RE: How did you get into Wargaming?

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RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 10/27/2011 6:58:21 PM

british exil

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In the 70's my dad was posted as a british soldier to Germany, I read all the comics I could lay my hands on. (Victor, Warlord etc) I my box of plastic soldiers, every Christmas I got a new box. Managed to lose so many to war campaigns in the garden.

I stopped playing with them as I got older, my dad, after serving his 25 years left the Army. I didn't get a pc until until the Amiga 500 played a few games, bought a Conflict Korea game from SSI. Played it every night. Found a Waterloo game (not sure of the correct title, but would love to play it again) where I could give orders to my troops, couldn't save any of the game, so I had to play it the whole day and night till I was through.
Silent Service II and B17. Plus a few more.

Then a few years passed by with no game playing, stumbled along John Tillers Western Front, after that I was hooked.
Uncommon Valour followed. John Tillers full pack, Western, Eastern and Pacific fronts. Advanced tactics, now AT Gold. WitE.

Thanks to Amazon I can buy the Millitary Books in english over here in Germany. Not easy to find book shops that sell good WWII books. Germany has a "problem" with that period. In fact the Swastika is not allowed on games. Only in history books.

Mat

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Post #: 31

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 10/27/2011 9:15:14 PM

redcoat

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From: UK
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I started wargaming as a kid in 1975 when some of my friends started a Wargames Club at our school. At first we played Napoleonic and WW2 games with Airfix plastic soldiers and models. Soon we were playing with metal miniatures. After a couple of years we were playing Avalon Hill and SPI boardgames.

I stopped wargaming when I left home at 19. Before I left home I cleared out my room and threw away most of my wargaming stuff � including several SPI games. Looking back I realise that was a tragedy.

I started wargaming again when I bought my first home computer in 2000. I had no idea that there were wargames for computers until that time. I have been an avid Born Again Wargamer ever since.

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Post #: 32

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 10/31/2011 3:31:49 AM

Gilmer

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When I was a kid, I got hooked on Conan books that we bought at the used bookstore. From there, I started buying magazine es and finally read about a play by regular mail game for Conan folks where you paid $15 a turn! I could not afford it, but it opened my eyes to what was out there. I bought the board-game FLATTOP! from Avalon Hill and no one would play it with me. So, I fooled around with it for several years on my own.

From there, I started getting interested in computers and I started getting computer gaming magazines, even though we could not actually afford a computer. I read a review about a game about Midway and how the guy kept losing and then he finally snuck the carriers in from behind and won a huge victory.

I ended up getting a nintendo, because I could afford it on my part time salary once I finally could start working. I got Nobunaga's ambition and played it over and over and over.

Once I got a computer, Silent Service 2 was a must get. But, then I bought what I thought was the ultimate game. "West Front" with a watercolor cover of Eisenhower. I played that over and over and over.

< Message edited by H Gilmer -- 10/31/2011 3:33:34 AM >

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Post #: 33

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 10/31/2011 3:57:55 AM

Jeffrey H.

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From: San Diego, Ca.
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Toy store back in 1974. I was already into plastic models and such. I saw the Panzer Leader box there, I think it was a Toys-R-Us, and I just knew it had to be cool. I finally got enough cash together and bought it. My best friend and I tried like hell to learn the game and had some fun and learned a heck of a lot. We were 12 years old or so. Been buying them ever since. When I was 19 I left home and later went to college and basically sold off everything I had for food/cig/gas money.

Played a lot of comp games on my friends Apple ][+ then after many years I finally got my own rig in 1993. I went out that same day and bought a copy of Empire Deluxe. Back in the saddle again. Got heavily into MMPOG, (AirWarrior) and the FPS type games, then got tired of them. Went into strategy games once again and essentially now am back into boardgaming.

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Post #: 34

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 10/31/2011 12:18:39 PM

Hanal

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Joined: 11/1/2003
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Well it's road trip time!

After reading some more of these posts I started to recall that when I was a "wee s**t of a lad" how I would go to game companies home offices to buy their games. I used to go to Millersville PA so I could pick up the new MLB season card set for APBA baseball. I used to travel to a hobby store in Brooklyn NY which had every model you could imagine, and I would go to Manhattan to SPI's offices to buy their games. Finally I would make a weekly sojourn to The Complete Strategist Store which was located in Montclair NJ and Mid-Manahattan. The Montclair store closed many years ago, but I see that the NY store is still thriving!

I must take another trip back there!

http://www.thecompleatstrategist.com/about-us.aspx

< Message edited by J P Falcon -- 10/31/2011 3:11:33 PM >

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Post #: 35

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/1/2011 5:31:37 AM

a7v

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From: Germany
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I started wargaming in the early seventies with a huge collection of Airfix soldiers, tanks and planes. I still have about 1500 soldiers and a couple of tanks but most of the planes and ships have been burned and shot when I started to be more interested in girls than in toy soldiers.

