What was your favorite wargame when you were 12? What about today? What does the shift tell you about (a) your tastes and/or (b) the availability of wargames?
I wasn't playing when I was 12; I got my first wargame when I was 15 (Tactics II, my favourite uncle sent me it for Christmas - I don't think my parents ever forgave him!).
I'm not sure what my favourite wargame would be today. I actually don't play much except for testing my own designs. However, I will admit to a lot of nostalgia for those first five or ten games I did play: Blitzkrieg, S&T and Quad games from SPI, and the Metagaming Microgame series. I think if I pulled them out now I'd probably still enjoy them, at least for a while.
My favorites growing up were the old SPI ModQuads, which I still love. Right now, though, I prefer quick and dirty stuff that I can play in a single sitting, given my availability. Games like Tank-on-Tank, Manouevre, and Dawn's Early Light are all games in regular rotation right now.
I think I picked up a copy of AH's Midway when I was 13, but spent more time playing Metagames and TSR RPG titles... Now I am playing vassal games of titles I bought in the late 80's, like B-17, Gunslinger, Patton's Best, etc since I don't hang with a regular gaming group. I think there are some excellent games out now and certainly many more solitaire titles so my current choice of gaming has less to do with nostalgia and quality than it does with the time I have available for board-and-vboard games. Too bad, really...
Halo II and stronghold both are mine favorite games ever. I ever play halo II, even i have bought its new edition just two day's ago. I am junkies for multi player games.
At 12, the second version of Gettysburg by Avalon Hill, which used hexes. (Later found the original game, with area squares, and it was a better strategy game. Probably too hard to grasp for casual gaming.) Today, still like boardgames with face to face opponents. The La Battaille series on the Napoleonic wars. Wagram is long out of print, but a great multi player. Moscowa is also very good.
The exact timing might be off, but my favorite war-game when I was 12(ish) was the computer version of Larry Bond's Harpoon. Nowadays, my favorite war-game is a design for a computer-based strategic war-game that exists only in my mind... implementing it will be one of many projects to keep me busy during retirement.
I wasn't playing when I was 12; I got my first wargame when I was 15 (Tactics II, my favourite uncle sent me it for Christmas - I don't think my parents ever forgave him!).
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what my favourite wargame would be today. I actually don't play much except for testing my own designs. However, I will admit to a lot of nostalgia for those first five or ten games I did play: Blitzkrieg, S&T and Quad games from SPI, and the Metagaming Microgame series. I think if I pulled them out now I'd probably still enjoy them, at least for a while.
When I was 12 it was Richthofen's War and the AH PanzerBlitz series of game. And when my son gets old enough, I'll enjoy playing those all over again.
ReplyDeleteThese days I like things modern with strong elements of PolMil and insurgency. But, sadly, I get few to no opportunities to play.
My favorites growing up were the old SPI ModQuads, which I still love. Right now, though, I prefer quick and dirty stuff that I can play in a single sitting, given my availability. Games like Tank-on-Tank, Manouevre, and Dawn's Early Light are all games in regular rotation right now.
ReplyDeleteI think I picked up a copy of AH's Midway when I was 13, but spent more time playing Metagames and TSR RPG titles...
ReplyDeleteNow I am playing vassal games of titles I bought in the late 80's, like B-17, Gunslinger, Patton's Best, etc since I don't hang with a regular gaming group.
I think there are some excellent games out now and certainly many more solitaire titles so my current choice of gaming has less to do with nostalgia and quality than it does with the time I have available for board-and-vboard games. Too bad, really...
Jack Nastyface
Halo II and stronghold both are mine favorite games ever. I ever play halo II, even i have bought its new edition just two day's ago. I am junkies for multi player games.
ReplyDeleteAt 12, the second version of Gettysburg by Avalon Hill, which used hexes. (Later found the original game, with area squares, and it was a better strategy game. Probably too hard to grasp for casual gaming.)
ReplyDeleteToday, still like boardgames with face to face opponents. The La Battaille series on the Napoleonic wars. Wagram is long out of print, but a great multi player. Moscowa is also very good.
The exact timing might be off, but my favorite war-game when I was 12(ish) was the computer version of Larry Bond's Harpoon. Nowadays, my favorite war-game is a design for a computer-based strategic war-game that exists only in my mind... implementing it will be one of many projects to keep me busy during retirement.
ReplyDelete- Guardian