tailz Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 I see that many of us are 'old timers' from a wargaming standpoint (cardboard counters and weekends just setting up the maps, etc.) Just for curiosities sake... what games did you 'cut your teeth' on? Myself... Squad Leader (never played ASL... had too much money invested in the original to change over.) Followed by a long stint of Bismark. (covered a lot of nautical miles on hands and knees in the living room with those cardboard miniatures!) Do any of you still manage to put in time with cardboard and dice? (the shattered remnants of my old gaming group still putz away with World in Flames and AH's The Longest Day at intermittent intervals.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 My first game was Luftwaffe by Avalon Hill. That hooked me in the mid 70's and I've since tallyed up over 100 boardgames. Mostly AH and SPI--love those monster games that never got played. One of my favorites is Highway to the Reich (Market-Garden) by SPI. One of the few giants that I actually got to play against an opponent. Just a year ago, I bought the venerable B-17 and London's Burning--mainly to play solitare when I'm on the road. Even though they were seldom played much, there was just something about pushing the counters around and investigating every inch of the maps in classics like Wacht am Rhein and Atlantic Wall---both giant SPI games. I still occasionally get some board games out for just that purpose--the computer has made actually playing them obsolete. One summer, before I went in the Army, had an awesome time playing the mammoth War in Europe (45 sq feet of maps) with my brother and cousin. I could go on forever.....you've brought up some great memories with this topic. Chris ------------------ Land Soft--Kill Quiet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wesreidau Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Yeah some great memories of ye olde board games. I bought my last one a good coupla years back "Rorke`s Drift". It was great, I`d always wanted to be Michael Caine. Other games that stole my life were "Battle Of Britain", "Wellington`s Victory", The Assault Series and of course SL. I started out with "Starship Troopers" back in 1980..oh those were the days! ------------------ "If your flank march is going well, the enemy expects you to outflank him" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadepm Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Panzer Blitz. I still remember buying it in 1973 at age 13. It a certain physical look to it that was very cool. I don't know what happened but Panzer Leader never gave me the same feeling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Los Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Picked up my first game around '67,(I think), it was D-Day by AH at a school flea market. Was too little to understand the rules but I did set up the counters and pushed the fronts around making shooting noises. A neighbor gave me an old copy of Gettysburg around 1969 and that was the first game where we learned the rules and played. The first game I bought with my own money was Jutland (AH) when it first came out (BTW I used to love those AH ads pamphlets with the funny saying about the game prices). Back then it took TWO freakin' months to get anything by mail and I would wait every day by my window as the UPS truck drove down the street...it would never stop. Then one day I came home from school...my mom had been lemon pledging the house...the smell was strong...and sitting on the table was my BOX! (I still associate that smell with that exciting moment), and I had my first purchased wargame. Also signed up with SPI from the beginning, the seventies were definately the heady days of wargaming... Los Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadayne Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 When I was about 13, I was at my uncle's house wandering through the basement (their children were about 15 years older than me and all their old toys were stored in the basement), I found an old box of games, including AH's origional TACTICS and D-DAY. My uncle let me take them home and I invited some of my friends over to check out these "new" games. We played those two non-stop for about 2 years before I discovered what a "wargame" even was. Later, when I got into roleplaying games, I found the wargames section in the hobbystore. I never looked back. Some of my favorites are "Gettysburg", "The Civil War", and "Empires at Arms" (Napolionic). Anyone ever play "Diplomacy"? ------------------ "Well then private, it must be sh*t. Good thing we didn't step in it." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PawBroon Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Hi Jadayne, Diplomacy is my golden nuggets. Loved it at first sight. As for wargames, my first on was PanzerGroup Guderian. Was a nice start... ------------------ Either he's dead or my watch has stopped Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisl Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Played a whole bunch of them: Started out with Wooden Ships and Iron Men (I think I got it for xmas in 1976-- it has a "special bicentennial edition" thing on it). Played a bunch of Tactics II ( a friend had it) Lots of Third Reich, Fortress Europa, The Russian Front, Circus Maximus (first person shooter with cardboard counters). You mentioned Bismarck-- I had forgotten about that-- played that a bunch. Submarine was another favorite, but a pain to play solo. Lots of Squad Leader-- have SL+the 3 gamettes, way too much investement for a teenager to have to start over with ASL (I could afford it now, but don't have the time, plus now I have CM). Also a big Diplomacy fan. When I lived in Germany school was pretty undemanding, so a bunch of us played Dip every weekend for about 8 months. Also played by email some-- the email dip community is very well