Axis and Allies is a board game for two to five players. It simulates World War II on a strategic level, abstracting away small unit tactics and bringing the strategic, economic and full scale logistic problems of global conflict into focus. Each player assumes control of one of the five major historical powers of the War: Russia, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and the United States. It begins in the Spring of 1942, well into the War where the battlelines and political alliances are clearly drawn. It is crunch time for Germany and Japan--although they possess strong military assets, they lack the economic stamina for a sustained conflict. Meanwhile the Allied powers of Russia, Britain and America must weather the superior Axis firepower until they can consolidate and exploit the economic weakness of the Axis. The strategic questions confronting all players are what do I build, how much do I risk in weapons research, and what the heck do I do with what I've got?