@lifning model trains, ships, planes, and cars, the board game.

I should take one of my longer form board games (since they generally have a larger possibility space of actions/roleplaying in my opinion) and try to make it fit this idea of mine.

Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings are sandbox video games (Stellaris and Hearts of Iron are not because they have rather explicit win conditions). I suppose that is more what I want from board games.
(You can argue that EU and CK have victory conditions in that your state/dynasty has to be ranked #1, but that's doesn't give you a victory screen or anything).

@TipsyTentacle When I played Civ 5 it pretty much always went like this:
I would focus on something like science or culture or just making citizens happy, but eventually someone would try to invade me, so I'd switch all of my cities to production, make an ungodly number of ships and military units, steamroll whoever just tried to invade, and then just go back to chilling and trying to make their citizens happy too.

@Vann When I play to win, I am an aggressive warmonger that would make Genghis Khan proud (^_^)
But when I chillplay, I am just a Han Chinese Empire. I expand militarily and aggressively in the beginning, then I just build a tall wonderful Celestial Empire.

@TipsyTentacle same, except I usually played Carthage and used the extra production from the free ports to make enough ships to blockade my entire empire.

Until I got bored and just took over the world.

@Vann Carthage is to rule the world 👌

@Pasty depends on what winning is defined as.
In D&D, it's a successful adventure, which I guess almost always means everyone survives. Maybe the game objectives can be that simple: SURVIVE.

@TipsyTentacle D&D isn't a board game though
it's for different people than board games are

@Pasty True.
I am not a tabletop RP-er, but I am not sure I want to RP a character so much as nations?
Maybe I can just play some random Diplomats RP.

@TipsyTentacle what's that game that you play for an entire day called
Diplomacy?

@Pasty Yeah, but Diplomacy is all about war. Diplomacy (in Diplomacy) is basically "Hey, let's not fight this turn and gang up on Austria". And then either finding out your trust was wellplaced or misplaced.

@TipsyTentacle isn't that fun though

@Pasty Yeah, but diplomacy is more than a tool for winning wars. :/
Not to say I don't enjoy Diplomacy (the game), but it does not scratch the itch I have.