TDG: Cody's Top Ten IP Wargames (May 2026)

0:04 Hello ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the discriminating gamer. Say, did you know that over 80% of all garden gnomes have red hats? It's a little gnome fact. Ladies and gentlemen, today we're going to go ahead and take a look at my top 10 IP war games. All

0:28 right, ladies and gentlemen, my top 10 IP war games. So, these are intellectual property war games. These are war games based on books, movies, IPs, right? So, these are not historical war games, but they can be from any kind of, you know, science fiction or fantasy or literature, but they are based on actual existing intellectual properties here. So, let's go ahead and jump right into it. Number 10 is Star Wars Battle of Hoth from Days of Wonder. Star Wars Battle of Hoth is based on the commands and colors system. This is essentially a system where you have uh your center, your left flank, and your right flank. And over the course of the game, you are drawing cards that activate units on one of those flanks or your center. And your opponent is doing the same thing to you. Uh depending on distance, you're rolling dice, you're trying to score hits. But what's cool here is it's set during the Battle of Hoth. So, the Empire has AT-ATs, the Rebel Alliance has speeders, uh, but you've all both got troopers that are trying to hit each other, but you also have like special forces, uh, and and and other things like that. Uh, you reenact a bunch of scenarios from that. I've even got I've got two copies of the game, so I can do the big, um, scenario 18. I'm hoping they come out with more scenarios particularly for the two um uh the two sets because this is just a fantastic intellectual property war game. I love Star Wars. Love the Empire Strikes Back and it's really fun to kind of visit that battle with this game. So that is my number 10. Star Wars Battle of Hoth. That is from Days of

2:00 Wonder. My number nine is from Renegade Game Studios. GI Joe Battle for the Arctic Circle. G.I. Joe Battle for the Arctic Circle is really a fun game because what it does is essentially it takes G.I. Joe and it infuses it with Axis and Allies. This is essentially G.I. Joe, Axis and Allies. You have, of course, Cobra and the Joe's. They each have aircraft carriers. They have fighter jets. They have tanks. Uh there's a little asymmetry here because some of the the their units function a little bit differently. Some of the characters that you play, there are four different characters like Cobra Commander and Destro, Snow Job, and Keel Hall. They have special abilities that they can bring to it. But fundamentally, you are playing a game of Axis and allies set in the Arctic Circle between the G.I. Joe's. It's also interesting, too, because there are hex's. Uh, this is the first time I've ever played an access and allies game where kind of movement was determined by hex's. But it was a really fun game. I love G.I. Joe and I love access and allies. This is a match made in heaven. I hope we see more G.I. Joe. Access and Allies games. I don't know if we will, but I sincerely hope we do. So, that is my number nine, G.I. Joe Battle of the Arctic Circle powered by Access and Allies. That is from Renegade Game Studios. My number eight is The Intellectual Property is Warhammer.

3:17 This is Forbidden Stars. Forbidden Stars is this great kind of fourplayer war game where you're the different factions. You're the Space Marines and the Orcs and the Eleldar and the Chaos Space Marines. And you've got it's it's just a beautiful game. It's such a cool production here. But what's really cool is this kind of order system because you're placing your orders in the different systems and you place them you place the orders down in a certain order but then you kind of play them in reverse order and you don't know what other people's orders are either. So you got to kind of make the best. It it kind of plays into you know von multi's idea of no plan survives contact or or Eisenhower's you know in war planning is everything but plans mean nothing. Uh there there's really that sense from this game, but it's a great science fiction game. Combat can be a little wonky. Combat, the game kind of takes a slowdown when you get into combat, but all being all things being equal, it's a very fun game. I really like uh Forbidden Stars. No longer in print.

4:16 It's one of those kind of grill games that hopefully one day it'll come back. I did actually get the Forbidden uh or the Folded Space insert for it, which is really cool. But I absolutely love Forbidden Stars. That is why it's my number eight from Fantasy Flight Games. My number seven is G.I. Joe. Again, this is G.I. Joe Risk Special Missions. GI Joe Risk Special Missions from Renegade Game Studios. This is a game again, you play two to four player. Um, I've I've actually only played it three player. I want to play a four-player really badly, but this is a really cool game that again, I think owes more to Access and Allies than it does to Risk. In fact, this is not a conventional risk game at all. What's cool here is like like Cobra's got like, you know, hidden forces that they can bring onto the game, the the game board in a very cool way, but critically you each have like special objectives you're going after and they can they kind of change and they move.

5:11 Uh there's all sorts of of really fun and innovative surprises in this game, but it's a great war game. You know, you're battling left and right for supremacy here. Uh you're you're you're adding troops to the board, moving troops around. It's really a lot of fun. I and I say it really does owe more to Access and Allies than to Risk, but it's very different from Battle of the Arctic Circle, which is G.I. Joe, Access and Allies. Very fun game. Really enjoy it. And uh spoiler alert, that is the only Risk title on this list. But that is Risk G.I. Joe Special Missions. That is my number seven. That is from Renegade Game Studios. My number six is a miniatures war game. This is Star Wars X-Wing. Star Wars X-Wing is a fantastic game. This was a game I uh gosh I think I got into about 2013 2014 about a year or two after it had come out and I just fell in love with it. I I couldn't get enough. I bought a ton.

