Ameritrash "must see" list?

Alright, I'm late to the party, obviously, at least, I seem to have missed out on the gaming renaissance in the 1990s and when I finally found it all, seem to have slipped and fallen into the euro side of things, but ultimately those games never really captured the imagination and now I want to spend more times just having fun playing games not sitting down "optimizing" by "exploring decision trees" and "temporary emergent economic alliances". Especially as my kids are getting to the age to be able to join in, so an in house game group is on the rise. Recently discovered Heroscape (well MArvelscape) and that is a huge hit with them, also the D&DAS games, I got Doom mainly to paint the minis and I am sure the kids will love it too. I am loving Arkham Horror card game with the wife.

But I have a terrible confession to make. I've never played Cosmic Encounter. or War of the Ring. I think I might have tried Fury of Dracula and Nexus Ops once, but no Wiz War either. FoD was on sale a while back but now seems to have disappeared, potentially for good, Nexus is OOP

What are the games (no more than 10, including D&D:As and DOOM, and ArkhamLCG which we have) that could give a good shelf of fun games I can play with normal people who are as interested in hanging out as the game, happy to fudge rules when needed but still be able to chuck some dice and get into it, have a laugh and a groan and not sit and have to calculate how many cubes or VP this or that action is worth

it seems like Cosmic Encounter should be first up. (Lords of Vegas was very popular with some friends, so probably I will keep that one even if its a bit Euro in some regards), but theres a lot of expansions, are they worth it? (I am extremely weak willed with completionitis which only ends up putting me off games in the end)

Will Specter Ops give me a Fury of Dracula kind of sneaky experience for example?
Wiz War might be a bit text wordy for my kids right now
Nexus Ops feels like a must buy if it will be reprinted?
War of the Ring feels a bit too weighty for what I'm after, and to be honest, I am not so bothered with the whole Lord of the Ring canon (I mean, wizards elves and fighters, cool, ie standard D&D fare, but the whole LotR mythos doesnt do much for me)
not sure about Star Wars, most of them are all so expansion laden it puts me off (eg X wing etc)
Never played BSG but heard it drags?
Roborally I have played and hated.
Blood Bowl or Dreadball became interesting as I am getting excited about trying painting minis for the first time
never played CHaos in the Old World, Blood Rage, Cthuhlu Wars or Mare nostrum
would love Dune for myself, but I dont think I could find 5 others who would dedicate the time to get into it.

ideally not too much direct overlap in experiences

sorry for the boring question that surely got asked a thousand times already

The fantasy flight reprint of Nexus Ops looks horrible - so i'd pass on it. War of the Ring is great if you like the theme and 2 player long epics.

As a general policy i'd just pick up games you get pumped for when you read about them/look at them.

I'd definitely consider picking up Cosmic, as it is one of the greatest games ever made. Not everyone loves it, but it is worth a look at.

Wiz-war is an awesome death match game. But it is a ko the the guys game, its very silly and it is unfair. I love it, when playing it with people who don't pussy foot about.

Look at Survive Escape from Atlantis. Its a great game for upsetting children, which is an important life lesson.

Chaos in the Old World is one of the best dudes on a map games. Might be pricy to pick up these days though. Im not sure its worth spending a silly amount on.

Everyone here will disagree with me, but definitely play Cosmic Encounter before buying. It has fallen flat with every single group I tried it with. I'm kind of neutral on it as I'm not big on negotiation games but suspect I'd enjoy it if played with some of the folks around here. Definitely not something for "normal people" though, imo. Fury of Dracula has been the same too. People here like it because of nostalgia (a lot of that around here) and apparently it has to be played a certain way to be fun. Basically 4 hours of nothing really happening while Dracula waits out the timer. Unless you dictate that the Dracula player doesn't play optimally to win. In which case just play an RPG with a GM.

