Excited to play this game with a few of my buddies. Is there any tips or info I should know before I play through the game a few times, or any recommendations of any additional things I should buy before hand? Looking foward to playing!

MMAC790 said:

Some people claim there are balance issues between the provided forces, especially in the provided scenarios. They're just assymetrical and should be played to their strengths. Allies rely on the violence of action. Move fast, and hit hard. Axis are tough, with big guns. With damage resilient they can dig in and become hard to bring down.

As soon as possible grab a few more squads for each side. My recommendations:

Allies: Grim Reapers, Tank Busters, Spec Ops, Medium Walker

Axis: Apes/Zombies, Recon/Battle Grenadiers, Spec Ops, Medium Walker

edit: check out dustgame.com and grab some more dice. You'll only have six. Can use regular d6s, hitting on 5-6.

I recomend getting the tile set. It's really helps make a variety of battles.

I'd suggest playing the campaign included in the Core Set two times using only the included units and switching the roles of attacker and defender. If you get the feeling that the armies are lacking certain skills or powers to succeed, get units that fill these holes.

This is my personal opinion and i'll add it to the other great advices above me:

1- Terrain Tile Set : Will allow you to play on nice cardboard tiles instead of those shiny posters. Don't get me wrong, the posters are ok to play on but I prefer the more immersive thick tiles with which you can create your own maps with. Each tile is composed of 9 squares (3x3 squares) and is double-sided. Il also comes with Operation Blue Thunder Scenario book, the book that came with the original core set but now with the updated point system.

2- Command Squads : I prefer the Heavy Command squads (Allies: Corps Officers / Axis: Heavy Kommandotrupp) than their "normal" version. The "normal" Command squad have a couple more potent skills available (like bringing back a squad or walker) but must roll dice to check if the skill is successful which can (and will) sometimes end up losing an entire action because of a failed roll. The Heavy Command Squad has some different skill selection but they automatically succeed. No dice roll needed. I recommend the Heavies because games can be so fast paced and found that the Heavies were of more use…and they don't die as quickly as their Armor 2 counterparts.

***Those 2 points above could be added right now or after a few games. I would still recommend grabing the Terrain Tile Set now to play on nice tiles instead of on thin glossy posters. If you like the posters then no worries and play on them. As for the Command squads, I love what they bring to the battlefiled without adding complexity. Sure you'll have to check what their skills are doing in the rule book from time to time but apart from that, they play exactly like any other squads. They're great support for an army and they look great!

3- For the Axis and Allies : Add a Medium Walker expansion for each army (or 2 if you feel like it). With this expansion you get 1 Medium Walker with 3 possible weapon configurations. A more resilient walker and with really cool and different configurations. You simply field the right Walker depending on the mission and enjoy!

4- For the Axis :

- The Zombies: Great, great squad, one of my favorite. A 5 mini close combat squad that is damage resilient, fast and powerful. They can mash squads like potatoes and look really awesome and fearful.

- Laser Grenadiers: Love them and I like to add some asymetry in my armies and Laser is exclusive to the Axis. It's an Armor 2 squad with some punch. Pretty simply and straighforward.

- Laser-Jagdgrenadier: A newly released squad that look super cool and pack nice punch against almost any type of unit but especially vehicules. A heavy Armor 3 squad that look unique and can melt any type of vehicules.

- Snipers/Observers: Cool cheap unit. The Snipers couples with the Hero Angela (from Op. Cerberus expansion) because a deadly squad with range 6 snipers that target specific minis in a squad. And with the Angela skill (can't recall the name) they can fire like crazy and destroy a squad in a breeze.

- Hero Pack: Great addition to any army. Add 3 unique Heroes!

5- For the Allies :

- Grim Reapers: An Armor 3 squad with long range anti-infantry and the Jump jump. They can jump over obstacles, any units and buildings. A great addition to an Allies army.

- Tank Busters: Same as the Grim Reapers but great against vehicules.

- Kill Squad French Foreign Legion: Newly released squad with the unique phaser weapon. The best version of the phaser in the game yet imo. Plus they have the Assault skill which once per game double one move action. They can go where they want fast!

- Snipers/Observers: Same as their Axis counterparts except for the Angela Hero. Simply add them if you like them!

- Hero Pack: Same as their Axis counterparts!

Simply put, it all comes down to what you like when addind new units to your armies. Simply buy what to find the coolest and enjoy the new units. Play with them to understand their roles so you can use them more efficiently.

You got yourself a great game with LOTS of replayability and customization. You can field a different and unique army every game or can try to master one until you are unbeatable!

Hope it helped you a bit. I'm far from an expert in this game like many players here but I posted what I thought would be some cool additions that you can add bits by bits on the raod.

Happy gaming!

I really appreciate you taking the time to reply to the post, thank you. I am most likely going to get the tile set after a few play throughs, and probably after pick up a Allies medium and command squad (friend is picking up Axis units) first before the other units.

Just ordered mine as well. I've got another $100 + in my cart at coolstuffinc queued up for next payday. I *knew* there was a reason I've resisted getting into this game for so long.