Hello Commanders!

Yesterday we released a huge patch for Axis & Allies 1942 Online and now need to roll out a small hotfix to make the Tutorial and Help More features accessible!

⚠️Outage Notice: Axis & Allies 1942 Online will be unavailable from 10am-1pm PDT on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 while we update the game.

• The Learn To Play (Tutorial) and Help More features now work as intended

• We’re investigating a bug regarding Defense Profiles not being updated in Online games

Greetings Commanders,

Patch 15 for Axis & Allies 1942 Online arrives today— and it is a BIG one. We're completely overhauling the user interface, adding two new dice modes, plus many more features and fixes!

⚠️Outage Notice: Please note that Axis & Allies 1942 Online will be unavailable from 9am-2pm PDT on July 13, 2021 as we roll out the new patch.

Today's major update represents feedback from players all across the globe: from Steam Forums, Steam Reviews, Beamdog Surveys, Beamdog Support to Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Discord, and more!

Huge thanks to our community of passionate players, and to everyone who tested out these changes in our Preview Build. We couldn't have done it without you!

Read on for full details and try the update today...



There’s been a ton of discussion in our community around dice rolls. We’ve heard you!

Today’s update adds two new dice modes to the game: Low Luck and Biased Dice. Standard Dice will remain an option for players who prefer the classic RNG.

Here’s how these new modes will work…

🎲Low Luck Dice

In Low Luck mode, the number of hits equals the total attack power or defense power of units, divided by six.

If there is a remainder after this calculation (a leftover number not divisible by 6, ie. 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) the game rolls an extra die that hits if the result is equal to or less than the remainder.

Example:

• 2 Tanks and 2 Infantry have a combined Attack Power of 8 = (3+3+1+1)
  
• Low Luck Calculation: 8 ÷ 6 = 1, remainder 2
  
• Total Hits = 1 guaranteed hit + a die roll that hits on 2 or lower

🎲Biased Dice

These dice control for extreme results. For each roll, the game takes a random result out of 100 that corresponds to possible dice outcomes (1 through 6). Results of 2, 3, and 4 are more likely to occur than results of 1, 5, or 6.

• Visuals | Updated visuals on the Friends List, Notifications and Options menu
  
• Settings | Updated visuals and streamlined the Settings menu

• Tutorial | Updated single player tutorial
  
• Advanced Rules Help | Added “Help more” mode for advanced rules
  
• Tooltips | War Report tooltips will reopen when returning to the War Report, if tooltips were open when you last viewed the War Report
  
• Kick Players | Added clearer in-game messaging for players who are kicked from a game
  
• Updated Tool Tips | See more detailed prompts to help you complete your turns and understand the rules

• Heads Up Display (HUD) | Now located at the top of the screen (instead of the bottom)
  
• Victory Thermometer | Clearer visuals on the victory city counter in the HUD
  
• Hover Information | Names of territories / sea zones display beneath the HUD when you hover your cursor over an area— so you don’t have to guess if it’s Sea Zone 15 or 16!
  
• Menu Text | Brightened some of the darker text in the lobby menu to improve readability
  
• Offline Mode | Offline Mode can now be activated from the main menu
  
• Readability | Improved readability of the United States elements in the User Interface
  
• Emojis | Emojis will now be filtered out of game and commander names to prevent compatibility issues on certain devices
  
• In-Game Notifications | Updated the in-game message and notification display

• Antarctica | Added the continent of Antarctica
  
• Southern Sea Zones | Expanded southern Sea Zones to create more space for units
  
• Map Notes | Updated map note icons to be golden

• Drag & Drop! | In addition to basic click/right-click, a click and drag option is now available— drag & drop units directly in a region, or use the new tokens
  
• Drag & Drop Toggle | Toggle drag & drop on or off in the input settings
  
• Control Options | Customize mouse binding options in the input settings
  
• Unit Tokens | New pop-up tokens show units in a territory— these tokens make it simple to pick out that one tank in Tokyo, or grab a unit from a crowded sea zone!
  
• Expand Movement Details | Click on the diamond movement markers to open a window with details about units involved in the move!
  
• Arrows | Refined movement arrows for a cleaner look
  
• Radial Menu | Radial Menu added as default way to control unit movement
  
• Standard Movement | Single unit movement is still available on ctrl + right click by default
  
• Blitz Visuals | New visuals highlight tank blitzes through regions
  
• Retreat Visuals | New visuals highlight battle retreats
  
• Revert Controls | Added an option to change back to the previous controls scheme, available through the settings menu under input

• Visuals | Updated visuals of the report
  
• Information | Streamlined information to be more useful

• Streamlined UI | Transport loading/unloading is now easier with a streamlined UI
  
• Cancellation | Individual steps of transport movement can now be cancelled, rather than needing to cancel the whole movement

• No More Lane Rolls! | All lanes now roll automatically, without needing to click-through— much more like the board game!
  