6:06 I've got a crate over here that is just filled with Star Wars X-Wing. Now, um oh, maybe a year or two ago, I played this with with Kim uh not long before we got married. I played it and that was the last time I played it and I had so much fun. I forgot how much I love this game and I I got to break it out again. Um, but I love the game. You're maneuvering. You got the templates. You're maneuvering X-wing star fighters and TIE fighters. You got the Carellian Corvette. I've even got some of the bigger ships. Um, uh, you know, we like the Carellian Corvette and the, uh, the Gazanti cruiser for the for the Empire. Uh, there's a lot of great stuff. The Millennium Falcon's there, too. Really a lot of fun, uh, ships and and and the way they act with the dice and your initiative. you know, you you you can either move first or fire first. Really a lot of fun as you're maneuvering for those attacks. But that is Star Wars X-Wing. That is my number six and that is from Fantasy Flight Games.

7:02 My number five, uh like like Star Wars X-Wing, this is a game that is, I believe, no longer in print and it is just tremendous fun. Uh this is Star Trek Fleet Captains. Star Trek Fleet Captains is a great game. It's it's it's almost like Star Trek in a box, but at its heart there there's it's kind of a 4X kind of a thing, but at its heart, it is a war game. And this is such a great war game. Uh is the base game is the Federation versus the Klingons, but you can buy a Romulan expansion, or you could buy a Romulan expansion and a and a Dominion expansion. And what's so cool here is you're going into these unknown territories. When you're in these unknown unknown regions of space, you you draw encounter cards. And these encounter cards give you kind of these Star Trek moments that are just a lot of fun. But the game after a while, after you've explored enough of the map, it really settles down into a war game. The Federation versus the Klingons. It's got the hero click system, so you are frequently adjusting your power curves.

7:56 How much are you putting in shields, in engines, in your weapon systems, in your sensors, and you've got to kind of manage that. Again, some of the ships can cloak. Really a lot of fun. I really, really enjoy this game quite a bit. This is Star Trek in a box for me. But that is Star Trek Fleet Captains. That is my number five. That was from Whiz Kids. My number four stick sticking with this star theme. And again, something that has just fairly recently been confirmed to be out of print, but this is Star Wars Armada. Also from originally from Fantasy Flight Games. Star Wars Armada is like X-wing but heightened because this is the capital ship battles. This is the star destroyers and the Coralian corvettes and the Monalomari cruisers.

8:43 Uh this is the big battles right now. You do have fighters here. You have the fighter squadrons that that also move around, but it's a great miniatures game and I like it because you know like an X-wing you get hit and you can kind of mitigate being hit with with a die roll. But here you can like move your shields around. you can kind of adjust uh your your power curve, so to speak, in this game. I just love it. I And again, and and and I haven't played this game in years. In fact, I don't think I have played this game since I moved to Texas, and that was in 2017. That's nearly 10 years ago. I got to get this game out. I can't play it on my table here. I'll probably have to go to Rays or something, play it, because I love Star Wars Armada. It is so much fun. probably my favorite miniatures game. You know, that was a collect collectible miniatures game. I don't think I'll ever get into a collectible miniatures game again.

9:36 Again, I have another crate here. I got one crate that's X-Wing, one crate that is Armada. Both great games, but Star Wars Armada is superior of the two. But that is my number four, Star Wars Armada, and that again was from Fantasy Flight Games. Now, my number three, Star Wars Rebellion. Star Wars Rebellion from Fantasy Flight Games. Uh, this game is phenomenal. It's just it's just so much fun. I really This one is Star Wars in a box. It's like you're playing the original trilogy, but all sorts of funky things could happen. Lando Calisian could become a Jedi Knight. You know, Leia could be captured by the Emperor and turned to the dark side. Uh, you know, Mon Calamari can be blown up by the Death Star. There's so many different options here. You really feel like you're playing through the game. Now, my only caveat here is you really want to get the um Rise of the Empire expansion because that really significantly improves combat. Combat was actually never my favorite part of this game, but that makes it a lot better. But again, it's an asymmetrical game. The Empire has all of the uh cards, so to speak. They've got all of the ships, and the Rebels don't have that much, but what they have is is is guile and misdirection, and they're going on these kind of sabotage missions and what have you. Very, very fun. I really love Star Wars Rebellion. Uh, one of my favorite games of all time. Uh, that is my number three. That is from uh, Fantasy Flight Games.

11:01 My number two is Dungeons and Dragons Conquest of Nerath. Dungeons and Dragons Conquest of Narath is essentially fantasy Axis and Allies. This is uh you know instead of instead of bombers you've got dragons, instead of tanks, you've got mages. But you also have heroes. And that's one thing that's cool here. As you're as you're battling uh in this fantasy world, you can also send like your heroes into dungeons and they can go and do battles with monsters in order to gain treasures and advantages. Really a fun game. This is another one I haven't played in a long time and I really need to play it again because it's just phenomenal. And I like it too because you can play this as a team game, which is my preferred way to play it. Twoon two. Uh really fun. But I like I like the the the Axis and allies.

