Matrix Games Forums

First wargame was Jena 1807, an old International Team. I've bought it when I was 11.
Then Hell's Highway (VG) : I've learned english to play this one [:)]. Quickly followed by some monster games : The longest Day (have played this one 2 months non-stop, from dawn to night with two friends during holidays), Wif (remember playing it 27 hours in a row, from sept/oct 39 to the invasion of Russia), the Europa serie.
Computer games : Knights of the Desert (C64)

While I played a few board games as a kid back in the 1970's, I abandoned the whole wargaming thing for a while, no time as US Air Force Academy Cadet for that kind of thing. Finally broke down an bought a home computer in 1985. An Apple IIc with a color monitor. Friend in the squadron told me about North Atlantic '86, so I bought a copy and got hooked immediately. Bought almost every SSI title I could afford between 1985 and 1988 or so. AF helped me into programming, helped on some SIOP simulations and Red Flag stuff and then began actually writing some of my own simple games about then for the home computer about that time....

Never really liked the next generation of war games after GG's last DOS titles in the early 1990's, all the Steel Panther, Panzer General stuff, so left the genre for RTS, FPS and sports games for quite a while. Came back to it when I found out about Matrix about four or five years ago or so, but even then nothing really took my fancy until UV came out. Funny thing is, I use an Apple IIc emulator and still play a number of my old Apple IIc titles on that.....

I used to think I was the oldest guy (don't seem to be any females...) lurking in the Matrix Forums, so this thread has been a real eye opener for me.... I think we have some reason to be worried about the future of wargaming. Where are the youngsters ? Not here apparently.

My first wargame was SPI's 'Barbarossa', back in the seventies (1974 ?) during my beardless youth. I've owned dozens of boardgames, but took a while before getting interested in computer wargames. Computers were for work not for play. My first computer game was IMagic's 'Great Battles of Alexander' back in 1998. First played a Gary Grigsby game in 1999 ('Pacific War').

Gettysburg, the '64 (?) edition from AH

My father's not mine. Until I played it.

Boardgame: Squad Leader
Computer Game:Grigsby's game on Barbarossa 1941 for the Atari 400/800 computer. Sheesh. The name escapes me right now.

Well I guess toy soldiers, Risk, and Stratego don't really count:) considering I had been playing with the former since I was knee high to a grasshopper. As for a real bonafied board wargame, I reckon the first I tried was a WWI type. I think it was called Guns of August or 1914 or something like that. It was back in the mid sixties. It was a bit more than I could handle at the time, shooting real guns was a bit more entertaining then..hehe.

I still have a closet full of the things..like Panzer Blitz, Squad Leader, Pacific War, Empire at Arms, Flattop, Fire in the East, 3rd Reich..oh and of course Star Fleet battles (trekkie). I don't want to even think about all the great boardgames I have lost or gave away and as for computer wargames..there's a couple hundred of them too and that collection is still growing thanks to Matrix.

Sabre

Same here and yes, (looking at the box) guns of August

Tactics was my first board game, and what started the collection of every possible bookshelf game I could get my hands on.

First computer game was Telengard which took 20 minutes to load on the tape drive to play.

can't remember my first SSI game, though bought almost all over them, along with Microprose and SSG and many many others... whew... going to look for my gerital now

One of the first grognard-type boardgames was Gettysburg which I can't find anymore. I'm not sure which year, possibly the earlier version, with unit types in shapes of formations, salients, lines, flanks, counters for breastworks. Can anyone tell me what this version was, the game itself has been lost, and it was such a good set of advanced rules, and very well done board and counters.

I was one of the few people that purchased The Campaign for North Africa. It was a boardgame on the level of WITP, and therefore unplayable in paper form, by any less than 10 people. It was a monster, and really should have been sent to War College as an advanced course in logistics. They had rules for evaporation in it,as well as the Italian preference for pasta in a desert campaign. This game probably requires a new category above "Grognard" for anyone who actually played it.

Does Battleship count ?



In that veiw guess that Chess would also count. And always Risk and Stratego



Also played that old figured base wargame by Milton bradley about the Guns of Navarone.

First board game would be Tactics II.


Then LuftWaffe


The First Computer game (old ) would be the one where you interecpt incoming missiles ? The name escapes me right now.

My First real computer wargame was the wargame designer kit.

More when I can remeber them

Can't remember the other ones I played before I bought my first one.

First one Bought:
Luftwaffe

Then:
France 1940
Third Reich
Squad Leader (then expansions)
Foxbat and Phantom
SPI's Korean War to Modern (mid 70's to 78 or so) Jet combat game. Can't remember the name.
Panzer Leader
Torbrok(sp).

Played Terrible Swift Sword (Napoleon Artillery Pieces (artillery batteries in general) tore up my troops really bad)
War in East
A couple of Napoleonic games..

Then 15mm minatures in the 80's and 90's..Modern Land combat and napoleonic...

Brother Had Starship Troopers and War in the middle earth game (Damn orc armies)...

And Battle Tech Minatures with Army buddies....

ORIGINAL: Dunhill_BKK

One of the first grognard-type boardgames was Gettysburg which I can't find anymore. I'm not sure which year, possibly the earlier version, with unit types in shapes of formations, salients, lines, flanks, counters for breastworks. Can anyone tell me what this version was, the game itself has been lost, and it was such a good set of advanced rules, and very well done board and counters.

That was Gettysburg '77. A great game.

ORIGINAL: Belphegor

That was Gettysburg '77. A great game.

Yeah I had that one was very good.

Panzer Blitz and Panzer Leader

l

long time ago now think it was Panzer Blitz and Panzer Leader as well 70"/73

ORIGINAL: Mike Scholl

AH's "GETTYSBURG" in 1959-60. Played it until the counters were literally worn out.

Me too. Followed by Tactics II.
We cut out lots of extra counters for Gettysburg. Had the whole board covered with them. Couldn't even really play the game then.

C64 games were the first wargames at all I ever messed with.

All time favorite was SSI's Gettysburg.

Battles of Napoleon

Also loved a game by SSI about modern warfare, but can not remember the title.

my first was Fortress Europa, Avalon Hill

Avalon Hill's Fuedal was the first "wargame" followed by Gettysburg '64, and finally after a paper route Gettysburg '77. My first Computer game was SSI's War in Russia, I got a used copy without a rule book. Took me awhile to figure out.

Well my first was also Panzer Leader, followed by Luftwaffe and then Squad Leader[:)]

AHs Bismarck was my first real board game. GGs Guadalcanal Campaign was the PC addiction.

Reading all these posts I start to feel young again. Some of you really seem to have been with wargaling from the start according to your first games. Seing some of the pictures posted I decided to take two quick ones of my collection (not showing everything, just two shelves).

One shelf is essentially WWII stuff (a few ACW and napoleonics in there too), the other modern war and large AH boxes. But as is clearly visible I'm not very orderly and a few odd boxes have slipped in there too.

Marc aka Caran...

Hi, There are many games that if they were remade for current PC would be best sellers in my opinion.

Colonial Conquest SSI. Was never made for PC. A new version that allowed for online multiplayers would be very popular.

Battles of Napolean. SSI update would only require a new graphis and a Campaign that tracked unit status from one battle to the next. Large strategic map for movement between battles.

Warship and it's WWI companion game. Just needs graphics upgrade. And campaign with large maps.

(Come to think of it most SSI titles that were brought up to date would sell at least as many copies as they sold the first go around)