Popular Skirmish Board Games (Mechanic)

When you think of skirmish games, you might picture giant Warhammer armies fighting on an impressively detailed battlefield. Yet as amazing as those figures look, it takes a lot of time and effort ...

In feudal Japan, the cleverest warrior will prevail. Read our review of Gunkimono, then show your opponents that you deserve the title of daimyo of your clan!...

Lots of games played in the last week due to new games for Christmas and having the family around and willing to play a few:

#Exploding Kittens with various expansions (Physical, Multiplayer): Played a game with all of the kids and three expansions. The game is a good bit of light fun if you're in the mood for it.
#Cult Following (Physical, Multiplayer): Played another game of this one. It's fun but one of the kids wasn't in to it which meant we gave it a round then let it go for the evening.
#878 Vikings: Invasions of England (TTS,Multiplayer): This is the second time I have played this game. My partner and I played very well, didn't overextend, had a good presence on the island, and were ready to make a big push. Then the English side got a disastrous set of cards (for us) and annihilated us. It was literally the perfect storm. It actually lowered my opinion of this game a bit. I understand some unrealistic swingyness in a war game style board game but that was ridiculous! At least it was over quickly.
#Race for the Galaxy with #Race for the Galaxy: The Gathering Storm (Tabletopia, multiplayer) x2: This game is firmly a favourite of mine. The group knows it now so it's easy to toss in a quick game or two when the viking invasion of england doesn't take as long as expected.
#Celestia (Tabletopia, multiplayer) x2: This one is a fun little push your luck game with fun art and components in the physical game. A good little time filler with those fun table laughs and groans you get when someone drops off early and the rest of the crew goes the distance. :)
#Marvel Champions: The Card Game (Physical, solo) x8: I had been eyeing this game for a while and have played it with my group on Tabletop Simulator. So I picked this one up post Christmas. I LOVE Marvel and comics. I also love deck construction. I've played #Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game but for me Champions is much better. I've been playing around with different decks trying to beat Klaw. And yes, I've already ordered some expansions for it so I can do some more constructing. :)
#Arctic Scavengers: Base Game + HQ + Recon (Physical, solo): Another new game from Santa. I played the player made solo variant from BGG which is fine but I can tell this one is really going to shine multiplayer. I love deck building games (along with deck construction games) but they need to have a twist and the skirmish is a great twist to this game. (Reminiscant of the raiding in #Vikings Raid & Conquer Game.)
#Unstable Unicorns with various expansions (Physical, Multiplayer): Another game played with the kids. The expansion doesn't really do much but add more cards. The art is cute but we played with 3 but I don't think the table was in the mood for it so it fell flat this time.
#Underwater Cities (TTS, Multiplayer): Got a game in on TTS after my solo play of the game I got for Christmas. I really enjoy this game! The play is tight with 4 and you really have to work the action spots and the timing around them to build something up. I won fairly handily with building diverse cities. More play throughs are definitely needed!
#Starlink (Physical, Multiplayer) x2: One of my kids is heavy in to astronomy and they got this one for Christmas. It's a fun little drawing game. Fun for a bit of amusement on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

Action packed week! I think Marvel Champions is the biggest hit for me so far this year. :)

I must say that taking the 'toy factor' out of a minis skirmish game doesn't appeal to me... But to each his own!

Sounds like you might enjoy #For What Remains - it's basically a minis skirmish game with counters, and it has a chit-pull solo system. Marco Arnaudo was a fan.

And I see you've already modded #Heroes of Normandie to play solo - very cool!

#Star Wars: Epic Duels Game is my personal favorite, especially when played in teams. Just a fun, simple skirmish game with a cool hand management mechanic. The decks do a good job of differentiating characters.

I would love to see a new version with more characters. (I know #Unmatched Game System is supposed to be a re-implementation, but it looks like they unnecessarily complicated it.)

I was a big X-Wing fan and ran events at my FLGS for years. But I got off the merry-go-round when FFG did the second edition. Fun game, terrible distribution model.

1. Very interested in playing Glory to Rome. I would probably not buy a grail game at $250 though.

2. My game of the game was A Feast for Odin as it plays well solo and is a fascinating puzzle of options. Played this game a ton over the summer.

3. Helionox is a surprise lay solid deck builder.

4. Top 5: A. First: Feast for Odin. - Viking theme and puzzle-y goodness put this at the top.

Second: Middara: Unintentional Malum – Act 1 - I really like the customization of characters and narrative.
Third: Mansions of Madness 2nd Ed, - Fun narrative/app integration. Best Lovecraft game imo.

Fourth: Too Many Bones - Awesome character customization and puzzle skirmishing. Component quality top notch.
Fifth: Scythe - Another game with amazing components. Better multiplayer, but solo is still fun.

I think Inis will fit well into the collection, I really like the artwork. I might even buy it

If I won the $200 I would probably go for the 1-2 expensive games as they always seem out of reach.

I actually like all games except skirmish Warhammer stuff, I think the minis are great but very expensive hobby and not sure how much it would get to the table, If I won a small set that was not usable on its own then I might trade it but if I won enough to get some value from it then I would keep it and enjoy it.

Couldn't agree with you more. I'm a huge SW fan and haven't seen one that compels me to buy it. They're either too long or too skirmish-focused for me. And then Outer Rim seems good but not great, but I may try at some point.

I am also hoping for a more eueo-like SW game at some point!

I need to get these to the table more. Really fun little skirmish game.

Has there ever been a good GI Joe game? Seems like natural for some sort of scenario-based minis skirmish game.

Thanks for the review! What would be your favorite skirmish game?

@philryuh Ask me a hard one! #Omicron Protocol. #Aristeia! is also good fun, but there are SOOO many levels to Omicron, that has to be it. If you like Skirmish games I recomend getting in on it in Late Pledge

Thankfully I don't often suffer from FOMO with games. I think for me the only time it would happen is if it's a game I really like but know I would never get to the table. But this has nothing to do with how the greater gaming community views the game.

I agree that is one of the worst aspects of Kickstarter. But I also see the need for companies to do this because Marketing is important and it works. Thankfully not on me.

As fas as expansions go, I only really feel I need an expansion if it adds significantly to my enjoyment of the game. This is why I've been able to avoid getting most small box #Star Wars Imperial Assault expansions. I think if I played Skirmish mode often they would draw my attention more. Having said that, it's hard to not get the Obi Wan, Luke Jedi, or other cool small box expansions because I think it'd be really fun to have. But not practical.

With many things I try to just focus on what I have and how good it is and try not to look around at what others have.

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