Any strategy board gamers here?

Johng316 · « **on:** 29 Dec 2003, 09:17 pm »

Just wondering if there were any serious gamers here.

I used to play Star Fleet Battles competitively back before it became a computer game (Star Fleet Command). Used to play a lot of Chess, too. I play risk when i get the time, but I find it to be too simplistic. Just got Settlers of Catan for Christmas, and I am enjoying that.

Any other really good strategy board games out there? Since most of my friends are not nearly so rabid about the beauty and challenge of strategy games, which ones are good but appeal to a "broader" audience? Catan will probably suffice, since it can be taught in about 10 minutes.

What (non-computer) games are fun? What do you like?

John G

Tyson · « **Reply #1 on:** 29 Dec 2003, 09:34 pm »

Since I discovered it about 3 years ago, the only one I play is Weiqi (chinese name, also spelled Wei-chi occasionally) and also goes by the name Go (Japanese name). It's one of those "takes six minutes to learn, takes a lifetime to master" type of game. They've even got an international Go server that you can play against others on-line at http://www.pandanet.co.jp/English/

Chess starts with a full board and is basically a game of destruction achieved via strategy and tactics. Go starts with an empty board and is as much about building as about attacking.

Playing online is OK, but to really learn to love the game it should be played against another person in real life, on a physical board w/the glass stones, or preferable with the shell and slate stones. There is something physically beautiful about a game of Go that is in progress, and you only get that sense of tactile beauty in real life, it is absent from online play.

If you want to get a board and pieces, I've used www.samarkand.net several times in the past and they are very reliable.

Sotantar · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Dec 2003, 05:40 am »

Abalone is a pretty great game. It involves pushing your opponents marbles of the board.

I also like Othello. It is sometimes called Reversi.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Dec 2003, 06:10 am »

RISK rocks if you spice it up (eg Secret mission risk, Capital Risk, etc). IMO it's only simplistic if your opponent is. The new PS2 Risk is online playable, so I may get a modem for my game if anyone else is playing. I might buy the LoTR Edition of Risk just for the collectible coolness.

I've been interested in trying Axis & Allies for awhile- I've watched but never played.

Used to play chess a lot, but I haven't played in a very long while (probably not since college in the 80's), so I'd likely suck now.

Anton K. · « **Reply #4 on:** 30 Dec 2003, 06:55 am »

chess!

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #5 on:** 30 Dec 2003, 07:28 am »

Ahhh! So that explains your Avatar, Tyson. Hmmm, I've never been exposed to Go before. I may have to buy a starter set. Very classy looking products on that site.

Johng316 · « **Reply #6 on:** 31 Dec 2003, 09:40 pm »

Hey everyone, thanks for all the ideas and replies.

Tyson, I'll probably be picking up "Go" sometime this year. That one looks like it has promise.

For now, I've put in an order for these two games, which both look pretty interesting, and I'll let you know how they play. Anyone here played these?

Twilight Imperium and San Marco.

Both of these look pretty interesting, but I'm especially eager to try Twilight Imperium.

Now all I need to do is rebuild a nice group of like-minded gamers. I'm told that Twilight Imperium has lots of PBEM folks out there, so if there are others here who'd like to PBEM, please let me know.

Cheers!

John G

Tyson · « **Reply #7 on:** 31 Dec 2003, 11:15 pm »

Rob (or anyone), if you want to play with me sometime, we can use the international Go Server I linked in my first post. There's even a chat feature so we can talk while we play. My id is tyort1 so you can search for me there, but the best thing is to send me a private message here on AC to set a time. It's a lot easier to get in to the swing of the game if you play against someone willing to take the time to explain the ins-and-outs and generally accepted strategy points.

Johng316 · « **Reply #8 on:** 7 Jan 2004, 05:19 pm »

Yay! I found my copy of Robo Rally!

This is one of the best "spatial" games ever. Very fun. Good for chess players, and I'd bet the "Go" players out there would enjoy it.

It was a $40 game when I bought it, but now that it's out of print, it's selling for big bucks on e-bay. Too bad. This was a really great game.

John G

bubba966 · « **Reply #9 on:** 7 Jan 2004, 05:34 pm »

Puerto Rico is fairly easy to learn the basics of. I've only played it once so far, but would play it again given the chance.

Settlers is fun, haven't tried the expansions/variations on Settlers yet. Has anybody else done so?

OBF · « **Reply #10 on:** 8 Jan 2004, 07:11 pm »

Just wanted to 2nd the Axis and Allies suggestion to anyone who likes Risk. It's more complex, but still very easy to play and learn. The extra complexity is a good thing as the games have more variation. I used to play the board game as a kid and have enjoyed a couple games since. Also a computer version which makes it easier and faster to play, but last I heard there were a couple annoying glitches. The only issue is an evenly matched game between two people who play a war of attrition rather than an all-out strategy can last days.

