andy@altos86.UUCP (Andy Hatcher) (02/22/86)
My friends and I are looking for a change and we hate to spend money on games without knowing what they are like. So, I am soliciting opinions about board games that you may have played. We have a very steady group of about 6 people, but games for any number from 2 to 8 would be interesting. We have played: Axies and Allies (Allies always win) Conquest of the Empire (Catapults are everything) AD&D (Dungeon Masters are running out of ideas) Talisman (Has become stale) Illuminati (w/expansion) (So so) Civilization (Still good, but takes so long) Diplomacy (Ditto) Junta (We're not revolutionary enough, Pres. wins) Risk (So much luck) I would especially like to here about: Supremacy ($39.95 is it worth it) Dune If anybody would like to here my opinions about the games above, just let me know. Thanks, Andy Hatcher vecpyr!altos86!andy == Insert Standard Disclaimer Here ==
wjm@teddy.UUCP (02/27/86)
In article <185@altos86.UUCP> andy@gateway.UUCP (Andy Hatcher) writes: > >My friends and I are looking for a change and we hate to spend >money on games without knowing what they are like. So, I am >soliciting opinions about board games that you may have played. I like 1829 (by the orginal designers of Civilization, it also takes a long time, but it is worth it) Build railroad networks and companys in England Railway Rivals -- Draw a network and race from destination to destination Empire Builder (3-6) -- Draw your railroad network and transport goods. Titan (long game) -- Monster mash Scrabble Rail Baron (3-6) -- Build a network of American railroads Aquire (3-6) -- Build up chains of hotels (I assume from your list you are not interested in Military History games.) Enjoy bill masek
rtummers1@watrose.UUCP (Richard Tummers) (02/28/86)
> I would especially like to here about: > Supremacy ($39.95 is it worth it) A friend of mine here claims that supremacy is a very good game, and is definitly worth it! It's risk, so that non-gamers can actually comprehend it. And it's improved, so that more skill is involved.
cs111olg@ucla-cs.UUCP (03/01/86)
Supremacy IS NOT WORTH $40! At least that was the prevalent opinion of people at the ORCCON'86. I have asked MANY people. MOST of them had shelled out $34-$40 for it. ($34 was the convention price). I thought to buy it as well, but finally was convinced it just was not worth it. Now, don't take me wrong! The game is BEAUTIFUL! It is well produced, looks wonderful and a lot of people are tempted to buy it just because of the way it looks. Unfortunately, as most people had suggested, the game is flawd. The rules need fixing up. People do that in different ways, but the fact stands : the rules are not well balanced and need fixing to make the game truly playable. Still, too many drawbacks of RISK remain. And, the major disadvantage is of course the price. $40 is too much for any board game. If SUPREMACY was around $26 -- it would be reasonable. As for good new games: for RPG try a Super Hero game (any : Champions and V&V stand out) or Spy Games (like 007 or Danger International) or a Science Fiction game (like RingWorld, Traveller, others) for board games try : BORDERLANDS by Eon most games by SPI (now defunct, swallowed by TSR who discontinued practically EVERYTHING SPI had. Bastards!) Empire Builder & British Rails wait till Xmass and buy HIGH RISK, a new game that combines the best of DIPLOMACY, BORDERLANDS, RISK and few others.