developed. A friend of mine really liked Kingmaker, it always was a little dull. Looking back, it would have been better with more people. Rail Baron, Starship Troopers, the list goes on...I think I still have about 20 games in my mom's basement, in addition to the dozen or so that I drag along whenever I move. On top of all those I played a whole mess of fantasy roleplaying games, but mostly stopped when Dungeons and Dragons started getting really popular in the middle/high school crowd because I thought the people who played it were too weird. Played mostly SL after that. Oh yeah, almost forgot-- I have Panzerleader and Panzerblitz, but never played much because I got them after SL and they don't compare. [This message has been edited by chrisl (edited 07-23-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Shaw Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Actually my first "wargames" were probably Milton Bradley quasi wargames. I remember one about WW1 Air Combat that used cards for manuevers. Pretty cheesy but the thought was there. Then I got into Napoleonic and WW2 miniatures, then SL and others. Never did really enjoy boardgames because of the damned rules you had to memorize. And I missed the visual excitment you had with miniatures. CM is ... just about right Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grognerd_Fogman Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Axis and Allies...lol ------------------ Thanks for Athskin! Grognerd_Fogman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisl Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 I tried miniatures a few times- even got some little guys and glued them down on carboard, but they took forever to play, and it ate up the whole basement, which was also occupied by HO trains and a workbench, so things got crowded. We often played Car Wars as a miniatures thing with matchboxes. That's a fun game, and is going to force me to get a Playstation2 just so I can do the car combat thing (although living in LA I suppose I could do that anyway...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy A Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 The old AH Gettysburg was responsible for starting a passion that has consumed large parts of my life,back in 74.Along with the original AH Battle of the Bulge and such classics as Tobruk and of course SL my youth just evaporated............ Ah, Halycon days...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GI Tom Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Wow. Just got back from a little 4 day vacation with the fam and am checking this before I fire up the CM. Great thread. I'm sitting here at my computer desk looking back on my bookshelves and what do I see?? Ambush with all 3 add on Mods (Avalon Hill, great solitaire game) Panzer Leader (Avalon Hill) Squad Leader (Avalon Hill) Open Fire (Victory Games, another solitaire game) Up Front (Avalon Hill) Panzerkrieg (Avalon Hill) Storm Over Arnhem (Avalon Hill) Air Assault over Crete (Avalon Hill) Battle of The Bulge (Avalon Hill, 90's version) D-Day (Avalon Hill, 90's version) Ahh...the memories. I can't find my Tactics II and Afrika Corps, both great Avalon games that I used to play in school with my friends. I would have to say that the memories of SOA are the best. Me and my friends setting up ladder tournaments to see who could last the longest as the ill fated British. Ahh..great games. Unlike my computer wargames, I am NOT selling these puppies. These just all have a different feel when your playing. More for memory purposes than anything I think. Anyone here been to an Avaloncon?? I had always wanted to go...but never made it. GI Tom ------------------ To a New Yorker like you, a hero is some type of wierd sandwich. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henri Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Andy A: The old AH Gettysburg was responsible for starting a passion that has consumed large parts of my life,back in 74.Along with the original AH Battle of the Bulge and such classics as Tobruk and of course SL my youth just evaporated............ Ah, Halycon days...... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Actually, I think I bought Gettysburg in the early 60`s, sometime before Blitzkrieg, that I bought in 1967. Then came Afrika Korps, and The Russian Campaign, the best wargame of all time (according to a poll on some site that I can`t remember), and much later, Panzer Blitz and Squad Leader and ASL and many others. I have a whole shelf of cardboard games and a big pile of games and magazines from Strategy & Tactics. I have a whole bunch of AARs I typed from my games with The Russian Campaign, I even submitted one to Fire and Movement (but they didn`tpublish it...). When I was living in California, there was Hobby Shop at the San antonio shopping Center in Palo Alto that had every wargame ever published, I wonder if it still exists. When I went there, I was lke a kid in a candy store. Ah, the good old days ... True, these were the days when I had the Commodore Pet ... Henri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formerly Babra Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 Cut my teeth on AH and SPI. My friend and I had so many, I can't remember who owned what any more. I think Napoleon's Last Battles was the first one, though, closely followed by Panzer Leader -- ugliest maps in wargaming history, but it sure was fun. ------------------ It's a mother-beautiful bridge and it's gonna be THERE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hakko Ichiu Posted July 23, 2000 Share Posted July 23, 2000 You never forget your first time, she was older than I and more experienced... Oh, sorry, wargames. First was Panzer Leader (when I was 12 or so) which my older brother and I used to play. Then 3rd Reich, Panzer Blitz, France 1940, Arab-Israeli Wars, STT, SPI subscription in late '70s, Tobruk. Oddly enough, never got into SL/ASL: too fiddly I guess. Don't forget the great Metagames pocket games like Ogre and GEV. In junior high, my friends and I would spend recesses in the locker room playing Melee and Wizards. In high school it was on to harder stuff like D&D. But big chunks of cardboard iron were my first love. ------------------ Ethan ----------- Das also war des Pudels Kern! -- Goethe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_in_texas Posted July 24, 2000 Share Posted July 24, 2000 Hi all! I first started playing Axis & Allies and Risk (early 80s), then "advanced" to Panzergruppe Guedurian [sp?] by Avalon Hill (I think). After that, it was Squad Leader for many years. Now, of course, it's CM! