My confession re: historical wargames

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I have about a half dozen of these. Like you I've never played them. I once played ASL with a friend and enjoyed it.
 
I don't have any now but my brother and I used to have more than a few Avalon Hill strategy games. We played the heck out of Third Reich and War and Peace.
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I saw quite a few good bargains on old war games at the game store this past weekend, and more than a few I'd love to play, but I don't know enough people who'd be interested in playing them nowadays.

And punching out the counters was always a pain in the ass to me!
 
And punching out the counters was always a pain in the ass to me!

You need to pull a Tom Sawyer on someone like E Rocker. "For a new dice set, I'll let you punch out this new game."

I used to have quite a few Avalon Hill games in the 80s and 90s (and similar brands). I liked strategic level like Third Reich, Imperium Romanum, and Federation & Empire. Those game all take ~20 hours to play and take up a table while you're not playing. Nowdays, there is software to manage old games where you pass the file back and forth over email. But I just don't have the time.
 
You need to pull a Tom Sawyer on someone like E Rocker. "For a new dice set, I'll let you punch out this new game."

I used to have quite a few Avalon Hill games in the 80s and 90s (and similar brands). I liked strategic level like Third Reich, Imperium Romanum, and Federation & Empire. Those game all take ~20 hours to play and take up a table while you're not playing. Nowdays, there is software to manage old games where you pass the file back and forth over email. But I just don't have the time.
I built my gaming table with a tv in it pretty much to play these type of games and for D&D maps/fantasy grounds.
 
I have a ton of those and rarely have time to play nowadays, but I do have plans to dust one or two next month and play with an old friend.
 
My confession: Can't play them unless they have miniatures.
 
GaryCon is my wargaming fix.

I am running and playing in more wargames than ever, and I actively dread running OD&D at GaryCon.
 
I really, only played Boot Hill and Dawn Patrol.

I painted a small British War of Spanish Succession army this spring. Phase I if you will. I need to get back at it and paint the French phase I. I play Flames of War and Bolt Action, honestly I'd rather play Battle Group but whaddya gonna do? I've got about 100 Romans painted but only about 30 Celts. I've always wanted to play ancients. I've got a friend who prefers hex and counter for everything other than fantasy battles. He's probably right but I'll never tell him that.
 
I love hex and chit games. I recently dug out some of old games, which were sitting in an old box, in a far corner of the basement. I have been reading up on the various rule sets and I think I might spread out Gulf Strike by Victory Games. A nice simulation of the First Gulf War, with a definite likelihood of dragging in Soviet forces should things get "out of hand." A bit crunchy at times, but still nice.
 
I did play a number of sf and fantasy mini games back in the day. Starfire, Ultra Warrior, Valkenburg Castle, City States of Arkyl , Melee, Wizard, Ogre, Car Wars. Generally the price was right. Honestly I miss tight little minigames. No I didn't do the SJG minigames kickstarter. I'm still waiting for my Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 2 stuff and can't afford to tie up much in kickstarters at one time.
 
I did play a number of sf and fantasy mini games back in the day. Starfire, Ultra Warrior, Valkenburg Castle, City States of Arkyl , Melee, Wizard, Ogre, Car Wars. Generally the price was right. Honestly I miss tight little minigames. No I didn't do the SJG minigames kickstarter. I'm still waiting for my Dungeon Fantasy Monsters 2 stuff and can't afford to tie up much in kickstarters at one time.

I have lots of great memories playing Car Wars during lunch when I was in High School. :thumbsup:
 
Solid titles there. I've heard good things about Decision Games products.

+1. I bought Phobos Rising! and Iwo: Bloodbath in the Bonins at Origins this year (Decision has been there the last three years at least). I also have D-Day at Peleliu that I need to get to the table. GMT and Compass are a couple of other good wargame publishers.
 
GURPS Autoduel 1e did a letter sized cover with an over leaf of counters. I've often wondered about doing booklets with a legal cover and letter contents to allow a full color overleaf.
 
+1. I bought Phobos Rising! and Iwo: Bloodbath in the Bonins at Origins this year (Decision has been there the last three years at least). I also have D-Day at Peleliu that I need to get to the table. GMT and Compass are a couple of other good wargame publishers.

I've read a lot of good reviews about D-Day at Peleliu, and the Pacific Theatre titles, and that it's solitaire play is apparently quite good. However, the game I really want to get is the now out of print D-Day at Omaha Beach, but the prices are all over the place, and none of my local game stores have any in stock.
 
I've decided not to set up Gulf Strike, but this instead.

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A really good simulation of desert warfare along the lines of the old PanzerBlitz/Leader games. -same tactical level. What I especially like is that it has an Italian orbat which allows you to play some scenarios from the early/pre DAK desert war, and the American orbat for the Tunisian campaign. Also, the Tank Leader series was one the first attempts at using command cards to activate units that I am aware of. Should be fun to get back to this one after so many years.
 