jeff@hpcnoe.UUCP (03/01/86)
| My friends and I are looking for a change and we hate to spend | money on games without knowing what they are like. So, I am | soliciting opinions about board games that you may have played. | | We have a very steady group of about 6 people, but games for any | number from 2 to 8 would be interesting. I'd highly recommend the game Titan. I wouldn't normally recommend this game for beginning game players, but from your list of games, it looks like you won't be intimidated by the complexity. We only played the game with 2-4 players, so I don't know how the game works with more 5 or 6 players. Titan (Avalon Hill, ~$16, at hobby stores) Number of players: 2-6 Complexity: The instruction booklet is about 12 pages, the rules are fairly consistent that after the first game or so, you don't really need to refer to the rulebook at all. Playing time: 2-12 hours (can turn into a marathon game sometimes) Titan is a monster combat game. Players own piles of monsters and they move these piles around the board recruiting monsters and/or attacking other player's monster piles. In one of the monster piles, is the player's titan. If this titan character is killed, then the player is eliminated. The last one remaining in the game wins. The board contain intertwining hexes with different terrains (Jungle, Brush, Plains, Marsh, Hills, Woods, Swamp, Desert, Mountains, Tundra). The movement from each hex is restricted, so unlike many wargames (like Risk) it is not important to hold a section of the board. In each of the terrains, there are creatures that can be recruited if you have certain creatures in your pile. For example, two lowly centaurs can recruit a lion in the plains. The fun part of the game is trying to recruit higher and higher level creatures. There is a limit of seven characters in each pile, so the piles gets split up into more and more piles. When a pile moves onto a terrain occupied by another player, a battle occurs. This is where the higher level creatures pay off. They are likely to have more hit points, hit harder, move faster, can rangestrike, or can fly. The battle is resolved in a battlefield pertaining to the terrain. Each battlefield has hazards which hinder some creatures and give advantage to other creatures. For example, in the woods, there are trees, which gives the flying creatures an advantage since they can fly over them. The battles are like a game within the larger game. They can be thought of as a chess match with fewer (and different assortment of pieces). The winner of the battle (there has to be a loser) gets points which strengthen the titan. With matched experienced players, we find that the game tends to be long. One thing we do to alleviate the long playing time is to save the game on paper. I can mail these forms to anyone who is interested. We now can finish the game in 3-4 sittings of ~3 hours each. Other aids we use are small dice (we have 10 which is more than adequate) which mark the number of hit points left on the creature instead of the chit markers. They tend to more convinient than the chit markers. Also get about 6 more regular dice (for total of ten), this covers all the creatures with at most two throws (also it gives more satisifaction to throw a lot of dice when you have a higher level creature such as a serpent). -- Jeff Wu ..{ihnp4|hplabs}!hpfcla!j_wu
ccrrick@deneb.UUCP (03/01/86)
> We have a very steady group of about 6 people, but games for any > number from 2 to 8 would be interesting. > > We have played: > Axies and Allies (Allies always win) > Conquest of the Empire (Catapults are everything) > AD&D (Dungeon Masters are running out of ideas) > Talisman (Has become stale) > Illuminati (w/expansion) (So so) > Civilization (Still good, but takes so long) > Diplomacy (Ditto) > Junta (We're not revolutionary enough, Pres. wins) > Risk (So much luck) > > I would especially like to here about: > Supremacy ($39.95 is it worth it) > Dune This group does not have heavy posting and other people might also be interested. Dune is a wonderful game and very much in line with the game list you gave (see above). You play one of 6 characters: Emperor, Harkonnen, Atreides, Fremen, Guild or Bene Gesserit (I have designed a variant which adds 2 more players that I could send you if you're interested). The game is, of course, based on the Frank Herbert novel. Herbert didn't like the game because it is based on the novel so loosely, but as a GAME, it is VERY good. (Books should be read, games should be played.) The idea is to take control of the planet Dune. Each player has unique powers a la Illuminati (or Cosmic Encounter (another wonderful game if you have the money)) and 5 leaders who depict characters in the book. The game includes 2 combat wheels, a deck for spice blows and a deck for treachery cards. There are rules for traitors and alliances. This is a game that tends to reward good planning, but the surprise element crops up frequently enough to keep it interesting. Also, there are no dice. Another good thing is that when you get bored after 18 months or so, you can go out and get the Spice Harvest Expansion Set and it becomes almost a new game. I can expound further if you wish... Other games you might like: Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire (just what it says for 4 players)* Nuclear War/Escalation (don't be turned off by the title; for 2-6) Crusades (the 1st & 3rd Crusades; for 2 or 4-8)* Empires of the Middle Ages (Medieval Europe 2-6 (3 very good))* Spies (pre-WW II spies in Europe) Sword and the Stars (same as EMA above except in outer space)* Elric (from books of Moorcock - for 1-4) There may some difficulty (those marked with asterisks) in finding some of these because either the game is only published in England or the company which published it is defunct.
