Board Game Suggestions

[MerricB]

I would say that we're about 50/50 as far as the strategy and beer & pretzel ratio goes. We like to goof off during game time and generally hang out, but we also don't want a simple repetitive game with no strategy. Nothing that's excrutiatingly game heavy, but has substance nonetheless.

As far as themes we'd like to branch off from traditional D&D fantasy (possibly sci-fi, warfare, gaslamp, etc.), and our games usually go for around 8 hours or so. I don't see a problem if the suggested game was such that we'd have to leave the board set up for a continuation the next week either.

With these provisos, I would recommend you get more than one boardgame! 8 hours is a long time for a boardgame to take to play, and is generally a feature of the wargames. I regularly (fortnightly) have boardgame days, lasting 8-12 hours each, and we get through 5-10 boardgames in that time.

If you haven't visited BoardGameGeek.com yet, I strongly recommend that you do so. It's the best place I know of to find out about the world of current boardgames.

Cheers!

 

[Lazybones]

Add my vote for Settlers of Catan. Carcassone is also fun and easy to learn, tough to master (timing on placing those farmers is critical). 5-6 player Catan takes about 90 minutes, Carcassone an hour.

 

[MerricB]

Add my vote for Settlers of Catan. Carcassone is also fun and easy to learn, tough to master (timing on placing those farmers is critical). 5-6 player Catan takes about 90 minutes, Carcassone an hour.

I really enjoy both Settlers and Carcassonne.

However, note that Settlers is properly a 4-player game - I'd advise playing it as such before going to 5+ players.

Carcassonne is best with 2-3 players, good with 4, and poor with 5-6. Love the game, but you don't really get enough actions with 5 players.

Cheers!

 

[Pozatronic]

Twilight Imperium 3rd edition is also excellent - though on the long side. It also really needs the expansion rules to shed itself of some rules inbalancing in the basic version.

Could someone elaborate on this? I just plunked down $70 bucks for the game. Is it at all enjoyable without these rule fixes? Me and my friends and pretty new to boardgaming (we've been playing Axis & Allies the past two months) and I really wanted something not so repetitive, but something that's not too much more difficult. Do I really need the expansion to enjoy Twilight Imperium?


Also: is War of the Ring possible to play with three players?

 

[moritheil]

How about Risk or Diplomacy?

 

[Ahzad]

i would recommend Arkham Horror and it's expansions, Tannhauser, Tide of Iron, Robo Rally as some our groups favorite board games, and our all time favorite card game Killer Bunnies.

 

[MerricB]

Could someone elaborate on this? I just plunked down $70 bucks for the game. Is it at all enjoyable without these rule fixes? Me and my friends and pretty new to boardgaming (we've been playing Axis & Allies the past two months) and I really wanted something not so repetitive, but something that's not too much more difficult. Do I really need the expansion to enjoy Twilight Imperium?

No. We enjoyed our first few games without the expansion just fine. However, now we've got it we won't go back.

What you *do* need is the text for the Imperial II card. You see, the major problem with the original game is the "Imperial" card. It makes the game very random with its end, and quite unsatisfying.

Use it in place of the original Imperial card and you have a much better game.

Also: is War of the Ring possible to play with three players?

Yes. Two dark-side players, one Free Peoples player.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

i would recommend Arkham Horror and it's expansions, Tannhauser, Tide of Iron, Robo Rally as some our groups favorite board games, and our all time favorite card game Killer Bunnies.

Yeah, Arkham Horror is great. RoboRally I find a bit too random these days, but Killer Bunnies is excellent (if completely wacky once you use all the expansions).

I'm not so fond of Tide of Iron (give me Combat Commander, ASL or Memoir '44 instead!), and I haven't played Tannhauser.

Cheers!

 

[el-remmen]

Puerto Rico: This one is far less strategic, but if you want just casual gaming this is a fast and solid game. Timewise it is one of the most consistent ones I've played, pretty much an hour every time I play it.

I was going to recommend this game too, but I find it to be very strategic and our games usually take 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Ticket to Ride is another great simple but fun board game, and I second Settlers of Cataan.

 

[Steel_Wind]

i would recommend Arkham Horror and it's expansions, Tannhauser, Tide of Iron, Robo Rally as some our groups favorite board games, and our all time favorite card game Killer Bunnies.

Well, I think you have to go back and look at what the OP was asking for.

He wanted:

• A five player game
• Competitive player against player
• War theme
• Longish game to play.
• mentions miniatures and Ameritrashy games as possibilities he was considering

Arkham Horror and Shadows over Camelot are co-operative games. (Shadows has the traitor feature, but it's still a co-op game).

War of the Ring is not a five player game

Carcassonne is not very competitive and is iffy with five player.

Tide of Iron is a 2 player game. As a four player game its kind of sucky. There simply is no five player variant for this.

Battlelore and Memoir '44 are 2 player games at heart.

Settlers of Catan is a 4 player game without the expansion, and is not terribly competitive (Though it is a great game. My family loves it).

TannHauser. I have to dissent from this one. I think this is a pretty game to look at - but a poor one to play.

Ticket to Ride, the quintessential Euro softball game is not the war themed strategy competition he was looking for.

By the time you go through all of the requested features, I think you are left with Twilight Imperium 3rd ed and Game of Thrones which best satisfies his requested features that game should have.

He's in a D&D gaming group. The fantasy medieval themes in George RR Martin's Game of Thrones should go over well. And it is, most assuredly, a competitive strategy game with shifting elements from turn to turn that is perfect for five players.