11:54 I like the way they kind of adapted access and allies to this fantasy system, this fantasy model. It is tremendous, tremendous fun. So that is uh my number two, Dn D, Access and Allies. That was from Avalon Hill, Wizards of the Coast. All right, some honorable mentions. Now, one thing I do need to point out before um I go on is I'm sure a lot of people I'm going to hear some flak because uh Lord of the Rings War of the Ring is not on this list. Uh as I've mentioned many times, I only played a little bit of a game once briefly. It's at some point I need to play through the whole game because I know a lot of people out there love that game so much. So, I'll have to play it at some point for sure. But my honorable mentions here, Star Trek Attack Wing, which was of course based on the X-wing system. Um, very fun game, great way to integrate Star Trek into that miniature system. I like the way Armada handled uh capital ships much better. I wish the Star Trek version had done that, but still Star Trek Attack Wing was a lot of fun. Dune Risk was a lot of fun. Again, it's not it doesn't really play like a risk game. It plays more like the the the Star Wars Risk game, which is a lot of fun where you've got a lot of different things going on at the same time. Really enjoyed uh doing Risk quite a bit. Uh G.I. Joe Heroescape. G.I. Joe Heroescape. Uh which is something I just played for the first time recently. Uh you know, you've it's a little miniatures game. Of course, if you played Heroescape, you've got all these kind of skirmish battles. Uh but with a G.I. Joe version, you got the G.I. Joes

13:24 and uh you can get the painted or unpainted ones. I actually got the painted ones. Tremendous fun game. They've you do combat, but they all have special abilities, all the characters there. And finally, Cthulhu Wars. Cthulhu Wars, of course, based on the uh HP Lovecraft uh cosmic horror. Really fun game of the Cthulhu monsters winning, coming back to Earth, and fighting amongst themselves. You got these bigatures. They're absolutely massive, and they are it's tremendous fun to play with. Really love that from Peterson Games. All right, let's go ahead and take a look at my number one IP war game of all time. Dune War for Arachus. Dune War for Arachus is so much fun. Um, I'll tell you right now, I may like a as a game and its totality, I may like Star Wars Rebellion a little bit better, but as a war game, I really like Dune, War for Arachus better. I like its combat system better.

14:27 I like, you know, this is kind of the the second part of the book Dune or the second film Dune. It's kind of like that in a box, right? You've got the kind of dice rolling action selection system which is really cool from War of the Ring. But you've got all the great characters here. You've got Muadib and the Baron Haronean, Fed Rathau, Chaie, uh Jessica. You've got all these great characters. And what's really cool here is kind of like Star Wars Rebellion. It's asymmetrical, right? You've got the the FMAN at trades side has to kind of chase these different goals that are that are that are kind of changing in the game. Whereas the Haronins and the emperor, they are trying to take out the sieches. They're actually going to find the different sieches uh but the Fman control and and destroying them and they get points based on that. But the different sieches are worth different point values and they're hidden. And so the Haronins kind of have to waste time and resources trying to locate the more valuable sieches in order to win the game. Great, great fun. I actually just got the uh uh game found uh box just came. Uh I've got all the new goodies that I'm so excited to start playing with. Uh I told Ry he could have my old copy once I got the new copy in. And uh I'm I'm thrilled. I'm so excited. It's got that great hard coverver complete rules book I'm really excited about. So I love Dune War for Arachus. It is an amazing game and that is why it is my number one IP war game of all time from come on.

16:00 Well, ladies and gentlemen, what do you think? What are your favorite IP war games? Do you like the games on my list? Do you not like them? Would they be high or lower? Let me know. I really want to hear what IP War games you like. So, please leave a comment here on YouTube, on Board Gamegeeek, on Facebook, on X. We'd love to hear from you and we love to hear what you have to say. Please like this video and subscribe to our YouTube channel. That means a lot. Now, also too, if you do like what we do here on The Discriminating Gamer, please check out my other channel that is Cody Carlson PhD where we talk about history, military history, books on history, fun things like that. It would mean the world to me if you would subscribe to that channel as well. And if you do really like what we do here on the Discriminating Gamer, I would humbly ask you to click on the super thanks button and leave a tip. Why is it always dark in Skeletor's Castle?

16:49 Because He-Man has the power.

16:58 And I don't know where I've been. Please help me on this ground. It's a long TIME AND I'LL BE DYING. Once a year I wind up in the I love to fight, but I don't ever win. It's my mind.

17:29 THAT'S RIGHT. I'M BACK AND I'M FURIOUS. WELL, more furious than the second edition. I'M LIKE LIKE THREE TIMES AS MUCH. WELL, ACTUALLY, PROBABLY JUST ONE TIME more because I WAS FURIOUS IN THE FIRST ONE and furious IN THE SECOND ONE. BUT NOW WE HAVE YURIEST IN THE THE THIRD EDITION. WELL, YOU KIND OF GET THE POINT.