Axis & Allies is a series of World War II strategy board games that were first designed in the late 1970s by Larry Harris. Later on, the game received many editions and revisions as well spin-offs. In the majority of the games, the players play as one of the major forces of World War II: Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union; in some cases, Italy, France, and China are also included. Almost every game has different conditions for winning a game.
The games in the series are relatively complex and require strategic thinking, tactics, teamwork, logistics, and sometimes economic management. The series has performed well commercially and critically and more than ten entries have been produced so far, each featuring some major area of the World War or specific battle or campaign. Let's take a look at the best Axis & Allies board games.
6 Axis & Allies: D-Day
Axis & Allies: D-Day was released on June 11, 2004, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of D-Day, and it serves as the fifth version in the Axis & Allies series. It can be played by two or three players and follows an actual D-Day historical situation when Allied troops landed at Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, and Sword beaches while Nazi Germany tried to push them back and keep control of the cities Cherbourg, Saint-Lo, and Caen. If Allies don't capture the cities in ten rounds, Germany wins.
The game won the Origins Award in 2004 in the Gamer Choice Award category.
5 Axis & Allies: World War I 1914
Unlike the other Axis & Allies games, this one is not set in World War II but World War I, and features opposing forces of the German Empire, Austra-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire on one side and the United Kingdom, France, Russian Empire, Kingdom of Italy, and the United States of America on the other.
Axis & Allies: World War I 1914 can be played by two to eight players on a map that represents Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The game has several specific rules and conditions; for example, the United States cannot attack before round four unless attacked first, and there is an optional rule featuring Russian Revolution which begins any time after round four if Russia is losing the war.
4 Axis & Allies: Europe 1940
Axis & Allies: Europe 1940 is played by two to six players, each controlling either Axis forces (Italy or Germany) or Allied forces (United Kingdom, United States, or the Soviet Union). For any side to win, they must occupy several towns from the specific list. The game also features a number of neutral countries that some lean towards Axis or Allies, and some to none, and if attacked will turn to the opposing side.
One interesting feature of Axis & Allies: Europe 1940 is that it can be merged with Axis & Allies Pacific 1940 to form a single game with some changes in the setup, rules, starting income, and national objectives.
3 Axis & Allies: Battle Of The Bulge
Axis & Allies: Battle of the Bulge is specifically played during the same name battle, which is maybe better known as the Ardennes Offensive – the last German major campaign before its capitulation.
The game can only be played by two players, obviously, each controlling Axis or Allies. It is played on the hexagonal grid, and for Germany to win, it must accumulate 24 victory points. Conversely, for the Allies to win, they must prevent that from happening in eight turns of play. 23 points are based on actual German progression during the campaign, while the 24th is made up solely for the purpose of the game.
2 Axis & Allies: Pacific
Axis & Allies: Pacific can be played by just two or three players since the Axis side features only Japan. The Allies consist of the United States, Australia, New Zealand, British India, and China. Both sides in the game have different approaches to winning because conditions for the victory are quite different. If the Allies want to win they must occupy Japan for one turn or reduce its economy to nine NPCs; if Japan wants to win, the player needs to occupy one of the Allies' capitals, or they must accumulate 22 victory points.
In 2002, the game won the Origins Award for the Best Historical Board Game of 2001.
1 Axis & Allies: Europe
As its name suggests Axis and Allies: Europe focuses on the European theater of World War II, featuring Nazi Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union. Both sides fight against each other to control other territories, which are necessary to produce more units. The victory conditions are different for the opposing sides. In other words, for the Allies to win, they must occupy Germany for one turn; on the other hand, for Germany to win, players need to occupy only one of the allied countries.
Proof of the quality of Axis and Allies: Europe is the Origin Award which the game won in the category of the Best Historical Board Game of 2000.
Source: Origins Award Winners