Axis Allies Iron Blitz Software Cast Iron Life, a World at War v.011 Cast Iron Life is a simulation of the world at war from 1850 to 1950. It resembles, in order, Civilization, Axis and Allies and Master of Orion by simulating the strategic, tactical, political and technological choices during that. The game is Axis & Allies: Iron Blitz Edition. It takes on a style that resembles the game RISK, with some other strategy game elements thrown in. The time frame for the game is in World War II and you must take the role of the world's military leaders and help command to victory.
Do you remember playing RISK when you were younger? Did you enjoy the slow, yet methodical approach to war? Well, if your one of those people then this game is definitely right up your alley. What if your not, well you still might get a few perks out of it. The game is Axis & Allies: Iron Blitz Edition. It takes on a style that resembles the game RISK, with some other strategy game elements thrown in.
The time frame for the game is in World War II and you must take the role of the world's military leaders and help command to victory. You can take any number of leaders from any one of the Axiz or Allies nations. Patton, Churchill or Stalin they're all in there. Each country is also represented with unique icons and graphics that are unique to their nation as well.
Campaigns are plentiful in this game. You can play the game from many different time periods, throughout World War II. You can also play in many other real and fictitious situations or even the special, 'What If...' scenarios where alliances are altered and attacking strategies are much different.
Before you even go into battle, there are many things that you can customize as well. if you want the terrain to be different or the units of your army to perform in a certain fashion, then make it so. You can also personalize the graphics and icons for your nation with the editor tool and then you'll have graphics and sprites of your own design. This is definitely a welcome little addition to the game.
Playing the game is similar to RISK and involves patience and waiting quite a bit. You will have a turn, in which you can deploy units, move units, attack, defend, buy weapons/soldiers or even plan strategies. Each player on the board has icons representing their various divisions and units of soldiers. While the whole gameplaying experience may not look very pretty, it can definitely be rewarding when you score a big victory from several other nations. Thankfully, this game can also be played over the Internet or through a MODEM. This can really heat up the action as actual human opponents are ready for anything and can provide dynamic competition.
Making the movements necessary for victory isn't hard either. The simple point & click interface works beautifully and is easy to understand. The only problem is a bit of a learning curve and some options and tactics may be a bit advanced and hard to grasp for some gamers. This simplistic interface and control scheme is a welcome addition to the game though.
I really must write a bit about the game's fantastic introduction as well. It, without comparison, was the best full-motion video introduction I'd seen in a while. It was so dynamic and featured guns blasting, cannons firing, Winston Churchill driving home his points of war and so much else. It was loud and in-your-face, but appropriate to get you into the mood of strategy.
The game also has some other strong presentation points worth noting. Still photos and other little cinematics litter the gameplay, just to keep you alive and varied. There are also a few sound effects littered here and there. The musical score for the game is solid, with no doubt about it. It is appropriate and doesn't detract or distract from the game as a whole.
I found this strategy game to be a welcome change to the crop of 3D-strategy games being released. Some other games have had partial elements of this, but not for a long time. While this game won't completely knock your socks off, it will provide some intelligent strategy action for those who are willing to accept it.
Graphics: They definitely aren't the strong suit of the game and don't have much detail.
Sound: Some simple sound effects and a good musical score are what fill this game.
Enjoyment: Some great strategy game play and one very good opening introduction!
Replay Value: Lots of strategy action for you to play! Terrain and unit editor are also lots of fun to play around with, as well as 'What If...' scenarios.
People who downloaded Axis & Allies: Iron Blitz Edition have also downloaded:
Axis & Allies, Axis & Allies, Risk 2, Civil War Generals 2, Diplomacy, Battleship: The Classic Naval Warfare Game, Advanced Civilization, Allied General
| Axis & Allies | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Meyer/Glass Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Hasbro Interactive |
| Designer(s) | James Haldy |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
| Release | October 6, 1998[1] |
| Genre(s) | Computer wargame |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multiplayer |
Axis & Allies is a 1998 computer wargame closely based on the Axis and Allies: Classic board game.
Players take control of one of five world powers at the start of 1942 in WW2, grouped into the opposing factions of the Allies (US, UK, and USSR) and the Axis (Germany and Japan). Victory conditions are set at the start of the game: complete world domination, the capture of enemy capitals, or reaching a set level of economic power by the Axis.
