Posted on 12/10/2012 11:04:11 AM PST by 1rudeboy
My New Favorite Store, and I Haven't Even Been There. Plus, Christmas Game Recommendations
In my high school days, I used to play a lot of wargames from Avalon Hill and SPI. I once spent an entire summer playing one game of War in Europe, which had a 42-square-foot map of Europe and 3500 or so pieces. Each turn was one week, so it was literally a full time job getting through it in a couple of months.
All that is to say I spent a lot of time hanging out at game stores, particularly Nan's in Houston (a great game and comic store that still exists and I still visit every time I am in Houston). I play fewer wargames now, but I still like strategy games that are a bit more complicated than Monopoly or Risk. But it is hard to find a game store with a good selection (if there is one here in Phoenix, I have not found it).
But I definitely want to try this place -- the Complete Strategist in New York City. Click through for some good game pr0n.
His list of games is good, though I have never played Gloom and I have never been a huge fan of Carcassonne. Ticket to Ride is an awesome game and is perhaps the most accessible for kids and noobs of either his or my list. If you recognize none of these games, it is a great place to start (there is also a great iPad app). To his list of games I would add:
All of these games tend to present simple choices with extraordinarily complex scoring implications. In most cases, one must build infrastructure early to score later, but the trade-off of when to switch from infrastructure building to scoring is the trick. Five years ago Settlers of Catan would have been on any such list, but it is interesting it is on neither his nor mine.
Once you catch the bug, there are hundreds of other games out there. My son and I last summer got caught up in a very complex Game of Thrones expandable card game. Recommended only for those who love incredible complexity and are familiar with the books. There are also a couple of games I have liked but only played once so far. My son and I last summer played a fabulous though stupidly complex game of Twilight Struggle (about the Cold War, not hot vampire teens). This is considered by many to be one of the greatest war / strategy games ever. We also tried Eclipse (space game, again not the teen vampires) which we liked. I have played Le Havre and Puerto Rico as iPad apps. They were OK, but I think the fun in them is social and the of course does not come through in the iPad app. In the same vein, tried to play Agricola with my kids and they were bored stiff.
Update: When in doubt, research it on Board Game Geek. Their game ranking by user voting is here.
It’s always important to be the owner of Nuke War in your crowd of gamer friends. I myself have never played a game where I didn’t go first.
Myself, I was a “Wizardry” and Ultima junky on my Apple //e. Modern stuff, blowing things up, I like the basic game of “Continuum,” sort of like an online team version of the old “Spacewar” game, some “Anarchy Online” and I love “World of
Tanks.” My best tank is the basic, no-frill Sherman with the 105mm gun, I won the game for my team with that a few times.
Freecell is fun too.
You are a true aficionado, and a reader of the rules. :)
Have you tried Total War series - it’s a computer game, but provides both strategic and tactical down to the individual unit for a number of historical eras.
I wasn’t able to do much RPG when younger due to be out in the boonies and very few others interested, but was able to find a few others once I hit college and the fleet...good times.
Spent many a weekend playing Rail Baron. For shorter terms we did a lot of King Maker. And for real short terms Acquire. I also liked Star Fleet Battles but never really found a good group.
Speed Circuit was a blast!
Jutland!
Jutland was fun, too, although my brother traditionally plays German . . . and I would get shot to pieces.
Now, wait a minute. In the 60s the AH boxes were clearly labeled for 10 years and up. Do you really want to confess that here?
(I also started playing AH games in the 60s at 9 years old - Battle of the Bulge... good times)
The NappyOne
My mom bought me PanzerBlitz when I was in 7th grade.
-PJ
I'm actually not a 'games' kinda guy, and had never played that one, even tho it's been lurking on this 7 machine since purchase .. lol
I never played Kingmaker, but always wanted to try. SFB was another one but the ship charts always put me off.
This from a guy who has the overrun FP formula in ASL committed to memory. Who knew.
Panzerblitz, or as we liked to call it, “Panzerbush”. I loved the idea of gaming at that scale. Then came Squad Leader and Advanced Squad Leader, and hundreds of pages of rules in fine print. Good stuff. About the time ASL came out I ran out of time to spend on gaming. Maybe after i retire in a few years ...
Cheers,
The NappyOne
Yeah, that was it! I just looked it up on Amazon. They actual have a listing for it and some used copies reasonably cheap. I might have to order a copy for old times sake.
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