1. Twilight Imperium 4th Edition New Comer
What an exceptional game. I hosted 20 games since I got it to the table first a month or so into the year. Currently I own two copies in case we have 7 or more that show up (which has been precisely once). I really played hard on this game. This is the game that turned our monthly gaming group into a League which in my opinion is the best way to play the game. We played for league points with Race Modifiers and awarded mugs at Christmas. I snagged enough votes for Most Valuable Ally. It was epic times and I look forward to the good times rolling on. We finished a 14 point 6 player game in 3.5 hours and regularly knock out a league game in 6 hours or less with new people. I could talk all day about this game. I have played 8 of the 17 races in the core box. Favorite being a 4 Player L1Z1X. I love PDS networks and favor races that have some slight twist on their formula. SCPT are my jam. Claims to fame: I played 3 games of TI4 this year at Fallcon in 24 hours (very little sleep but enough). Previous to this I played four games in 5 days playing TI4 each day.
2. A Game of Thrones 2nd Edition Up 3 from 5th
Near the end of the year I could tell my attempted blitz to 27 games of TI4 likely would not happen so I started getting back into this game. Thronemaster.net, BGG forum PBEM, and the new expansion Mother of Dragons really got me excited for this one while the TV series is on hiatus. Read most the books too. Love the challenges the game offers. Eager to get my hands on the play mat. Surprisingly easy to make mistakes in this game. I frequently feel queasy not knowing if I made the right decisions forward. I think that is a mark of a good game I think.
3. Heroes of Normandie Down 2 from 1st
I didn’t foresee this one dropping at the beginning of 2018. It was the best for me at the time! Then I met TI4 and well it had to make room. It is a great game! I am disappoint Cat Rabbit Games is stalling the PC adaptations when all the work is in front of them to port into their existing game client. So I play entirely in Cardboard now. Which is great. I met Jordan who is the only other person whom I have played that actually own their own HoN cardboard. He is pretty cool. In recent years I even took the game to Fallcon to Demo for the majority of the con. Looking forward to Heroes of Stalingrad.
4. War of the Ring 2nd Edition New Comer
Now I can see why this game is so highly rated. SUSD sold me on this and I am so glad they did. I am still learning this one. I am finding that it fits a spot in my game life that I want to play this at least three times a year to keep it fresh enough to not struggle but I am a tad worried about over-playing this one as to lose some of its epic mystery. It got me to watch all three extended versions with my son so that is a thing. I would talk more about if I felt more confident about the game. All I know is that I really, really like it. This game made me really re-consider other highly rated games on BGG as I obviously missed this one in my searches.
5. Forbidden Stars Down 1 from 4th
What a beautiful design. What a great game! It got limited plays in 2018 but in the fall League Session of 2019 I will likely be putting it forth as my selection and eagerly await massive play. I like the order system and the upgrade system the most. The components are top notch. It plays great at four and really well at lower counts too which can’t always be said about these type of games. One thing I did manage to snag in 2018 was a copy of unreleased factions. Also I want to try a five player game as I own two copies before it went out of print.
6. Star Wars: Rebellion Up 5 from 11th
Star Wars in a box. I especially enjoy the tension it creates regularly for both players. Having both players feel like there are a few steps away from a loss the majority of the mid and late game is wonderful. The expansion for me was a must buy and the revamped combat system really helps. I love the plastic. CR90’s, Assault Carriers, ATST’s, Ion Cannons… all of it is beautiful! Using the Deathstar to blow up a planet! This game is a riot with other Star Wars Fans.
7. Fury of Dracula 3rd Edition Up 5 from 12th
This one slowly is getting more and more play. Theme is easy to get into and the mechanics are pretty easy to teach. It doesn’t take up much room in its box so I arranged for a roommate. It is just a solid good game. Often the experienced players are relegated to being Dracula and that is fine. My preferred player count is 3 but I am happy to see this hitting the table any day.
8. X-Wing TMG Unmoved
I got a fair size 1st Edition Collection (in the process of moving to 2nd Edition). Our town stopped running tournaments some time ago. For me where the game shines is in custom narrative events with multiple tables with objectives and epic ships stealing center stage Hyperspacing to and from each table. This game is currently in a holding pattern for the time being. It needs an endorsed Narrative System. Something like the Corellian Conflict and I see Attacking Wing is picking up in 2019…
9. Star Wars Imperial Assault Unmoved
Started a handful of campaigns. Love the game. I am always relegated to playing the Imperials. I get even by only painting the Imperials (big grin). Tried a solo campaign with the app but it fell by the way side during the TI4 blitz. I think I see this as more of a skirmish game going forward but I will have to wait and see. I think I am done with expansions till more gets painted.
