AA:G is a light wargame on the Solomon Islands campaign from the Pacific Theatre of World War II. Right here, in the preceding sentence, it should be noted that I clearly identify AA:G as a proper wargame, albeit on the lighter side in terms of rules complexity. This is an important point, I think, because certainly most AA products, starting with the original, have had a hard time gaining recognition as proper wargames, as opposed to games with a war theme (a criticism that has never been altogether valid, but widely held nonetheless). One of the things that struck me upon reviewing the rules of AA:G for the first time is how this game, despite the name, and the appearance of the bits, has no relationship to the original in terms of mechanics. Essentially, forget everything you know about Axis and Allies when approaching AA:G! Please understand when I say this that this statement is not meant as a criticism of AA:G whatsoever. From my short solo play of the game, it seems like a great light wargame. The point is, and what prompted me to jot down these notes, is that the name and branding of the game may prove to be a double-edged sword.
No doubt, the crew at WOTC (and their corporate parents, Hasbro), did a serious job of contemplating how best to market this game. I think in the end, from a corporate standpoint (whose goal is to maximize sales), they did the smart thing - tie the game to a hugely well recognized name brand (Axis and Allies), using artwork and components that are familiar to A&A players the world over. As the game is meant to be mass-marketed in big-box stores, name recognition is big, big, big, especially around the Christmas shopping season. They will no doubt enjoy a number of sales from people who (like me!) impulsively buy anything with the A&A name on it, as well as gift shoppers who know that their son, husband, boyfriend, loves those 'Axis & Allies' games. The double edge of the sword potentially comes into play when the new owner of the game opens the box, reads the rules, and says "What is this? This isn't Axis & Allies!" Now, for someone like myself, who was raised on old school Avalon Hill classic wargames, a game like AA:G is a piece of cake to comprehend, although I have to say, and this really goes to the heart of the matter, when I open the box and have a mental picture of how A&A games are to be played, this game's rules are a jarring experience, requiring me to jettison my A&A mindset and come at this game as a new experience. It's almost as though it would have been easier to approach learning this game if it had an entirely different name with no connection to A&A, such that I would not have had any preconceived notions as to how the game would/should play. This is where I can imagine some new owners, who basically play nothing but A&A and its near cousins (A&A Europe, A&A Pacific) choking a bit on getting their heads around this game. Again, while the goal of WOTC is to move boxes, and using the Axis & Allies brand to do so makes complete sense, I wonder how many new owners of the game will end up trying the game once, decide "this isn't Axis & Allies", and put it up on the shelf for good?
Another rather unrelated observation, but one that again goes to the point of misplaced expectations, is that the name of the game is, to some extent, misleading (and I don't use that term in a negative way) as to the scope of the game. A&A "Guadalcanal" would obviously evoke images of Henderson Field, night surface battles between US and Japanese cruisers and destroyers, and Banzai charges. However, in fact (and to the good, I think), the game's scope is broader than that. It is actually a game simulating the entire Solomons campaign, that began in August 1942 with the US invasion of Guadalcanal, and extended to the end of 1943 with combat on the island of Bougainville in December of 1943 (the entire island of Bougainville would continue to be a battlefield into 1945). Here is a picture (courtest of Wikipedia) from a US Marine book on the subject of the Solomons campaign:
This map is essentially identical to the game board for AA:G. One thing I noted immediately when playing my first game was that the US secured Guadalcanal completely on the first turn, wiping out all the Japanese troops stationed there from the initial start-up. For a game with the name "Guadalcanal", the actual battle for that island being over after the first turn was a bit odd to me. However, "Axis & Allies: The Solomons Campaign" for a game title would obviously not work nearly so well from a marketing prospective, as well as being rather unwieldly and long!
In short, I think this is going to be a great game, and I just hope it gets judged for what it is, a light wargame on the Solomon Islands campaign, and not on what people may expect it to be, an Axis & Allies game to control Guadalcanal.
Posted Thu Nov 22, 2007 8:08 pm
