Board Game Geeks: WaPo Magazine article about classic board game Diplomacy

[Skinner]

Anyone here play Diplomacy? Back in High School my friends and I used to play all the time, but I haven't played since. We were true geeks; when the other kids were out getting drunk, my buddies and I were fighting over WWI Europe. Or discovering our inner tycoon in Rail Baron, or blowing up the world in Supremacy.

Anyway, The Washington Post Magazine had a story about Diplomacy this weekend. I figure there have to be a few hard-core board game geeks in this group who might be interested...

World Domination: the Game

Deception, double-crosses, back-stabbing ... It's not that the passionate enthusiasts who gather around the Diplomacy board can't handle the truth. They just don't care to.

More...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38110-2004Nov9.html

Anyone still play geek board games? I kinda wish I could, but I don't know anyone to play with. Except for my brother-in-law and my 17-year-old nephew, but they're out in Michigan, so we only play games about once or twice a year. Recently we discovered Settlers of Catan, which is pretty great, too.

[Enraged_Ape]

1. I'm just now getting back into board games

Although I was never too much into Diplomacy (I was a horrible diplomat, and I always felt visceral upset about backstabbing other people), I was hugely into Risk and the Avalon Hill war games Panzer Leader and Starship Troopers. My geek friends and I in high school would play almost every weekend--until we discovered AD&D, which we played almost every night.

Recently, more than two decades later, I started getting back into playing Risk and Acquire. There is just nothing like the tactile stimulation and communal spirit offered by even the simplest boardgames. I get up from the table physically exhausted a lot of the time, my sides aching from laughter. That is an experience I've never been able to replicate on the computer.

[Skinner]

2. Of course... Acquire!

A couple years ago I was given a copy of Acquire as a gift. It's the same game as it's always been, but one of the big mainstream game companies (Milton Bradley?) bought the rights and has been selling a pretty fancy version. I was able to get most of my family hooked, and we generally will find a time to play on family vacations or holidays. That is such a great game.

I never really got into Risk. I guess I felt like it took too long and got too complicated when someone would amass a giant army with dozens and dozens of pieces. Aslo, I think some of the novelty wore off when I started playing the Risk computer game on my old Mac, and realized that what once took hours and hours could be played in approximately five minutes.

I also never could quite get into the giant war simulations on the hexagonal-spaced game board. The rule books were always like 50 pages long, and went into a level of detail that took away the spontineity of the game: "The Germans must attack Belgium before July of 1941." "There will be snow in Russia in February of 1943." Etc.

[lazarus]

3. I love 'em all

The new Lord of the Rings version of Risk is incredible, btw. It's a whole new game based on the Risk "engine", to borrow a concept from computer gaming. It also has a time limit, as during the entire game the ring is moving across the board. When it leaves, game over (I've only conquered the whole board twice before it happened).

I need to find some board gamers around here. And get my old Risk game out of storage. It's a 1963 edition, with wooden pieces.

[Justin54B20L]

17. Speaking of giant war sim board games

my friend and I are still on our first game of "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich." We started it back in 1997 and it took us 3 months alone to read through and understand the rule book.

[NewHampshireDem]

5. Marathon Risk and Monopoly games with my dad and brother ...

except the little ass-kiss always ganged up on me with my father, then would let him win. :mad:

I started to get into Axis and Allies in college, but it took too damn long to play, so it was hard to find a game. I was uber disappointed when I found out that the new A&A computer game is actually an RTS. I was hoping to whup the computer. :sigh:

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. Similar experience

Started playing in high school with a group mostly made up from the debate team. For many years we had a tradition of getting back together when on break from college. Haven't touched it since then.

In keeping with the spirit of the game, my house was bugged when I was the host. It helps less than you might think except you KNOW when you're about to get back stabbed and can maximize revenge.

[toddaa]

6. Diehard grognard

I got sucked in by Squad Leader and Advanced Squad Leader back in the Avalon Hills/SPI golden age and still plunk down lot's of my dwindling disposable income on wargames. My current favorites come from GMT publishers, including their Great Battles of History titles and the new Musket and Pike series. I started out as a WWII buff and worked my way back to ancients. Don't make it much past the 17th century these days. While I occasionally drag out a monster game and marvel at it, I prefer games that can be set up and completed in a weekend.

[Forkboy]

7. Never played board games like that (suprisingly)

But I did download Settlers of Catan a few months back from Home of the Underdogs and it's pretty damn cool.A lot of the PC wargames I play started as board games.I'd love to play the original versions...but alas,all my friends and I do when we hook up is drink and play a lot of noisy music (not a bad time in it's own right :) ).