kalpin@utecfc.UUCP (Jordan E Kalpin) (03/02/86)
In article <185@altos86.UUCP> andy@gateway.UUCP (Andy Hatcher) writes: > >My friends and I are looking for a change and we hate to spend >money on games without knowing what they are like. So, I am >soliciting opinions about board games that you may have played. > >We have a very steady group of about 6 people, but games for any >number from 2 to 8 would be interesting. > >We have played: > Axies and Allies (Allies always win) > Conquest of the Empire (Catapults are everything) > AD&D (Dungeon Masters are running out of ideas) > Talisman (Has become stale) > Illuminati (w/expansion) (So so) > Civilization (Still good, but takes so long) > Diplomacy (Ditto) > Junta (We're not revolutionary enough, Pres. wins) > Risk (So much luck) > >I would especially like to here about: > Supremacy ($39.95 is it worth it) > Dune > >If anybody would like to here my opinions about the games above, just >let me know. > Thanks, > Andy Hatcher > vecpyr!altos86!andy > I have played DUNE hundreds of times over the last 5 years. I find the game very enjoyable but then again I am familiar with Frank Herbert's series of books called DUNE. I am not suggesting that people who haven't read the series will not enjoy DUNE, but I think they will not get the flavour of the game. With that in mind, the game is super. Each persons plays a character from the original story (Paul Attriedies, The baron Harkonen, Bene Gesserit, etc.) and as such each player has a set of unique abilities in the game. The object of the game is to catch 3 strongholds on the DUNE planet map. To do so you must battle worms, storms and other players while at the same time you must harvest spice to finance all of this death and destruction. If you liked the books, this game is a must! As far as other games go, I would like to mention a very underrated game that I have been playing for a number of years. The game is called BORDERLANDS and it was originally put out by EON GAMES (of Cosmic Encounter) but now that EON is owned by WESTEND GAMES, I am not sure where you may get it or its 2 expansion sets. Anywho, the game much resembles risk, but it is much more intelligent. Rather than just attacking each other, the game has a certain number of random sites which produce raw materials such as wood, iron, coal, gold and horses. Since there are few production sites available, players must trade goods to get the ones they don't have. The reason you do this is because iron + coal makes a weapon, or gold + gold makes a weapon. Wood +Wood makes a river boat (use it for surprise attacks on friends down the river). In other words, you must trade to get more powerful and in fact win by being the first player to develop 3 cities (4 gold or timber + iron + coal?). Sometimes it is just easier to attack and capture a production site. Also, all battles usually envolve players allying to win, and this usually adds fun to any game (i.e. trade goods for alliance etc.). I like the game because it has all the things that I feel are lacking from RISK and more! Expansion sets add bridges, islands, ocean ships and extra production sites. Buy it...you'll love it!!! Jordan Kalpin University of Toronto Mechanical Engineering kalpin@utecfc.UUCP
cs111olg@ucla-cs.UUCP (03/09/86)
In article <37800031@hpcnoe.UUCP> jeff@hpcnoe.UUCP writes: > I'd highly recommend the game Titan. I wouldn't normally recommend >this game for beginning game players, but from your list of games, it >looks like you won't be intimidated by the complexity. We only played >the game with 2-4 players, so I don't know how the game works with more >5 or 6 players. We usually play with 4 or more players. Games take up to 16 hours (when everybody falls asleep and can't care less who won).... It became something of a joke: "Anyone for a QUICK game of Titan?" :-) Oleg Kiselev
franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) (03/10/86)
[Not food] Titan works fairly well with 5 or 6 players, but there are some problems. Mostly, the game gets longer. Instead of 2 to 12 hours, you should figure 4 to 20. The other real problem is that it tends to be a long time between turns. One can get bored waiting for the other players to finish, particularly if they make attacks against each other, but not against you. Both of these problems are ameliorated if people play quickly. Frank Adams ihnp4!philabs!pwa-b!mmintl!franka Multimate International 52 Oakland Ave North E. Hartford, CT 06108
marms@sandia.UUCP (03/11/86)
#include "line-eater fodder"
Andy Hatcher asked for recommendations of great games to play. I MUST
recommend the "classic" game of COSMIC ENCOUNTERS by Eon Products.
The basic set of CE runs for about $20, and there are 9 expansion
sets to date running at $6 each. Yes, I know that this adds up to
be a very expensive game, but not all expansion sets are needed
(some like the moons are even worthless). You can slowly add on to
the game as you play and want more variety and weirdness. The game
plays best with 4 players and can be played in 1 hour easily. It can
accomodate up to 6 players, but the games tend to take an incredibly
long time to finish (between 3-4 hours) and become very chaotic.
