Favorite Board Games

[Rain Man]

I like wargames, and there are a couple that are my favorites.

First, there's an old SPI game called Conquistador. Great play system and concept. You had to first explore new lands and then settle them, and as the game progressed you evolved from looting and trying to survive to building lasting settlements and eventually trying to destroy other players' settlements. I love it even though I've never been able to play a full game since it takes 20+ hours to play a game.

Another game I really like is an old Avalon Hill game called Tobruk. It's a game of British/German WWII battles in North Africa, and has a great game system. It was played on a level of individual tanks and soldiers. My friends and I would abandon the plain North Africa map and play it on Squad Leader game boards to get more fun out of it.

I also like Outreach, a game of exploration throughout the universe, and Civilization (not the video game, but rather the board game where you tried to build cities and take over other players' land, and you had a period of trade each turn where you tried to build up your commodities.

[Kraus]

I still love Risk.

[Stewie]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Another game I really like is an old Avalon Hill game called Tobruk.

Avalon Hill also made Rail Baron. It's one of the best board games out there if you can find it.

[RealSNR]

I have a bizarre attraction to Clue. Maybe it's the metal weapons on the board or the sexy portrait of Miss Scarlet... I'm not quite sure.

[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by SNR

I have a bizarre attraction to Clue. Maybe it's the metal weapons on the board or the sexy portrait of Miss Scarlet... I'm not quite sure.

Ever played Clue: Master Detective?

http://www.amazon.com/Clue-Master-De.../dp/B000PESP6M

It was only out for a little bit a long time ago, but it's the original game, plus added characters (10), weapons (8) and rooms (13). It's awesome.

[Infidel Goat]

Originally Posted by Fire Me Boy!

Ever played Clue: Master Detective?

http://www.amazon.com/Clue-Master-De.../dp/B000PESP6M

It was only out for a little bit a long time ago, but it's the original game, plus added characters (10), weapons (8) and rooms (13). It's awesome.

The Harry Potter Clue game (yes, I have kids) is actually pretty good. There are some new wrinkles to the game (secret passages between rooms change throughout gameplay, helper cards that protect you from bad stuff that happens periodically, etc).

More fun than the orginal (to me at least).

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Stewie

Avalon Hill also made Rail Baron. It's one of the best board games out there if you can find it.

Rail Baron is one of my favorite beer & pretzel type games (i.e. the type that doesn't take much concentration). It's designed in a way that there are almost always 2 or 3 players who have a shot at winning until the last couple of rolls of the dice.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Rail Baron is one of my favorite beer & pretzel type games (i.e. the type that doesn't take much concentration). It's designed in a way that there are almost always 2 or 3 players who have a shot at winning until the last couple of rolls of the dice.

I've never played Rail Baron. I'll have to give it a try at some point...though that's a futile cause right now. I bet it's been ten years since I've been able to sit down with a board game. I miss doing that.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I've never played Rail Baron. I'll have to give it a try at some point...though that's a futile cause right now. I bet it's been ten years since I've been able to sit down with a board game. I miss doing that.

It's a pretty mindless game so it's good for mixed company when you want to sit around and talk while playing a game (as opposed to a group of gaming geeks who want to spend all their time calculating odds for their next turn's moves). I'd say the strategy level is on par with a game like Risk.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Another game I really like is an old Avalon Hill game called Tobruk. It's a game of British/German WWII battles in North Africa, and has a great game system. It was played on a level of individual tanks and soldiers. My friends and I would abandon the plain North Africa map and play it on Squad Leader game boards to get more fun out of it.

Heh, I played that as a kid in the 70s.

I used to play a ton of tabletop baseball -- APBA, Strat-o-matic, Pursue the Pennant, Statis-pro, Sherco ...

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

and Civilization (not the video game, but rather the board game where you tried to build cities and take over other players' land, and you had a period of trade each turn where you tried to build up your commodities.

I only played Advanced Civ, which I think was the version 2.0 of Civ, but a great game. Bit long however, but a great game.

For myself, Titan remains an all-time favorite. I am also fond of the various Settlers of Catan games, Puerto Rice is fun, the various 18XX Railroad games, and various others.

Star Fleet Battles is awesome, though LONG as hell.

I never got into Advanced Squad Leader, however. That one was more than I could bear.

Sadly, I hardly have time for board games these days. I'm slowly getting my two boys into them however. Right now we're on Battleship and Sorry.

[Brock]

Risk. Best ever.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

I never got into Advanced Squad Leader, however. That one was more than I could bear.

Same here. The game system seemed really unwieldy to me, though admittedly I only played it a couple of times. We would buy the game boards for use with our own wargames or with Tobruk, though, because ASL maps were great for tactical-level wargames.

[Adept Havelock]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

I like wargames, and there are a couple that are my favorites.

First, there's an old SPI game called Conquistador. Great play system and concept. You had to first explore new lands and then settle them, and as the game progressed you evolved from looting and trying to survive to building lasting settlements and eventually trying to destroy other players' settlements. I love it even though I've never been able to play a full game since it takes 20+ hours to play a game.

Another game I really like is an old Avalon Hill game called Tobruk. It's a game of British/German WWII battles in North Africa, and has a great game system. It was played on a level of individual tanks and soldiers. My friends and I would abandon the plain North Africa map and play it on Squad Leader game boards to get more fun out of it.

I also like Outreach, a game of exploration throughout the universe, and Civilization (not the video game, but rather the board game where you tried to build cities and take over other players' land, and you had a period of trade each turn where you tried to build up your commodities.

Tobruk and Civilization were great. Never played Conquistador, but it sounds like fun.

My top 5 boardgames:

1) Diplomacy- No dice. Just skill and the ability to manipulate your opponents.

2) Supremacy- A more realistic "Risk" meets "Diplomacy" and "Monopoly" with nukes, boomer subs, armored divisions, chemical and unconventional weapons, etc. Oh, and boring but important things like economics and trade.

3) Avalon Hill's The Russian Campaign- Great strategic level game of the 41-45 war.

4) Avalon Hill's Dune- With the right 6 players, one of the best cutthroat gaming experiences ever.

5) Milton Bradley's Axis and Allies- Best "beer and pretzels" wargame I've ever played. Fortress America is almost tied with it, as one of the best balanced games I've ever played.

Originally Posted by Amnorix

Star Fleet Battles is awesome, though LONG as hell.

Yes, yes it was. It was a wonderful day for me when the system was used as the basis for the Starfleet Command computer games (Especially Version 2 and Orion Pirates). Ever play the strategic version Federation and Empire?

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Adept Havelock

4) Avalon Hill's Dune- With the right 6 players, one of the best cutthroat gaming experiences ever.

That's another one of my old favorites. But like you suggest, it really takes 5 or 6 players to make it work well and it's been a long time since I've been around 4 or 5 other gamers.