Week 1:
"Has 30 optional rules." This is a bad idea. Part of the fun is I can get 4 people who have played for years and not dicker for an hour over which rules we are using before the game starts. With 3 they could be resolved quickly or during game play. With 30 it is likely someones stategy will rely on them so they must be settled before starting.
"We also needed to make it possible for people to play A&A to a conclusion more quickly." Why? Go play Risk if you can't take a 7 hour game.
"Paul Bazakas and Brian Hart, who are Axis & Allies freaks. They personally liked playing the expansions more than the base game." So you got might have gotten idiots on staff for this. Just because they liked the orginal alot doesn't make them qualified to pass judgement on the new version. That along with a designer from Wizards really doesn't impress me. In fact it makes me dread what is coming.
Week 2:
"First, though, there were two things we definitely wanted to borrow from Europe and Pacific: the size and basic design of the box." Who cares about box design, I don't buy and play game becasue of pretty boxes that end up under the table anyway. As far as size, I hope that doesnt translate into a map as small as Europe was.
"4-cost land unit, the artillery." I kind of liked the idea from Europe but its a major change. Have to play to see if its a good one.
"Destroyers". At least they decided to drop all the special abilites.
"2-hit battleships". Ok but still to costly to really buy them at 24. They wanted to make battlehsips the king of the seas again? Why battlehships were obsolete in this war. Ask the British about the Prince of Wales and how useful capital ships were. Yea it was aircraft that sunk it but the planes used torpedos not bombs.
"No blow up boxes". I hope they incresed the map size then. Marshalling cards are crap. No different than blow up boxes just not fixed in place. Make my map big enough I don't have to worry about it.
Optional rules:
Week 3
"first major element of graphic design". You know I dont give a rats ass about your make it look pretty to sell more games. Save it for the newbies.
IPC changes. Does the US need more money? No problem with giving Japan a little more. I'm not sure Germany needed it either, though since Africa won't be a freebie anymore it might be.
"Neutral is impassible". Ok thats pretty much they way everyone plays anyway. I think I've seen 1 game where someone paid to cross Spain or something.
"No Economic Victory". Yet they want to make the game take less than 7 hours? Dropping Economic victory seems antithtical to that.
Week 4
"You're probably used to it, but the current Axis & Allies victory condition is a bit confusing to a new player." Only to dipshits who shouldnt be playing anyway. They are pretty simple. Anyone not capable of understanding is gonna get trounced anyway and not play again cause they won't understand the rest of the rules either.
"Victory cities". This seems good. Thier choices are wrong. Should have included: Stalingrad, Chicago, Cairo, either Sydney or Melborne for the Allies. Calcutta? Uh no Delhi the capitol. The allies should have at least as many or many more cities than the Axis.
Axis cities. Mailia? ok They are trying to concentrate the game on Indonesia but Manila? How about Singapore, or Hong Kong? Much better choices.
Minor victory is a joke.
"Induvidual Victory". Never used it. Never will should have just dropped it. Unless they were going to do more to make USSR a 3rd power instead of an Ally.
Week 5
"Redesign of the starting card". Looks too big. Don't need pretty pictures. Nice to know where aircraft are (on carrier or not).
"Numbering the Sea Zones" Good idea.
Week 6
"Weapons Development". Wow this is now broken. Turn 1 US spend 30 IPC (I still have 12) I'm pretty much garunteed I get what I pick. Heck even if I only spend 15 for 3 rolls now I've got a 50% chance.
"Combined Bombardment" Useless. Rarely do Battleships bombard don't see destroyers doing it either.
"No-so-heavy-bombers" Ok they needed toned down. especailly since its granunteed the US will have them now.
"Rockets". The problem want the fact you could only use one. It was that the range was 3. Still useless.
"No single bomber or rocket can inflict more IPC loss on an industrial complex than the income value of the territory that the complex sits on" Thats a good rule.
Week 7
"10-IPC Fighter" ok fighters always were under bought anyway. I agree it fixes jets too.
"16 IPC carrier" Ok. they might get built now. We always allowed fighters to start on carriers built in the same place anyway to do otherwise was silly.
