I see (via Linnaeus) that there's a book of essays on "The Best 100 Hobby Games" with noted game designers penning essay tributes. I should look into it.
I've played roughly 1/2 of the list (which includes CCGs, Miniatures, and RPGs, as well as Euros and Wargames). I've snarked on lists like that before, but this one's pretty good. First of all, any list that includes My Beloved Shadowfist shall be absolved many sins.
Second, even the games I haven't played I recognize, and those that I don't like do have some claim to fame. The only real reach is "My Life with Master." [I'm basing this on Greg Costikyan's online review from a few years back]. The game clearly intends to more Art than Fun. But Costikyan has always stretched the boundaries, so his nod to MLwM is true to form.
Anyway, looks worth a read. And seeing as how I just finished up the Aubrey-Maturin series, I need more reading material.
[Linguistic discussion of my title construction at Language Log]
The large number of unplayed titles isn't too surprising, I guess, given the editor's desire to pick from many different categories. I'm no wargamer, have played only a couple of CCGs, and while I used to dabble in quite a few different role-playing systems, those days of experimentation ended about 20 years ago.
I was just hoping for something a little different. There was a brief glimmer of hope that this would be the long awaited book summarizing the eurogame experience (either its history or critiques of its most popular and significant games). I wonder if we'll ever see a title which remotely approaches that goal.
I wouldn't mind seeing a coffee-table book on Eurogames. Looks like you'll need to write it. Personally, if I were pitching the book, I'd make it "The Greatest Games You Haven't Played." I'd have a section on the classics (Settlers, Puerto Rico, etc) and then a section on Author's picks. The prior book just seems to have author's picks,
But on the other hand, I'll be fascinated to see what the designer of the Lord of the Rings Tabletop Battle Game has to say about it. I'm still really looking forward to reading the book, just because it's got a lot of interesting designers writing a lot of pieces that should be interesting to read. But if it was really trying to get at the Top 100 Hobby Games, then I'd have to say they didn't do a great job on that angle. If they wanted to get at the top games, they should have gotten a couple serious game critics (Mike Siggins would have been a natural). But when it comes to hobby games, I guess there are a hell of a lot more designers than recognizable critics (Shannon Applecline does make an appearance).
Whenever you have a "100 Greatest" the most interesting part (ignoring overlooked items) are the bottom half of the list. If I asked for 100 Most influential rock musicians/bands, nobody would be surprised to see the Beatles, Elvis, The Who, The Stones (etc) in the top spots. And the order is somewhat a matter of taste. But rounding out the rest of the spots .... that's interesting.
Now, if this book had missed Settlers (or D&D, or Magic), then we could scoff. For all I know, they did that with Wargames (and We the People/Hannibal does seem a glaring omission, although the HiS article probably references it), but I'll withold savagery until I read the book.
Again, if you, Larry, Sumo, Peter Sarrett, Rick Thornquist, etc etc do such a book, I think it would be great.
What's "The Warlord?" I've heard of (and played) "Warlord," a fantasy miniatures game, but not a game called "The Warlord."
I don't think Tichu qualifies by their definition of "hobby game;" there are no other real card games.