I've read a lot of good reviews about D-Day at Peleliu, and the Pacific Theatre titles, and that it's solitaire play is apparently quite good. However, the game I really want to get is the now out of print D-Day at Omaha Beach, but the prices are all over the place, and none of my local game stores have any in stock.

I've never played it but there is PC version of D-Day at Omaha Beach:

D-Day at Omaha Beach Computer Game (PC)
 
Solid titles there. I've heard good things about Decision Games products.
One thing to watch out for with the little cardboard counters is that the paper will tear off from the cardboard if you're not very careful.

Other than that, my only complaint is that the rules are not as clear as they could be and since they're cheap little ziplocked baggies that have the basic for-every-game rule set on one sheet and then the specific-to-this-game rules in another sheet and you have to switch back and forth between sheets to make sure you understand the rules.

The solitaire games are pretty fun when you find yourself unable to get together with likeminded friends interested in such scenarios.
 
I loaded up on GDW's wargames in the early eBay days. All the games I wanted when I was younger but didn't have the cash for.

Most have been unplayed, because computer wargames really started to come along about the same time. Something like Combat Mission is just so much easier and more enjoyable to me, plus you can play against the computer if there are no players available (the downside to being unsociable).
 
I've decided not to set up Gulf Strike, but this instead.

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A really good simulation of desert warfare along the lines of the old PanzerBlitz/Leader games. -same tactical level. What I especially like is that it has an Italian orbat which allows you to play some scenarios from the early/pre DAK desert war, and the American orbat for the Tunisian campaign. Also, the Tank Leader series was one the first attempts at using command cards to activate units that I am aware of. Should be fun to get back to this one after so many years.


Gulf Strike, that brings back memories. I had a friend in the late 80s who was really into wargames, he had a ton of them. We decided to play Gulf Strike and of course, no screwing around with some little skirmish, we went all out selecting some intro to WW3 scenario. It took us the better part of the day to set up all the counters.

Just as we were starting to play, this black streak plummets from above, hitting the table (along with map and hundreds of counters) and continued right through to the floor. There on the floor was his dazed cat sitting among the ruins of our game.

He had to share a room with his little brother and had a bunk bed. Stupid cat had been sleeping up on the top bunk all day (typical cat) and decided to get down just as our game began. Making matters worse, the table was a card table he had salvaged from the trash, it had a huge hole through the middle which he had patched up with cardboard, so there was little resistance to lardass landing on it.

We were pretty disgusted by the events and that was our first and last attempt to play Gulf Strike.



I'll try to dig up my stash of GDW games. I think most are still packed from my last move (7 years ago). I liked their games because they tended to have a fair amount of detail, but played fairly quickly.
 
My confession: Can't play them unless they have miniatures.
I loaded up on GDW's wargames in the early eBay days. All the games I wanted when I was younger but didn't have the cash for.

Most have been unplayed, because computer wargames really started to come along about the same time. Something like Combat Mission is just so much easier and more enjoyable to me, plus you can play against the computer if there are no players available (the downside to being unsociable).

There's a downside to being unsociable? :tongue:
 
As an amendment to my earlier declaration regarding only playing wargames that use minis, I have always had a perverse fascination with Advanced Squad Leader, and at some point (when free time flows like wine, so presumably after retirement or death), I'd like to learn the MASSIVE rules system and try a game.

Of course, I could still always replace the chits with 6mm scale minis...
 
As an amendment to my earlier declaration regarding only playing wargames that use minis, I have always had a perverse fascination with Advanced Squad Leader, and at some point (when free time flows like wine, so presumably after retirement or death), I'd like to learn the MASSIVE rules system and try a game.

Of course, I could still always replace the chits with 6mm scale minis...

ASL, the closest thing that I ever had to a gaming addiction. I still look back fondly at the hours that I spent playing it.
 
Oof lotta memories flooding back. when you start your gaming library from going to tag sales you get a bunch of cardboard games, Kingmaker was a load of fun, it was a war of Roses setting, I got at yard sale as a kid. Never found minis for Battletech or Car Wars so those stayed cardboard games for me as a kid. Eh, it never bothered me, cardboard meant I could have bigger battles without breaking my wallet. Finding Osprey Books at library sales also helped. I do remember falling hard for L5R's Discwars and Deadlands Doomtown Range Wars. L5R because L5R and Deadlands Doomtown Range Wars because it was cowboys vs zombies vs robots. To this day I still find people playing that game. Sadly I put all my cardboard games in the basement and when Superstorm Sandy struck in 2012... yeah the memory still hurts.
 
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