Only later I recognized that this was a kind of wargaming on its own

.

The first computer wargames I played in the eighties on my C 64. There was one company and one guy who got me hooked, SSI and Gary Grigsby. I spent hundreds of hours with Kampfgruppe, Battles of Napoleon (by David Landrey and Chuck Kroegel), Eastern Front, Wir, Pacwar and later the Steel Panther series. It was a sad day when SSI left the business

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Post #: 36

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/1/2011 9:46:52 PM

rhondabrwn

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My big brother (now a retired Professor of History at UT) was a civil war buff and dragged me and the family along on family vacations to every civil war battlefield east of the Mississippi. Later on an 8th grade field trip to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry in 1961 I saw a few copies of AH Gettysburg in the Gift Shop. Some male classmates saw my interest and it turned out they were playing the AH games and told me where I could get them cheap back in Kokomo (at a Haag's Drug Store no less!).

Returned home, went to that drug store and eventually bought the entire initial Avalon Hill line for $2.79 each (I've never understood how all those games ended up in a drug store toy section!). First game purchased was Gettysburg (hex) version. The second was D-Day... and I think Chancellorsville was the 3rd. Later I bought Tactics II, U-Boat, Air Empire, Le Mans, and Dispatcher. Then I had to move to a regular bookstore and pay $4.95 for later titles like Afrika Korps, Waterloo, Bismarck, Midway, Stalingrad and Battle of the Bulge. This was done on a 50 cent a week allowance supplemented by some extra money from doing yard-work for neighbors (for $1 a day, usually). I'm sitting here looking at all those games still on my shelf after all these years.

My first SPI game was "Year of the Rat" after I ordered my first S&T magazine/game combo with a clipped advertisement from a Military History magazine. That was in 1972, I think, after I completed my interesting tour of duty in US Army military intelligence. Tried to use my military history and wargaming experience to get into the CIA or DIA, but had no luck with that so settled on the Insurance Industry instead (BORING!). Wonder how my life would have gone if I had made it into the CIA though.

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Post #: 37

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/1/2011 11:07:03 PM

Perturabo

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Were wargames cheaper than now back then?

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Post #: 38

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/2/2011 12:41:10 AM

Hanal

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Perturabo

Were wargames cheaper than now back then?

Not really, when you consider that most of us "back then" did not have nearly the same income as now. So comparatively speaking, it was still a pricey hobby.

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Post #: 39

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/2/2011 12:48:06 AM

Perturabo

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So, they were basically something like Warhammer and similar miniature wargames are now?

Too bad they stopped making Warhammer 40k computer wargames and moved to RTS and TPP action games. I think that a realistic Wh40k wargames (at least something like Shadow of the Horned Rat and Dark Omen were for WHFB) would be a nice way to get some new blood into our hobby.

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RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/2/2011 12:53:08 AM

Hanal

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Well if my memory is not failing me, I think games like PanzerBlitz and PanzerLeader were in the $30-$35 range back in the '70's. Some of SPI's monster games like Wacht am Rhein, War in the East, and War in the West went for $85-$100. Third Reich was around $35. Some of the AH flat box titles were around $25-$30. Anyone is free to correct me of course but those are the numbers that come to mind.

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Post #: 41

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/2/2011 1:17:57 AM

Perturabo

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According to one net calculator 30$ from 1971 is 161$ today O_o .

What kind of games people would mostly start? I mean the complication level.

< Message edited by Perturabo -- 11/2/2011 1:18:35 AM >

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RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/2/2011 1:31:37 AM

htuna

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From: Boston, MA
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1981 worked third shift in the computer room.. Discovered this game called Empire on our Vax 11/780.. became totally addicted.. used to stay like 4 extra hours on Saturday mornings playing Empire... Then a few years later Empire Deluxe came out on the PC and I thought that was pretty cool.. Perfect General 2.. and then Steel Panthers came out!

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Post #: 43

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/2/2011 1:36:55 AM

Hanal

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I can only speak for myself of course but I started with mostly Avalon Hill titles at first...Kriegspiel was my first game which was a good introduction to be followed by the usual suspects PB and PL along with most of the flatbox titles such as Gettysburg, Africa Korps, Stalingrad...then one graduates to more indepth games such as Tobruk, Lufftwaffe, Third Reich and for the truley complex and expensive, the Squad Leader series of games. Once you venture into other companies like SPI and GDW then all bets were off with regard to size and complexity.

You know, there was a game during the 80's which had a familiar situation to many of the releases that are delayed here at Matrix and other pc gaming sites. It was to be the companion to Third Reich for the Pacific theater called Empire of the Rising Sun. The delays for this release were endless and since we had no internet then, the only news we could get about the game was from The General or the occasional gaming convention. Since there were some actual hobby shops which had huge gaming tables to play boardgames one, we would gather there for news about the latest releases. There was a sence of community among gamers which is lost today.