I could never get Cosmic Encounter to work with anyone either, including me

Tron wrote: What are the games (no more than 10, including D&D:As and DOOM, and ArkhamLCG which we have) that could give a good shelf of fun games I can play with normal people who are as interested in hanging out as the game, happy to fudge rules when needed but still be able to chuck some dice and get into it, have a laugh and a groan and not sit and have to calculate how many cubes or VP this or that action is worth

I have some experience with playing hobby games with normal people. Friends sometimes bring non-gamer friends or girlfriends or wives, and sometimes I bring my games to non-gamer events or family gatherings. AmeriTrash games tend to go over well if they are relatively easy to learn, are either co-op or at least have a lot of interaction, and have visually interesting components. Here are a few that I recommend:

1. Cosmic Encounter - I can see where maybe some people don't care for Cosmic because they are super-competitive and the idea of a shared victory hurts their brains. But I have played it with normal non-gamers, and they liked it just fine. More importantly, the non-gamers found it easier to attack other players because a card told them who to attack.

2. Fury of Dracula, probably 3rd edition - I'm only familiar with 2nd, but normal people can handle the hunter role just fine, though combat gets a little tricky for them. I have heard that 3rd has a smoother combat system.

3. Arkham Horror - People here talk about a flowchart, but it really isn't necessary. Normal people love this game, as long as the game owner knows the rules well enough to guide them through the first couple turns and every Mythos phase.

4. Sons of Anarchy - Easy game, lots of interaction and conflict.

5. Camp Grizzly - Easy to teach co-op game that delivers a strong sense of story. Mostly co-op, plays in about an hour, and everybody loves it.

I love Wiz-War, but I don't know if it matches what you want. Maybe the FFG version cleans things up, but the original version could get into some messy and complex spell interactions. War of the Ring is highly over-rated, which is why nobody here talks about it anymore. The game follows the movies/books closely enough that it leaves each player with only one or two useful strategies. Chaos in the Old World is long, heavy, and has a bit of a thematic disconnect, so I wouldn't recommend it for play with normal folks. Battlestar Galactica is great if you stick to the base set, but maybe a little too long and heavy for normal people, unless they were big fans of the modern version of the show.

Nexus Ops - the most simple and to the point DOAM in existence. A must have.
Wiz-War - excellent with people who don't mind a random, capricious game
Cosmic Encounter - the best game ever made, but only if you like table talk
Spartacus - the most cut-throat game ever made, and perfectly captures the show
Betrayal at House on the Hill - a house of cards that is truly in a class by itself when it works
Epic Spell Wars - the most non-gamer friendly game on my list; bloodthirsty, ridiculous, and the best art on my list as well

I do have a sealed copy of the original Avalon hill nexus ops if interested. And not for scalpers prices either.

The FFG nexus ops is fine mechanically since its the original plus a few tweaks as variants. But the graphic design of the board actually hampers the game play a bit, especially when compared to the original.

Every gamer should own any edition of survive, without exception. This is the family game you seek. I'd stake what little reputation I have on it being a bona fide hit with the while family. Just the right amount of cut throat without making babies cry.

Also, Gorechosen is a modern day classic and shouldn't be overlooked.

I'd also recommend the grossly underrated Room 25 for preprogrammed traitor fun in the same thematic vein as the cube and running man movies.

As stated years ago, Cosmic Encounter is pretty much considered ameritrash because of its setting...the gameplay is pure euro, and it was proto-euro designs in mind that drove its development.

here's the list you need to play through to enjoy the history of ameritrash.

in order:

Risk
Dungeons & Dragons (at least one play of The Keep on the Borderlands)
Titan
Talisman
Axis & Allies
Wiz War
Space Hulk
Heroquest
Magic the Gathering
Nexus Ops

Experience those 10 games and you're good to go.

If I had to do 10 must-play AT games...

1. Cosmic Encounter - I'm one of the ones who thinks this is the best game there is.

2. Talisman - This is basically THE adventure game. Nothing else has ever really captured the sense of danger and risk as effectively.

3. Wiz-War - Definitely my favorite card-based melee game. More than some other games here, I have a hard time finding people who "get" this game. Don't know why.

4. Nexus Ops - The FFG version is ugly, but I don't think it's very hard to find. It's pretty much the same game anyway. Definitely my favorite dudes-on-a-map game.

5. Fury of Dracula - Definitely a winner. Third edition is my favorite, though Matt Thrower has made a great case for first edition, which I've never played.

6. Space Hulk - This is the best two-player AT game for my money. Terrific lean game play, great tactical choices, and all with the narrative beats and dramatic moments we expect from the best AT games.