• Bombing Raids | Updated visuals and interface for bombing raids (so it’s much easier to tell the difference between a bomber’s standard combat move vs a raid)
  
• Combat Board Visuals | Updated a few graphics & visuals on the combat board
  
• Combat Animations | Toggle combat animations on or off in the graphics settings, such as flashing damage effects
  
• Retreat | Prompt to Retreat or Press On is much clearer (so you won’t accidentally continue the battle when a strategic retreat is called for)
  
• Roll Log | Dice roll log now shows special rolls separately (i.e. anti-air, surprise strikes and bombardments)
  
• Retreat Button | Reduced size of “Retreat” and “Press On” buttons
  
• Retreat | Added a retreat icon to clearly indicate the selected retreat destination and updated the related message bar

• Automatic Turn Skip | A player's phases are now skipped automatically if they cannot take any actions in an online game
  
• End Phase | To avoid accidentally ending a phase, players now need to click and hold the end-phase button to proceed (players can’t spam-click and miss a full phase anymore...but spamming “Enter” is still available)
  
• Phase Summary | Streamlined phase summary details (this is no longer a wall of text, but should now be useful at-a-glance!)
  
• Probability Estimates | Phase summaries now include rough estimates on how likely your planned battles are to succeed
  
• Mobilization | Industrial complexes now highlight your deployment options

• Interface | Updated the Interface for Defense Profiles
  
• Maximum 15 | Increased the maximum number of defense profiles to 15
  
• Turn-based | Defense profiles can only be changed on your turn, not during your opponent’s turn—***Make sure to confirm your defense profile before you finish your turn!!!
  
• Defense Profiles | Decreased defense profile menu size and added vertical scrolling

• Stability | Improved overall stability and performance
  
• AI Fixes | Addressed several crashes/bugs in AI games
  
• Readability | Text on older operating systems/devices should now be more readable
  
• Lobby | Fixed sizing and overflow issues in the lobby when choosing to join an opposing faction while already having joined the other faction
  
• Map | Fixed map borders that caused certain visual issues
  
• Transports | Fixed a crash caused by destroyed transports
  
• Bombardment | Fixed an issue with bombardments where the wrong number of units appeared on the radial menu
  
• Combat Summary | Fixed the color of the lost units count in the Combat Summary
  
• Defense Profiles | Autosave will no longer overwrite defense profiles
  
• Defense Profiles | Fixed a crash that happened when creating new defense profiles
  
• Offline Mode | Fixed support for playing with no internet connection
  
• Industrial Complexes | In the Mobilization Phase, newly captured Industrial Complexes will no longer be highlighted
  
• Observer Mode | Observed combats now correctly begin after loading and exit after the battle ends
  
• Movement | A group of units with a movement speed higher than one, will now correctly move as a group when clicking through regions
  
• Transports | Fixed an issue with the transport interface where units would not display properly

We're updating the Preview Build of Axis & Allies 1942 Online with even more changes!

Based on player feedback, we've added new fixes, reverted unit colors, and modified a few more visuals.

If you haven't had a chance to check out the sneak-peek of the Major Update yet, now is the time!

For full details on the major update (including the UI overhaul, New Dice Modes, and more), check out this article.

• Visuals | Reverted unit token colors based on feedback
  
• Visuals | Reverted 3D effects based on feedback
  
• Visuals | Toned down new visual UI elements to improve clarity
  
• Combat Board | Centered the "Assign Hits" help text
  
• Combat Board | Attack / Press On cards are now smaller
  
• Bug Fix | Fixed a crash that happened when changing settings while having no current games
  
• Bug Fix | Fixed an issue with defending Battleships not rolling after being hit by a surprise strike

• Stats | Games played in the preview build won’t affect your game statistics.
  
• Game Modes | Offline modes and online multiplayer games are available to try out, but ranked mode is not available in the preview.
  
