- Alan
I want this so badly.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Power Grid yet - currently #3 on the Geek. It’s all about buying power plants in an auction and powering cities. Yes that sounds boring - and everyone has said so before playing the game - but it is a blast.
“Money isn’t everything, but it is a tie-braker in Power Grid.”
I found Power Grid a bit too heavy on the counting end. I don’t find it entertaining to constantly crunch numbers in my head to see what I can afford and how to optimally spend my incomes and it only gets worse as the game moves on, or the number of players increases.
#1: World War II: Barbarossa to Berlin
#2: Twilight Struggle
#3: Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! - Russia 1941-1942
#4: War of the Ring
#5: Storm Over Stalingrad
#6: A Victory Lost
#7: Unhappy King Charles
#8: Combat Commander: Europe
#9: Battlestar Galactica
#10: Bonaparte at Marengo
My current favorites:
Dominion– As everyone has said, it’s easy to learn, quick to play, and a blast. I’ve taught it to a lot of non-board game people who tend to get it on the first game and enjoy it a lot.
1960: Making of the President– I’m not sure how to describe this game, because it’s the only game of its type I’ve played. It’s a very involved 2-player game. There’s some really interesting choices. You play cards, and almost every card you play has ulterior benefits and can be played to numerous different affects. It actually wasn’t hard for me to learn during the first game. I’ve only played (and lost) twice so far, but I’m finding the game really intriguing and am excited to try again.
The Battle for Hill 218– This is probably my favorite game I own. It’s just a deck of cards, so it’s very mobile. I tend to keep a deck in my backpack at school to play during downtime between class. It’s a 2-player game that’s short and pretty simple but has a lot of depth. Strategy is all about locations and attack directions much in the same way Chess is. It’s also really cheap. I think I got it for $7.
After playing the moderately more complex C&C Ancients, I find it rather hard going back to Memoir '44. Memoir is certainly better for introducing new players to the system, but I’d say Ancients is where it’s at right now.
One step up in complexity (+ a step towards wargaming) is indeed Conflict of Heroes, which has been mentioned here already. I have found it to be a very nice, fast paced ‘first wargame’. CoH is likely to become my substitute for ASL which I don’t have the time or strength to pick up any more.
“The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich” used to be a rainy camping trip staple. Alas, no one will touch it anymore. I still consider this the king of stand alone strategy board games. (ie everything comes in one box rather than a library of 30 odd books, individual die cast models, 50 individually sold maps, etc.) It’s not for the feint of heart or short of time but is a great game if you have four ubernerds in a room for a day.
For parties with mixed company I like to break out the “Ticket To Ride” series because they’re easy to learn, have a random element so no ‘pwnerers’ end up winning every time, and have a pretty involved strategic level beneath the accessable exterior.
For a new take on the Risk franchise check out Risk 2210 (or some such, don’t remember the exact year). It tacks on a LOT of additional rules and territories to make Risk fanatics heads spin.
Since BSW got mentioned, I won’t feel any shame in mentioning GameTable Online where you can also try out more than 20 online board games for free. Including Axis & Allies, 1960: The Making of the President, Euphrat & Tigris, Vegas Showdown, RoboRally, Battle Cry, and others.
Our implementation of Battle Cry has led me into a deep love of the Command & Colors system. Even if it is the least refined of the games.
Mem '44: Any game that could get my eight year old son excited about recreating WWII battles totally rocks.
Battlelore: Because it’s fun. Make no mistake though, this game could have been better - and hopefully will be.
Tide of Iron: Mem '44 was the perfect introduction and ToI is the segue way to almost a true wargame.
Settlers of Catan: My fave family game
Game of Thrones: Fave multiplayer competitive game
Arkham Horror: Fave multiplayer co-op game
Wooden Ships and Iron Men: Fave grognard game, warts and all. Play this game with cheapie Pirates of the Spanish Main minis and I DARE you not to grin while you sail your ships around and have at the enemy.
