Traditional Wargames Revived

[terje439]

ORIGINAL: bredsjomagnus

I almost started to think that I was the youngest wargamer on earth [X(]; im 32.

Hah old man [:D]
And tbh I'm the second oldest in my gaming group (oldest is 31, youngest 19)

[micheljq]

OK let's write our gamer's resume, hehe.

I'm 42, first wargames must be chess, Risk, Admiral when I was ten. Played Axis & Allies in 1985 then played Star Fleet Battles, and so on and on.. not played much of Avalon Hill's hexgames though.

Right now I play 2 WiF campaigns, I want to mention I played Empires in Arms from 1990 to 2005. Also played a lot of the boardgame game on railway's companies "Age of Steam".

PC games : World of Warcraft, Company of Heroes, Civilization 4 mostly now.

[terje439]

30.
Started my gaming career with RPGs (D&D, RuneQuest if you disregard chess at age 5), but was sold when I went to my first gaming convention at age 12 and just to fill time played a game called Britannia. After that I continued looking for new wargames. The next one to be given a go was "Wooden ships and iron men", Risk, Axis and Allies and Advanced Civilization.
First encountered WiF at age 16 when my wargaming community was expanded as I went to a new school. Took some nasty beatings there as well as in Diplomacy.

When it comes to PC games I once spent 38hrs straight in front of Civilization [:D], also a huge fan of Panzer General (the original one!!) and Steel Panthers. Also enjoy FoF and CoG these days.

Became aware of Matrixgames with the purchase of UV, and then found out that this is were WiF will finally be converted to PC, so was not too hard to keep me here then [&o]

[morgil]

Im 39, and started gaming at around 20 when I finally managed to escape from the dreadfull countrylife on a small island.
Im quite sure that Genesis, the original MUD, was the reason i failed at university. However during the nineties I had too much fun playing any game, computer, board or RPG, I could come across to give education much thought.
And I still do, when I dont have to werk. Its funny how rent and food money suddenly becomes an issue after you pass 30.
 

[jesperpehrson]

I am 28 and I play very little these days. We have a semi-dormant game of WIF that we play on and off (one of our players moved to Japan) but we get the occasional surge when timeconstraints ease up a little. Other than that I play mainly wargames on the computer.

In the past I have played lots and lots of boardsgames and I am especially fond of the Brittiania, Hispania and Maharadja series. Very good gaming. I also like 7 Ages.

[Espen]

I'm 36, and have been playing at a local gaming club in Oslo since mid-'90's. Favorites among the boardgames include Advanced Civilization (especially the one with 18 players on a board that goes to the Bay of Bengal), Britannia, ASL, WiF, EiA/EiH, 1830...

I play Civ IV, Rome:TW and EU III on the PC.

[Sgt.Fury25]

Im 52 and am anxiously waiting for this release.While I wasnt an avid board gamer I am a comp wargamer from the 80s kampgruppe,mech brigade,etc.I will give this a shot,hope I can handle it.[:D]

[bredsjomagnus]

[blockquote]quote:

ORIGINAL: bredsjomagnus

I almost started to think that I was the youngest wargamer on earth [X(]; im 32.
[/blockquote]


Hah old man [:D]
And tbh I'm the second oldest in my gaming group (oldest is 31, youngest 19)

 
Ok, 19 is the record so far.
 
I felt like a old man when I played WoW a few years ago.

[SLAAKMAN]

Its funny how rent and food money suddenly becomes an issue after you pass 30.

Doesnt that suck?! [:@] At 49 thats all my so-called "peers" think about these days. (Boring!) I avoid these crusty fools like the plague. (Fortunately we have a WiF cult here that ignores the foolish outside world so we can focus upon the only meaning of life; WiF Global Campaign w/most mods & house rules added!).[:'(]

[pzgndr]

If so, is it even possible to get the rights to do such games or have they been bought and sold into oblivion like 3rd Reich?

I would like to see an official computer game for Advanced Third Reich one of these days. I've made my own unofficial adaptation mod for SC2, including challenging AI for both sides, but still would like the "real" thing. The PC version of the original Third Reich fell quite flat.

