h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

"We bought a Star Wars board game from a Church jumle sale once for ten pence and when we got it home we foumd that we could'nt play it because of the rather involved nature of the instructions, if anyone out there has ever played this game and brought it to a satisfactory conclusion, please let me know".

I think I know where we are here... we're moving into the realm of Avalon Hill, SPI, and those board-games meant for wargamers with a lot of time on their hands and the university-level education needed to figure out the rules, which come as a booklet which is only marginally shorter than a James Clavell novel. These originated in pre-computer days, so think of a REALLY complex computer simulation, but one where every element needs to be set up and moved manually on a board...

The very worst and the most anally-retentive of these are my candidates for Boardgame from Hell, as I don't really have the mind for them! I belong to a gaming club that covers the whole gamut of serious boardgames, and I find this kind of highly analytical combat-simulation to be just about bearable if I'm playing as part of a team and not as an individual.

If you take a game that, for instance, simulates Hitler's invasion of Russia in 1941, there are almost as many counters to set up as there were individual Russian and German squaddies in WW2, and the playing board can be a fold-out map which is up to 6' x 4'.

Setting up is interminable, and each playing turn takes up to an hour, the greater part of which is spend sitting around doing not very much at all. I have known of games where enthusiasts have taken several MONTHS to bring the thing to a conclusion - you have to be a dedicated player for this, as well as having a spare room (and no kids or pets)where the board can remain undisturbed for that length of time...

My preference is for the sort of intermediate or lower-level game simulation, where you stand a reasonable chance of breinging the whole thing to a finish over two or three hours (fortunately, for every really deep combat simulation, there's usually one which is "lighter" and more playable. "Squad Leader", I have found, is a good compromise between the impossibly complex and the unfulfillingly simple, like "Talisman")

I beleive Avalon Hill did several "Star Wars" games based on the films, so it's no surprise you would have found them heavy going!

They sound like fun to me (yes, I'm sad like that). Anyone know where I can still get one?

B

We bought 'diplomacy' at a jumble sale. I was keen to emulate some fellow uni students (years ago) who spent whole weekends playing. We've never even taken it out of the box

Mr Beast - have a look on Ebay - there's plenty of star wars board games on there, costing about a fiver...

Hi Mr Beast

The sort of Avalon Hill / SPI boardgame I think you're interested in is still available, even though the original 1970's companies have changed hands quite a few times.

Look up on a good search engine and you'll find a community that still plays, and as importantly buys and sells, the games. (Not just wargames: some of the best games come out of Germany, which has strict sanctions on war toys and prefers games of construction, building, et c, like the Settlers of Wherever, or Civilization, where the object is to build and not destroy a civilisation)

A good introduction to the hobby, if you can find it, is "The Comprehensive Guide to Board Wargaming" by Nicholas Palmer (Arthur Barker Books, 1977). Maybe your local library could track a copy?

OK, the heydey of board wargaming was the 1970's, an era where computer power was still in its infancy and the sort of computer games we have now that can shuffle the pieces around a board in milliseconds could only be dreamed of.

Physically unpacking over a thousand counters from the box and deploying them, slowly and painstakingly, around a mapboard sounds kind of Stone Age now, which probably explains why boardgaming has declined in popularity and companies like Avalon Hill went bust.

But with the right game, it's still a fun way to spend an evening! (And I stress: an evening. Simulating the whole of the Eastern Front in WW2 with an extremely complex rule set and 1500 counters, can and does last weeks, which maybe explains why, when I got to be Stalin, I lost focus and surrendered Leningrad in one game turn, Moscow soon followed, and Stalingrad was a walk-in for the Germans with minimal loss)

Ah well, I've always preferred wargaming with figures...

I absolutely hate checkers, a monkey could play that game. The winner can be determined after watching the first 3 or 4 moves. I would have to say that my favourite board game is Xiangi(Chinese Chess). It's different from western chess because it actually has an "environment": Two forts and a river between the two territories. Only certain pieces can cross the river, and there are three pieces that can never leave the fort.

Ah...I think I had an English version of that game. Very good too, it was.

B

I admit to a passionate love of Snakes and Ladders, more as a child than as an adult, but I won't refuse a go even now.
And Rummykub. Propbably 'coz I win a lot. I'm an honorable winner, but a sore loser...

Has anyone else played 3D Chess or AD3000 - a kind of 3D space version of Risk? Personally, I love them but would be curious if anyone else has played them

I love Rummykub, it is one of the few games that my husband is pants at.

Is it satisfying though, playing with someone who is no good? Scrabble is one of the few games my husband will play, but I don't enjoy it that much because he doesn't really try to do well (at least he doesn't seem to) & he's pretty easy to beat.

I have this problem with Boggle. Nobody will play with me anymore because I score more than they do with everyone's results added together. It makes me sad because I do really enjoy playing it! But you're right, there never is any challenge to it. DONT FORGET TO NOT TRY PRESSING CARRIAGE RETURN WHEN YOU POST. YOU WONT BE ABLE TO POST YOUR REPLY IF YOU DO.

Yes. Anyone played Azad? RF

Not me. What is it?

It's a fictional game.

Possibly, someone who knows where it comes from might recognise it...although posting at midnight on Saturday may not exactly be the best time to return this thread to nthe top of the pile

RF

Or even just above the bottom...