What was your first wargame?

Gary Grigsby's strategic level wargame covering the entire War in the Pacific from 1941 to 1945 or beyond.

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Chris21wen
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What was your first wargame?

Post by Chris21wen »

Mine was from SPI's S&T #29 dated Nov 1971. USN and I've been hooked ever since, especially with the war in the pacific. The designer was Jim Dunnigan and I still have it. Wild horses wouldn't make me part with.

([:D]However for a considerable number of pennies I might consider it)
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Mundy
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by Mundy »

For me, it was Avalon Hill's "Midway", in the 8th grade, back in 1983.

How times have changed...
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Feinder
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by Feinder »

Avalon Hill's "Panzer Leader". Then many, many more followed.

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Oliver Heindorf
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by Oliver Heindorf »

dont remember the name but it was a stragtegy / wargame in the late 80's, covering the Rommel campaign in Africa for the C64 with inf tank and air units, even convoy supply was included and suppl depots. wont forget the endless hours playing the siege of tobruk [8|]
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Twotribes
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by Twotribes »

Mine was ( not counting risk) Africa Korps by Avalon Hill. I had found the board at some place with no units and no rules and was intrigued, I searched around for it and found it one day in a store and got my mom to buy it, or maybe I used my paper route money cant remember. that was in 1970 or 71.

I own over 50 board games, havent looked at one in years though.
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aspqrz02
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by aspqrz02 »

I actually saw an Ad for S&T magazine in an old Analog -- well, it was *new* at the time [;)] in 1971 or 1972 and sent away for it, but they stuffed up the order and it took the best part of a year to arrive, and then only after "encouragement" from the USPS Postal Fraud people (no, it wasn't fraud, just incompetence [:-]

Anyway, in the meantime I came across Avalon Hill's "Panzerblitz" ... and that's how I know that the horse drawn cart is the most valuable unit in some scenarios.

If you're old enough, you may even know why [:D]

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mogami
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by mogami »

ORIGINAL: Oliver Heindorf

dont remember the name but it was a stragtegy / wargame in the late 80's, covering the Rommel campaign in Africa for the C64 with inf tank and air units, even convoy supply was included and suppl depots. wont forget the endless hours playing the siege of tobruk [8|]

Hi, "Knights of the Desert"? (one of my first computer games. It was SSI game)
First wargame other then minatures was SPI's "War in Europe" ("War in the East" and "War in the West" combined)
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dr. smith
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by dr. smith »

Avalon Hill's generic "Kriegspiel", then discovered SPI, and the crack habit was semi-satisfied by many many dozens of games, now WitP.

Hey, Mogami a moderator now!!

WOW, you started with WIE??? What, did ya set it up in a cornfield? War in the East took half my room.
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jhdeerslayer
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by jhdeerslayer »

Battle of the Bulge - AH Back in maybe 1970. I cost me $5 and I still have the game and the receipt... I use to play it PBM using Stock Trading reports. Remember THAT system? Yuck.
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Caranorn
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by Caranorn »

For me it was Panzer Blitz/Panzer Leader. But I learned those from my big brother (at age 8 or 9).

The first game I learned to play myself was Longest Day or Flat Top (both in relatively short succession when I was 13 or so).

The first wargame I bought myself (my brother already had a huge collection when I started to play) was Victory in the Pacific (maybe a year later when I visited the Battle of the Buldge museum in Bastogne (seems like an odd place to buy a Pacific war game;-)).

All Avalon Hill products (though there were also VG, SPI, GDW and other publishers in my brotehr's collection).

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Chris21wen
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by Chris21wen »

Just scratching my head trying to remember what my first computer game was. Can't all I can remember is it was for an Apple 2e, probable an SSI game around about 1981.
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RevRick
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by RevRick »

Avalon Hill's first D-Day game. And it seems to me, from the dim memories of that time (too long ago) that it was in the early 60's, when I was about 12-13 or something like that. But that was when I also got hooked on Science Fiction, and I didn't really get into gaming until after the USN. First game then was France '40.
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timtom
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by timtom »

Avalon Hill's "Afrika Korps", round about 1987

SSI's (?) "Second Front", 1991 (practically dropped out of school for that one)
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pompack
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by pompack »

Avalon Hill's Tactics II in 1961 (or was it 1960?) Wore the print off the counters (that was before I learned the trick of coating the counters with clear nail polish before punching them out)
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Feinder
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by Feinder »

So how many of us still have them...

My brother (Knavey) and I had quite the collection when we were teenagers. Those d_mned things would spread all over the floor. But I swear our Mom's cat killed more Tigers than Patton.

Gawd, I can't even begin to name all of them that we -used- to own (many lost over time, and countless moves). But we've gone thru a phase where we've been hunting these old games on Ebay. Managed to buy a few of them (altho it's not like we live under the same roof anymore, so we can't really play them).

I've got -
Squad Leader
AirForce
Dauntless
AF & D Expansion Kit
Dauntless (some other edition, same rules, just looks different).
Pacific War, the Struggle Against Japan
Civil War
Star Fleet Battles (and countless numbers of expansion books)

He's got -
Flat Top
Longest Day (gawd that's huge)
Panzer Blitz
Europa - Their Finest Hour (remember Europa?! *salivates*)
I'm not sure if he managed the set, he was bidding a collection of them (France, Norway, North Africa, and Balkans) a while ago, don't know if he got them.

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strawbuk
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by strawbuk »

Surely you all wrote you own games to start with? As soon as you relased something called 'wargames' existed, to get some use out if those airfix figures you were given as kids?

Age 11 I had my own rules (written on inside of back of a cornflakes packet) for japanese vs aussies (actually 8th army figures but hey I was young). Possibly reflected more movies than good history but sure I had digested some Burma hsitory books bythen because my great uncle was a Chindit.

Looking back I'm sure they are still more playable and more fun than stuff I've paid £30 for.
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Chris21wen
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by Chris21wen »

[8D]What! where going that far back, toy soldiers etc.
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captskillet
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by captskillet »

Another AH Panzer Leader first timer. I have been hooked ever since.
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captskillet
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by captskillet »

How many of you guys had the Longest Day (still got it but I think its short some counters) and how many ever set up and played the whole shooting match????

PS....great game by the way..

Got a bunch of the old SSI Civil War series...Bloody April (Shiloh) and Terrible Swift Sword....one of my greatest war game wins ever was taking and holding the Round Tops against the Yankee hordes [:D] !!!!!
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DrewMatrix
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RE: What was your first wargame?

Post by DrewMatrix »

First board game: Tactics II (Avalon Hill)
First Wargame: Charles Grant's Miniatures rules (for 7 years war) about 1965 or 68 or something. (Charles Grant preceded even Wargames Research Group Ancients Rules by several years).

I am surprised, given the average age of the crowd here, no one has yet said

"Little Wars" by HG Wells (about 1900 [:)])
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