Downtime.While we understand that the early and mid-game German turns are going to take a long time there’s only so much time the US and Japanese players can fill plotting and making their purchases in advance etc.Germany usually gets the lion’s share of playtime as they are attacking and defending against two, if not three, opponents. If you get stuck with Russia you’ll be doing a lot of advising but getting little action beside rolling defense dice against the German onslaught. Today, deep game play with brevity are king and queen.
Like yourself, perhaps, even when I’ve had the opportunity I’ve been reluctant to fire up a game of A&A (let alone a double sized version) because nostalgia isn’t enough to mask what have become major flaws in an evolving market of streamlined and high quality games. Experienced players of A&A know that the base game itself is already a four or five-hour commitment, if players already know what they’re doing.
