The good inspirations for the blog posts oftentimes come from fellow content-creators. Dave, who is running Dude! Take Your Turn, started in the past a series in which he talked about BoardGameGeek’s Top 100 games. Clio then borrowed his idea and creatively adapted.
Then they analyzed the first 1000 Games on BGG, highlighting one title they played & enjoyed per each century. You can find those two great articles below:
Now, I decided to “borrow with pride” the concept my Dear Friends came up with and create my own list of “10 games from Top 1000 on BGG, “One per each Century”. But there will be a twist to original concept – I will highlight one War/Conflict game and one Euro game per each hundred!
So let us see what I have played and enjoyed, which have been at the same time appreciated by the fellow boardgamers by high rankings on BGG!
Top BGG Games: 901-1000
| EuroGame | War/Conflict Game | |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Position | #968 | #978 |
| Title | Challengers! (2022) | Combat Commander: Pacific (2008) |
| Picture |  |  |
| Author | Johannes Krenner | Chad Jensen |
| Publisher | 1 More Time Games | GMT Games |
Thoughts: We start from the last hundred in first thousand with two very distinct titles 🙂 Combat Commander is definitely one of my favorite tactical wargames, a true gem about which I wrote extensively. And a game I played a lot with Dave. I appreciate how Pacific version enriched the original – and definitely like it very much.
On the other hand we have Challengers – a game you cannot be indifferent to! Interesting hand management which is being then played without your interference or control. Some love it, some hate. Here is a fan 🙂
Top BGG Games: 801-900
| EuroGame | War/Conflict Game | |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Position | #889 | #837 |
| Title | SpaceCorp: 2025-2300AD (2018) | Empire of the Sun: The Pacific War 1941-1945 (2005) |
| Picture |  |  |
| Author | John H. Butterfield | Mark Herman |
| Publisher | GMT Games | GMT Games |
Thoughts: Double GMT entry? Well, yes, this time both a wonderful wargame (Empire of the Sun) and so liked by me and my kids euro (SpaceCorp) are being highlighted and come from the same publisher. Those are also titles I am never tired of playing – also thanks to their replayability. If you have not tried them, makes sure you do!
Top BGG Games: 701-900
| EuroGame | War/Conflict Game | |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Position | #747 | #788 |
| Title | The Adventures of Robin Hood (2021) | D-Day at Omaha Beach (2009) |
| Picture |  |  |
| Author | Michael Menzel | John H. Butterfield |
| Publisher | KOSMOS | Decision Games |
Thoughts: What do we have in eight century? First of all a wonderful, cooperative game featuring Robin Hood. I recently wrote how much fun my family had with this game – and I am sure we shall come back to it some day in the future as you can replay it in additional mode!
The other title marks the first entry for one of my favorite designers of all time – John H. Butterfield. This author is simply genius when it comes to playable, fast solo modes. D-Day series is definitely one of his hallmarks.
Top BGG Games: 601-700
| EuroGame | War/Conflict Game | |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Position | #606 | #687 |
| Title | Nova Luna (2019) | Cuba Libre (2013) |
| Picture |  |  |
| Author | Uwe Rosenberg | Jeff Grossman, Volko Ruhnke |
| Publisher | Edition Spielwiese | GMT Games |
Thoughts: Interestingly, once I finished my list it occurred that the only game from the famous Uwe Rosenberg which made to the selection was Nova Luna. Well, it is not a surprise – my wife loves it, and we use that tile to introduce new players to the boardgames word. It is perfect for such occasions – and somehow we never got bored with it!
The wargame featured in this century is one of the more accessible, small and fast COunter INsurgency titles from Volko Ruhnke – Cuba Libre. If you are wondering where to start with classical COIN, that would be a good starting point.
Top BGG Games: 501-600
| EuroGame | War/Conflict Game | |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Position | #585 | #544 |
| Title | Alhambra (2003) | Fire in the Lake (2014) |
| Picture |  |  |
| Author | Dirk Henn | Mark Herman, Volko Ruhnke |
| Publisher | Queen Games | GMT Games |
Thoughts: One more entry from Mark Herman and Volko Ruhnke – this time their true masterpiece in COIN series, i.e. Fire in the Lake. Now, if you played many COINs and would like to delve into the most elaborate one, here comes the perfect proposition.
Interestingly, I get to know Alhambra pretty late – I believe I played it first 15-16 years after its publication. Still, it immediately jumped to top 5 Euros my family plays – and as Nova Luna, is used to seduce friends to boardgaming hobby!
