Axis & Allies - Horus Heresy

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

As you know GW gives out licenses to other companies so that even more games set in the 30K/40K universe can be made. Would customers accept a boardgame with the Axis & Allies game engine but with units from 30K? You would have a map featuring one of the more prominent battle sites such as the Dropsite Massacre and the same number of marine factions as you have Axis & Allies protagonist nations. All the factions would initially perform the same and would only differ in the respective paintjob although when doing research in-game each Legion would have different options mirroring the emphasis they have in the tabletop game. Units would be (Axis & Allies / Horus Heresy counterpart):

 

1. Infantry / Tacticals

2. Artillery / Rapiers

3. AA installations / Tarantulas

4. Tanks / Predators

5. Fighter Aircrafts / Xiphon Interceptors

6. Bombers / Thunderhawks

 

As the Warhammer franchise does not sell naval combat units to it´s customers those units from the Axis & Allies are subsumed to more land-based counterparts for the Horus Heresy:

7. Transports / Rhinos

8. Airplane Carrier / Mastodons

9. Submarine / Scout Infantry

10. Destroyer / Skorpius Artillery

11. Cruiser / Contemptor Dreadnoughts

12. Battleship / Fellblade

13. Not available / Primarch

 

[Lathe Biosas]

I think the Siege of Terra would work the best for an Axis and Allies map based game.

[Brother Tyler]

What a coincidence. I was just researching Axis & Allies earlier this morning. Interestingly enough, I have long had a conceptual project for what I called "Risk 40K," which is along the same lines as what you've described, @Deus_Ex_Machina. My thinking/planning for this project began back in 2000 or so, but has had very little progress because of Hobby Butterfly Syndrome. More recently, as in over the last week or so, I've been thinking about how my idea might work as a reskin or adaptation of Shōgun/Samurai Swords/Ikusa/Ikusa: Samurai Swords, which I love (especially since a 40th edition version of that game is currently on Kickstarter). The original Axis & Allies and Shōgun were both released as part of Milton Bradley's Gamemaster series in the '80s (okay, an edition of Axis & Allies was actually released earlier in that decade by another publisher, but it was the Milton Bradley version that really became popular), along with Fortress America (for which Fantasy Flight Games released an update in 2012). I bought the Samurai Swords version in 1996 and I still have the original/second printing of Fortress America - both are carefully preserved in my garage. The reason I've brought those other games up is because they, too, might serve as the basis for your hypothesized reskin. In addition, it might be worthwhile to look at the various games in the Axis & Allies family to see if those might provide a good basis for your hypothesized reskin. The original Axis & Allies game looked at World War II as a whole whereas the successor games in the series looked at individual parts, giving a little more granularity and better representing individual battles. In addition, these might obviate the need to adapt the naval aspects of Axis & Allies (or the naval aspects might be adapted into spaceborne combat/movement).

 

Another option, and probably a bit more obvious, is to look at the 2010 edition of the Horus Heresy boardgame, which focused on the Siege of Terra. Admittedly, there were some problems with that game in that extreme luck (good or bad) might end the game before things really start off (see some of the discussions at the linked site). More importantly, this game is out of production, though you can still find used copies through various sources.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the rules for all of these games are freely available online.

 

If you decide to move forward with this, I recommend either a blog (if you plan for it to be a largely individual effort) or club (if you plan for it to be a group effort). I think there is a lot of potential with this kind of project.

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

25 minutes ago, Brother Tyler said:

What a coincidence. I was just researching Axis & Allies earlier this morning. Interestingly enough, I have long had a conceptual project for what I called "Risk 40K," which is along the same lines as what you've described, @Deus_Ex_Machina. My thinking/planning for this project began back in 2000 or so, but has had very little progress because of Hobby Butterfly Syndrome. More recently, as in over the last week or so, I've been thinking about how my idea might work as a reskin or adaptation of Shōgun/Samurai Swords/Ikusa/Ikusa: Samurai Swords, which I love (especially since a 40th edition version of that game is currently on Kickstarter). The original Axis & Allies and Shōgun were both released as part of Milton Bradley's Gamemaster series in the '80s (okay, an edition of Axis & Allies was actually released earlier in that decade by another publisher, but it was the Milton Bradley version that really became popular), along with Fortress America (for which Fantasy Flight Games released an update in 2012). I bought the Samurai Swords version in 1996 and I still have the original/second printing of Fortress America - both are carefully preserved in my garage. The reason I've brought those other games up is because they, too, might serve as the basis for your hypothesized reskin. In addition, it might be worthwhile to look at the various games in the Axis & Allies family to see if those might provide a good basis for your hypothesized reskin. The original Axis & Allies game looked at World War II as a whole whereas the successor games in the series looked at individual parts, giving a little more granularity and better representing individual battles. In addition, these might obviate the need to adapt the naval aspects of Axis & Allies (or the naval aspects might be adapted into spaceborne combat/movement).