10. Game of Thrones: The Iron Throne New Comer
I like this game a lot! Maybe I could believe Cosmic is better but this is faster and with a theme I more readily gravitate to. Also the expansion is pretty great and makes defending others more interesting. I would rather play 2-4 games of this a night than use it as a filler.
11. Dungeon Command Up 5 from 16th
This one rarely hits the table but I have played many many games of it with custom decks and love it so much. It was priced reasonably at launch but WoTC killed it in short matter of months of content. I am actively looking to solicit a friend into the game so I can fire up this dinosaur in the rough. I love this system. It’s not perfect but it so close to what I want in a skirmish game. I have been looking and looking and I can’t find something comparable that holds my excitement like this can with its deck and warband building.
12. Space Hulk 4th Edition Up 6 from 18th
First game to ever completely paint. Thank you Sorastro! You fill this colorblind amateur painter with confidence! Also rumor has it Terminators are coming to Kill Team now! So these Space Marines will hit the table again there too. This classic game is fun to play and the minis are exceptional. It say no play this last year but I am eager to play it one day soon. The production level of this game is epic!
13. Battlestar Galactica Unmoved
A great thematic out of print game. I really helped popularized the semi-coop genre our table loves so much. I kinda feel bad I only snagged a single expansion out of the handful offered. I would like to see a second edition streamline the design and play time some.
14. Star Trek Ascendancy Down 11 from 3rd
This one fell quite a bit. The early years saw long delays between content. It’s a fun game to play to be certain but when I compare it to Twilight Imperium and the others I find it a little lacking. One of the few games on my list that has a very robust explore element and it really is the best Star Trek tabletop game you can play. This game had me donate my full set of Star Trek Fleet Captains to the local Cafe.
15. Frostgrave Down 13 from 2nd
Long I have been looking for a Warband Skirmish Game to replace Dungeon Command for me. I collected terrain for Frostgrave so long now that the terrain collecting and painting has out grown my love of the game. There is a lot of potential here in the game but I could never find or convert any gamers locally into liking it. I had to relegate my plays to skype and Roll20 games. I am finding I dislike playing tabletop games online. For me it kinda defeats the purpose.
16. Command & Colors: Napoleonics Up 4 form 21st
This title drops in and out of print with a regular cadence. Thematically it excites me the most out of the various Commands and Colors games. I think I could have really grown to like Battlelore if it was supported further instead of dropped. But I like the blocks here. I like the increased complexity. I like the different nations. Go Prussia!
17. History of the World (2018) New Comer
Hands down this is my favorite game to be in the losing position. It gives the person in last place so much power. This is the best version of a Risk like game yet. I like the historical element and the lack of player elimination is kinda of novel.
18. Blitz Bowl New Comer (BB previously 17th Replaced Entirely)
This game replaced Blood Bowl completely for me. It’s so much faster! I love it. You can get a game in during a lunch hour and I love that.
19. BattleTech New Comer
I played this in tabletop and the direct translation to tabletop to PC. I racked up many many plays of this game. As an old Earthsiege fan this game is great.
20. Axis & Allies Down 10 from 10th
My Dad and many in my gaming group like this one. We mostly play the Anniversary version and like that quite a bit. I like playing the game solo on the phone and eagerly await the New Online PC game to see if it’s any good. It’s a fun game I try to limit myself on the number of plays in I get in a year and the forums to maintain a certain degree of mystery in terms of strategies.
Why a top 20? Well I feel this is the first year my top 20 list feels mature enough. A lot of the other lists had games with a serious lack of plays on it. Also it might have help that 2018 was the first year I started tracking plays on my phone. As an amateur hobby gamer I have a handle on what I actually do like now. Purchasing a game and dealing with sunk cost fallacy has become less of an element for me. If I don’t like it I donated to the local café and get it off the shelves and try to be a bit smarter next time. Video reviews help but can have their own issues.
I am a fan of Fantasy Flight Games and great components. Christian and Corey are some of my favorite designers. I just like their games a lot. This year I tried more new stuff from other publishers but games like TI4 are just too good not to obsess over. Component bloat is real issue with FFG but I see they are looking to curtain that somewhat recently. Honestly even with TI4 if you organise it right and get a system down it can go pretty fast. I like big games so I guess that just goes with the territory.
The most desired unannounced game I want to see come out in 2019 is a new edition of the Starcraft Strategy Board Game.
