Reading this thread brings back fond memories of playing games like Conquest of the Empire, Axis and Allies, and Fortress America. Those were good times. Does anyone still make games like those anymore? I think I still have a copy of A&A in a box in my basment somewhere.
They certainly do. My friend, Randy, has about 5 versions of Axis and Allies - Avalon Hill (Wizards/Hasbro) have kept that one alive.
Fantasy Flight Games is the most likely company to do the big box & lots of plastic figures games - games like Starcraft and Twilight Imperium.
Eagle Games reimplemented Conquest of the Empire a few years ago; we have that one.
Fortress America is not really a game I'm familiar with, though I know the name.
It's fun, but after only two games, I'm still learning the system. It used a programmed instruction set, which is great, but it means I haven't even scratched the surface.
Lighter than either CC:E or ASL (of course!). Heavier than M44. More fun than Tide of Iron... but I really don't like that game. Way too fiddly!
Cheers!
Thanks for the report. I'm looking forward to learning more about this game in the future.
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Despite having all three boxes of A Game of Thrones (the original plus the two expansions), I've only gotten to play it twice (one 3-person game, one 5-person game). So the jury's still out. I'm just too big a fan of the books not to own the games.
A while back someone was developing an online version, but that probably got killed by lawyers.
I'm appalled by the complete lack of discussion regarding Twilight Struggle in this thread. It is easily my number 1 (noticed MerricB rated it the same).
I've never played a board game with such drama and tension. It is fantastic! The cold war theme is great and it works wonderfully with the influence mechanics. The cards themselves are also great, from the presentation to the effects.
Definitely recommend it to wargamers or boardgamers looking for something unique, but challenging and fun.
I'm appalled by the complete lack of discussion regarding Twilight Struggle in this thread. It is easily my number 1 (noticed MerricB rated it the same).
I've never played a board game with such drama and tension. It is fantastic! The cold war theme is great and it works wonderfully with the influence mechanics. The cards themselves are also great, from the presentation to the effects.
Definitely recommend it to wargamers or boardgamers looking for something unique, but challenging and fun.
I like twilight strugle, but it could never be number 1, simply because it is a 2 player game and has a long setup time for a two player game. Whereas Agricola is not my favorite game (that will always be held by die macher), i can see why it is a highly rated game. Its pretty flawless from a mechanical point of view.
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I finally got a chance to play Agricola on Monday. Pretty good game. Definitely more deserving of the #1 spot than Puerto Rico. We played a 4-player game with 2 experienced players and 2 newbies (including myself). I came in 3rd.
Also got a chance to play Tigris & Euphrates yesterday which, despite being my favorite game, I've only played 3 times now. It was a 3-player game, one other player (Dan) had played it before though I'm not sure how experienced he was. The other (Derek) was completely new to it. Derek was rocking the treasures and won with 8 points. I got 7 and would have gotten 8 if I'd had 1 more treasure. Dan got screwed on green and only got 2 points.
I finally got a chance to play Agricola on Monday. Pretty good game. Definitely more deserving of the #1 spot than Puerto Rico. We played a 4-player game with 2 experienced players and 2 newbies (including myself). I came in 3rd.
Agricola is great fun, although I'm great at sabotaging myself.
Quote:
Also got a chance to play Tigris & Euphrates yesterday which, despite being my favorite game, I've only played 3 times now. It was a 3-player game, one other player (Dan) had played it before though I'm not sure how experienced he was. The other (Derek) was completely new to it. Derek was rocking the treasures and won with 8 points. I got 7 and would have gotten 8 if I'd had 1 more treasure. Dan got screwed on green and only got 2 points.
I've been happily teaching my class of y10 school kids Tigris & Euphrates this week. You really need to build monuments to win... but protecting them is kind of hard.
Last game I played, I used someone else's kingdom to build the monument, thus denuding them of green tiles. Then I took it over. That was fun!
I like twilight strugle, but it could never be number 1, simply because it is a 2 player game and has a long setup time for a two player game.