John, I used to play a lot of SFB and used to think it was by far the best strategy game out there (there must be thousands of pages of rules and addendums), but I tried playing a game a couple years ago and found it tough to get into and kind of boring for some reason.

Johng316 · « **Reply #11 on:** 23 Sep 2004, 04:31 pm »

Hey all,

I just ordered a few more games:

Acquire
Octi Extreme Tyson, you would probably like this one if you like GO. On sale at Funagain for cheap.
Carcassonne
SET

But the reigning champion of my gaming closet remains Settlers of Catan. Settlers has immense replay value, there is tons of fun interaction between players, and the random setup means never the same game twice. The more I play this, the more fun I have. I have hooked several friends on the game. If you don't have this game, BUY IT.

Tyson, I'm still interested in GO and will pick that up soon.

More games on my list to get:

Starfarers of Catan
Puerto Rico
Union Pacific

I have pledged to my family that I'll be buying one new game per month this year, and I've fallen behind.

What else do you like to play?

John

Mag · « **Reply #12 on:** 24 Sep 2004, 02:23 am »

I've been an avid strategy wargamer for many years,but haven't played much lately. I'm not familiar with some of the games you mentioned. I am a fairly decent chess player but haven't played that much lately either. I have played Go a couple time and found the strategy difficult to grasp the first few games. I have Axis & Allies Iron Blitz addition which gives you more variations than the original version and I don't recall glitches that plaqued the original.
The games I played in my hay day. Squad Leader, Russian Caimpaign, Third Reich, 5th Fleet, Flat Top, Midway, Caeser Alisia, Fortress Europe,Diplomacy, Conquistador, Longest Day,Victory in the Pacific,King Maker, Rail Baron,Panzer Leader,Panzer Blitz, Wizards Quest, Anzio, Alexander, Speed Circuit, Dauntless, Circus Maximus, Luftwaffe.
Other games I still have Supremacy,Hitler's War, Gudarion, Gulf Strike, Arab Israeli Wars, League of Nations, War in the Pacific, Up Front.

jqp · « **Reply #13 on:** 24 Sep 2004, 02:53 am »

*Ahem* should this post be in Enders Game, the gaming circle?

satfrat · « **Reply #14 on:** 24 Sep 2004, 07:01 am »

Rob Bobcock wrote

Quote

Used to play chess a lot, but I haven't played in a very long while (probably not since college in the 80's), so I'd likely suck now.
__

I too at one time loved to play chess tho I never got very good at the game, it use to give me a headache. Too much strain on the brain I'm afraid.

Still, it was interesting so long as I stayed within the novice ranks. Now tho at 53 and on my first computer, flying's my thing. Combat Flight Simulator and Il-2 Sturmovik keep me busy with MSN Music for background. Makes me feel like Tom Cruise of 1942.

Regards, Robin

Eric · « **Reply #15 on:** 24 Sep 2004, 02:22 pm »

I enjoy the various Civil War strategy games

Hegemony · « **Reply #16 on:** 18 Nov 2004, 01:33 am »

hi guys,

I have been playing Go now for about 8 months. It is a fairly addictive game but the more you play the more you realise you know nothing, which makes you study it more....all more study does is make you realise you have more to learn than when you started.

It is fun though, and stressful, in a good way.
If you haven't tried it give it a go....but be prepared.

Cheers,
Russ

The Killer Piglet · « **Reply #17 on:** 12 May 2005, 06:30 am »

When I was in high school and college, I used to play quite a bit of them.
Like Mag, mostly the Avalon Hill games: Tobruk, Midway, Caser: Alexia, Third Reich, Storm Over Arhem, Panzer Blitz/Leader, . Some SPI games as well. We actually had more SPI games than any other publisher, but their games tended to be unwieldy (Air War, ha! imagine a flight simulator represented on a 2d surface , doing all the calcs manually...) to play and had much lower quality components (paper maps vs. mounted, cheap counters).

Of course, if you were a sub of their magazine (Strategy & Tactics, I think it was called) you were getting a new game every other months, which helped up the count.

Heck, dozens of them. Mostly, though we played the Squad Leader series, up to Crescendo of Doom.
At that point, the rules started getting a bit silly and in the way of the game, so we played mostly with the Cross of Iron rules and a few selected rules from CoD.

Of course, finding folks to play these games was hard enough back then (mostly History majors), and now with computers, heck, I don't even want to play them myself any more. Just the time it took to setup a map... and days to play through a scenario. Not to mention, hours or days to read and grasp the rules.

KP