Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: Yohan

World in Flames.

Hands down

Strange how extremely opinions can vary.

I always thought it sucked eggs and came in fifth among grand strategic games well behind Third Reich, ETO/PTO, Krieg/Totaler Krieg and SPI's WWII.

does no-one like Kingmaker a game that was well played in my younger days, or more recently Warrior Knights.

ORIGINAL: Joram

Umm, that one you explore Africa, I want to say "Dr Livingstone I presume" but don't remember if that was the title or an event in the game.

Would that be Avalon Hill's "Source of the Nile"

I still have all my Starfleet Battles kit in the loft, my girls are just reaching the age when I can inflict it on them [:D]

Cheers

Jev

My favorite remains Avalon Hill's ANZIO. While it could be a LONG game (because there were so many turns), the fronts, either the width of the Italian Peninsula or a beach-head were very narrow, and the number of units relatively small. This placed an enormous premium on player skill and knowledge/understanding of the terrain. Anzio is excellent game with endless replay possibilities. Tom Oleson is working on a remake of it, one that I suspect will be published by GMT. It's my understanding that it will be named ITALIA.

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

Another personal favorite was Seige of Jerusalem, the original version not the AH version.

I completely overlooked Panzer Blitz/Panzer Leader which are the two games I really cut my wargaming teeth on, but their mechanics system is more than a bit dated by now so I would probably add them as number 11 on my top ten list.

ORIGINAL: Punk Reaper

does no-one like Kingmaker a game that was well played in my younger days, or more recently Warrior Knights.

I loved kingmaker but rarely had an opponent to play it against. So I never really got to play it other than looking at the pretty pieces and cards.

Oh, and thanks Jay, that's the game.

Ahh nostalgia setting in.

I always liked Titan (which, btw, is now being reprinted by Valley games and there is also a computer open source version called Colossus which is pretty good.)

Also, played a lot of Star Fleet Battles.

And now I'm playing Stratego with my 6 year boys.

Bill

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk
Oops, just noticed I should have said The Russian Campaign on my list of favorites. I played both.

Another vote here for TRC, together with Third Reich and Squad Leader they're my top 3 - in random order.

Honourable mention to a jewel that is almost unknown : Lou Coatney's "Sturm nach Osten"

Hmm, that's 4 times WWII - best throw in an ACW game too [;)]

Forward to Richmond - random leader activation, units routing when someone yelled "booh" while others stood like a stone wall, a beautifull map, it's all there.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

My best of list:
WW2- Bitter Woods Deluxe, The Russian Campaign, Iron Tide:Panzers in the Ardennes and Bitter End(Last German offensive in Hungary '45).
Civil War-Glory 3...random chit-pull leader activation
Napoleonics- Prussia's Glory 2, Jena and OSG's Napoleon at Bay series.
Best Tactical series goes to Lock 'n Load and AP's Panzer Grenadier series.
Best starter wargame- A Victory Lost by Multiman Publishing.
The games that started it for me 35 years ago: PanzerBlitz and PanzerLeader of course. With Squad Leader/Cross of Iron and Tobruk on the complex side.

ORIGINAL: TheHellPatrol

My best of list:
WW2- Bitter Woods Deluxe, The Russian Campaign, Iron Tide:Panzers in the Ardennes and Bitter End(Last German offensive in Hungary '45).
Civil War-Glory 3...random chit-pull leader activation
Napoleonics- Prussia's Glory 2, Jena and OSG's Napoleon at Bay series.
Best Tactical series goes to Lock 'n Load and AP's Panzer Grenadier series.
Best starter wargame- A Victory Lost by Multiman Publishing.
The games that started it for me 35 years ago: PanzerBlitz and PanzerLeader of course. With Squad Leader/Cross of Iron and Tobruk on the complex side.

