Strategy board gamers? Catan, Carcassonne, Axis & Allies, Risk?

[JesusChrist]

I've always really liked strategy board games, starting probably with Monopoly as a kid. More recently I've really gotten into Settlers of Catan and Carcassonne. There's a good group of local people who like together here and play regularly, and the games get pretty heated and competitive. It's rarely a "friendly match" so to speak. Catan was a flavor of the season last year, and more recently Carcassonne. Risk is popular when there's nothing else happening and a few people have nothing better to do for the entire day. Seems like the sort of thing INTPs would be able to get into, deeply strategic, every man for himself sort of games. Any play the ones mentioned, or have some similar gaming recommendations?

 

[gruesomebrat]

One of my friend's families has somewhat regular Catan tournaments. I've only played it once or twice, but it seemed like a half-decent game. I've always been, and will always be, a Risk fan, though. Monopoly comes a close second, but Risk is my absolute favourite when it comes to board games. Unfortunately, nobody else seems to share my taste in games. My social circle would rather play some mindless drivel like Pictionary or Trivial Pursuit than a game that actually gets their heads involved. As such, I don't get to play Risk and Monopoly anywhere near as often as I'd prefer.

 

[ElvenVeil]

The problems with games like Risk, is that they are so simple... and based on luck.
The real board games are Chess and Go.. but the number of people you can play those games with are small

 

[gruesomebrat]

There is a lot of luck involved, sure. But your troop placements, and your attack choices play an equal role in whether or not you win the battle and ultimately, the war. I agree that chess is often a better war-sim, but like you say, you can only really feasibly play with one person. Unless you're a Grand Master, and then it's possible to play four or five opponents at once, but... there's not too many of them around these days, it seems.

 

[crippli]

I'm fond of heroes of might and magic III(HOMM3). I still play it. Quite a lot. Fantasy themed strategy turned based game. The sequels where flops imo, but now finally ubisoft will release a new version in June, after so long. I'm excited.

 

[JesusChrist]

The nice thing about Catan and Carcassonne are that the rules are very simplistic. You can learn the entire game in a half hour game. From there though, how you choose to play the game in the future is all up to you. The strategy involved can get quite involved. There is a degree of luck involved, but who is the true player starts to show when you start adding up win records.

I used to play Chess, but it's kind of a lame boring game to be honest. Which in itself makes it difficult to find anyone who actually wants to sit and play it one on one with you. I play online a little once in a while, but it's not the same. The others you can play with a few people over some drinks and not take too seriously, while still keeping a competitive atmosphere. It's also easier to get new players interested in jumping in.

 

[ElvenVeil]

I used to play Chess, but it's kind of a lame boring game to be honest.

Lies makes zombie jesus cry

I'm fond of heroes of might and magic III(HOMM3). I still play it. Quite a lot. Fantasy themed strategy turned based game. The sequels where flops imo, but now finally ubisoft will release a new version in June, after so long. I'm excited.

It's not Ubisoft that releases this new game ? I thought it was a rip off..
Edit : apparently Ubisoft will publish it..

 

[Puffy]

Two groups of my friends hold regular Catan tournaments, we have a Settlers turban for the victor which I am holding at the moment, lol (;

Personally, I very much prefer Diplomacy. In my opinion it is second to Chess in how tactical it is. There is next to no luck involved; all strategic placement, negotiation and deception. I havn't lost a game yet in person, online I have a fairly decent record. Unfortunately not very many people play it. Or at least not many I have encountered.

I made a separate thread ages ago, but I'd love to get a forum game of diplomacy going if possible.

 

[Causeless]

I could actually point out on a Monopoly board the spaces that are landed on most frequently and least frequently throughout games. We built a simulation program in a game design class I was in and sent pieces around the board so many hundreds or thousands of times to build a picture (Accounting also, of course, for things like jail rules and Chance cards).

Using my secret knowledge, I crush my unsuspecting opponents. :P

Turns out the orange set has the biggest bang for your buck. o_0

 

[JesusChrist]

Lies makes zombie jesus cry

I never claimed to be good at chess, lol.

 

[gruesomebrat]

I could actually point out on a Monopoly board the spaces that are landed on most frequently and least frequently throughout games. We built a simulation program in a game design class I was in and sent pieces around the board so many hundreds or thousands of times to build a picture (Accounting also, of course, for things like jail rules and Chance cards).

