Axis and Allies - Subs and Destroyers Rules Explained

Thank you for watching Episode 1 of 5 of our Sea Combat Series as we explain the rules regarding Submarines and Destroyers in Axis & Allies! Part 2 is out now. We explore Aircraft Carriers. Please take a moment to subscribe to never miss a thing. Have questions? Leave them in the comments below and we will respond as quickly as we can.

Board Game Nation: How to Play Axis & Allies 1942.2:

Board Game Nation: Axis and Allies 1942.2 Unboxing video:

Rules and FAQ:
Axis & Allies 1942 2nd Edition rulebook:

Board Game Nation interview with Axis and Allies Creator, Legendary Game Designer - Larry Harris

Chapters

00:00 Intro
1:19 Submarine Stats
2:30 Surprise Attack Example
3:49 Subs Defending
4:47 Subs Submerge Alone
5:11 Subs Submerge w/Others
5:34 Can’t Be Hit By Air Units Ability
7:01 Treat Hostile Sea Zones as Friendly
7:24 Can’t Block Enemy Movement
7:39 Destroyer Stats
8:07 Destroyer Example
10:40 Destroyer Tech Note
11:22 Outro

Amazon has enough money. Visit your local game store to get your copy of Axis and Allies today.

More information about the Axis and Allies Community:

More about Larry Harris:

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Disclaimers:
Axis & Allies and all associated art, rules, and design are owned by Avalon Hill or Wizard of the Coast or Hasbro. In short, BGN does not own the game or any of the art. The music and images are all fair use, creative commons, or copyright free.

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Audio: Polsen OLM-20 Dual Omnidirectional Lavalier Microphone and Zoom H1n
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Thanks for watching!

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[shannonmerritt]

Gary’s videos on Axis and Allies are the best!!!

[MrPistola]

Hi Gary great video. Just a request for future strategic video.... centred around constructing the defence profile (for online version) and scenarios where multiple options for subs to submerge/surface whether they are at sea alone or with an attacking or defending sea battle group. Cheers

[richieforce]

I love the subs they are just awesome, because a couple of them without any enemy destroyer in the waters, can easily tear apart a carrier group, or even a battleship

[BoardGameNation]

Thank you for watching Part 1 of 5 as we explain Submarines and Destroyers for Axis & Allies! Part 2 and 3 are out now. What questions do you have about Subs and Destroyers?

[phd_angel]

Great explanation! Now, are the sub rules the same across 1942.2, Anniversary, and Global?... Hmm...

[tomlundgren]

Hey Gary, awesome video! Thanks for doing these. Question, in your example of the defending submarine without an attacking destroyer, you showed the sub deciding not to submerge. Later in the battle, when things maybe aren't going so well, my friends and I have always played that the submarine can choose to submerge in later rounds. Is this true or once they commit to staying are they locked into that decision? Thanks & keep up the good work!

[aufildeleau]

many thanks for your crystal clear explanations .. even if quite difficult to catch everything for a french :)
i'll try to decrease speed as mention below !

finally understand the advantage of surprise attack for attacking subs (casualties are removed and did not fire back ..) and even if written clearly in the rules ..

but still, i did not catch that a solo cruiser could decide to launch an attack to a solo sub (example 2)
i thought the solo cruiser needed a destroyer to launch the attack in order to avoid sub to submerge

thanks again for explaining this great game and sorry for noob questions :)
thanks also to beamdog !

[hugolima]

Hi Gary, Great video, thank you. Question, what about sub v sub. If an attacking sub moves into a sea zone with an enemy sub, does the attacking sub get first strike without the danger of counterfire? If a miss, does the defending sub have the ability to retreat or submerge? If submerged can subs battle it out underwater? Thanks again.

[ajknaup]

The transport must be chosen last. 11:49 I'm wondering why the transport must be chosen last to be removed from battle?
These rules are complicated, thanks for going over them.

[michaeldietz]

In the complete rules video (awesome work, btw!) you said, in case of a defending, it's "all hands on deck". I remember you saying, the abilities of an allied destroyer would help the defending army then.
So is it only for an attack, that I have to bring my own destroyer, to cancel submarine abilities? Or did I missunderstood something here?

One last thing: Great work overall! - I'm fairly new to the game and your videos are helping a lot!

[GGdeTOURS]

TY > Very helpful!
Guillaume - City of Tours - France

[blitzen]

First, thanks a ton for making these videos. Very helpful along with my rulebook since im new to this version....Question about step 2 surprise attack or submerge phase....It seems you phrase it like the sub HAS to decided surprise attack or submerge leaving out an option to say the heck with either one of those options and just fight the sea battle regularly with other units? Would that be allowed also, even though i know that may not be advantageous for attacker or defender?

[xNightflyerx]

Nice love the vids keep up the good work!

[man-ypgb]

I always thought that the sneak attack by the Sub was a single die roll. Followed by a exit from the battle board without the opponent hitting back, then back map board?

[heyuhmark]

Good video man. I have a question about subs though. Can they move through hostile sea zones (excluding destroyers) on the non-combat move phase because other enemy ships can’t block it? Also can any ship choose to attack a sub or can they not attack without a destroyer? I just bought the 1941 edition of the board game and I’m still reading up on it. Do these rules apply to 1941?

[Schaumrolle]

Hello Gary,

thank you very much for the numerous, entertaining and informative videos about Axis and Allies.
However, I am still unsure about one thing:
If no destroyer is present in the sea zone: If a defender's submarine is hit during Phase 2 - Suprise Strike, is it also immediately removed from game and not allowed to fire back?

I would be very pleased to receive clarification on this question.

Thank you very much and cheers!

[CaptainVasiliArkhipov]

I recall some destroyer rules, submarines only attack with other submarines and only destroyers can return fire during the first round of this submarine combat, round two of submarine attacking, all ships returned fire, aircraft also return fire if a friendly defending destroyer is still in the battle.

[armageddon_gaming]

Still need one more clarification on surprise attack rules. I have the rule book open with me comparing what it says with how you explain the rule but I feel like there's either a misprint, or the rules changed. Verbatim, the rules says: After the attacking player has rolled for all attacking submarines, the defender chooses one sea unit (submarines cannot hit air units) for each hit scored and moves it behind the casualty strip. This basically sounds like general step 3 combat for the defender but permits the surprise attacked defending units to return fire despite being successfully hit.

[federico]

Hi Gary,

Thank you for your great videos, they are extremely helpful.

I play the classic revised version of the game. Checking the "official" FAQ sheet downloaded from the forum, it says that the subs CAN be attacked by air units but they have to sustain one round of enemy fire before having the chance to submerge. Is this rule peculiar to the revised version?

Moreover, the rulebook says that submerged subs do not block enemy movements. So if I got it right, only submerged subs allow enemy units to move past them whereas surfacing ones do block enemy units. Right?

Thank you again for your content!

Cheers

[drewd]

I ran into a problem online I’m not sure carries over to the table top version. Germany had 2 subs in SZ 13 I want to do an amphibious assault on morocco and I brought a cruiser to do an offshore bombardement but I got stopped to do sea combat. I thought if only enemy subs I could ignore them and do my attack normally?