Your First Wargame?

msaario · Post by **msaario** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 3:00 am

* Midway by Avalon Hill on Apple //e (a popular choice among the members? Remember the beatifully "rendered" map?)

* TAC (tactical armor command) by Avalon Hill on Apple //e (The first hires wargame?? Funky 3x3 screen map, Germans on top Russians on bottom.)

* and then Guadalcanal Campaign, some hybrid board/PC games (Dnieper River Line? Some ASL lookalike? -> used the counters mostly to replace the plastic soldiers when I was 10-15), Nato Commander, some Roman empire & WW2 Eastern Front on Atari XL. And so on.

--Mikko

ShermanM4 · Post by **ShermanM4** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 5:09 am

My grandmother got me Avalon Hill's "Bull Run" game for my 9th birthday. When I first looked at the huge box, I thought it was a giant history book (it was a "bookshelf game") which I thought was ok, but I wasn't used to reading books quite that large. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it wasn't a book at all, but a game! I was hooked from that moment on. I think within a month I was already designing variants for the game.

Yep I had that one too! It brings tears to my eyes I got rid of it 'cus I had no one who wanted to play it with me.

The first wargame I ever played was Gary Grigsbys Command HQ on a 286 or something like that. From there I had to buy every war game on board or PC my measly childhood allowance would allow. So I found a used books store that sold used board games and thats how I ended up with games like Panzeblitz and West Front twenty years after they were made. AH was not yet out of business so I bought others like June 6th DDay, Battle of the Bulge, We the People, Across Five Aprils, The Ameican Civil War, and Axis and Allies. Good Stuff!

Hades · Post by **Hades** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 7:55 am

SPWAW

I missed the Golden Days of board wargames...but now we have PBEM the bane of a normal life

Fallschirmjager · Post by **Fallschirmjager** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 8:18 am

I came in late in the game

My first wargame was PTO 2 for my SNES
First computer one was CC2

Klinkenhoffen · Post by **Klinkenhoffen** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 8:35 am

I can't remember who made it but it was called Air Force, aircraft to aircraft combat in Europe 1939-45.

First land warfare game was called Dark Passage, hypothetical Soviet invasion of Pakistan from Afghanistan. The rules were so full of holes and contradictions but it got me hooked on wargamming.

Klink

Captain Wasabi · Post by **Captain Wasabi** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 8:44 am

I usually just lurk, but this topic brought me out.

Older than I look I am.

Played my first wargame as a Junior in college, 20 years ago. Kriegspiel was my first, a Bookcase Game by Avalon Hill. Had a great paper-scissors-rock combat resolution system. In fact, I believe it is time to introduce my son to that game and I am pulling it out of the closet now. After that I was completely hooked. I really loved Drive On Stalingrad. Played Gettysburg, TacticsII, Air War, Richtofens(sp) War, anyone else remember Ace of Aces? First computer wargame was Cruade in Europe which was awesome.

Of course I am not including chess (my dad taught me to play when I was in the 3rd grade) or Risk.

Captain Wasabi out.

Randy · Post by **Randy** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 11:28 am

As a kid I tried to play Avalon Hill's Battle of the Bulge, but didn't enjoy setting up the little counters. So I played with my ROCO Minitanks and Airfix infantrymen. I tried Panner Blitz for a while but it got boring. I then switched to Mattel Intelivision Sea Battles, and later the Perfect General. Then came SP series. If it wasn't for the computer I'd still be building models.

Steelwhip · Post by **Steelwhip** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 12:23 pm

Cut my teeth on Squad Leader in 1980. Neighbor's dad had a copy and he taught both of us to play.

The first game I ever owned was Ice War from MicroGames. Anyone rember those.....little games about the size of a paperback. Ice War was a hypothetical futuristic Soviet thrust over the polar ice caps to capture alaskan oil fields. Was a fun little easy game.

First Avalon Hill wargame I ever owned was Panzer Leader. Got it for christmas of 1980. I had originnaly wanted Panzer Blitz but mom didnt know the differance. Picked up PB a few years later and think mom made the right choice. Always have njoyed PL over PB. Still have that original copy =)

First computer war game I ever had was Midway from Avalon Hill (got to love asci graphics) for my Atari 800XL. Also has B1 Nuclear Bomber as well.

Losqualo · Post by **Losqualo** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 12:28 pm

Apart from burning and blowing up plastic tanks (mostly M4's

), my first wargame was "Panzer General", followed by "Great Naval Battles: North Atlantic" and "Steel Panthers".

And those wargames are still the one's with the best memories.

Aga · Post by **Aga** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 3:40 pm

Dien Bien Phu, a French wargame. I played it with my cousin. He played the Viet Minh, and very well, even if it was his first wargame and didn’t know anything about military history. I was ashamed by my performance…

Firefly · Post by **Firefly** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 6:06 pm

My first wargaming experience was with Donald Featherstone's book Wargaming and Airifix figures in 1965 or '66. The first boardgame was SPI's Napoleon at Waterloo, which used to be free with a subsription to Strategy and Tactics and gave birth to a system used in countless SPI games. The first computer wargame (if you don't count games like Civilization) was SSI's Typhoon of Steel on the Amiga.

Aztek · Post by **Aztek** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 9:53 pm

OMG I remember Ice Wars.

You had to "purchase" units for the scenarios. It was a fun little game. I played it quite a bit with one guy who also enjoyed SPIs "Musket and Pike".

Man fond memories. If only I had kept all those games.