7. Merchant of Venus - Is it AT? I say yes. Not only a great thematic and strategic game, but my favorite economic game too.

8. Clash of Cultures - My Civ game of choice, and probably the best epic warfare game of the past decade.

9. Betrayal at House on the Hill - Kind of a rickety game, but it embodies the frivolity of my favorite AT games. It's one of the best loved games among my group.

10. Merchants and Marauders - I almost left this off, but I think it's one of the best AT games of the past decade. Hard to leave off the best pirate game ever.

Fury of Dracula is awesome.
Is it a good game to play with wife and kids? Hard to say. How old are the kids? Early teens, yes. 7 or 8? No.

Cosmic Encounter is also great. Barney doesn't play games so don't listen to his blather. I don't really care if people call it a Euro or Ameritrash or what. It's a good game. With unique player powers, negotiation and direct player conflict.

Some games I think would be great for the family and friends:

1) Survive. An easy to learn, fun to play, ruthless game. The edition made by Stronghold Games has great components.

2) Settlers of Catan. A classic. Any edition will do but I prefer the Star Trek Catan not only because I like Star Trek but because it adds "character cards" that give you a minor special power on your turn. Just a dash of additional flavor that I think improves the game.

3) Black Fleet: A newer game but like Survive it's easy to learn, fun, and utterly ruthless. And it looks great too and is pretty cheap by today's standards.

4) Dungeon Quest: A game where everybody dies (usually). You play because it's fun to watch your friends meet terrible and ridiculous ends.

5) Any good flicking/dexterity game and there are quite a few. Pitch Car, Bicycle (may have spelt that wrong), Ice Cool, etc etc. are all great for family and kids. Crokinole is the best adult game to play while having beers ever.

Some games I would caution against:

1) War of the Ring: It is a great game which I love but its long, difficult to learn and even harder to learn to play well, and it's 2 player only.

2) Dune: A great game which you will never get played. Not ever. It's a game you have to play numerous times to fully appreciate and really needs the full player count. That's just not ever going to happen realistically.

3) Nexus Ops: A game that gets a lot of love around here but I'm pretty blase about it. Just never really grabbed me.

PS: There is no better game to play with your kids than Heroscape. Expensive to get a good collection now but it is so good.

I would put forth the following:
Merchants and Marauders - no better pirate game out there. Get the expansion.
Red Dragon Inn - Great for non gamers.
Spartacus - Such a great game of dicking over your opponents.
Runebound 2nd - The universe is shit, but the game is still a good adventure romp.
Dungeonquest - Everybody dies
Dungeon Fighter - A dex based dungeon crawler, Silly and fun.
Horse Fever - The best horse racing game I've played. OOP I think.
Commands & Colors (any flavor) - Maybe more wargame than 'Ameritrash', but all the flavors are great. I'm partial to the Napoleonics.
Flash Point - Although not all games have fires that go pear shaped, plenty do and the narrative the game creates is great.

alternative adventure games
Eldritch Horror
Exalted: Legacy of the Unconquered Sun - the rulebook is shit, but the movement mechanic is novel and the time to finish the game before everyone loses is always ticking down. This is a hidden gem in my book.

Risk Europe - It's Risk done really well. If you have the group for it Risk Legacy would qualify also.
Nexus Ops - The Avalon Hill version looks better but FFG's version plays just as well.
DungeonQuest - It builds character.
HeroQuest - Very simple by today's standards, but that's a good thing. If you can track down Advanced HeroQuest you can make it as complicated as you want it to be, but the base game is still a solid game and a great toolbox. The simplicity makes it easy to make your own scenarios without having to spend too much time on balancing.
BattleBall - Still one of the best after all these years. Recommend MrBistro's advanced rules 2.0 off of BGG.
Space Hulk - For all the reasons already mentioned.
Talisman - Base game and the Reaper to start.
Chaos Marauders - There have been tons of battle line card games over the years, and while some have been more balanced, intricate, or interesting, none have been more fun than Chaos Marauders. Extra bonus: it works from 2-4 players.
Red November - While the mechanics might not be all that "ameritrash", it's the only coop that really has the attitude and feel about it.