Sorry to bore you with this stuff but some of these recent threads have awakened long forgotten memories.....

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Post #: 44

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/3/2011 10:42:22 PM

gsmart04

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I started way back in Junior High School as they used to call Middle School back then. Was introduced to Avalon Hill wargaming by a friend. First game was 'Bismarck', second was 'Chancellorsville', but it was A/H's 'Stalingrad' that really hooked me. Eventually wound up playtesting 'Battle of the Bulge' for A/H (they were a local company) and started a club in High School on Military Science. Played and owned just about all the A/H wargames. Got involved with PC based wargames as soon as they came out.

Been out of the hobby for a few years then discovered Marix website and went bananas again. Right now I'm just waiting to get Windows installed on my Mac then I've got many games here to order that interest me.

Impressed with the forums here too!

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RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/5/2011 12:18:44 AM

Falkon1313

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quote:

ORIGINAL: J P Falcon
You know, there was a game during the 80's which had a familiar situation to many of the releases that are delayed here at Matrix and other pc gaming sites. It was to be the companion to Third Reich for the Pacific theater called Empire of the Rising Sun. The delays for this release were endless and since we had no internet then, the only news we could get about the game was from The General or the occasional gaming convention.

I looked for Rising Sun for years. Finally found a used copy, unpunched and perfect condition, sometime around 2002. I was elated. It was like bringing home a treasure chest and finally being able to end a quest that I had long since given up on. I still haven't played it though. I think I've grown too lazy over the years to manually implement 170+ pages of rules. 20 years ago, I thought it was great, having so much detail and depth, so many possibilities and things to consider.

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Post #: 46

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/8/2011 12:51:39 AM

Obsolete

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When I was a university student, a friend of mine had many games, including this one:

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RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/8/2011 12:57:46 AM

Hanal

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ird

quote:

ORIGINAL: J P Falcon

quote:

ORIGINAL: ird

quote:

ORIGINAL: J P Falcon

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurelian

While in school, a nun gave me the job of putting all these WW2 magazines in binders. Memory fails me for the name of that series. (it's been that long.)

Remember making ships with those old style Risk blocks, then using pegs from Battleship to bomb them.

Was it this magazine which was published in 1974? I collected all 96 issues, but unfortunately I only have a handful remaining.

aaahh man - I used to have some of these in the seventies - they were great. Unfortunately I no longer have them. I'd totally forgotten about them until I just saw your post. I remember a Battle of the Atlantic issue and possibly one to do with the Battle of Britain.

The biggest problem with the mag was the font size. It was no larger than the directions on an aspirin bottle label. To try reading one now, I would need a magnifying glass.

I hope the font isn't too bad - I decided to have a look on eBay and have managed to pick up the full set with binders for �12!!!!! Is that a bargain or what?

Font be damned...I went on Ebay too and bought a complete set and 8 binders to boot! I will just need to read them with the mag up to my nose!

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Post #: 48

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/8/2011 2:21:06 AM

Mobius

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It started with Risk, Stratego and Conflict. But then saw AH Tactics II at the store one day.

< Message edited by Mobius -- 11/8/2011 2:53:49 AM >

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Post #: 49

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/8/2011 2:46:07 PM

shunwick

Posts: 2426
Joined: 10/15/2006
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Well,

I was extremely bored one day and started to put together my master plan for world domination complete with souless minions and legions of terror. Then I realised that I could not afford the snazzy uniforms and secret hideaway in the Carpathians...

So I got into wargamming instead...

It's not the same but at least I don't have MI5 trying to increment me...

Not any more anyway...

Best wishes,
Steve

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Post #: 50

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/8/2011 8:56:44 PM

rhondabrwn

Posts: 2570
Joined: 9/29/2004
From: Snowflake, Arizona
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: J P Falcon

quote:

ORIGINAL: ird

quote:

ORIGINAL: J P Falcon

quote:

ORIGINAL: ird

quote:

ORIGINAL: J P Falcon

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aurelian

While in school, a nun gave me the job of putting all these WW2 magazines in binders. Memory fails me for the name of that series. (it's been that long.)

Remember making ships with those old style Risk blocks, then using pegs from Battleship to bomb them.

Was it this magazine which was published in 1974? I collected all 96 issues, but unfortunately I only have a handful remaining.

aaahh man - I used to have some of these in the seventies - they were great. Unfortunately I no longer have them. I'd totally forgotten about them until I just saw your post. I remember a Battle of the Atlantic issue and possibly one to do with the Battle of Britain.

The biggest problem with the mag was the font size. It was no larger than the directions on an aspirin bottle label. To try reading one now, I would need a magnifying glass.