You can also play with 2 or 3 players, but usually one player will
easily overpower the other(s). So play with 4 whenever possible.
In the game, each player draws or chooses an alien race and sets
up in his home system of 5 planets. The goal of the game is to
establish bases on 5 planets external to your starting system.
The first player(s) to do that win. Thus more than one player may win,
although we generally frown upon that as a turkey-win unless the
two have no chance to win on their own (underpowered usually).
Most of the expansion sets introduce another set of 10-15 aliens,
so the varieties of combinations of aliens in the game is almost
always different. Each alien has a power that allows the player
to bend (or break) the rules. And the interaction of players' powers
is always fun to see.
I can't recommend this game enough. To paraphrase Moriarty in net.comics:
"Why the %#$@! aren't you playing this?! Buy it or I'll tell
everyone that your mother swims after troopships!".
A couple of years ago we had a group at work that would get together
to play it at lunch instead of Hearts or Spades. In the course of
the months while I stayed there, we played over 200 games of CE!!!
Yes, the game can easily be played in an hour! And Yes, the game
is fun over and over again due to the variety of powers and other
weirdness! Get this game and the first 3 expansions sets. You won't
be dissappointed!
Mike Arms
Sandia National Labs
Albuquerque, NM 87185
uucp: ...{ucbvax | ihnp4!lanl | gatech}!unmvax!sandia!marmsreiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (03/17/86)
While "Cosmic Encounters" is generally a fun game, there are a few things
that should be said about it. Primarily, don't play it with people who are
argumentative, especially if you are using lots of the expansion sets. Some
of the powers have subtle complexities on their interactions, some of which
are not really covered in the rules. When these conflicts pop up, arguments
can become heated. It helps if some mechanism for solving problems is agreed
upon beforehand, such as voting or random choice.
Also, when playing with others for the first time, be sure that you pin down
whether they are playing exactly according to the rules or whether they
have house rules. CE seems particularly susceptable to the creation of
house rules, and discovery that everyone but you knew about them and
assumed that they would be followed (while you had assumed standard rules,
or even your own favorite house rules) can lead to more arguments.
--
Peter Reiher
reiher@LOCUS.UCLA.EDU
{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiherrec@cosivax.UUCP (Rick Cobb) (03/19/86)
Have to agree that Cosmic is one of the great board games. However, you need to be aware of two things: [1] Don't try to learn it with the expansion sets first (well, maybe only two or three....) It gets *very* chaotic after that. [2] This is a game of ``rule-based cheating.'' The basic idea is essentially the card game War; everything else is some way of breaking or abusing or bending or confusing some of the rules. Rules lawyers can be a big pain, but if I remember right, there's a flare in expansion set 5 that deals with them.... I have to disagree with the statement that the moons are worthless; our group considers them essential to the good humor of the game. In addition, Eon has just repackaged the game; as I understand it, the initial set has the first two expansion sets (which bring the game up from four players to six) into the basic box, and reduced the number of expansion sets to four, which combine the other seven of the original game.
silber@uiucdcsp.CS.UIUC.EDU (03/21/86)
Another good, simple and enjoyable multi-player game is STELLAR CONQUEST by Avalon Hill (but originally by someone else). It is a four player game of interstellar colonization and warfare. What makes it interesting is that a) ships in flight must have a destination, which can only be changed at star systems, leading to a need to plan ahead. and b) hidden movement and properties. You can tell where an opponent has ships, but not what they are. You can tell where he has a command post, but not where other colonies are. To find out his strengths, and the ability of star systems to support life, you must send ships to reconoiter. The production system is quite clean and good. One advantage the game seems to have is that there is no "one way" to win. One can do well by producing lots of low tech stuff, or spending money on development, including forcefields to make planets immune etc. My two bits of advice on strategy are 1) for your initial buy, purchase as many colonists as possible and put them on the first Terran type planet you find, otherwise you will never have enough people. 2) buy CET (controlled environment technology) as soon as possible so that you can use the excess people generated by the colonies to settle on otherwise inhospitable but mineral rich worlds. The game can be learned within an half hour or so, and play takes about an evening between reasonably experienced players. Ami Silberman "An erect man may expose himself in an aperture..."