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henri Posted July 24, 2000 Share Posted July 24, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mike_in_texas: Hi all! I first started playing Axis & Allies and Risk (early 80s), then "advanced" to Panzergruppe Guedurian [sp?] by Avalon Hill (I think). After that, it was Squad Leader for many years. Now, of course, it's CM! Mike<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Panzergruppe Guderian was by SPI; it was originally a free game in the magazine Strategy& Tactics, then was put out as a standalone game. I still have my copy. One of the best S&T games ever! I still have the original Squad Leader plus a number of modules, and my son later got ASL and replaced me at pushing two-inch-high stacks of cardboard counters, after I gave up playing SL after losing 3 games in a row to the cat . Henri [This message has been edited by Henri (edited 07-24-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IntelWeenie Posted July 24, 2000 Share Posted July 24, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Henri: I still have the original Squad Leader plus a number of modules, and my son later got ASL and replaced me at pushing two-inch-high stacks of cardboard counters, after I gave up playing SL after losing 3 games in a row to the cat . Henri [This message has been edited by Henri (edited 07-24-2000).]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Ah, the good ol' OTA (Onboard Tabby Artillery)! And now, to invent the 'cat'apult! Did anyone ever play the game called "Ace of Aces"? It was WWI fighter combat played with 2 booklets. Great for trips or during school! ------------------ "Belly to belly and everything's better" - Russian proverb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted July 24, 2000 Share Posted July 24, 2000 hmmm...my very first game was the four battle's in north africa quad...followed by panzer gruppe guderian..but the one that really got me going was TSS an bloddy april as well as all the other great battles of the civil war series, oh yeah an "verdun" a real beer an pretzel's classic I still got something in the neighborhood of 300 hundered games kicking around the value on some of them is really enormous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weasel Posted July 24, 2000 Share Posted July 24, 2000 What, no Steve Jackson Games types here? GEV was the revelation for me (very simplistic game, but it saved me from becoming a chess geek ). The only remotely "grognardly" game I've ever been into was an AH, "Little Round Top", a small isolated portion of Gettysburg. For some reason, it was amazingly balanced and replayable. And it could be played in a few hours. Also spent a fair amount of time with Wooden Ships & Iron Men, but I'm far too much of an age of sail geek to consider that remotely realistic. BTS, wanna do a Napoleonic naval game next? I'd kiss you all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henri Posted July 24, 2000 Share Posted July 24, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by IntelWeenie: Did anyone ever play the game called "Ace of Aces"? It was WWI fighter combat played with 2 booklets. Great for trips or during school! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yes, and I think that I still have it somewhere... Henri Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kverdon Posted July 24, 2000 Share Posted July 24, 2000 Boy this brings back memories. My first were Bismark and Midway. Moved onto Panzer Leader and Arab-Israeli Wars. Since then have played many of them out there, Squad Leader (Basic and Advanced), Gettysburg, Tobruk,Tactics II, Blitzkreig, WS&IM, Panzergrupe Guderian, Rommel in the Desert, Devil's Den,Luftwaffe,Fortress Europa, Up Front, .... Oh there have been too many to remember. Enjoyed them all. CM combines the essense of all the tactical small unit games, better than anything I've ever seen and Tiller's new Campaign series embodies the essense of the opperational games. Simulations have taken the place of the Air Games, Ahhhhh, life is good <G>. Kevin [This message has been edited by kverdon (edited 07-24-2000).] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tailz Posted July 24, 2000 Author Share Posted July 24, 2000 <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by IntelWeenie: Ah, the good ol' OTA (Onboard Tabby Artillery)! And now, to invent the 'cat'apult! Did anyone ever play the game called "Ace of Aces"? It was WWI fighter combat played with 2 booklets. Great for trips or during school! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> HA... I still have the WW2 and the Jet Fighter versions... simple, but fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tailz Posted July 24, 2000 Author Share Posted July 24, 2000 I was willing to admit (living in rural Canada) that live opponents would be few and far between, so I searched out solitaire (or high solitaire value) titles. London's Burning, Patton's Best (A GREAT game!), RAF... actually, AH's Russian Front is also a really good solitaire play. I keep WiF, Longest Day and Battle Over Britain out of stubborness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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