Commentary of "Axis & Allies Europe"
by Roland Morel

I'm not really sure how long A&A Europe has been out, but It immediately caught my attention in my local game store. (the first good news...its very available, unlike many war games these days)

I'm also not sure whether Europe at War (the xeno games version) or A&A-E came out first, but the 2 are vastly different anyway. First of all, as in classic A&A, the war is set in late 1941, with Germany, Britain, USA, and Russia already at war. The game is, or course Germany against the rest, which puts serious pressure on the German player. However there are a few surprises that give the germans an advantage here and there.

My favourite new rule addition is that of disrupting atlantic convoys. These are special sea zones in the atlantic with a point value, just as a normal country. The brits have 4 convoys and the US have 2. Russia also has one near the arctic sea. When Germans occupy that sea zone (or merely pass through it) it becomes theirs, in the same manner as a tank would blitz thruogh an unoccupied territory. When this happens the IPC level of that specific country would decrease by the point value of the convoy. Germany does not get this money, however. Their purpose is solely to decrease money supply for the other side.

In my first game playing I found that Germany, althuogh with a decent navy at the start, could not keep up at all with usa buying boats, having also to fight against russia as well. So the convoy interruption is only successful if Germany uses their boats at the start wisely.

Another change is the situation in the middle east. The rules say that the IPC value of the middle eastern countries are supplied by the allies in case the germans take them. this means that if germany takes egypt(IPC value = 2), for example, they would collect their normal money at the end of their turn, PLUS 2 from any of the allies (which country pays germany is up to the allies). The IPC values of the middle east are independent of Great Britains money supply so their IPC level does not go down in these cases. However, it is not particularly easy to take these countries quickly because the middle east does have their own standing army lent to them by the British, and the US and russia can always drop off some people there as well.

When I opened the box, I was fascinated to notice that the tanks, as well as all the boats, and planes, were actually 'anatomically' correct! the resemblance to the German Panther and the US Sherman were immediately noticable (the panther is almost twice the size of the sherman). All the peices are listed in the rulebook, as well as the real life counterparts they're modeled after.

  overall, I think its worth the 45 bucks I shelled out for it. The game board is a tad small, but still very pretty. The countries are not only color coded by the sides they represent, but added with a little history as well. For example, the areas Russia received as a result of the peace treaty with germany are a different color...the middle east countries are a different color, etc.

But most importantly, the gameplay under the rules is very unpredictable. Umlike the old game which can pretty much be decided in the first turn, you can play 5 or 6 turns on this one and still be at a standoff. since germany only has to capture one capital it makes it riskier for the allies to leave any one vulnerable and have to help each other out every turn. In my first game, I took German troops all the way to gates of Moscow (ironically, much as it was in real life) before Britain came in from behind and surprisingly conquered Berlin. (To my credit, though I DID control both Leningrad and Stalingrad most of the game :)