Could there possibly be a "one favorite?" [&:] [:)]

ORIGINAL: LarryP

Could there possibly be a "one favorite?" [&:] [:)]

Like with women, i ask myself that question often...[;)]

ORIGINAL: TheHellPatrol

ORIGINAL: LarryP

Could there possibly be a "one favorite?" [&:] [:)]

Like with women, i ask myself that question often...[;)]

That's "another" thread! [;)] [:D] [X(]

GO

ORIGINAL: Skipjack

Third Reich (Avalon Hill) - played the heck out of this in the 80s
The Civil War (Victory Games) - the hands down pick in my circle of board gamer friends
Raid on St. Nazaire (AH) - one of the best solitaire games I know of

The Civil War (Victory Games). I absolutely agree with you that this is the best wargame design ever. It's the only game that I've ever had to play straight through now matter how long it took. Sometimes we'd start one afternoon, play all night and finish the next morning. It's so intense you can't walk away from it.

I'd also say ASL but it's not a wargame...it's a profession.[;)]

This is about as silly a thread as "what's your favourite colour?" It lacks focus.
 
Board games can be divided into
 
a) historical periods - First World War, Second World War, Arab-Israeli wars, "modern" era, American Civil War, Ancient, etc.
 
b) scale - Grand strategic, strategic, operational, grand tactical, tactical, and man-to-man
 
There are a great many combinations within these general parameters.
 
If one wants to examine just tactical (defined by me as having key units representing platoons, squads or single men) board wargames, taking place in any 20th Century conflict, published before the year 2000, there are 120 titles alone (including Squad Leader and ASL and all modules up to the end of 1999).  That's a lot of games. I doubt anyone here has played them all. I doubt anyone has even seen most of them in person. I own examples of all but 15 of them, though I haven't played many of them.
 
Is there a "best"?
 
What do you mean by best?
 
Most playable?  Most realistic?  They aren't the same thing. Sometimes they are polar opposites. Compare Firepower/Close Assault and Sniper!/Special Forces for example. Both are Man-to-Man wargames covering WWII and the modern era. Both are radically different in their approach. 
 
Which is "best"?  It's all subjective.
 
The idea that Advanced Squad Leader is the "best wargame ever made" is, in my opinion, unprovable at best and complete falsehood at worst. Certainly they have a fanbase willing to spend exorbitant amounts of money. A look at Squad Leader and a comparison to all other squad-based wargames before it does show an elegance of design that John Hill should be thanked for.  There were several squad-based games to precede Squad Leader, beginning with Grunt in 1971 or so, and Search & Destroy in 1974 or 1975. Combat was resolved by an odd-based CRT, just like, oh, just about every wargame since Tactics II onwards. Squad Leader was revolutionary.
 
But that doesn't make it "best". 

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

I have to agre with the one who stated that Raid on St. Nazaire was the best sloitaire game ever

Subjective. If you're looking at replayability, I don't see how it could possibly compare to Ambush!, which was open-ended and in the end had 30+ different scenarios (including the three modules) and something like 10 map and half/map combinations. Compared to a single situation and single map. Is there really a comparison?

The programmed AI of Tokyo Express is touted as the "best" ever, even better than the paragraph driven system in Ambush! and seemed almost human in its ability to (seemingly) react to the actual human player's actions. How did Raid on St. Nazaire's AI compare?

So what makes St. Nazaire "best"? I would give it top marks for "biggest and most unwiedly and needlessly expensive mounted mapboard in human history", or perhaps "best magazine game that was actually sold as a bookcase game instead"...

Hi,

Should it be a wargame ?
If yes, then the best for me is the only one I have. It has a nice Matrix Games logo on the cover. it is Lock'n Load : Band Of Heroes.

Otherwise, I'd give my vote to Evo. Cute little gem by a Belgian designer. And it has a bit of combat in it.

Moreover, we played Cluedo, the card game, recently and it's a blast. Go and get it !

Cheers,

JeF.

ORIGINAL: Michael Dorosh

This is about as silly a thread as "what's your favourite colour?" It lacks focus.

Then go away.

PS: My favorite color is blue.