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I picked 1980 out of the blue. It might have been 1979, or maybe 1985.

My point, I was happier with my wargaming then than now.

Gaming in general. D&D was still just Advanced. It was real, not a video game.

Wargames for me were Squad Leader and Third Reich. Played them to death.
I also had Tactics II and Blitzkrieg and Midway.

There are too many designs now.
It's like a drug, and I have become an addict.

The next guys design WILL be good. But so what, you can't play them all at once.
How do you decide? Don't answer that, we all know there is no answer.

Somehow, I need to end up with a 'Squad Leader' and a 'Third Reich' and something operational WW2.

I have a lot of games, and they are all good designs, but, I'm a single human. The day is only 24 hours long. I CAN'T play them all. And pretending I can play them all a bit, well, that is in my view, a recipe for frustration.

How do I pick?
Likely the same way I have had to limit my models.
It won't be pretty.

One thing is for sure though. Wargames were not a logical main source of income in 1980, and I don't think that has changed. So, if you make wargames, have a real job to pay the bills. Because I need to stop buying for the sake of buying.

Heck I miss 1960. [:D]

I prefer 1970. Panzerblitz, Jutland, and early SPI games, plus the classic AH games.

In Third Reich, I took Paris in 1939 the turn after Poland.

I miss those games but there is no one around here that I know would play them.

And here we go again. Since I've already addressed this issue (at least for video games), I just link to it.

I was twelve years old when I threw my little plastic soldiers in the trash to no longer be different from others, not to be misunderstood.
My life has become hell until I discover this forum and the presence of other intelligent creatures, in fact why it is good to be the most intelligent on the planet if nobody understands you.
Since then I discovered paradise on earth, that the most important thing was to be able to play again and again, against all odds.
Well, it's been two minutes since I stopped playing to write to you, it's time I returned to play!

ORIGINAL: Kuokkanen

And here we go again. Since I've already addressed this issue (at least for video games), I just link to it.

Hehe, I never said it was easier to make the games. It's possible it's TOO easy to make them now.

I went through the PC with the uninstall function.
This is what survived so far.
Battle Academy (simple squad level fun).
Strategic Command War in Europe (not a knock on global, but I'm sticking to Europe for a while).
TOAW IV (operational) It's competing with Tiller Panzer Campaigns. Unsure at the moment which.
Unity of Command II
And there is always a spot for Steel Panthers

I think this is somewhat similar to what we see in many areas where content is being produced and delivered at a much higher rate than in the past. My advice is to not try to experience everything, but focus on fewer new things that are more up your alley and you'll get as much enjoyment out of them as in the past, if not more.

For me, around 1965 or so was the year of my introduction to wargaming. I have fond memories of sitting on the front porch playing an "air war" game with the next door neighbor. That game (which I am still trying to find) had little plastic airplanes, and we drew cards to determine air movements / battles / outcomes, and we moved our little air pieces / airplanes around to position. Good times.

We also created our own "war games" w/ the little Green Army Men in the garage, or in the street. We constructed "fortifications" from found blocks of wood or rocks, set our Green Army Men forces around those fortifications, and from 20 yards away, would then crash big Tonka Trucks into each others fortifications to "Defeat" the opposing force. The little machine gunner, who always laid prone, was always the hardest to get, as our "house rule" was that he had to be over turned over onto his back to be considered "taken". Good times, again. "Dirt Clod" wars, where "grenades" of loose dirt could be thrown (no rocks!) to achieve "victory!" in nieghborhood "street battles"

That eventually grew into subscriptions to S&T magazine, and we never really had enough time or space on the kitchen table to set those up and play them out, and then we went off to college and "discovered" D&D in the original rules. Then it was off to work and family IRL, and those games were laid aside...for a while.

Now, in retirement, I find great enjoyment from all the computer games we have now. Simply amazing. I'm a big fan of TOAW now, it is my hobby now. Sometimes, I look back by delving into the archives at archive.org, reading the old MOVES magazines etc.

Anyway, thanks for the reminder of great old days of Auld Lang Syne! Here's to another twenty years of happy gaming! I raise a toast to the best hobby of all!

ORIGINAL: Hellen_slith

For me, around 1965 or so was the year of my introduction to wargaming. I have fond memories of sitting on the front porch playing an "air war" game with the next door neighbor. That game (which I am still trying to find) had little plastic airplanes, and we drew cards to determine air movements / battles / outcomes, and we moved our little air pieces / airplanes around to position. Good times.

Sounds something like this

We also created our own "war games" w/ the little Green Army Men in the garage, or in the street. We constructed "fortifications" from found blocks of wood or rocks, set our Green Army Men forces around those fortifications, and from 20 yards away, would then crash big Tonka Trucks into each others fortifications to "Defeat" the opposing force.

My father used to do something like that with his friends. With slingshots. Then some 12 years ago I showed him a miniature wargame (BattleTech) I had bought.

and then we went off to college and "discovered" D&D in the original rules.

Harold "Lindybeige" Lloyd details it here

[edit]
Do you remember any player playing a mage, or using other weapons besides bow and/or dagger?

