Where has the CD department gone?

   First off let me try to give you a brief history. Approximately 4 years ago Milton Bradley released the much anticipated CD version of their top selling board game Axis & Allies. Approximately 3 years 364 days ago the arguments started on how incompetent Milton Bradley's programers are.

   As far as club history with the CD goes, from what I understand, after much debate the IAAPA government past a resolution (by a slim margin) allowing CD play to be sanctioned in the club. A short time later the club was forced to institute the payment of dues for membership and the people who fought so hard for CD play left the club. Leaving the department, for the most part, unattended.

   Now lets fast forward to December 22, 2001. IAAPA Prime Minister , Micwill, announces that due to the lack of support by the membership and government the club was considering closing the door to the CD department and turning the office into a broom closet. At this point, possibly the loudest mouth in the club, Wrec_It, condemned the government for doing something so insane as to take away a part of the club that IAAPA has for the past few years been advertising on the opening page of the site. At this point Wrec_It was politely told to put up or shut up. So here I (Wrec_It) am.

   In early January 2002 I posted on the BBS that I was forming an informal committee to do research into what it would take to up date to CD department to a level that would allow for CD play to return to IAAPA. Blackdog and Hess answered the call and together we hit the CD club BBS's and contacted the CD club government officials to ask for their Technical advice. All the people we have contacted have been very helpful and excited that IAAPA may be rejoining the CD side of the community. Balance of Power went so far as to suggest being able to cross post CD games between IAAPA and their 2d edition rule set called "Gold".

   In mid to late January we sent out a survey to all IAAPA club members asking for their input on our project. We received approximately 20 responses stating that they would like to play games via CD in our club. We also received a few negative responses that we took very seriously. After thorough research into all concerns brought up I have come to the conclusion that the biggest problem with the CD is misinformation. One concern that was brought up a few times was the "dice cheat". At this point this accusation has been brought up from time to time but no one has ever been able to provide any proof what so ever. There is a "Tech Cheat", where the user of the cheat can re roll tech without his opponent knowing. This cheat is easily caught by watching the screen during the Tech phase and clicking the country icon at the bottom of the play screen and watching the IPC amount for that country. One other concern that was brought up is that people don't have 5+ hours to sit down to play the game. The CD does have a game save option so if 2 players agreed they could play a game in 30 minutes sessions over a month or so.

   The CD committee has compiled what we believe to be a full bug/game glitch list and are in the final stages of addressing those problems. We are also considering other rules to be added to protect the main mission of the club, 2d edition PBEM. One of these rules is that players will be required to play at least 1 PBEM game for every 10-20 CD games to get credit for their CD games.

   I will not lie to you, the CD does have some problems and it is not for everybody. There is the problem with not being able to create a log of the game and the MSN Zone (where most people meet to play on line) can be a bit frustrating at times, but if you want the opportunity to play rated games at a face to face pace the CD can provide a great outlet for you.

   The IAAPA Help Desk is ready to answer any of your CD questions, including where to purchase Axis and allies.

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   by Wrec_It