• Notifications | You won’t receive notifications for live ranked games while you’re logged into the preview build (so make sure to switch back if you’re watching out for timers on ranked matches)
  
• Tutorial | The game's Learn to Play section is disabled in the preview build

1. Launch Steam
   
2. Navigate to your Library
   
3. Right-Click on Axis & Allies 1942 Online
   
4. Select “Properties” from the drop-down menu
   
5. Click on the “Betas” tab
   
6. Choose the Beta “Preview - Sneak-peek at the Major Update”
   
7. Close the Beta window (click “X” in the top right corner)
   
8. Launch the Game
   
9. You can switch back to the live version of the game by changing the Betas drop-down back to “none”

Last week we shared a sneak-peek of our biggest update yet! Today we're rolling out a few more changes to the preview build based on your feedback:

Feature Updates:

• Combat Rolls: We've sped up combat rolls and removed a click from the start of the attacker's roll
  
• Unit Colors: We've toned down the bright colors of the units (so they shouldn't appear neon on some monitors)

Fixes:

• Hits on defenders will now appropriately play sound effects
  
• Main menu music will play when skipping the intro
  
• Combat music will no longer cut in and out when certain conditions are met
  
• Planes destroyed by Anti-Air Artillery should now be properly cleared off the board
  
• Retreat overlay will no longer appear after defender submarines roll
  
• Neutral regions are no longer clickable
  
• Combat will no longer lock up when defender hits have no valid target
  
• The auto assign button will now function correctly when some aircraft hits have no target
  
• Anti air results are properly recorded into roll history in observer mode
  
• Defense profiles will no longer become active until it is your turn in multiplayer games
  
• Industrial Complex damage numbers will be more visible on the map
  
• These changes appear alongside the major updates in the preview, like an overhaul to the user interface, new dice modes— plus many more features and fixes detailed below.

The preview reflects what we’ve heard from players across the globe: from Steam Forums, Steam Reviews, Beamdog Surveys, Beamdog Support, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Discord, and more! Thanks for all your support & feedback!!!

So, want to take a look? Try it out on Steam!

Today we’re sharing a sneak-peek of our biggest update yet! The Steam preview includes an overhaul of Axis & Allies 1942 Online’s user interface, new dice modes— plus many more features and fixes.

Huge thanks to everyone sharing their feedback during Early Access!

This preview reflects what we’ve heard from players across the globe: from Steam Forums, Steam Reviews, Beamdog Surveys, Beamdog Support, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Discord, and more!

*Special thanks to the Axis & Allies fans who dove into the trenches last month to test out the preview build ahead of release!

So, want to take a look?
Check out access instructions & details below...


Stats | Games played in the preview build won’t affect your game statistics.
Game Modes | Offline modes and online multiplayer games are available to try out, but ranked mode is not available in the preview.
Notifications | You won’t receive notifications for live ranked games while you’re logged into the preview build (so make sure to switch back if you’re watching out for timers on ranked matches)
Tutorial | The game's Learn to Play section is disabled in the preview build

Access Instructions:

1. Launch Steam
   
2. Navigate to your Library
   
3. Right-Click on Axis & Allies 1942 Online
   
4. Select “Properties” from the drop-down menu
   
5. Click on the “Betas” tab
   
6. Choose the Beta “Preview - Sneak-peek at the Major Update”
   
7. Close the Beta window (click “X” in the top right corner)
   
8. Launch the Game
   
9. You can switch back to the live version of the game by changing the Betas drop-down back to “none”

There’s been a ton of discussion in our community around dice rolls. We’ve heard you!

The next big update will add two new dice modes to the game: Low Luck and Biased Dice. Standard Dice will remain an option for players who prefer the classic RNG.

Here’s how these new modes will work…

🎲Low Luck Dice
In Low Luck mode, the number of hits equals the total attack power or defense power of units, divided by six.

If there is a remainder after this calculation (a leftover number not divisible by 6, ie. 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) the game rolls an extra die that hits if the result is equal to or less than the remainder.

Example:
2 Tanks and 2 Infantry have a combined Attack Power of 8 = (3+3+1+1)
Low Luck Calculation: 8 ÷ 6 = 1, remainder 2
Total Hits = 1 guaranteed hit + a die roll that hits on 2 or lower

🎲Biased Dice
These dice control for extreme results. For each roll, the game takes a random result out of 100 that corresponds to possible dice outcomes (1 through 6). Results of 2, 3, and 4 are more likely to occur than results of 1, 5, or 6.


Menus

• Visuals | Updated visuals on the Friends List, Notifications and Options menu
  
• Settings | Updated visuals and streamlined the Settings menu
  
• Heads Up Display (HUD)
  
• Victory Thermometer | Clearer visuals on the victory city counter in the HUD
  
• Heads Up Display (HUD) | Now located at the top of the screen (instead of the bottom)
  
• Hover Information | Names of territories / sea zones display beneath the HUD when you hover your cursor over an area— so you don’t have to guess if it’s Sea Zone 15 or 16!

