When it comes to old-school gaming, the letters "A&A" are up there with "D&D" -- saying the full title isn't really necessary. With its simple rules and plastic pieces, the Axis & Allies board game streamlined the Second World War; it could be set up in under 10 minutes and the outcome of the conflict was resolved by a handful of six-sided dice. It could be played over and over yet never seemed to grow old. It even spawned a successful 1998 PC game that offered a solid multiplayer mode, and a challenging if not entirely consistent single-player AI.

So when it was announced earlier this year that another Axis & Allies was to be released it, came as a bit of a surprise. At first I had concerns, especially considering the similar but lackluster attempt to reinvent such notable WWII brands as Squad Leader (which remains one of the worst board-to-computer adaptations to date). So why fix what isn't really broken? To that end, Kohan developer TimeGate Studios is transforming the series into one of the most ambitious WWII real-time strategy games to date, and the result is quite a departure from the turn-based grand strategic view of the war.

This new Axis & Allies will focus on 24 missions drawn from historical battles across the globe, with notable hotspots like Stalingrad and Guadalcanal included for your battling pleasure. Likewise, you won't merely play as one nationality, but instead chose at the beginning to lead either Allied or Axis forces, with all five of the board game's powers (Soviet Union, Germany, England, Japan, and America) present.

The DAK in North Africa.

Each nation will have special advantages, such as the Japanese being able to launch waves of kamikazes at enemy ships, as well as special powers provided by the various generals you decide to use or fight. Rommel will no doubt offer Blitzkrieg advantages to his armor units, while another leader like Zhukov might be able to call up more infantry quickly, with the final game including the best and brightest that the war had to offer.

While A&A will be a true RTS, rather than the real-time tactical gameplay along the lines of Blitzkrieg or Sudden Strike, the game should rely on a lot of actual military doctrine, including battlefield command organization and supply lines. The main structure in the game is actually a Corp HQ, and all new buildings (which are at the divisional level) are produced from here, in turn forming a supply chain. The actual units that do the fighting are the regiments, which are produced in the divisional HQ, and these rely on the divisional buildings for fuel and ammo. Likewise, units can be healed when they are within the supply radius of the divisional headquarters and supply depots.