I hope the font isn't too bad - I decided to have a look on eBay and have managed to pick up the full set with binders for �12!!!!! Is that a bargain or what?

Font be damned...I went on Ebay too and bought a complete set and 8 binders to boot! I will just need to read them with the mag up to my nose!

I always regretted not buying the binders... I have the entire set of the magazines though and in near mint condition. If I may ask, how much did you have to pay for the set?

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Love & Peace,

Far Dareis Mai

My old Piczo site seems to be gone, so no more Navajo Nation pics :(

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Post #: 51

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/8/2011 9:14:22 PM

Hanal

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I bought the complete set (without binders) for $80 and are in very good condition with the exception of a handful. I then found 8 binders in very good condition on Ebay with another 50 mags for $40. I'll try selling the duplicates on Ebay for a nominal amount.

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Post #: 52

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/9/2011 1:30:27 AM

Goragg

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I was 14 so about '78.

I bought a copy of AH Blitzkreig at a garage sale. Loved in so ran back and got Third Reich as well.

I then ordered just about everything from Avalon Hill. I still have the compete Advance Squad Leader set downstairs. It would take me a year to sort the counters :)

My frst PC wargame was Carriers At War on an Apple IIc

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Post #: 53

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/10/2011 8:31:28 PM

TonyE

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From: MN, USA
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My 3rd person look at my entry into wargaming...
http://www.harpoonpages.com/Bios/bio098.htm

After that timeline cuts off the hooks went deeper as I became a programmer of Harpoon (Classic) and these days am the sole programmer of said game. Just as, or more important is the database maintainer CV32 lest one think programmer is some all important role.

Harpoon is very very dangerous, for months on end it holds little appeal and then suddenly you realize you forgot to sleep and the sun is coming up

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RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/10/2011 11:34:31 PM

rickier65

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If I recall, my wife and I were browsing in a Krochs and Brentanos bookstore in one of the Chicago suburbs when we saw an curiously packaged game named The Conquerors, by SPI. The game actually contained two games: The Romans and the Macedonians. I'm not sure I recall how we came to the decsion to buy it, but we did, and enjoyed both the game as well as the history section in the Rules book.

We purchased others that caught our eye, mainly SPI or AH, but some by GDW as well. We subscribed to S&T and even had a "lifetime" subscription to the mag (which I beleive, didn't last more than a year after that investment).

rick

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Post #: 55

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/11/2011 2:39:48 PM

Peter Fisla

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I started in the early 80's playing East Front game on Atari 800XL, it went down hill from here :) I bought my first board game Europa: Fire in the East in 1995. I got into ASL in 2005 and I have been playing it non-stop ever since.

< Message edited by Peter Fisla -- 11/11/2011 2:42:18 PM >

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Post #: 56

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/11/2011 3:15:42 PM

carnifex

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I was 11 years and visiting my mother in Chicago for the summer. She was tired of me hanging around her restaurant and getting in the way so she gave me twenty dollars (a fortune in 1978 money), and told me to go away for the day and give her some peace.

I went across the street to the Sears department store, and spent some time playing the ATARI2600 sears clone they had on display then wandered over to the boardgame section in the toys department. I looked and looked and all of a sudden there it was: Avalon Hill's Third Reich. I saw the cover and I knew I had to have it. It was so much cooler than any board game I've ever seen before!

I took it back to the restaurant, commandeered an empty booth in the back, set up the boards and punched out the counters. It took me the whole summer to understand the rules, and I was mostly playing solitaire except when my cousin visited once in a while.

After I got back to New York I learned more about Avalon Hill and got their catalog. Soon I had Squad Leader in my hands and I was good to go for another six months.

A couple of years later the Commodore 64 came out and fortunately SSI got on the ball and I had a nice library of wargames to play with. Knights of the Desert was my first computer wargame, then I got Imperium Galactum, which was my first 4x space game.

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Post #: 57

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/11/2011 7:17:11 PM

rickier65

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quote:

ORIGINAL: carnifex

........A couple of years later the Commodore 64 came out and fortunately SSI got on the ball and I had a nice library of wargames to play with. Knights of the Desert was my first computer wargame, then I got Imperium Galactum, which was my first 4x space game.

Hey carnifex, Knights of the Desert for the Commodore 64 was my first computer wargame as well, followed by SSGs first Battlefront game.

Rick

(in reply to carnifex)

Post #: 58

RE: How did you get into Wargaming? - 11/11/2011 8:41:19 PM

USSAmerica

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Perturabo

So, most of people here got into wargaming in 70s and started out by playing board wargames? Were board wargames more popular back then?

Dude, um, it was the 70's. There were no computer wargames yet, except some mainframe versions of Empire.

I think board wargames were as popular back then as "hard core" computer wargames are now. There are way more people playing borderline wargames on computers now, like Warcraft, etc, than played wargames in the 70's.

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