ORIGINAL: Erik Rutins

I think this is somewhat similar to what we see in many areas where content is being produced and delivered at a much higher rate in the past. My advice is to not try to experience everything, but focus on fewer new things that are more up your alley and you'll get as much enjoyment out of them as in the past, if not more.

Yeah, sometimes it is easy to buy something, but not so easy to get around to enjoying it

I'm assuming this happens with mainstream gaming, but not being a mainstream gamer, I couldn't comment.

Same here. It's eighties for me. I still 80% of the time play Board wargames. Usually solo but not always. I have 4'x6' board setup and leave my game up. No children, no cat's. Board games last a life time video do not. But I still buy the video wargames but I am very selective. AWitP I played for ever but now it stutters way to much. Don't have that problem with board games. Third Reich is a gem.[:)]

1980 was an excellent year........for music, Back in Black, Heaven and Hell, British Steel, Permanent Waves, Iron Maiden, Blizzard of Ozz, The River, man what a year, best year in music I can remember. There's a few more im forgetting I'm sure.

1980.........Grade 10 in High school. My older brothers' friends were the long haired "tough" guys who smoked the funny cigarettes on the far oval. We would play D & D at lunch in the library. One day another kid said sneeringly "That's the game geeks play" My brothers friends chased him out of the library and down the street! He never spoke to us again!

I love the long haired chasing the guy out of library, good one. Yes, 80's war gaming was fun. Now, too many games, I sort of stopped buying them and going into the old games to play. However, just bought The Hunters, both versions and Silent Victory from GMT games. I still play Panzer Korps almost everyday. Lots of games but not the time to play them. Still get on to play Battlefield 5.

ORIGINAL: Titanwarrior89

Same here. It's eighties for me. I still 80% of the time play Board wargames. Usually solo but not always. I have 4'x6' board setup and leave my game up. No children, no cat's. Board games last a life time video do not. But I still buy the video wargames but I am very selective. AWitP I played for ever but now it stutters way to much. Don't have that problem with board games. Third Reich is a gem.[:)]

Maybe check your switches for the game. It may be a problem if you are using windows 10.

ORIGINAL: budd

1980 was an excellent year........for music, Back in Black, Heaven and Hell, British Steel, Permanent Waves, Iron Maiden, Blizzard of Ozz, The River, man what a year, best year in music I can remember. There's a few more im forgetting I'm sure.

You forgot skateboarding in the 80´s! Stacy Peralta, Tony Alva! I still have dead skin on my elbows 40 years later [:D]

It´s more like the 70´s through 80´s for me.

Ace of Spades (Motorhead), High n Dry (Def Leppard), Long Live Rock n Roll (Rainbow), Draw the Line (Aerosmith), Obsession (UFO), Women and Children First (Van Halen), Walls of Jericho (Helloween), Restless and Wild (Accept), and alot more!

I bet there was a Cristal Lake (Friday 13) around your area too, were us long haird, Levis and concert t-shirt dudes/chicks hanged out friday nights! Then spend Saturday morning pool hopping hotels in Miami Beach haha!

Those were the days! [;)]

Red

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ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

Gaming in general. D&D was still just Advanced. It was real, not a video game.

Only the 4th Edition of D&D tried to be "World of Warcraft" on paper - and it sank miserably.

I ran a AD&D/D&D campaign which lasted for 13 years (1999-2012). I switched midway from AD&D 2E to 3.5E and we had even more fun (*).

Today, D&D 5E is incredibly popular. I heard through the grapevine that it could be the most successful edition ever. I haven't tried it, but I gather that you can choose your level of complexity and have fun. Who knows? Maybe one day I'll run games for a new crowd.

Wargames for me were Squad Leader and Third Reich. Played them to death.

From what I gather, there are two wargames to whom people "totally devote their lives": World in Flames and Advanced Squad Leader. The info comes from people who play them... [;)]

Edit: (*) With 3.5E I was able to pull quite a stunt: The Hunt for Red October fantasy-style. It involved gnomes tinkerers, a Nautilus-like submarine and an immensely precious Artifact that ended on the submarine by mistake. Both the good guys and the bad guys discovered the thing at the same time, and the chase was on...

ORIGINAL: RFalvo69

Today, D&D 5E is incredibly popular. I heard through the grapevine that it could be the most successful edition ever.

Meh, don't really look that to me. In local cons it is Pathfinder galore and there has been times when nobody GMed any version of D&D.

In as much as D&D goes, well, this is my take.

Advanced was well supported
2nd was the edition with lousy bindings and inconsistent manual formats.
3rd was the great rip off going from 3 to 3.5 and everyone and their aunt had to release something.
4th was one I liked, but, they diluted it to death and eventually, it became a marketing scam.
I have not played 5th the 'we can make them buy endless editions because they're gullible' edition.

I don't think it matters which editions were playable more so against the others. In the end, the fan base was essentially just 'used' as cash cows brazenly.

Of all the designs I have experienced, I like the mechanics of WFRP 2nd edition minus the doom and gloom element which I just ignore.
So if I'm running a game, that's it.
But I'll play anything if the GM isn't a total tragedy.