I’m guessing that the majority of us here on SimHQ have played Axis & Allies?
About 10 to 12 years ago, I was playing another Star Wars card game which was very dice heavy. Some units would roll 8 or 10 dice in an attack. And repeatedly I felt frustrated by the random outcomes often nullifying sometimes very expensive tactical efforts. There were times it didn't seem to matter what choices I made. The dice made things a tossup, either way.
So about that time, I looked at some Axis and Allies. Risk too, as I recall. Becoming more interested in WW2 PC sims, this made sense. But after watching some play, and reading the rules, it was so much dice and random outcomes. Many players enjoyed it, and sure it was pretty accessible and relaxed play. But I just wanted something else, and never bought these games.
There was a span of maybe 5 or 6 years after that I didn't play any board games.
When I came back, I discovered games like those in my prior post. Games which are completely *unlike* anything I played growing up. In some of those games I posted, there are zero random outcomes to combat. Each player can fully see how any combination of individual or group combats will result. This leaves everything down to player choices, tactical decisions on who will fight, where, and with what support as backup.
For me, this makes a 1 to 3 hour play far more rewarding, when I can feel like the results have been down to my choices, or a battle of player wits, more than anything really random.
Even in the "Battles of the American Revolution" series I posted, which is quite a traditional hex and counter system, the dice are there, but the outcomes seem very carefully measured, and I always have choice of when and where I attack, and can try (so far as the enemy and terrain allows), to aim at a larger battle goal, more than the individual unit clashes. Meaning for example, I can have some units operating as a ruse or screen to prevent or slow an enemy threat from interfering with my main force who is pushing for a breakthrough or flanking action.
And yea, I do get what you mention about book keeping. For my "Liberty or Death" plays, I keep pen and paper to log my play choices, in addition to the in-game tracking counters. While really unnecessary from a general gameplay standpoint, I do this mainly as an assist to analyzing my plays. This way, as I play a single campaign year each weekend or so (this over the course of a 3 to 6 year campaign, meaning 3 to 6 weekends), it's easier putting all my choices together and seeing how my overall plays worked toward my opening strategic goals (or if I strayed for some reason), and to what result.
These aspects make this type of board games quite as good as a PC game, to me. Even better, considering that not only is the play learning and experience portable (the core mechanics of both "Liberty or Death" and the "Battles of the American Revolution" are part of 18 or 19 separate games, in each of their own series of 9 or 10), but they are also platform independent and self contained. And as someone mentioned above, there's the bonus of sitting back with a drink, some music, and the interaction with friends, too. A play session quite similar to our Arma3 or R6 multiplayer PC gaming sessions.
