The NEW New Boardgames Thread

[Habbaku]

Risk definitely has some depth to it if the cards are used correctly. Timing the bonuses and the appropriate time on major pushes is almost as good as rolling sixes.

It's a great starter game.

[PDH]

Each year at the beach my nephews and I played RISK.  They would all gang up on me because I was supposedly a grown up, then they would fight like demons amongst themselves.

[Jacob]

I anticipate my wife and boy will habitually gang up on me

I'll also try to inveigle my father in law to play at least one game. There's nothing beyond explaining the rules that require being able to speak English... and he can scheme with both my boy and wife in Chinese, so it's not unfair on that count either.

And yeah, Habbaku, I think there are some real valuable basic strategic concepts that can be learned from Risk.

[grumbler]

I ran a simple game theory class (not economics game theory, the regular kind) and, as an experiment, the students decided to play risk with no dice throws:  in every battle, the smaller side was eliminated and the larger side lost the same number of armies as the smaller side.  They went in convinced that luck determined the outcome.

Several games later, it turned out to make no difference in strategy or outcomes.  They proved to themselves that "luck" ultimately balanced out (because there are a lot of die rolls).

We moved on to Diplomacy.

[crazy canuck]

 a lot of Fond memories playing board games with the boys. Enjoy!

[Berkut]

I ran a simple game theory class (not economics game theory, the regular kind) and, as an experiment, the students decided to play risk with no dice throws:  in every battle, the smaller side was eliminated and the larger side lost the same number of armies as the smaller side.  They went in convinced that luck determined the outcome.

Several games later, it turned out to make no difference in strategy or outcomes.  They proved to themselves that "luck" ultimately balanced out (because there are a lot of die rolls).

We moved on to Diplomacy.

THat is cool.

Did you guys discuss how the absence (or presence) of luck in the particular outcomes influenced tactical choices?

IE, with luck depending on the circumstances, I might risk a attack that only has a 40% chance of success, because I might win.

But take out luck, I will never make that attack because it cannot win, and the outcome is known. Hence I will make different choices.

[grumbler]

THat is cool.

Did you guys discuss how the absence (or presence) of luck in the particular outcomes influenced tactical choices?

IE, with luck depending on the circumstances, I might risk a attack that only has a 40% chance of success, because I might win.

But take out luck, I will never make that attack because it cannot win, and the outcome is known. Hence I will make different choices.

Yeah, the whole point was to see if eliminating the uncertainty changed strategies (we predicted what would happen and then played to see if it did).  Tactics changed but strategy did not.  I seem to recall that the strategy of putting a lot of armies into bottlenecks was less effective, but it's been a long time. 

[11B4V]

Wut!!

[celedhring]

Started playing Clank! Legacy. I guess most people are burned out by Legacy games but Clank is a short fun timewaster and the legacy implementation is nice and so far it's not burdening the base experience.

[Tamas]

I have wasted like 20 years of my life wargaming without a plexiglass cover over paper maps. OMG what a difference it makes, especially for double-map nightmares.

[Habbaku]

Now whip out the dry-erase markers for noting important spaces or distances on your plexi.

[CountDeMoney]

I have wasted like 20 years of my life wargaming without a plexiglass cover over paper maps. OMG what a difference it makes, especially for double-map nightmares.

What thiccness are you using?

[Tamas]

I have wasted like 20 years of my life wargaming without a plexiglass cover over paper maps. OMG what a difference it makes, especially for double-map nightmares.

What thiccness are you using?

2mm, thinnest I could find.

[The Brain]

I have wasted like 20 years of my life wargaming without a plexiglass cover over paper maps. OMG what a difference it makes, especially for double-map nightmares.

What thiccness are you using?

2mm, thinnest I could find.

He needs it in hamburgers per La-Z-Boy.

[11B4V]

I have wasted like 20 years of my life wargaming without a plexiglass cover over paper maps. OMG what a difference it makes, especially for double-map nightmares.

I'm trying this from amazon when I get time.

PVC Roll 2mm Thick 30 Inches Frosted Roll 3ft, Clear PVC Sheet, Clear Table Cover Protector, Desk Mat Pad, Plastic Table Cover for Restaurants, PVC Floor Mat