Whoa, we’re posting pics, now? Ok, well, if this is gonna be that kind of party, I’m …
This list is subject to change as I play a few more games from this year, notably Next War:Poland and Pendragon. I also have only played a couple of these games a few times, so maybe things will change with repeated playings. But for now …
#5 Mrs. Thatcher’s War (White Dog Games - R. Ben Madison)
Up until this time, I thought the definitive Falklands War game was Where There is Discord by Daniel Hodges. The game is also rarely reprinted and thus costs upwards of $200 on the secondary market. But what if you could play a game that is almost as good for $40, shipping included? Mrs. Thatcher’s War takes a very different approach to Where There is Discord, and focuses a lot on the land campaign, which Where There is Discord basically compresses into just the landing. It’s probably the only weakness in WTID, and Mr.s Thatcher’s War exploits it to offer a game that has an interesting, heterogeneous decision space as well as a brutal clock: two things essential in a solitaire game. I’ve only played it two times (both losses) but the second game was almost immediately after the first when I said, “I gotta do that again.” I almost never do that. R. Ben Madison has designed a “British Wars Trilogy” for White Dog which is composed of Don’t Tread on Me, N: The Napoleonic Wars, and this game. He also did the not-well-received-in-some-quarters Mound Builders. This one is definitely worth checking out.
#4. Silver Bayonet - 25th Anniversary Edition (GMT Games - Gene Billingsley and Mitch Land)
This is kind of a cop-out, since the original game (see @sharaleo’s post above) came out in 1990, and the “anniversary edition” was actually two years late so is really a “27th Anniversary Edition” but the game is so good that who cares. They upgraded (way upgraded) the art and physical components, and made some rules tweaks that streamlined the system without taking anything meaningful away. I got one long session in this spring, and it reminded me what I loved about this game 27 years ago. It’s the best operational Vietnam game I’ve played, and there are tons of them out there if you look at the S&T and Wargamer ouevre over the years. The only problem is that the campaigns play long. They are worth it.
#3. Time of Crisis (GMT Games - Wray Ferrell and Brad Johnson)
I am up to four plays of this, and not one time have I finished. That has nothing to do with the game, which I am still convinced a group of experienced players could finish in under three hours, but because of circumstances unique to each playing. However, my last playing, in which it took me forty minutes to teach the game and then we made substantial progress in a further two hours, convinced me that this is an outstanding game. The deckbuilder mechanic is designed in such a way that you can choose cards from your draw deck, which I actually forgot in one of the times I was teaching it! The constant pressures on players are easy to identify but hard to deal with, and do a great job of evoking the historical period. Turns play quickly but there are lots of interesting decisions to make. The only problem is that I really don’t feel this scales well - two players is pointless, three is unbalanced. Only four does this game justice.
#2. Pericles (GMT Games - Mark Herman)
Boy, did I want to make this my favorite game of 2017. It’s a beautifully designed, elegant, not-at-all-complicated thunderclap of historical design inspiration, which uses several of Mark’s innovations to capture pretty much everything that was important about the Peloponnesian War. Yes, it’s abstract. Yes, it is a wargame. Is it better than Polis? I dunno - it sure is different. Don’t bother playing this with bots or whatever - you need four players for this, period. When you get them, you’ll be glad you did.
#1. Holland '44 (GMT Games - Mark Simonitch)
When I honestly asked myself which game I most enjoyed playing this year, and which gave me the most satisfaction as a wargamer, it had to be this. I’m a wargamer, I like hexes, I like combat results tables, and I like epic battles. I also like games where the mechanics capture what I think “feels important” about the historical situation. Market-Garden sure was epic, and the airborne drop and supply, the disruption, and the bloody CRT all combine to make what I think has to be the best game so far on this subject. (Sorry, Monty’s Gamble and Hell’s Highway.) I also love the simple way Simonitch models the road congestion for XXX Corps. This is my favorite “wargame” in a long time.
Honorable mentions go to Falling Sky, Fields of Despair, and Wing Leader: Supremacy although the last one is really just an add-on for Wing Leader: Victories. But I included what is basically a re-issue in Silver Bayonet in my top five, so I can go easy here, too.
