As a child I grew up playing many games. I am sure you did too. My friends and I played many games outdoors and inside. When I grew into my teenager years we discovered war board games. Here is a list of the games I fell in love with.
Why do boys love war games so much? We also enjoyed the war movies and we were always playing at war when we were outside. We divided up into teams and claimed territory and planned invasions and built forts. It all seemed so serious at the time but now when I think of all those hours spent playing at war I know I had much fun but it was not time well spent.
On rainy days we had to play inside. I think that is why we became so engrossed with the war board games. They reminded us of the fun we had outdoors. It was less messy than building forts inside the house although we did that too! A good board game might last all morning. We would take lunch and then go outside to play.
In the summers, especially, we had many long hours of playing these games. I hope you enjoyed these games as much as I did.
Axis & Allies
We thought this was the ultimate war game. No one wanted to be Russia but everyone wanted to be Germany or America. In many of our games the wars came down to the Germans and the Americans trying to free their allies. Sometimes the games were very quick and sometimes the games were very long. We knew the strategies we wanted to play so after a year we began to make new rules to make the game more challenging.
Battleship
This was the first war game I ever played. For several years my brother and I played this game at home. One day a friend of mine brought his Battleship over and we started to play with four screens and two fleets. Either of your fleets could attack either of the other two fleets.
Team Battleship games were fun because we could bring in two more friends. As soon as any one player was eliminated from the game the other team would quickly finish off his partner.
We always wanted to play with three teams but we could never find six people ready to play at the same time.
Conquest of the Empire
This was a rare game. I believe an uncle gave this game to one of my friends. We found that we really enjoyed playing it.
The game consists of 6 Roman generals who are competing to become Caesar. They must plot against each other and build armies and roads and forts. The battles could be epic but when the game was reduced to two players it either became long and boring or was over quickly.
Stratego
Stratego was the first “grown up” war game I ever played. We were given Stratego for Christmas one year when I was about twelve years old. My brother and I played it for many hours but I became frustrated because I never knew where to hide my general or where to find his.
Risk
Risk is the king of the board games. It is not so good as Axis & Allies in some ways but we really enjoyed building up our empires and destroying each others’ plans. We spent one summer playing Risk every day. My mother had to chase us outside to get us to go play.
One weekend we had a sleepover with five boys and we played Risk for two days straight. It was quite a tournament.
Shogun
I don’t remember much about this game except that it was set in Japan and you had to collect Koku every turn to pay your mercenaries. Somehow I never had an army large enough to conquer the board. Shogun was a very hard game for me and I did not much enjoy it but my friends loved to play it.
And That Is It!
There were other games but I don’t remember their names. There was a space game with ships and planets. And there was a game with little tanks and army men. And I think we played a Civil War game too. There were so many games they all blended together.
For a few years I lived a blissful life unaware of the adult trials and tribulations. As older life set in my friends and I parted ways and we lost touch with each other. I think a few of them have now passed away, which is very sad because they were so young. But I will always remember those joyous days of youth.
Here are some Websites for you to enjoy.
- Risk House Rules and Game Variations
- How to Play Axis & Allies
- The Small World Board Game
- Monopoly Strategy