IAAPA History

This page is under development, we are conducting interviews with our older members to assist us in compiling the history of our Association.

The International Axis and Allies Players Association started under the stewardship of AOL in the Wargamers Forum. A small group of players began playing Axis and Allies by e-mail (around 10), and received a discussion area (one message board) and a mention in the Wargamers Area on AOL. This was in early 1994. Shortly thereafter they began referring to themselves as the AOL Axis and Allies Club.

By June of 1995, enough players were playing regularly to develop the AACRS or the Axis and Allies Club Ranking System. At the same time, a loose governing board was formed to help guide the growth of the Club. The first tournament was held in the Summer of 1995, and had a whopping 16 participants.

By the summer of 1996, a more formal government structure was adopted with a President, Vice-President, and upper and lower house (of Ministers and Chancellors) to cover the various administrative functions of the Club. A web site was created, and several other enhancements for the members including a player pool and regular rankings mailings were initiated. In addition, AOL recognized the Club as a formal one within AOL, and gave the Club its own area (server space) and keyword (a&a). Around this same time some of the members wrote the now standard aamap utility and original odds calculator.

In the election in the summer of 1997, several members were elected to government who are still involved today. Micwil was elected Chancellor of the Internet, JohnPin569 was elected Chancellor of Law and ToddVomit appointed Minister of War. At that point the Club began a formal migration off of AOL. It was renamed the Axis and Allies Online Club, and a more elaborate website with far more information and resources was implemented. The Club in the summer of 1997 had approximately 150 members --- by the start of 1998 our membership was just under 1000.

As the Club became more and more difficult to manage, with increasing administration duties, it became clear that some automation was needed. The job of assigning game numbers which had been a minor one at the inception of the Club was now something taking up 2 hours every day for the Minister of War. In addition, the Charter was changed to make all administrative positions appointed, with only the President and Senate elected (to ensure the smooth operation of the Club). At the same time the organization changed its name for the last time to the International Axis and Allies Players Association.

Most recently our Association has developed a dedicated dice server for members, an interactive live warzone which supports live play over the Internet, and automated game number assignment and reporting of game finishes. A new automated ranking system was implemented in January of 1999, and the implementation of it is still ongoing. As of January of 1999, we have nearly 2000 members of which almost 1000 are active.

Remember this is a cursory history and will be fleshed out as time permits ;)

Game History

A company called Nova Game Design, Inc. introduced Axis and Allies at the 1981 Origins convention. The pieces were made of cardboard and included shapes like triangle tanks, hexagonal fighters, and round anti-aircraft units. This original release differed from the current Milton Bradley version that most people know as Axis and Allies.

For example, submarines were not hindered by enemy naval units, and could run a blockade by moving two spaces right through an enemy fleet. Also, neutrals had more importance --- Spain, although being a neutral territory, contributed 3 IPCs per turn to the German economy. Most neutral territories also had an economic value. For weapons development, the current Heavy Bombers did not exist; in its place was the Atomic Bomb technology. There also were unique units for each country, including kamikaze attacks for the Japanese, moveable Russian factories, US Marines, the British Home Guard, and German SS Panzerkorps.

Three years later, after slumping sales, Milton Bradley took over, and Axis and Allies became the flagship of the of the Gamemaster series of wargames, which has included Broadsides & Boarding Parties, Fortress America, Conquest of the Empire, and Shogun. Axis and Allies is a two to five player wargame that takes place in the spring of 1942. Players control Britain, USA, Russia, Japan and Germany. The best way to characterize this game is a more complex version of Risk which takes one more step towards realism, but still is a far shy from true military strategy games. Despite this, the large, attractive box and slick layout and pieces attract many first-time wargamers, and the ability to run an entire war in an evening attracts even more hard-core gamers.

In October of 1998, Hasbro Interactive released a version of Axis and Allies for computers, which works on Windows 95 and 98. Despite the input of many people (including the original designer and the IAAPA), the finished product resembled a beta version more than a finished product. Since the original release, there has been a patch which addressed some of the problems, but few people are pleased with the product in the IAAPA. The latest patch is 1.3 and many bugs have been addressed, however concerns about the random number generator and continuing flaws prevent the game from being a reliable method of playing Axis and Allies over the Internet.

This page last updated June 15, 1999 by Micwil.

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