A Selective Move Generator for the Game Axis and Allies

We consider the move generation in a modern board game where the set of all the possible moves is too large to be generated. The idea is to provide a set of simple abstract tactics that would allow enough combinations to provide strong opposition. The reduced search space is then traversed using the alpha beta search. We also propose a technique that allows us to remove the stochasticity from the search space. The model was tested in a game called Axis and Allies: a modern, turn-based, perfect information, non-deterministic, strategy board game. We first show that a tree search technique based on a restrained set of moves can beat the actual scripted AI engine --- E.Z. Fodder. We can conclude from the experiments that searching deeper generates complex maneuvers which in turn significantly increase the likelihood of victory.