I really dislike Tide of Iron. It’s so incredibly fiddly to set up and play, but the actual gameplay is still shallower and less interesting than the alternative games.
Conflict of Heroes and Combat Commander don’t have the plastic minis, but they’re both much better games in about the same weight class.
Conflict of Heroes has those awesome 1" counters too which for me are almost as good as minis.
I’d love Tide of Iron if it took 15 minutes to set up instead of 45.
People mentioned Battlestar Galactica, but they didn’t say what makes it great: it’s semi-cooperative game with running threads of mistrust and betrayal. Each turn triggers a new crisis that, if not resolved, causes a loss of resources (population, morale, etc.), all while players frantically try to push the fleet to the next Jump. The mechanics for skill checks allow for other players to secretly screw them up – which they may want to do, because they may be a cylon. The way the game mimics the series is fantastic, and it doesn’t sacrifice gameplay for flavour.
Red November is a fairly new cooperative game. You’re WarCraft-esque goblins in a doomed submarine, frantically trying to stave off disaster till rescue comes.
In Chrononauts, players play “Inverters” (such as Avert Disaster) on “Linchpins” in history that affect “Ripplepoints” in later years. This causes a paradox, which can then be “Patched” to create an alternate history. Players win by restoring history to one that matches their secret origin, or by finding the right artifacts to satisfy a secret collection mission.
Also good: Settlers of Catan, StarCraft: The Board Game, Pimp: The Backhanding (mature players only!), Gloom, Twilight Imperium, and the Munchkin games, especially Munchkin Cthulhu.
(If you haven’t done so, check out Fantasy Flight’s support site for Arkham Horror. Apart from the FAQ and errata, registered users can download additional scenarios, Heralds, and a set of official Investigators based on Penny-Arcade’s Gabe and Tycho.)
People mentioned Battlestar Galactica, but they didn’t say what makes it great: it’s semi-cooperative game with running threads of mistrust and betrayal. Each turn triggers a new crisis that, if not resolved, causes a loss of resources (population, morale, etc.), all while players frantically try to push the fleet to the next Jump. The mechanics for skill checks allow for other players to secretly screw them up – which they may want to do, because they may be a cylon. The way the game mimics the series is fantastic, and it doesn’t sacrifice gameplay for flavour.
Glad to read this. BG is one I’m seriously considering as my next purchase. Whats the difficulty level and time to play a game like?
It’s much more straightforward that most Fantasy Flight games, nowhere near as fiddly as Arkham Horror.
Fans of the series really like it. If you’ve got BG geeks in your playgroup, it’s probably an automatic buy. For me, it’s good but not great. When the Cylons are revealed, the air kind of leaves the game.
If it’s a co-op you’re looking for, give Pandemic a look. I still think it’s a cut above BG.
it sounds like the Battlestar Galactica game is really similar to Shadows over Camelot, which is the one board game ive gotten the most mileage out of recently.
Gearing up for a 4+ player game of Paths of Glory soon - its even more fun if multiple people on either side representing different allied countries get to argue over ops points and which event cards to play
My Favs right now:
DUNE: all time number uno. This game is very much along the lines of a eurogame in that there is very little luck and mostly skill. It’s theme captures Frank Herbert’s books REALLY well. Lots of diplomacy, backstabbing, warfare, etc. Really works when you’ve got 4-5 players.
THEBES: great eurogame that has a fitting archealogical theme. you can play 2-4 players well.
Memoir '44: Not so much a grognard, this is about as deep as I will go. Plus its easy to teach the kids. 2player.
RED NOVEMBER: good co-op game.
Jorune
Here I Stand
It’s a lot of fun if you can get six players together.
I have the Starcraft board game, but just haven’t found enough time to play it. I really need to sometime soon.
I don’t know if we’re doing it wrong, but every time I’ve played the BSG board game, the Cylons have won handily. It really feels unbalanced, to the point that it isn’t fun to play the game from the human side because there is nothing you can do except prolong the inevitable.