Axis & Allies Collectible Miniatures Game Coming

MAY 6, 2005 (Renton, Wash.) -- On Sunday, May 8, iconic strategy game brand AVALON HILL - published by Seattle-based hobby-game leader Wizards of the Coast (NYSE: HAS) - will announce the launch of Axis & Allies Miniatures, a revolutionary new World War II themed wargame system set to hit store shelves in late summer of 2005. The announcement will coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of VE Day, the end of the war in Europe.

Axis & Allies Miniatures gives both novice wargamers and veteran grognards the ability to engage in historically authentic, squad-level tactical combat with detailed, 15mm scale, pre-painted plastic miniatures featuring varying degrees of rarity to enhance collectability. Hard-hitting, fast-paced game play makes every Axis & Allies Miniatures battle a blitzkrieg. Ready to play right out of the box, Axis & Allies Miniatures features easy to master rules that don’t sacrifice authenticity. A single skirmish can be played in under an hour, or, players can advance their custom-constructed squad through a meat grinder of combat, battling from the hedgerows of Brittany to the steps of the Reichs Chancellery.

"Axis & Allies Miniatures represents the crossroads between AVALON HILL’s greatest wargame titles of yesteryear - such as Squad Leader and Up Front - and Wizards’ role as a pacesetter in tactical miniatures combat games," said Linda Cox, brand manager for AVALON HILL at Wizards of the Coast. "There’s no politics in Axis & Allies Miniatures - this is gritty combat in the trenches as only AVALON HILL can portray."

The Axis & Allies name is best known as the title of a cult-classic strategic board game first published by Nova Games in 1981 and subsequently revised and expanded by MILTON BRADLEY and AVALON HILL with Axis & Allies Europe, Axis & Allies

Pacific and Axis & Allies D-Day. Console and PC-game titles bearing the Axis & Allies
name have also been produced by Hasbro Interactive and Atari. Axis & Allies Miniatures brings yet another dimension into the A&A game universe.

"Since 1957 the story of AVALON HILL has been inseparably tangled with the
story of serious, strategy gaming. Axis & Allies Miniatures represents a bold rededication of Wizards’ commitment to the rich history and tradition at the heart of that brand," said Kyle Murray, Director of Marketing at Wizards of the Coast. "Axis & Allies is the gold standard in WWII games; Axis & Allies Miniatures will meet and exceed our customers expectations."

Base Set, featuring forty-eight soldiers and vehicles from WWII plus detailed hex maps of terrain representing the battlefields of Europe, will be first shown to the public at the GENCON game convention in Indianapolis this August and is set to hit store shelves the following week. A 48-figure expansion, bringing additional vehicles and troops into combat, will follow in December. More expansions are planned through 2006.

Game Details
Challenge your friends to fast, head-to-head combat with the Axis & Allies Miniatures Game! This high-quality skirmish game is playable right out of the box. With these faithful reproductions of real WWII combat vehicles and fighting units, you can recreate historical battles from World War II with authentic Shermans, Panzers, infantry, and more! Or create your own battles!

The starter kit contains pre-painted, 15mm, plastic miniature soldiers and vehicles from WWII that animate the action on the battlefield, along with game stat cards that dictate the firepower, armor, and abilities of each unit. Booster packs bring additional soldiers and vehicles into play.

The Base Set Starter Pack Contains:
•12 collectable miniatures based on battlefield units of World War II
-tanks, antitank guns, commanders, infantry units, and 1 random rare
-miniatures are prepainted, fully assembled, and made of durable plastic
•Full-color game stat cards
•4 double-sided, full-color battle mats
•10 six-sided dice
•Rulebook
•Set checklist

The Base Set Booster Pack Contains:
•9 randomized, prepainted, durable plastic miniatures
•Full-color game stat cards
•Set checklist
(Rules not included in booster.)

$24.99 (MSRP) - Starter
$14.99 (MSRP) - Booster