Map

• Antarctica | Added the continent of Antarctica
  
• Southern Sea Zones | Expanded southern Sea Zones to create more space for units

War Report

• Visuals | Updated visuals of the report
  
• Information | Streamlined information to be more useful

Moving Your Troops

• Drag & Drop!!! | In addition to basic click/right-click, a click and drag option is now available— drag & drop units directly in a region, or use the new tokens
  
• Unit Tokens | New pop-up tokens show units in a territory— these tokens make it simple to pick out that one tank in Tokyo, or grab a unit from a crowded sea zone!
  
• Expand Movement Details | Click on the diamond movement markers to open a window with details about units involved in the move!
  
• Arrows | Refined movement arrows for a cleaner look
  
• Radial Menu | Radial Menu added as default way to control unit movement
  
• Standard Movement | Single unit movement is still available on ctrl + right click by default
  
• Blitz Visuals | New visuals highlight tank blitzes through regions
  
• Retreat Visuals | New visuals highlight battle retreats

Transport Overhaul

• Streamlined UI | Transport loading/unloading is now easier with a streamlined UI
  
• Cancellation | Individual steps of transport movement can now be cancelled, rather than needing to cancel the whole movement

Combat

• No More Lane Rolls!!! | All lanes now roll automatically, without needing to click-through— much more like the board game!
  
• Bombing Raids | Updated visuals and interface for bombing raids (so it’s much easier to tell the difference between a bomber’s standard combat move vs. a raid)
  
• Combat Board Visuals | Updated a few visuals on the combat board
  
• Retreat | Prompt to Retreat or Press On is much clearer, (so you won’t accidentally continue the battle when a strategic retreat is called for)
  
• Roll Log | Dice roll log now shows special rolls separately (ie. anti-air, surprise strikes and bombardments)

Game Phases

• End Phase | To avoid accidentally ending a phase, players now need to click and hold the end-phase button to proceed (players can’t spam-click and miss a full phase anymore...but spamming “Enter” is still available)
  
• Phase Summary | Streamlined phase summary details (this is no longer a wall of text, but should now be useful at-a-glance!)
  
• Probability Estimates | Phase summaries now include rough estimates on how likely your planned battles are to succeed
  
• Mobilization | Industrial complexes now highlight your deployment options
  
• Updated Tool Tips | See more detailed prompts to help you complete your turns and understand the rules

Defense Profiles

• Interface | Updated the Interface for Defense Profiles
  
• Maximum 15 | Increased the maximum number of defense profiles to 15
  
• Turn-based | Defense profiles can only be changed on your turn, not during your opponent’s turn—***Make sure to confirm your defense profile before you finish your turn!!!

• Stability | Improved overall stability and performance
  
• AI Fixes | Addressed several crashes/bugs in AI games
  
• Profanity Filter | Corrected bugs in the profanity filter that caused it to be too sensitive
  
• Readability | Text on older operating systems/devices should now be more readable

In case you missed it...

Beamdog developers— Jacob & Kevin vs. Nolan & Thomas— went head-to-head in an epic Axis & Allies 1942 Online game, livestreamed on Steam!

For all their battle banter, serious strategy tips, and gameplay shenanigans, check out the full video on YouTube!

Attention Commanders:
Season 5 of Axis & Allies 1942 Online is getting an extension! Season 6 will roll out in late July or August 2021— so plan your battles accordingly.🗺️

Ranked Play, Season 6:
Original Schedule: June 10, 2021
New Schedule: Late July or August 2021

We’ll notify you as soon as we have a new date for Season 6, so stay tuned!

For now, we’re focused on your Early Access feedback and we plan to release some major updates very soon! More details to come...

Sincerely,

— Beamdog Team

Greetings Commanders!

We're releasing a hotfix to address a long-standing crash in combat with anti-air artillery on defense.

Hotfix Details:

• Fixed a crash for combat involving anti-air artillery on defense
  
• Fixed the AI not being able to land planes in the noncombat move phase

🎺Season 5 of Axis & Allies 1942 Online launches today!

Congratulations to the intrepid Platinum Commanders who rose through the ranks to achieve the 🎖️highest honours in Season 4. We look forward to challenging these generals in a brand new season!

Here's what happens during the season rollover:

• Ranked player scores will reset to base rankings
  
• Player rankings for previous seasons will display on your Player Profile
  
• Players will need to complete placement matches for the new season
  
• Ranked games that were not been completed by 11am PST March 10, 2020 will be removed as part of the Season 5 reset (these games will not be counted towards Season 4 rankings).

Congratulations to JAN for claiming the #1 spot for the Allies this season, and IL_PRINCIPINO who took top honours for the Axis!

Hotfix Details:

• The update fixes a change to email notification settings and ensures compliance with privacy legislation.