Using my secret knowledge, I crush my unsuspecting opponents. :P

Turns out the orange set has the biggest bang for your buck. o_0

I could've told you that without a computer simulation. Play enough times and you come to realize that the corner surrounding the Free Parking space is the most lucrative area for players. As a general rule, your first track around the board will pretty much define where everyone will land; baby blue, orange, early in the yellows and late in the greens... it's simply due to the fact that the dice are most likely to land on 6, 7, or 8...

 

[RobdoR]

Monopoly is crap!

Here is a game that will blow your mind:

Tigris and Euphrates



I also really like San Juan. It's the card game of Puerto Rico. It's almost as awesome, but way faster to play and much easier to set up. It's also not as intimidating for non-gamers that happen to get sucked into game night.

Here's a list of my other favorites:

Dominion
Pandemic
Colosseum
Mancala
Munchkin
Notre Dame
Le Havre

 

[The Frood]

^
Axis and allies is my favorite strategy board game. In a nutshell it is ww2 risk, but much more interesting, more strategic, and less chancey. You need 5 people, who each get one of the major powers of ww2, (USA, USSR, Japan, UK, Germany) who start out with their respective territories. To win you have to capture all of the opposing side's capitals (or if you are the axis take over enough of the world).
You also have different units with different costs and different attack,defense movement capabilities (Infantry, Armor, Fighter and Bomber aircraft, Carriers, Battleships, subs, transports. AA guns) You have income depending on how much territory you control, and can improve your units by spending money on "weapon's research" which you have to roll a 6 for. The combat is simultaneous and dice based. The attacker rolls first for each of his units. The defender takes the casualties of their choosing off the combat board, but then rolls for his forces including the casualties (after that roll they are dead and cannot be used again). Anyway probably overly long explanation, but the game is amazing but very very long. 5 hours minimum. The last game I played took 3 5 hour sessions to complete.

 

[Ninjamanda]

I have a bad obsession with Settlers of Catan. I have the board game along with the seafarers and cities and Knights expansions. The game gets more complex when you start adding the rules for cities and knights.

I have multiple groups of friends that I play this with.

Since I have so many expansions for it, I have the most fun creating different boards and different scenarios. I haven't found a board game I enjoy more. It is luck based to a certain extent but it's really what the player decides to do with what they have been given that determines the game.

 

[tairos]

Try Hearts of Iron (2). It's pretty much Axis and Allies on crack.

 

[Turniphead]

If you only have one person to play against, "Rivals for Catan" is really good. It's a two player only, card based, heavily modified version of Catan.

I prefer it over the regular Catan, although I haven't had the opportunity to play any regular Catan expansions.

 

[kantor1003]

For a great two-player strategy game, I'd highly recommend Twilight Struggle. It's set in the cold war and currently one of the highest, if not the highest rated game on board-game-geek.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

Growing up in the 80s, I was quite fond of Squad Leader by Avalon Hill games. Anyone else ever play?

 

[duke of new york]

I'm a big fan of Catan. I don't get to play it in person very often, and when I do, I tend to analyze the probabilities behind every decision to a much greater extent than everyone else, making it a little too easy to win.

There's a free client for online play at http://www.playcatan.com/. It functions quite well. I actually fire that thing up and play a game or two pretty frequently when I'm on the computer procrastinating.

The free version only includes the base game, but I tried a trial version of the expansions a year or two ago, and I remember them being very good. I really liked the maps that involved multiple islands and especially one where some of the tiles are hidden and only uncovered when you build a road next to them.

 

[travelnjones]

My group of Roleplayer took a break to do table top stuff. Some really liked a game called Wings of Glory. Others were big into Dominion. But nearly everyone had fun with a game called 7 wonders!

Its pretty fun has some good expansions that add to the game without remaking it completely . there are a lot of strategies that you can pursue and one even works. The cool thing is once everyone has the rules down it goes super fast. You can basically do everything in your turn yourself. Interactions with other characters come in particular phases. Pretty fun also plays 7 players which my group needed.

We also did aquire and a few other games. I have some write ups on my blog crescentstar.blogspot.com if you are interested. If you have a Local gaming store i am sure they will be able to point you to good games. Seems like Powergrid is pretty popular right now.