They do have armies. The mechanics are very simple but you attack your neighbours by (-1) from each side until whoever’s left takes over the territory. Very clear, very simple, but also a bit boring and mathematical.
This is all IIRC by the way.
2 Likes
Die Macher.
If you want to reenact German politics. And Weimar. I haven’t played but I assume it will take long to play
Leaving Earth can go on forever but its a bit Excel: The Boardgame
Mage Knight comes up from my collection as a very long playtime.
5 Likes
Also can be played PvP or coop. Not so heavy on the negotiation but overall really lives up to the hype. Great game.
18xx games are long and you could play negotiation and trash talk allowed if you want. I personally really like 1889 Sihkoku for being 1830 like without the sheer weight of codified strategy and the Grand Trunk edition is beautiful. 18Mex is a favourite by us but that’s not a widely acclaimed title. Again very 1830 but the twists are unobtrusive and intuitive and the map is excellent, most interesting map play of the 1830 close ones I’ve played.
My favourite epic game is Cthulhu Wars but that’s for sure a wargame.
I really like Battlestar Galactica. Part if what I like though is how clunky it is. That makes the faff get in the way of pure traitor mechanics which to me makes it a lot better. I haven’t played unfathomable as I could just play BSG so I don’t know how awkward the theme is. If it’s mechanically close I have enjoyed the mechanics and like them being long and awkward. The big caveat here is the BSG theme is so good for it. The story was a slog for the characters and they had all sorts of things to get done as well as worry about who was a cylon. So without the theme would I enjoy it as much? Almost definitely not.
5 Likes
There are various campaign style games, where individual sessions shouldn’t last anything like 8 hours, but where each game is a part of a larger story, and you could play them back-to-back over the course of a whole day.
I can’t think offhand of any such games where “negotiation, politics, scheming” feature – I think such games tend to be either co-operative, or all-vs-one affairs. It’s a style that would provide some ongoing narrative, though.
3 Likes