How old are the average Wargamers here?

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PortunusPelasergei
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How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by PortunusPelasergei »

You don't have to say it "directly" you can just say "early 20s" or "mid 40s" etc. Im just wondering how old are the average Wargamers here, it said that mostly around 50s but I couldn't really trust it.
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Rebel Yell
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by Rebel Yell »

I'm 63 but I wouldn't be surprised at all if the average was in the upper 40's or low 50's.
PortunusPelasergei
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by PortunusPelasergei »

Rebel Yell wrote: Wed Oct 08, 2025 3:38 am I'm 63 but I wouldn't be surprised at all if the average was in the upper 40's or low 50's.
Wow, nice to meet you, sir, I'm only 23 here :D How long have you played Wargames?
GwSyy
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by GwSyy »

I’m in my 30s now, and I first got into wargaming back in college, starting with TOAW3. It’s a pretty niche hobby, though—not many people around me are into it.
vonRocko
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by vonRocko »

62. Started with Avalon Hill games, Kriegspiel was my first
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altipueri
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by altipueri »

71

Started in the 1960s in Richmond, London:

https://vintagewargaming.blogspot.com/2 ... es-of.html

We used a logarithmic scale for movement - seemed like rocket science before computers.

It meant you could have close combat (10 cm = 100 metres) and long distance artillery on a table tennis sized game table. After 1 metre 10 cm = about 1000 metres.
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Curtis Lemay
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by Curtis Lemay »

73

Started in 1974 (Senior in college) with SPI. First of SPI's was Leipzig.

First PC game was Aces of the Pacific in 1992 (Flight sim) along with Task Force 1942 in 1992 (Naval sim).
First true PC wargame was Battleground Gettysburg in 1995. Edit: Actually, Pacific War (1992) and War in Russia (1993) came first.
Last edited by Curtis Lemay on Fri Oct 10, 2025 2:19 pm, edited 1 time in total.
My TOAW web site:

Bob Cross's TOAW Site
Rosseau
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by Rosseau »

Just turned 69 - I don't recommend it. ;)
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by RangerJoe »

Rosseau wrote: Thu Oct 09, 2025 12:44 am Just turned 69 - I don't recommend it. ;)
I think that it is better than the alternative
Seek peace but keep your gun handy.

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing! :o

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cpdeyoung
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by cpdeyoung »

80

Tactics II, sometime around 1960.

My first serious computer game was Harpoon (Windows).

Chuck
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

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Jim D Burns
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by Jim D Burns »

62

First board game played was sometime in the mid 1970''s when I was a young teenager. Think it was either Tactics II or Blitzkrieg, can no longer remember for sure. First board game I owned was a game about Gettysburg made by Avalon Hill, the one with the large rectangular counters.

First PC game was probably Grigsby's War in Russia or Kampfgruppe in the mid 1980's. I owned both so may have bought them at the same time, but was broke in those days so chances are I bought just one at a time.
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Rebel Yell
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by Rebel Yell »

PortunusPelasergei wrote: Wed Oct 08, 2025 6:44 am Wow, nice to meet you, sir, I'm only 23 here :D How long have you played Wargames?
I started in 1973 with Avalon Hill's Richthofen's War.
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by James Taylor »

I believe it was 1963, first Broadside and then Dogfight from Milton Bradley. Later, like 1965 it was D-Day from AH. From then on, a gambit of others, AH and then SPI, a strategy and tactics subscription. Played by mail with some of my buddies where you used stock prices for die rolls.
First computer game was Strategic Command, like 2001, and its still my go to game, Hubert has created a real gem.

Oh, I forgot there was Super NES, PTO II from Koei. It was actually the first CPU game back in 1993. That was a really good game.
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altipueri
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by altipueri »

I like the idea of using stock prices for dice rolls - can you explain a bit more?

It was in the 1960s that I first started using 20 sided dice - made out of 20 equilateral triangles. This gave you 20 5% increments for tank hit chances etc. It was well before I ever heard of dungeons and dragons having 20 sided dice.
PortunusPelasergei
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by PortunusPelasergei »

You guys are waay older than me :o I didn't expect such a dedicated players all the way to the 1960s. My very first hex wargame was Strategic Command WW1, then Decisive Campaign Ardennes Offensive and Warplan Pacific later on (It's all computer wargame lol) . Still trying to learn it but already get the grip. Wonderful community anyway :D
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RFalvo69
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Re: How old are the average Wargamers here?

Post by RFalvo69 »

Mid 50s (just look at my nickname :D ).

My first argame was AH "Midway". I watched the 1970s movie with my mother, and the scenes when the Admirals moved symbols on a map while planning really grabbed me. Then, shortly thereafter, my family made a trip to Milan. We visited the "Rinascente" superstore and... lo! There was a map of the Pacific on display with counters on it! (It was, I discovered afterwards, "Flat Top").

So, I wept and cried about these "intelligent games who taught history!" and, lo!, on a shelf there was "Midway". I spent one year playing with it solo, double blind, without cheating! Beside starting my wargame hobby, I think that the game made me really interested in the Navy - up to signing for the (then obligatory) military service, specifying a preference for the Italian Navy when I was 18.
"Yes darling, I served in the Navy for eight years. I was a cook..."
"Oh dad... so you were a God-damned cook?"

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