The NEW New Boardgames Thread

[Ed Anger]

You tried the Central Front system? Hof Gap, et al?

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/4255/central-front-series

[11B4V]

You tried the Central Front system? Hof Gap, et al?

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamefamily/4255/central-front-series

At one time I had V Corps and Hof Gap. Maps were works of art. System was OK too. If I remember right, somethings like Air Power was abstracted. Friction points anyone?

[11B4V]

Ran into a term on BGG.....EuroGamer?????

[CountDeMoney]

Ran into a term on BGG.....EuroGamer?????

Where have you been, man?

You see, Eurogamers have to be cleared away by the hand of God, like the Jews of old.

[Tamas]

Ran into a term on BGG.....EuroGamer?????

Yes, and they call any game where there is randomness (ie. a need to improvize, adapt, and generally show a creative brain) "ameritrash"

[11B4V]

Ran into a term on BGG.....EuroGamer?????

Where have you been, man?

You see, Eurogamers have to be cleared away by the hand of God, like the Jews of old.

On the fringe, man, the fringe.

[11B4V]

Ran into a term on BGG.....EuroGamer?????

Yes, and they call any game where there is randomness (ie. a need to improvize, adapt, and generally show a creative brain) "ameritrash"

Complexity or asysemetrical in other words.

[CountDeMoney]

11B, Sounds like you need a big ol' heapin' helping of...PUERTO RICO!

[11B4V]

11B, Sounds like you need a big ol' heapin' helping of...PUERTO RICO!

I only had to see a couple of the images on BGG of that game to say.....I'm good, thanks.

From BGG

[CountDeMoney]

11B, Sounds like you need a big ol' heapin' helping of...PUERTO RICO!

I only had to see a couple of the images on BGG of that game to say.....I'm good, thanks.

When I went out to Origins last year (2010), the largest area in the exhibit hall was for Mayfair Games and playing area for Settlers of Catan.  I wanted to go all Jesus-in-the-Temple on them. But I didn't.
It was still disgusting to watch, though.  Not a single panzer division was in play.

[11B4V]

Not a single panzer division was in play.

Sacrilege. If they look anything like dude  above, he dont need to be around a panzer div. The french or polish...eh I'll grant him that.

[Ed Anger]

11B, Sounds like you need a big ol' heapin' helping of...PUERTO RICO!

Friends don't let friends play Puerto Rico.

[Berkut]

SO how do you guys feel about Eurogamers mechanics creeping into your wargames?

[Tamas]

SO how do you guys feel about Eurogamers mechanics creeping into your wargames?

Posing aside, I think classical "american" games can learn from the eurogames, and they have been doing just that, to good effect.

That's because, a lot of these "european" mechanics offer a lot of streamlining compared to the classics without sacrificing the number, difficulty, or quality of decisions. And let's face it, the ""eurogamer" spread raised the production qualities. Gone are butt-ugly maps and counters.

The plight of eurogames aren't the rules and mechanics - Puerto Rico has very nice and clever mechanics. The problem is their philosophy - they too often cater to the Mensa-members and assorted "intellectuals" who are no doubt very smart and have a great talent in number-crounching and analysis, but start to shake and frown when any kind of random factor is involved. They think you need bigger brains for something you can win repeatedly by the same way, they don't realize that it is a far greater challenge to constantly adopt for ever-chaning circumstances.

And of course the other big eurogamer problem is the very loosely attached theme. That's what hurts me most regarding them.

[frunk]

Yes, and they call any game where there is randomness (ie. a need to improvize, adapt, and generally show a creative brain) "ameritrash"

That's not true.  Classically Eurogames have no problem with randomness.  See Settlers of Catan, Um Reifenbreite, Manhattan, Hare and Tortoise, El Grande, Ursuppe and many others.  Even if you go back to the American game that is considered the father of Eurogames, Acquire, it's got a healthy dose of luck.  The major impetus behind most Eurogames is the exploration of game mechanics over faithfulness to the theme.  This can lead to accusations of the theme being "tacked on", which in some cases is literally true.  Despite this there almost always is some sort of theme, which along with a degree of randomness differentiates them from Abstracts like Chess, Checkers or Go.

The Ameritrash label isn't separated from Eurogames by randomness, rather it's typified by games with a historical, fantasy or science fiction bent where the theme and components have a greater importance than the mechanisms of the game.  They tend to trace their roots back to the Milton Bradley Big Box games of the 80s, like Shogun, Conquest of the Empire, Fortress America and Axis & Allies.