This thread should have never died, but a bunch of Star Wars nerds refused to post in it ;)
As I mentioned in my other thread, I am designing a wargame. I'd been working on it three or four years ago, but took a break, and now I picked up my in-progress rules and made some real headway in areas that had stumped me before. Though quite rough in written form, the actual mechanics are all worked out I think. But since my game is meant for the other thread, I will post inspirations for that game here (though honestly I've not had the time to play most of these other games).
Risk 2210 A.D. It's good old fashioned Risk, but with more. Cards are important, and there are sea territories. It's still a simple game, but complex enough to be interesting. Of course, I haven't actually played it :( But it looks good and is in a similar vein to a game I have played.
Lord of the Rings Risk. It still sticks to the general Risk formula, but again with cards to affect gameplay and obviously with a LOTR theme. This game almost makes me feel claustrophobic, as there are relatively few chokepoints when compared to vanilla Risk.
The number one board game on boardgamegeek.com is Twilight Struggle, a board game that is even more card driven than the previous two. It's a Cold War theme where you either play the Americans or Soviets, and depending on your skill in influencing other nations, the better your chances of winning the Cold War. It's a diplomatic game rather than war--in fact, if you trigger WWIII, you lose. Still hoping to play, but I've don't even own it yet.
Diplomacy. The prototypical game of negotiation. You can't win without help, and it is indeed fun, though I still hold a grudge against a friend of mine who stabbed me in the back about 15 years ago. One of these days I'll get him back. I will...I will...I will.
Axis & Allies. Actually, I don't much care for this game. It's far too scripted, as the setup is always the same, your allies are always the same, and players use the same formulae to win each time. But once I played with some other guys, and we attempted to make it more Risk-like by making it every man for himself and equalizing the economic distribution. It still wasn't truly an even game due to setup, but it sure was fun as heck! And I got stabbed in the back...by the same friend!!! Jesus said to forgive, but surely there are exceptions.
A&A Anniversary Edition. Significantly expanded version of the above game, which could potentially lead to more variety and better simulation of WWII, but still a simple enough game to enjoy in an afternoon. Haven't played this, but maybe one day.
On some level, I've been inspired by each of these games when creating my own. But my game is certainly unique enough that it is not a plagiarism at all. Hopefully I will be able to playtest it soon with some friends and see how it works out.