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From: db@cstvax.UUCP (Dave Berry)
Newsgroups: net.games.board
Subject: Re: Opening Discussion
Message-ID: <338@cstvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 10-Sep-85 11:07:25 EDT
Article-I.D.: cstvax.338
Posted: Tue Sep 10 11:07:25 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 18-Sep-85 03:17:06 EDT
References: <394@brl-sem.ARPA> <47@ucdavis.UUCP>
Reply-To: db@cstvax.UUCP (Dave Berry)
Distribution: net
Organization: Comp. Sc., Edinburgh Univ., Scotland
Lines: 57

In article <47@ucdavis.UUCP> ccrdan@ucdavis.UUCP (Dan Gold) writes:
>Conventional wargames these days are mostly just rehashes of some beaten-
>to-death topic.  
That's because these are the only topics that sell!  There are plenty
of topics other than the (somewhat hypothetical) Soviet invasion of Western 
Europe, the Battle of the Bulge, Gettysburg and Waterloo.

>Also, see if you can find a copy of "Empires of the Middle
>Ages" (I got mine right when it came out).  It is kind of long but very
>easy and fun.
It also makes a superb postal game if you use a simultaneous movement system.
If anybody can find a copy of this, I would be very interested in buying
it.  How much does it cost to send a package this size across the Atlantic?

>> Civilization  (Avalon Hill):
>> 	Long and moderately complex, but very playable once you
>> 	get used to it.  The game is played at several different
>> 	levels: territory aquisition, trading, cultural growth.
>> 	I highly recommend it.
>
>Me too.  Get the expansion set from AH to add more flavor.
Get the expansion kit from AH if you want to ruin the game.  Most people
I've talked to think that the new trade cards reduce the tension in the
game.  They make it easier for everyone to do well at trading, and so
reduce the conflicts between players.

Civilization was originally published by Hartland Trefoil games
in Britain.  They do a few other games; I would recommend 1829
as their best (better than civilization).  Like Civilisation,
it doesn't use dice. It's more complex,; players buy shares
in railway companies, which are run by the player with the most shares
in that company.  I haven't played AH's Rail Baron, but I'm told
1829 is much better.  There are two British maps (North & South),
and there is now an American map (for the American market, unsurprisingly).
This game is definitely improved with the expansion kit containing
extra track tiles for the end game.

Railway Rivals is great fun for a couple of hours & 3-8 players (varying
with the map used.  It won the Game of the Year award in Germany, is
now published by Games Workshop in Britain, I don't know about the USA.

Someone asked about Pax Britannica.  I've played this once, and quite
enjoyed it.  It's certainly a lovely game system (for example, the
game ends when tensions between the European powers reach a certain
point - WW1 breaks out!).  I found it a bit slow-moving; very much
a strategy oriented game.

>> Illuminati  (Steve Jackson Games):
>> 	I reviewed this recently in net.games, so I'll just say
>> 	that it is great for anyone with a slightly warped sense
>> 	of humor and a cynical mind.  Fast and playable.
Cosmic Encounter is fun too (another game not available over here
any more).  The rules could be better defined, and some of the
powers are ridiculously unbalanced, but I still enjoy it a lot.
-- 
	Dave Berry. CS postgrad, Univ. of Edinburgh		
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