well, they've been through several revisions of axis and allies. i don't know about the independant theatre games' histories, let's get that straight. but what i've heard from everyone who's played other revisions of axis and allies was that it was 'too accurate' or inaccurate in that the germans didn't have a chance of winning, which was not the case during the great war. the idea of axis and allies is to reenact wwii with hindsight and see how the outcome may have changed with modern techniques (and having everyone in the same room talking openly about their strategies).

that way the fun of the game is saying 'we've got the bombs, don't fuck with us' or, 'wow, it's lucky that hitler fucked up here and here, cause i don't have the quadriceps to be goosestepping all over the place' -- either side can win the game.

i think that in the european theatre, there's a lot more emphasis on the luck of the dice roll and not as much on strategy. as germany, one bad battle, and you can basically write the game off.

i'll second the ninja gaiden review. what i like most, though is the fact that you can do all the wacky stuff that you could always do in ninja gaiden (like scaling sheer surfaces) and so much more. watching ryu run along walls really makes me wish i was a ninja.