What Are We Playing?

While creating games takes up most of the time available, we enjoy playing games and doing so gives us the ideas and knowledge of what makes an enjoyable game. We have been gaming since the 1970's and gaming has changed a great deal since then. Most strategy games today are very card-driven where once they were very dice and chart driven. While I'm still a fan of having winners and losers, many newer games always provide a means of the loser to stay in the game so no one is expected to leave the game and end up watching his friends play. Also, there have been new mechanics in game design today to eliminated clutter and bookkeeping. I feel the literacy rate has dropped so low that rules and mechanics need to be simple and streamlined.

So what games are we playing these days and which games would we like to play?

MEMOIR '44

This is a great game for the novice or the experienced gamer who just wants a casual semi-tactical World War 2 war game. The game moves fast and smooth. There are handy reference cards that help players find the modifiers for movement and range. The game takes real World War 2 battles and presents them in a very abstract manner - albeit with "cool" plastic army-men playing pieces! Play is heavily card-driven - so much so that the random factor is perhaps a bit too strong and takes away a good deal of the ability to plan your own strategy.  This is not a game for simulating World War 2 combat but a fun way to play some famous battles in a very light and casual way. And there are many, many scenarios and expansion sets from every theater in the war from Russian Front, Western Front, North Africa, Italy and the Pacific. Most games are short - from one to two hours at most. The larger board and scenarios for it can double that time, but makes for an even better gaming experience.

CONQUEST OF EMPIRE

Using a HUGE board - almost 4' x 4' - and up to seven players, Conquest of Empire is a risk-like strategy game that covers the time of the Roman Empire in an abstract way. There are four types of units: Legions, Cavalry, Catapults and Galleys (ships) and they are led by Generals and Caesars. Players have a "home" territory and then start expanding out and gathering territories so they can make revenue to buy troops. Roman-looking plastic money is the means by which you makethose purchases, but you'd better buy early because, like the Roman Empire, inflation starts making those armies very expensive! It's a great game with very simple rules (for the basic game) and much more complex rules for the advanced game.  My only complaint is that the cavalry have a very un-historical influence in the battles and too much survivability. Legions are the standard units, while cavalry allow you to pursue your enemy if they choose to, or must, retreat from battle. Catapults help you capture walled cities. Players build roman roads from cities you build to collect revenue. The basic rules are VERY simple and the advanced game rules are VERY advanced. It would be nice to have some intermediate rules that gave a more historical feeling to the games without the complexity, but this is a fun one for up to seven casual players and, like memoir '44, it uses "cool" plastic miniatures - which always adds to the "gee-wiz" factor!

I have personally created a few historical scenarios using the basic rules such as the Caesar vs. Pompey Civil Wars as well the later civil wars. I've also introduced barbarians into the mix (albeit using the Roman pieces) to introduce another power historical factor into the game.

AXIS & ALLIES 1942

Axis & Allies has so many titles covering the Second World War (and a new one covering the First World War) that it may be hard to choose which game to actually start with. There are excellent reviews of the various games on You Tube that I highly recommend before buying any of them. However, the 1942 incarnation is a newer product that uses updated rules. It's a fun, basic-to-moderate level game. Once you understand the movement and combat system the game is fast playing (although setting up can take some time!). It can be played by two to four players, and again, the "cool" factor returns with those plastic miniatures!

STAR TREK FLEET CAPTAINS

While an expensive product ($75), the reviews for this game are superlative! It is a very fun and enjoyable game! It really puts you in the Captains chair and lets you conduct typical Star Trek missions. This one I'd really like to have!

STRIKE OF THE EAGLE

Using a unique command/orders card driven mechanic and wooden blocks for fog-of-war, Strike of the Eagle looks like a game I would really love to play. All reviews are highly positive. It simulates the battles of 1920-21 when the Soviet Red Army invaded Poland in it's attempt to convert, by force, all of Europe to Communism. The Poles single-handedly beat off the invaders and saved Europe from the Communist horde.

AXIS & ALLIES D-DAY

Using a re-worked version of the Axis & Allies rules, this very simple and direct game that "simulates" the Normandy invasions in 1944. This is a good game for casual play and is heavily card-driven. A nice game to have handy for play with those who aren't "war gamers".

COMMANDS & COLORS NAPOLEONICS

 This is supposed to be the bast "Command & Colors' game out there. Even better than the "Ancients' versions. From the same designer of Memoir '44, this game is less abstract and has excellent rules to play many Napoleonic battles. There are expansion packs for the Austrian and Russian armies. This is one I very much want to have.

AXIS & ALLIES PACIFIC

I love the Pacific theater so this one looks like a blast to play. Uses and enormous board and modified Axis & Axis rules.  Definitely on my "must have" list.

STAR TREK ATTACK WING

 If you ever wanted to command a starship in combat this is the game for you.  Using a unique non-board movement system, players take on the roles of starship captains from Star Trek lore. Characters from the TV show appear and you get three decent plastic miniatures of the well-known Federation, Klingon and Romulan ships. There are expansions for the large variety of aliens and ships in the television show and movies along with a single mission for each. The price is right and the reviews are highly favorable! This is certainly one for every Trek-head's collection!