Hi
I was thinking of buying a wargame for me and my family. And so I came across Risk and Axis&Allies. Has anyone experience with those games? If so, what are the good things of both games? I would like to know. Also, If you know an other good wargame, you're free to post it.
Thanks all.

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Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

T.S. Eliot - The Hollow Men

Risk is simple in concept and can be extremely funny - I remember there was always an argument over who got what colour of counter... I believe that the more modern Risk sets gave little men and horses/cannon? All we had in Ye Days of Olde was peculiar little kinf of triangular or hexagonal pieces.

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Hi, great to see history-wargamers too

Risk is pretty good, but gets kind of repetitive after a while (throwing 3 dice vs 2 dice A LOT). Hardly any tactics, some strategy involved in choosing territories and diplomacy with other players.

A&A is a much better game IMO, I have only played the Europe version, but the combat system is not as simplistic and .: better.

I've also played Diplomacy, which is only good if you have a large family though (7 players max, 3 or fewer isn't fun). I can't think of the others I have played... why don't you introduce them to LOTR too?

Unless your family is all into war games, I'd suggest Risk. It's easy to understand for casual gamers, but still challenging, or at least fun, for more experienced gamers. Lots of people know it, so it's easy to include friends of family as well.

I agree. Risk is a great game for casual players, but also strategists. And yeah, Dorth, the new Risk has men, horses, and cannons. You can also play different ways, such as Global Domination, Mission Risk, etc...

...a good way to spend a couple of hours

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Hmm... what would a chair look like if your knees bent the other way?

i much prefer Axis and Allies. risk gets boring after a while.

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When Isengard marches to war their is no stopping them.

How old's the family? If reletively young it might be an idea to get a childs game or an old copy of HeroQuest or something like that. If they are old enough to make tactical decisions and not get bored, I think Axis & Allies is the better game.

Yep, but to be honest whats the fun with puny games. Try Third Reich http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/ ... hird-reich.

Ok seriously, Risk is good if your kids are small, small enough to be fascinated by throwing loads of dice (by the way, attacker has about 25% advantage when 3v2 D6). There really isn't much strategy...

I stand by my previous suggestion, Diplomacy is a wonderful game http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=ah/prod/diplomacy. No luck whatsoever, so nobody complaining about dice

Hi
Thanks for all the quick responses.

Yes, my family is indeed a bit young(teenagers).
So if I understand it all right, then Risk is a good way to introduce wargaming. And if they like it, I can always switch to some harder games like Axis&Allies or Diplomacy, which involves more stratgey.

Anyone suggestions for the normal Risk or Risk 2210AD?(The two versions of Risk I can get at my local gamestore)

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Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;

T.S. Eliot - The Hollow Men

Looks like you're pretty set on Risk, well that's ok.
I've never tried 2210AD, but I think its a better choice. You have the option of playing the special 2210AD version, as well as playing classic risk using the same set. The additional rules probably make for a more exciting game anyway.

Thematically you could always get the Middle Earth version of Risk, which has a few interesting tweaks as well as the basic rules. I would definitely recommend Risk as a starter game, since A&A has a few more complicated issues to deal with plus a bad start can make things very dull for one or more players.

Depending on their specific interests - historicals or fantasy or semi-warfare - then next-step games would include Civilization III: the Boardgame (trading as research as well as warfare); War of the Ring (warfare strategy across Middle Earth, with an operational-level supplement); Talisman (a skirmish-level fantasy Monopoly game, in simple terms); Britannia (historical game of the history of the British Isles).