[Chovexani]

8. WOW I remember that game

Me and the old nerd herd used to play it when no one felt like DMing a D&D adventure.

Is Avalon Hill still around? They used to make some great geek board games.

[Enraged_Ape]

11. Avalon Hill was bought by Hasbro a few years ago

Unfortunately, they no longer make most of those classic games, such as:

Feudal
Kingmaker
Outdoor Survival
Panzerblitz
Panzer Leader
Tactics II
Richtofen's War
Stocks and Bonds
Venture

Their line-up is almost entirely focused on the Axis and Allies games. They also published a spiffed-up (and highly recommmended) version of Acquire a few years ago, but I don't know if that's still in production.

[Chovexani]

14. Frelling Hasbro.

I swear they're like the Borg.

What a shame. :(

[Enraged_Ape]

15. Hasbro now owns AH, Parker Brothers, AND Milton Bradley

Talk about a trifecta. And they have stopped production on many games that we loved while they have outsourced (or licensed) others, such as Pit, one of the greatest party games of all time.

If not for the existence of Wizards of the Coast (which owns the collectible card game and Dungeons and Dragons), Rio Grande Games, and a few European companies, Hasbro would have an effective...you got it...Monopoly (ba-rum bum! tishh!).

[NuttyFluffers]

19. dude, Hasbro owns WotC, and has for years.

where've you been? it happened during my retail years, at least 3-4 years ago.

WotC bought TSR (D&D fame), and then Hasbro bought WotC.

it's pretty much Games Workshop, White Wolf, Hasbro, Steve Jackson Games, and very few others.

if i remember correctly Holistic (of Fading Suns) has already been bought out, as has Decipher (pretty sure about that...), and i believe AEG is owned by someone else (though i'm not sure who...).

but i am 100% sure that Hasbro owns WotC (Magic:tG), TSR (D&D), FRPG (L5R & Warlords), and Avalon Hill (Axis and Allies, etc.).

[Enraged_Ape]

22. I had heard that Hasbro bought TSR

But it had never occurred to me that they had also bought WotC. I just never made the connection, for some reason. God damn!

[NeoGreen]

9. I been playing Diplomacy online via e-mail since 1999...

at a site called Redscape.

http://www.redscape.net/forum/index.php

It has grown to be quite large with quite a number of games going at one time.

Their 18-board tournament is going on right now.

One warning, there are a lot of "Freeper Types" in the forums but there are some DU types too, so the discussions can be very "educational".

I've never had a problem playing there and 99% of the players are more then helpfull and friendly (just like the real world).

I also play/have played A&A, Risk, Surpremacy and D&D when I can find enough like minded people with the time.

Lately I've been teaching my kids Risk and have introduced them to D&D.

[paulk]

10. I've still got a copy of Avalon Hill's "Machiavelli"

which is based on "Diplomacy". I could never get anyone to play it with me.

There was a time when I knew some people who were into board games - we used to play AH's "Civilization" and a couple of other games quite regularily. But people moved away, got married, got careers, etc. Then computers came along, and the face to face social interaction of a board game took a back seat to a tv monitor.

[TroubleMan]

12. That was a fun game.....

We used to stay up all night playing it in Junior High.

[Lithos]

13. I liked Diplomacy

Though I spent more time playing Kingmaker. Was also into those hex games from an early age. Was an early and a many year subscriber to SPI's magazine Strategy & Tactics. I think my first game via subscription was PanzerArmee Afrika.

L-

[sniffa]

16. i'm an 'axis & aLLies' freak

i shit on dipLomacy! :P

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

18. Is there an Internet Version of Diplomacy? I remember playing this game

with friends in high school. A most excellent and classic game. One of the countries was really lame though, wasn't it Italy? (compared to the others...)

[NeoGreen]

23. You might try this site...

http://www.redscape.net/forum/index.php

The best Diplomacy site to be found (IMHO).

[TheMightyFavog]

20. Ahh Diplomacy....

I've seen fistfights break out over that game.

I've also seen friendships of many extremley strained, if not broken over one well-timed backstab.

[Ready4Change]

21. Played Diplomacy, still play boardgames.

I played the tan booked, pre AD&D version of D&D, and many many boardgames, as well as other pencil and paper RPGs. (Anyone else annoyed with how computer gamers have usurped the term RPG?)

I've several groups in my area with whom I play games of one sort or another. Helps that I live right between 2 urban centers, so there's lots of people about.

Couple years back, my old gaming group of friends started yearning for the old days when we'd play RPGs. So I whipped up a campaign setting and we've been playing monthly ever since.

Seek out game shops, or hit the nearest gaming convention when it rolls into town. Gamers are out there.