Hello everyone! Happy New Year! The state of tabletop gaming has probably never been better. We have more amazing tabletop games to play today than ever before. Not only are the rules clean and tight but the quality of models has exceeded anything I thought possible at these scales. We have more tools and techniques for modeling, painting, and terrain building, allowing us to become fully immersed in our tabletop games. The only problem we have, gaming in a “Golden Age” like this, is quite simply we cannot play all of the games.
Recently my group of friends and prospective opponents have gotten exponentially larger. With a lot new faces and a few old ones it is sometimes hard to decide who, what, where, and when I should play. However I always seem to be asked the same questions. “What games are your favorites?” and “What games are you going to be playing?”
I thought I would answer those questions for all of you today. I feel the answers to these questions are not mutually exclusive so I will combine them into one list. I essentially used the following factors:
- How much I enjoy playing the game
- Theme of the game
- Is the game popular locally
- Would the game look good on a stream
- Are there events to attend
- Can the game be played both casually and competitively
- Long term outlook of the game
So without further ado….. my top 5 for 2020:
1. Bolt Action – This is my #1 for many reasons. I love the theme. I have always found WWII very interesting. The rules are some of the best in tabletop games. Locally it is one of the most popular games. It looks great on stream. Checks all the boxes for me.
2. Marvel Crisis Protocol – This is a very new game but lets be honest…. Marvel + Tabletop + Skirmish pushes this one almost to the top of the list. The rules are great, models are very nice, and it is Marvel. Enough said. Perfect for streaming and fast casual play. AMG has a hit on their hands.
3. Star Wars Legion – Legion has been around for almost 2 years now. I have a love, hate, love relationship with this game. I bought it upon release, pre-ordered most of the expansions, and then could not find anyone to play. I almost sold it multiple times. It had balance issues at launch, shaky release schedule, and used proprietary dice, movement, and range tools. But it is Star Wars and the last year has seen FFG really grow the game and fix most of the glaring problems. Enough units have been released, along with two new factions (doubling the number) to keep the game fresh and include some diversity in lists. This one could evolve into one of the best games on the market.
4. Battletech Alpha Strike – Where to begin? I played Mechwarrior: Dark Age A LOT! It was my first “tabletop” game. I really enjoy the Battletech universe and always wanted to play Classic Battletech (CBT) but the time needed to understand the game fully was intimidating, so I passed. Flash forward and we have Alpha Strike. This is a tabletop game more in the vein of 40K, AoS and many others. It plays much faster than CBT, has an interesting activation system. You only need 2D6 to play, along with some counters to keep track of the various states your units find themselves. Not to mention, big mechs bashing each other into submission is not something to be ignored. A classic that will always be high on my list of favorite games!
5. Warcry/AoS – You could not have a Top 5 Tabletop games without Games Workshop. I started with Warcry, a super fast and brutal skirmish game that fits on your coffee table. That has spawned an AoS army that I am currently building. This was a tough choice but the detail of the models and simple and engaging gameplay put this one at #5.
Honorable Mentions: Blood & Plunder and Oak & Iron.
It was not easy to put this list together with so many great games being released on what seems like a monthly basis. I am sure 2020 will have its fair share of new and amazing games. I will revisit my Top 5 next January and see how it has changed. What are your top 5 games? Leave your list in the comments.
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