"Stukas" Uh dumbass Stukas are a tactical weapon. They kill tanks. Not stretgic factories and such. They are too slow and unweildy with the bomb load to be used anywhere you don't already have air superiority. Dumb optional rule.
Week 8
"The Mobilization Zone" Gonna get fogotten as much as the old way. Trust me.
"All territories' maximum unit production should be limited by their income value". Wow Russia may be screwed. If they can't produce all the infantry in Moscow its gonna fall.
"If you want more AA guns, get more. (Only one in each territory can fire, however.) " Good. Also removing the if your out of pieces to can't build it crap. I have other things I can use as markers.
"Sea units couldn't be built in hostile sea zones." Always ignored it anyway.
Week 9
"All must retreat to the same space, from which at least one of them attacked." Wow thats gonna be harsh. Of course I can see useing it to reinforce interior areas isloted by enemy territies by attacking and retrating the first round.
Week 10
"Air Markers" Useful but gonna get ignored as too complecated.
"Multiple antiair opportunites" good.
"I Need a Carrier" This is a no brainer. Of course it works like this silly rabbit.
Week 11
"Sub movement" Ok. Subs go under. I don't think I ever tried it before but it make sense. The don't retreat they submerge. ok. All this cancled by Destroyers. Ok.
"Subs always sneak attack". Cool. makes them more useful.
Week 12
"any land unit + 1 inf" Good.
"no double offload" aw man this was a great loophole. I knew I was twisting the rules when I did it but they caught me now.
"can't land fighter, then move carrier" Once again a loophole I exploited (I loved exploiting this kind of stuff as Japan) they did need to close it but I'll miss it.
"Cargo fighters" This isn't clear at all. They say one thing but the diagrams do to different things. Why is the US fighter "cargo" in the second example?
"We made it explicit that a cargo fighter can defend and can escape to a neighboring space if its carrier is destroyed." "As you can see, the fighter belonging to the attacking carrier has a lot more options but the cargo fighter is dead in the water."
Those two statements are conflicting.
"Joint Strike" should have been carried over to all allies with the caveat that it can only go to a later players turn on the same round. IE Germany can dely its attack to Japan's comabt turn but Japan can't delay to Germanys. The USSR can dely to the UK, who can delay to the US but the US and the UK cant dely to the USSR, and the US can dely to the UK.
Week 13
Didn't need to go PC with the color change. Though doing it the map was good.
Already did the map changes.
Week 14 "Tanks attack and defend at 3" yea a bad idea.
"I can only tell you that our highest-level Axis & Allies games no longer revolve around buying tons of infantry." So its no longer a WWII simulation game. Well that sucks.
Week 15
Soviet advantages.
Winter: Germany's gonna lose bad now on their big push.
Salvage: Germany's really screwed since the Russians have tanks to to do a counte offensive.
Lend-Lease: ok
Mobile Industry: ok
Trans-siberian: too bad russia can afford to buy anything to ship out there. Though with the extra units from the 1st two advanges they might take Japan now.
Germany
U-boat interdiction. ok how does it work
Wolf packs: good
Dive bobmbers: Dive bombers dont stretegic raid.
Fortress Europe: maybe the russian salvage wont be so bad
Atlantic wall: The Atlantic wall was a joke the Japanesse told the Germans it was a bad strategy. It stopped us for 6 hours. The rapid response of the hedge rows did for weeks instead. Just like the Japanesse said.
panzerblitz: des this mean other people can't blitz? or can German takes take 3 or more territories?
UK
Radar. ok
Enigma. ok
French resistance: oh germany is screwed.
Colonial Garrison: ok saves them 15IPC
Mideast oil: if they go through mideast they can move 8 or something?
Joint Strike: Good idea.
Japan
Tokyo Express: Ok
Banzi Attack: sure gonna die anyway.
Kaitin Torpedos/Kamikaze: Stupid tactics. someone has been watching too much TV.
Dug in Defenders: ok good for the islands.
US
Infantry Blitz: Hold on. too fast
Fast Carriers: yea but no escort. gonna lose them at the begining anyway.
Island bases: yea thats good should apply to everyone in the pacific
Superfortress: Oh bad. Gonna make sure I get heavy bombers then let them ignore antiaircraft and give me island bases? Japan's gonna get bombed to death.
Chinesse Divisions: no details.