The game is turn-based, with the USSR turn first, and the USA turn last. Each power's turn of the game is broken into several phases. First is the research phase, where IPCs (a representation of industrial power) can be gambled in an attempt to develop advanced technology, such as jet engines or rockets. The remaining IPCs are then used to buy troops in the purchase phase. Troops are then moved in the combat move phase, and battles resolved in the combat phase. Non-combative moves are then performed in the non-combat move phase, new units are then placed at the powers' factories & IPCs for all territories the power now controls are collected in the place units/collect income phase and the powers' turn ends.
A second edition of the game was released in 1999 titled Axis & Allies: Iron Blitz. It added a function to allow the third edition rules of the game as well as new features such as allowing a submarine to submerge instead of withdrawal and having multiple AA guns occupy the same territory. In addition, it included many alternate scenarios, providing for events that ranged from a Western Allied-Soviet war after World War II (Allies: UK/US vs Axis: Soviet Union/(Communist) Germany), to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact being made into a formal alliance, which turns Japan into the Allies (Allies: UK/US/Japan vs Soviet-German Axis.) And, of course, there is the default scenario from the board game (Allies: UK/US/Soviet vs Germany/Japan.)
Gameplay[edit]
Each power has a turn of 5 steps during each round of play. Each of the 5 powers will have a turn in a complete round of play. A full round of play consists of: USSR, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, and United States. If one power's armed forces are completely destroyed, that nation is removed from play and gameplay skips that power's turn. Example: United Kingdom destroys all of Germany's armed forces. The play now follows: USSR, United Kingdom, Japan and USA. However, if Germany's ally Japan liberates Germany's capital and later Germany can produce new units, then Germany's turn is now restored as it was at the start of the game.
IPCs otherwise known as Industrial Production Certificates, is the only currency in the game. IPCs are used to buy land units, sea units or air units. Each power collect IPCs at the end of their turn. IPCs are collected for every territory under the player's control that has an IPC value at the end of each turn.
Victory[edit]
Allies: Historical victory of capturing both Axis capitals. Total victory means that both Japan and Germany are captured and none of the Allied capitals are captured by the Axis.
Axis: One of 2 conditions are met.
Total Victory: Axis capturing 2 of the 3 Allied capitals and none of the Axis capitals are captured by the Allies.
IPC Victory: When the combined IPCs controlled by both Japan and Germany reach 84 at the end of a complete round of play.
Reception[edit]
| Reception | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||
The reviewer from the online second volume of Pyramid stated that 'The computer version solves the problem of having to round up players, and eliminates the tedious chore of setting up the board. From the impressive opening movie to the video clips for air raids, anti-aircraft guns, and offshore bombardments, to the final clip for each alliance's victory, the game is as riveting as the tabletop equivalent.'[7]
Axis & Allies was a commercial success, with sales of roughly 300,000 copies by February 1999, after its release in September of the previous year.[8] It reached 350,000 in sales by June. At the time, Computer Gaming World's editors wrote that 'Panzer General's record as the best-selling computer wargame is in jeopardy' thanks to the success of Axis & Allies.[9]
Axis & Allies was a runner-up for Computer Games Strategy Plus's 1998 'Wargame of the Year' award, which ultimately went to The Operational Art of War. The editors noted the game's 'mass-market appeal'.[10]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
Axis And Allies Iron Blitz Machines
- ^'Hasbro Ships Axis & Allies'. GameSpot. October 6, 1998. Archived from the original on June 11, 2000. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
- ^Carter, Tim (January 1, 1999). 'Axis & Allies'. Computer Gaming World. Archived from the original on 2000-08-16. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
- ^Shoemaker, Richie. 'Axies & Allies'. PC Zone. Archived from the original on 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
- ^Weston, Jason. 'Chummy'. PC Gamer UK. Archived from the original on 2002-03-19. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
- ^Klimushyn, Chuck (October 26, 1998). 'Axis & Allies'. Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on 2005-03-19. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
- ^Dultz, Marc. 'Axis & Allies'. PC Games. Archived from the original on 1999-10-09. Retrieved 2018-10-30.
- ^'Pyramid: Pyramid Pick: Axis and Allies'. Sjgames.com. December 11, 1998. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
- ^Takahashi, Dean (February 16, 1999). 'New job for war vets: Game consultant'. ZDNet. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017.
- ^Green, Jeff (June 1999). 'CGW Does E3'. Computer Gaming World (179): 46–48.
- ^Staff (February 11, 1999). 'The Best of 1998'. Computer Games Strategy Plus. Archived from the original on February 3, 2005.
External links[edit]
Axis And Allies Iron Blitz
- Axis & Allies at MobyGames
- [1]https://web.archive.org/web/20100621071421/http://axisandalliesworldclub.net/ AAWC - Axis & Allies World Club (competitive ladder play for the 1998 Hasbro version)