My Love Affair with Games

This is one of the things I like most about this blog: I can write about anything I want and there isn't a whole lot anyone can do about it. I guess you don't have to read it, but hey, that works too.

Anyway, I want to spout off about one of my favorite subjects: board games. I'm inspired to write because I just update my "list" to the ride side of this blog with my favorite board games. Take a look at it, maybe it will inspire you to check out one of these gems of entertainment.

Years ago, when I was just a kid I used to play games all the time with Brian, my older brother. My parents were very generous and bought us all kinds of them to try out. I have one particularly fond memory of the game Pay Day, which Brian and I motified to be played with our expansive collection of Legos. We incorporated the building of cars, houses and other luxuries into our game. It was great fun.

Brian and I occasionally clashed in our games. He loved playing Risk and whenever he convinced me to play he would completely destroy me. Monopoly was the same way. I think in all the times we played I was only able to beat him at Risk one time. I have no intention of ever playing him again, having had my one moment in the sun those many years ago.

Today my passion for games has taken me to the European style games like Puerto Rico and Caylus. There is another coming out any day now called Agricola that I've been waiting on for about six months. It sounds a little mundane but has gotten huge reviews from various sources. In the game you play a family of two, a farmer husband and farmer wife. You don't have a whole lot of anything besides a small shack of a house. Each turn you get to do one thing per person living in the house. You can go plant a field, you can go chop down wood, you can gather food, etc. You can slo have children. The catch is, to have children you have to get materials to add on to your house. You also need to feed the children, so food becomes a much more important resource. The payoff is that you can immediately put the kids to work performing an action as well (if only I could do that with Gracie and Balin).

The Euro games are great because they ignore some of the things that make American games so, well, American. Eurogames tend to reduce the amount of luck involved in the game. Most don't have dice in the game, removing the randomization factor. They also don't deal with direct conflict. In other words, you are trying to eliminate your opponent (like you do in Monopoly or Risk) but instead all the players are around until the end. This is very appealing to me. I've played and been bounced enough by Brian to know that those type of games aren't my favorite.

I've been collecting board games for a few years now. I love to break them out whenever I can find a willing participant. They are really relaxing to me, for the most part.

Then comes Warmachine...

Warmachine is another one of my gaming passions. It is a tabletop miniature wargame using pewter miniatures to represent legions of soldiers as well as steam powered monstrous robotic constructions. I enjoy everything about the game. It starts with the assembly and painting of the models. I have around 200 different figures. After that you build an army out of the various figures and then find someone to play.

The game play itself is very confrontational (I know, it kinda spits in the face of what I just wrote) and deals with a great deal of individual and combined tactics. The game itself is extremely cerebral. There is a great deal of thought that goes into army composition and arrangement of troops on the table.

I've written a bit about Warmachine in the past. I'm part of a league and just basically enjoy talking about it. One of these days I will post pictures of some of the models I have painted. Maybe there'll be some interest there. :)

What are some of your favorite games, and why? I would love to hear your comments (I do love reading the comments people have started posting, so keep it up). Or, you can email me at my blog mail: lonnbristolblog@gmail.com.