My general understanding from reading various opinions is that they are both fine games. I own Battlecry but don''t like it that much. It''s a bit light as far as I''m concerned for a wargame, but based on your objectives, that shouldn''t be a problem. You are trying to get something that your wife might like, and you probably don''t want to overwhelm her on the first game with Drang Nacht Osten or something like that.

Most people give the edge to Memoir 44, as it has fixed the (admittedly minor and trivial) ""problems"" in Battlecry. If you like this type of game I doubt you can go wrong with either, however, and might simply pick whatever historical period you and your wife would find most interesting.

You should also check out www.boardgamegeek.com for other''s reviews and thoughts, along with a wonderful site with tons of player aids, etc.

I''ve been a student ACW, did old boardgames like Terrible Swift Sword, ACW quad, Perrville, you name it. Plus all the old SSI and etc computer games (Gettysburg etc.). Battle Cry, for as vague as it is, still, imho gives a slight flavor of ACW. Not much, but''s not void of it. And it''s easy and fun with very nice pieces and maps. My lady friend, a gamer once she get''s by the rules (easy), was having a grand time of this. It''s very much like the old Milton Bradley games, great materials. But like Sly said, Memoir''s ''44 (which I dont'' have yet) has the nod from what I''ve read. And Wargamer.com gave it an ''Excellence'' Award.

Those all sound awesome. Have you tried the War of the Ring game from Fantasy Flight? I''ve read some promising things about it, but would love to hear from any fellow GWJ guys or gals who''ve tried it.

Well crap. Where the heck was I when that thread was bandying around?! *pokes himself in the eye out of obliviousness*

Settlers of Catan is a good game, and has a few variants.

Mayfair (who sells Settlers, at least in the US) also has a number of ""crayon railroad"" games which I like. There are versions for Australia, most of North America, Japan, the UK, Eastern Europe, and the Moon (both sides), as well as a pure fantasy setting. (There are likely others I''m forgetting.) They can be faulted in that there is only a little interaction between players, but they''re still fun, regardless.

The fantasy one (Iron Dragon) has the most complex rules of the lot, with ""railroad foreman"" choices whose race (Human, Elf, Dwarf, ...) determines some advantages -- cheaper rail line construction in certain terrains, better choices when travelling by sea, and so on. It''s my favorite of the bunch.

They also are pretty easy ""to snapshot"" when you''re finished for the day and continue on sometime later, unlike Settlars, for example.

I can not interduce this game to a group without it becoming the game that everybody wants to play for the next couple months. It''s happened a couple times and each and every time everybody wants to always play it. (Not a bad thing, just something I''ve noticed that makes it harder to interduce new games into the group).

Just picked up Settlers of Catan today. It was a bear to track down. Every store was out of it all last week, and on a whim I zipped into the mall today, and sure enough, there it was. That particular toy store said it''s their most popular game.

For those interested in this system, GMT games is planning to do the ancients version, if they get enough pre-orders. Check it out at http://www.gmtgames.com/cca/main.html

Also try Carcassone the Castle, a great 2 player version of this game.

Hey I just found an online version of Settlers. I am interested in giving the game a try before I plop down $30. It looks pretty intimidating at first.