I am not a WiF player but I am greatly looking forward to this computer version. Hopefully the ETO scenario will surpass Advanced Third Reich and provide a new benchmark. Whether it's WiF or A3R or Totaler Krieg or whatever, ETO gamers like myself are looking for a decent computer game with challenging AI. The appeal of WiF is that it also includes the PTO and global game scenarios to ease into, and all in one package. [8D]

[Anendrue]

ORIGINAL: pzgndr

If so, is it even possible to get the rights to do such games or have they been bought and sold into oblivion like 3rd Reich?

I would like to see an official computer game for Advanced Third Reich one of these days. I've made my own unofficial adaptation mod for SC2, including challenging AI for both sides, but still would like the "real" thing. The PC version of the original Third Reich fell quite flat.

I am not a WiF player but I am greatly looking forward to this computer version. Hopefully the ETO scenario will surpass Advanced Third Reich and provide a new benchmark. Whether it's WiF or A3R or Totaler Krieg or whatever, ETO gamers like myself are looking for a decent computer game with challenging AI. The appeal of WiF is that it also includes the PTO and global game scenarios to ease into, and all in one package. [8D]

Ai AI that can beat the heck out of a grognard. That is after all my holy grail of wargaming. When I practice solo, I would learn how to play better instead of worse. Improve my strategy instead of how to "beat the system". Ultimately leading to better strategy and tactics to use with my friends.

----

As for wargames dying out. I do not think so. It has shrunk but will not surrender. I do believe it has shrunk in the U.S. as the increase in console and PC games has increased.

----

As for hex gaming over area gaming. I guess that is a matter or choice. I personally like the logical presentation of hex games.

However an area based game could be improved by creating multiple layers of areas overlapping each other. This would include but not be limited to geographical, political, sociological, cultural, and realistic ZOC's impacted by the above. This could create a sphere of influence that could increase or decrease depending on the situation at hand. The multiple layers would then increase or decrease the efficency of units. With something like this I would be sold on an area based game pretty instantly.

[micheljq]

The Empires in Arms map is one which is area based. I like it a lot. I don't see it as being inferior nor superior to hex based games, which I like also. I appreciate those 2 ways of having a map.

[:'(]

[Shannon V. OKeets]

ORIGINAL: micheljq

The Empires in Arms map is one which is area based. I like it a lot. I don't see it as being inferior nor superior to hex based games, which I like also. I appreciate those 2 ways of having a map.

[:'(]

Yes, I agree. It depends upon what is being simulated.

Tactical land combat is best served by using a hex grid to simulate the combat unit occupying/controlling a fixed amount of territory. This also regulates movement, line of sight, range of weapons, terrain effects, and numerous other tactical details. Political and socio-economic simulations often find irregularly shaped areas to work well, without the need for the fine grain modeling provided by a hex grid.

My philosophy is to start with a solid definition of what is being simulated, and then to determine 'unit' size, minimum time periods, and (lastly) geographic parameters, which includes the hexgrid versus area movement decision.

[wfzimmerman]

I have a mental block, I simply cannot adapt to the modern area based games for the computer and can only grasp hex based games. I wish I could overcome this block because there are a heck of a lot of area based games out there today, but so far no luck.

The only area based games I ever remember liking are Diplomacy and SPI's 1812, a strategic level simulation of Napoleon in Russia.

What I remember liking about those game was the nice big areas on the map, which makes me wonder if a lot of my problem with area based games is simply the UI on a computer. Those darned provinces can look pretty small and squiggly even on a good sized monitor, but I suspect I'd have an easier time with them on a 22 x 34 printed map (or on Microsoft Surface).

ORIGINAL: Shannon V. OKeets

ORIGINAL: micheljq

The Empires in Arms map is one which is area based. I like it a lot. I don't see it as being inferior nor superior to hex based games, which I like also. I appreciate those 2 ways of having a map.

[:'(]

Yes, I agree. It depends upon what is being simulated.

Tactical land combat is best served by using a hex grid to simulate the combat unit occupying/controlling a fixed amount of territory. This also regulates movement, line of sight, range of weapons, terrain effects, and numerous other tactical details. Political and socio-economic simulations often find irregularly shaped areas to work well, without the need for the fine grain modeling provided by a hex grid.

My philosophy is to start with a solid definition of what is being simulated, and then to determine 'unit' size, minimum time periods, and (lastly) geographic parameters, which includes the hexgrid versus area movement decision.