Twilight Struggle is my #1 game, and though it has a relatively long play time (2-3 hours), the set-up time is quite short; less than many other games in my experience, and certainly less than Agricola. Not quite sure why you say it has a long set-up time.
I've only played Twilight Struggle a handful of times, but so far it seems pretty cool. I understand why so many people like it. I also got 1960: The Making of the President, since I heard it was similar, and sounded like it might fit my tastes a tad better. After playing both, I find I like Twilight Struggle better. I have the same problem with both games, though, which is that I'm not very good at them.
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I've only played Twilight Struggle a handful of times, but so far it seems pretty cool. I understand why so many people like it. I also got 1960: The Making of the President, since I heard it was similar, and sounded like it might fit my tastes a tad better. After playing both, I find I like Twilight Struggle better. I have the same problem with both games, though, which is that I'm not very good at them.
1960 doesn't engage me the same way as TS; I personally think the mechanics are nowhere near as good. In TS, you've got a bunch of hand management going on, and card cycling is important. In 1960, it's once through the deck and some elements (like media) don't properly gel with the rest of the game.
1960 doesn't engage me the same way as TS; I personally think the mechanics are nowhere near as good. In TS, you've got a bunch of hand management going on, and card cycling is important. In 1960, it's once through the deck and some elements (like media) don't properly gel with the rest of the game.
Cheers!
I definitely agree about 1960, for the most part. I do kind of like the drawing cubes instead of rolling dice, but other than that Twilight Struggle is certainly superior. I do like any game where you can play as Nixon, though.
With Twilight Struggle, the only thing that keeps me from suggesting it very often is how long it takes. For whatever reason, I prefer two player games to be shorter. It's only if there are multiple people that I like it to go for very long. Of course, a long game of Twilight Struggle isn't necessarily always going to be the case, as your session report illustrates!
Every time I've played TS I've gotten stomped. I've only played it a handful of times since I've bought it, but each time I've felt somewhat overwhelmed by my choices, and I've had a hard time decided exactly what I wanted to do. Also, it didn't help that in those games I wasn't very familiar with the cards, which is something I've gotten better about.
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Twilight Struggle is my #1 game, and though it has a relatively long play time (2-3 hours), the set-up time is quite short; less than many other games in my experience, and certainly less than Agricola. Not quite sure why you say it has a long set-up time.
Cheers!
. Placing all the little pieces on the board, for a two player game is kinda of cumbersome. Look at something like Dominion which has at most a 5 minute setup. Twilight's other problem is the quality of components and the shabby board. The card stock is low for a game that is primary card playing and the board requires a half dozen books to keep straight. It seemed like there were easier ways to do without all the pieces.
__________________ Iron Dungeon Master Dreads
2009 Iron Players Championship
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. Placing all the little pieces on the board, for a two player game is kinda of cumbersome. Look at something like Dominion which has at most a 5 minute setup. Twilight's other problem is the quality of components and the shabby board. The card stock is low for a game that is primary card playing and the board requires a half dozen books to keep straight. It seemed like there were easier ways to do without all the pieces.
The board is getting the mounted treatment in the next edition. I wonder if you have a lower-quality card deck than I have, since my TS cards (and Randy's set) are as durable as any game I've seen; they're really good and on a pretty heavy card stock!
I count that each player needs to place about 12 counters on the board, plus 6 information markers. That's not that many and shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.
. Placing all the little pieces on the board, for a two player game is kinda of cumbersome. Look at something like Dominion which has at most a 5 minute setup. Twilight's other problem is the quality of components and the shabby board. The card stock is low for a game that is primary card playing and the board requires a half dozen books to keep straight. It seemed like there were easier ways to do without all the pieces.
My only problem is with my board lying flat, but it's good enough that it's not really big deal. Otherwise, I don't see very many criticisms. I mean, it's not super attractive, but it's certainly not hideous.
Also, I know of plenty of other 2 player games that have much more involved set up.
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