 

Another option, and probably a bit more obvious, is to look at the 2010 edition of the Horus Heresy boardgame, which focused on the Siege of Terra. Admittedly, there were some problems with that game in that extreme luck (good or bad) might end the game before things really start off (see some of the discussions at the linked site). More importantly, this game is out of production, though you can still find used copies through various sources.

 

If I'm not mistaken, the rules for all of these games are freely available online.

 

If you decide to move forward with this, I recommend either a blog (if you plan for it to be a largely individual effort) or club (if you plan for it to be a group effort). I think there is a lot of potential with this kind of project.

Minis for such a project can be taken from Legions Imperialis. You would need perhaps ten models for each unit type and for each faction respectively as Axis & Allies represents quantity by putting coloured chips under the models with the exception of the more costly ones. The only challenge would be to make a quality map.

 

A few years ago I bought the Axis & Allies & Zombies version and had a blast playing it. So a Horus Heresy clone could be great as well.

Edited 2 hours ago by Deus_Ex_Machina

[Brother Tyler]

Some further thoughts (because you have successfully distracted me from a very important Real World project )...

 

Some other boardgames you might consider looking at include Dune: War for Arrakis, Risk 2210 A.D., StarCraft: The Board Game, Dust, Rex: Final Days of an Empire, and others (some of these might be difficult to acquire, but most of free rules online). There are tons of games that are similar to Axis & Allies in terms of the game play, so you might find something that works better for what you're trying to represent. Naturally, a lot will come down to your preferences, so Axis & Allies might be in your comfort zone.

 

And another thing...

 

I suspect that you've hit upon the Horus Heresy because the similarity in force types is similar to Axis & Allies (and many of the other games I've listed). The Horus Heresy works great when you're using the Legions Imperialis minis (which is a great idea). Another Astartes vs. Astartes event that you might consider (though you would need "modern" minis - 3D printing to the rescue) would be the Badab War.

 

Anyhoo, I'll be watching this project with great interest (and I dont' want to hijack it, so please don't take my suggestions as anything other than sparking ideas for you to consider and decide upon).

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

1 hour ago, Brother Tyler said:

Some further thoughts (because you have successfully distracted me from a very important Real World project )...

 

Some other boardgames you might consider looking at include Dune: War for Arrakis, Risk 2210 A.D., StarCraft: The Board Game, Dust, Rex: Final Days of an Empire, and others (some of these might be difficult to acquire, but most of free rules online). There are tons of games that are similar to Axis & Allies in terms of the game play, so you might find something that works better for what you're trying to represent. Naturally, a lot will come down to your preferences, so Axis & Allies might be in your comfort zone.

 

And another thing...

 

I suspect that you've hit upon the Horus Heresy because the similarity in force types is similar to Axis & Allies (and many of the other games I've listed). The Horus Heresy works great when you're using the Legions Imperialis minis (which is a great idea). Another Astartes vs. Astartes event that you might consider (though you would need "modern" minis - 3D printing to the rescue) would be the Badab War.

 

Anyhoo, I'll be watching this project with great interest (and I dont' want to hijack it, so please don't take my suggestions as anything other than sparking ideas for you to consider and decide upon).

I solved the map issue. The Planetary Empires hexagonal tiles are just large enough to house a couple of LI units. And they are painted as well. So for Christmas time I will purchase a Battle Group box to create another faction and it will be the Death Guard because I also want to incorporate the Zombie mechanic from Axis & Allies & Zombies.