Click controls️
• Move stacks of units with Shift + Right-Click
• Combat: assign all hits with Shift + Left Click

BONUS: OLD VS. NEW ARROW DESIGN

 

[LESS T_T]

Well to my surprise, it seems to fair better than initial EA release. With "overhauling" in early 2020 (and probably coincide with the pandemic) they've acquired a lot more players after about a year of release.

Can't say it's very successful but not tanked.

 

[Narushima]

I'll take this opportunity to repost my recommendation for TripleA, which is the same thing, but free, with tons of maps available to download (with the possibility of making your own), customisable rules, and more options for multiplayer (live, by e-mail or by forum).


Just look at all the maps you can download in TripleA, while Beamdog's version has 1 (one). You get to play World War I or II, Napoleonic Wars, Ancient World, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, etc.:

 

[Infinitron]

Looks like this just launched on iPad:

 

[Sranchammer]

A&A is boardgame for kids.

 

[Infinitron]

Released on GOG: https://af.gog.com/game/axis_allies_1942_online?as=1649904300

 

[Galdred]

A&A is boardgame for kids.

It is no World in Flame, but at least, it is not an Excel spreadsheet manager like these Eurogame abomniations!
In a way, it is a gateway wargame.

 

[LESS T_T]

Well it's out of EA.

 

[sser]

Bought it. Game works. Online play is ranked with placement games and ladders (Wood, Bronze, Gold, Platinum, I think, with Platinum being the top 100). After every turn, you have 24hrs to do the next turn. If you don't, the game is forfeit. You can't really communicate with people in-game, but there is a Discord that's sorta populated. The community itself though is surprisingly lively. IMO, this is the best version of A&A and online play rightfully uses the 3.0 rules (minor but significant changes, like putting Germany's bomber in the Ukraine and adding a ship to the UK). I don't have time to play Blood Bowl lately so this will be my dice snorting addiction going forward.

 

[The Limper]

I'll take this opportunity to repost my recommendation for TripleA, which is the same thing, but free, with tons of maps available to download (with the possibility of making your own), customisable rules, and more options for multiplayer (live, by e-mail or by forum).


Just look at all the maps you can download in TripleA, while Beamdog's version has 1 (one). You get to play World War I or II, Napoleonic Wars, Ancient World, Star Wars, Game of Thrones, etc.:

TripleA is x1000 superior. Lewbowski’s maps are terrific. As are the World at War maps. Beamdog’s atrempt at this was a clunky and unintuitive piece of shit. The fact they are actually asking for $$$ for this is laughable. TripleA forever!