Can you recommend a fantasy table top board game? What makes it best? Any idea of availability?

Question

When my boys were 13 they liked to play the Mattel game, Battle Masters. They spent as much time setting up the game and figurines as playing the battle and seemed to like both aspects of play. Now my nephews are that age and I am looking for a similar opportunity for them. Battle Masters is no longer in production and I haven't found a suitable one used (most are missing parts). There must be a knock off or even a better version available today.....I would be willing to put some money into a more durable game if I knew the play value was good. But some of them just seemed to be a lot of books to read and too complicated play.....which is why battlemasters appealed to me.... thoughts? ideas? your experience playing miniature games?

Answer 1

Talisman has recently been reprinted and is available once again, check your Friendly Local Game Store.

The Order of the Stick game is pretty good as well, though I'm not certain if you're looking for a board game or a tabletop RPG type of game.

Answer 2

Talisman is a game which plays a lot like the role-playing D&D.  My family has enjoyed it for many years.  Actually we've had it for so long that I'm not sure if it is still available.  you could, of course, look for a copy of it on E-Bay.

Answer 3

Try looking for HeroScape.  This sounds very much like the type of thing you're looking for as it's quite simple, has a large (and expanding) variety of figures and can be found reasonably priced with a little effort.  It supports reasonably large armies fairly well, though assembling the terrain can take as long as playing the game sometimes.

You could also try looking for the D&D Minatures game, but that's a bit more complex and geared towards small skirmishes.  It's also more expensive to pick up specific figures for as it's a collectible miniatures game.