JReb · Post by **JReb** » Tue Oct 28, 2003 11:50 pm

You old guys may have to help me out here but when I was 11 or 12 (1975-1976) my brother bought me a game called USN. It covered the entire WITP with the paper map and counter trays. I can't remember who made it though.

Next was Squad Leader and 1776 by AH at age 12 -13. Squad Leader was intense and became my favorite for many years.

My brother could not believe that after so many years he found me playing East Front on my PC and said "Jeez, you still playing those wargames?"

"Its your fault" I told him and "Thank you"

Let me ask this, after playing wargames for so long do you find it hard to play more common games like monopoly, trivial pursuit or others? I find them incredibly boring but play to maintain social manners at friendly get togethers.

Les_the_Sarge_9_1 · Post by **Les_the_Sarge_9_1** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 12:04 am

It's never the game, it's the company you are playing with that counts.

I have rolegamed for years, and I once had a drugged out loser come over with some friends. I told my buddies in private I never had no wish for them to bring that guy back again ever.

I had a guy I wargamed with maaaaaany years back, a competent wargamer, but after a few months it was obvious he was such a painfully unrepentent male chauvanist pig that I couldn't stomache him being around.

Then there is the husband of an old friend of mine. If we play something like Trivial Pursuit or some other sort of game, all he ever does ismoan how he couldn't possibly know the answer. Problem is, he never does. A perfect example of a mindless factory drone. The man has an intellect that could win against the Axis and Allies AI

I enjoy just about every form of game out there to an extent. I played Magic the Gathering so intensely from 93 to 98 at this one store, most people though it was my store (the pretty young lass that actually did own it was even mistaken as my daughter once hehe).

I have proven to my own satisfaction you can teach anyone how to play a good wargame. I have even done this with ASL eh.
But it doesn't have to be a wargame to entertain me, I just find them more challenging to me personally.

Sorry, Life, Checkers, Monopoly, all those "parlour" games are ok when having company over.
I find ordinary card games a bit dull though. I don't mind playing poker, but if not for cash, it seems kinda pointless.

rosary · Post by **rosary** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 12:09 am

Does setting up plastic army men, dinosaurs and other models and shooting rubber bands at them count? My brother would set up his side then I'd set up my side and ping away. Its sort of a war game.

During one turn my brother was excited about a shot and put his foot through a glass window requiring lots of stitches.

Steelwhip · Post by **Steelwhip** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 12:10 am

Aztek wrote:OMG I remember Ice Wars.

You had to "purchase" units for the scenarios. It was a fun little game. I played it quite a bit with one guy who also enjoyed SPIs "Musket and Pike".

Man fond memories. If only I had kept all those games.

hehehehehehe

one of the things I loved about Ice war was the purchase system......and units would cost less if you brought them on in later turns as reinforcments. And the OWPs....blast holes in the ice from space to block soviet units movments=)

No clue what happened to my copy. Im sure it in one of my multitude of boxes in storage. Have a few of those still around somewhere...the one where you play primitive neanderthal people trying to survive...."Invasion of the Air Eaters" was always a blast as well=)

JReb wrote:You old guys may have to help me out here but when I was 11 or 12 (1975-1976) my brother bought me a game called USN. It covered the entire WITP with the paper map and counter trays. I can't remember who made it though.

Sounds like one of SPIs old flat tray games. They had some good ones. =)

Aztek · Post by **Aztek** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 1:30 am

SPIs games had a lot of good subjects for games but the biggest problem was most were not playtested. Probably because they put so **** many out.

I once made a trip to NYC when I was 18 in the early eighties and tried to look up their headquarters which at the time was listed in Manhattan somewhere. I had 400 bucks with me to buy as many SPI titles as I could but to my great disapointment they were out of business and there was a big "for rent" sign on the front door of the busineess address I had.

I later took that same money and bought a partially punched copy of "Drang Nach Osten" from GDW. A great game about the Eastern Front that Im sure if you had a mint condition copy would go for $500 bucks on ebay.

Raverdave · Post by **Raverdave** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 11:33 am

PanzerBlitz was the one that started it all for me.......I can still remember how heavy the box was when I collected it from the shop.....and the smell of freshly punched cardboard counters. THAT is the one thing that computer games lack, the tactile interaction between you and the game.

Firefly · Post by **Firefly** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 6:02 pm

Aztek wrote:I once made a trip to NYC when I was 18 in the early eighties and tried to look up their headquarters which at the time was listed in Manhattan somewhere. I had 400 bucks with me to buy as many SPI titles as I could but to my great disapointment they were out of business and there was a big "for rent" sign on the front door of the busineess address I had.

Yes, they hit financial problems and were taken over by TSR, but it all went wrong as TSR didn't want to inherit SPI's debts and quite a few wargamers got burned on their S&T subscriptions, luckily for me I'd stopped subscribing by then. Some of the guys went on to form Victory Games, a sub-division of AH, operating out of New York, who produced some pretty good games.

Custer6 · Post by **Custer6** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 8:51 pm

Firefly wrote:Yes, they hit financial problems and were taken over by TSR, but it all went wrong as TSR didn't want to inherit SPI's debts and quite a few wargamers got burned on their S&T subscriptions, luckily for me I'd stopped subscribing by then. Some of the guys went on to form Victory Games, a sub-division of AH, operating out of New York, who produced some pretty good games.

Firefly,
You brought back some memories. I remember reading about the end of SPI in the magazine Fire and Movement. Unfortunately, I sold that particular issue. Here is a link to another great article about the end of SPI. http://www.costik.com/spisins.html