Top BGG Games: 401-500
| EuroGame | War/Conflict Game | |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Position | #448 | #472 |
| Title | Horror w Arkham (2009) | Imperial Struggle (2020) |
| Picture |  |  |
| Author | Richard Launius, Kevin Wilson | Jason Matthews |
| Publisher | Fantasy Flight Games | GMT Games |
Thoughts: With our two great friends, Maciej and Krzysztof, we spent countless hours trying to save the world in Arkham Horror. We like that game very much and played many similar later on. However, that classic stays probably as our favorite one.
Imperial Struggle was a long awaited (15 years!) spiritual successor to Twilight Struggle and for me fulfilled all expectations. I love to replay the eighteen century British-French rivalry, beautifully and multidimensionally depicted by this title!
Top BGG Games: 301-400
| EuroGame | War/Conflict Game | |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Position | #349 | #387 |
| Title | Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition (2022) | Neuroshima Hex (2006) |
| Picture |  |  |
| Author | Muneyuki Yokouch | Michał Oracz |
| Publisher | Hobby Japan | Portal Games |
Thoughts: Time to look at the third century; here I have chosen my favorite Portal Games title – Neuroshima Hex. With countless expansions this is a never-ending source of fun and joy. We even played a tournament at one of our conventions!
On the other hand, Cat in the Box is a completely crazy and non-typical “quantum game”. A great logical puzzle with decent interaction and lots of planning. Beautifully published – and I believe one of the few Japanese games I own!
Top BGG Games: 201-300
| EuroGame | War/Conflict Game | |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Position | #230 | #231 |
| Title | Carcassonne (2008) | Commands & Colors: Ancients (2006) |
| Picture |  |  |
| Author | Klaus-Jürgen Wrede | Richard Borg |
| Publisher | Hans im Glück | GMT Games |
Thoughts: We are getting closer to the top! I must admit, that third “hundred” gave me a lot of headache! There were so many great games I played and appreciate here – especially Wargames – that it was very hard to choose from them. In the end, I went for Commands Colors Ancients – my weakness for this title is well-known to Readers of this blog.
In the Euro group, I decided to highlight Carcassonne – title which was with me at the onset of my true boardgame adventure and which also is appreciated greatly by my family and played often. And by the way, who have not heard about Carcassonne?!
Top BGG Games: 101-200
| EuroGame | War/Conflict Game | |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Position | #173 | #174 |
| Title | Ticket to Ride: Europe (2005) | Undaunted: Normandy (2019) |
| Picture |  |  |
| Author | Alan R. Moon | David Thompson |
| Publisher | Days of Wonder | Osprey Games |
Thoughts: Another set of great game and again, tough choices. For the wargame I took universal Undaunted: Normandy. Why I am calling it that way? Because you can play it both with grognards and kids and have a lot of fun. David Thompson did some great job here.
In Euro class I highlighted Ticket to Ride. Because it was first true Euro I received; and because we recently finished Legacy version of it and my love for this game resurfaced! You can never go wrong with this railroad game.
Top BGG Games: 1-100
| EuroGame | War/Conflict Game | |
|---|---|---|
| BGG Position | #32 | #30 |
| Title | Wingspan (2019) | Root (2018) |
| Picture |  |  |
| Author | Elizabeth Hargrave | Cole Wehrle |
| Publisher | Stonemaier Games | Leder Games |
Thoughts: Finally, the Top 100 games of the BoardGameGeek. Somehow, I have a lot of titles played from this set – which automatically increased the headache of choosing the right games! After some deliberation, and as there is limited number of conflict games here (but if they are, these are very good positions) I went for ROOT. I am playing it from its onset and recently again rediscovered it. There are so many ways to play this game and it is so greatly asymmetric, fun and brutal that I had no doubt – this will be my choice.
It was much more difficult with Eurogames. In the end I went for the title played multiple times, for which I have all expansions, and which still surprises us with its beauty – Wingspan. The longevity of this position should be even further prolonged as we are planning to introduce kids to this great game!
Conclusion
Wow, I was not expecting to have so much fun with this exercise! And sometimes, headache when choosing titles form each one hundred, when several great titles were equally fun! But well, I defined a task so there was no mercy, the choice has to be done!
Maybe I will borrow some other BGG related ideas from My Dear Friends? Who knows, let us see! Stay tuned!
The Boardgames Chronicle 
Wow, giving me lots of hits on my 1000 post. Thank you!
Also some great choices on your end. Love it!
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A lot of inspiration in those posts from you Dave!
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Great double selection of games! I would not even have thought that there was a wargame in every hundred…
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Thank you! There were hundreds where I had a headache to choose from, and once where I need to improvise a bit. Still, that was great exercise – thanks for inspiration!
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