How did you get into Wargaming? (Full Version)

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Perturabo -> How did you get into Wargaming? (10/25/2011 10:48:01 PM)

When I was a kid, I got Commodore 64. I don't remember when, precisely. I think I was 7 then, judging by how the first computer game magazine that I've read was from 1991.
My first games were on cartridge that I got with the computer. It was some kind of a soccer game, a chess game and some kind of a weird game that was very abstract.

Soon, I wanted more games. The main way to get new games would be to buy cassette compilations of pirated games.
Using a cassette would require loading every game on the cassette at least once to discover the counter position of every game.
This way I got to play tens or even hundreds of games, ranging from shoot-em-ups to wargames.

I was particularly fascinated with simulation games. Sadly, most of them were only one level. Full games were available only on diskettes but I couldn't afford a diskette station.

It was impossible to obtain original versions of most of games. Practically the only games released officially in Poland were games by Zeppelin Games which were usually very poorly balanced.

Some of my favourites were: Gunship, Up Periscope!, Silent Service, Strike Fleet, Legions of Death, Laser Squad, Druid II, Army Moves, Desert Fox, Midnight Resistance (I had an original version and I finished it), Bismarck (I had an original version and I finished it), The Spy Who Loves Me (I had an original version and I finished it), Commando, Great Escape, Into the Eagle's Nest, etc.

When my mother got a PC, one guy from class borrowed me a case of diskettes and a several original CDs.
On the diskettes I have discovered Transport Tycoon Deluxe, X-Com2 (I loved both and bought them later in a "classic edition"). I also played Warcraft II a lot.

Later I would be playing a lot of demos from demo CDs. I remember enjoying playing demos of simulations and wargames. I was especially impressed by Close Combat 3 but I could never afford it as it was very expensive - two times more expensive than other new games. I played all kinds of games but bought mostly simulation and strategy games and shooters. I was in privilleged position as I could afford buying original games (mostly when they were in prices of current GotY edition games, though).
I loved playing X-Com, Firefight (the shooter), Transport Tycoon Deluxe, Syndicate+, Crusader no Regret, Strike Commander, Wings of Glory and similar games.
Later I got into cRPGs. I loved Ultima VII, Fallout 1 and 2 (bought both of them when they were still full priced), got really disappointed with Baldur's Gate.
At some point I finally had an opportunity to play Close Combat as I got Close Combat 4 from a game magazine. I remembered loving the gameplay but not being really satisfied with the setting.
Then I got Close Combat 5 as it was released in a cheap edition.
I remember trying to make a mod for Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun that would make it more realistic. It was an exercise in futility.

Around 2006 I got into Close Combat modding and learned about existence of Matrix Games when the Cross of Iron was released.



Titanwarrior89 -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/25/2011 11:26:20 PM)

Walked into a gaming store in Killeen,Tx to buy a book and what do I see-racks of historical wargames.  My first was squad leader.[:)]1978



Yogi the Great -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/25/2011 11:35:34 PM)

When I was 11 years old, my 16 year old brother bought Avalon Hill's Gettysburg (The original square boxes not hexes). He was so desperate to find someone to play it with he asked me. I won the game and was hooked for life. For quite a few years after that I purchased most every board game release from AH and a few other companies.

My first real computer wargame I can remember was also Gettysburg, an early primitive version for the Apple IIc






planner 3 -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/25/2011 11:36:33 PM)

My oldest girl child had a disc with an old version of Silent hunter, so while her and thw Misses were jawing I fooled around with her comp and game, it led me to SSI and more games after I purchased my Win 95 machine etc.



Perturabo -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/25/2011 11:43:30 PM)

Oh, in primary school I was into plastic models and into boardgames - there was a period when there were some affordable simple fantasy/sci-fi wargames.

I had these:
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3464/melee

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1783/the-creature-that-ate-sheboygan

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3466/warpwar

I also was fascinated with Battletech but never got to play it.



parusski -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 12:23:17 AM)

I was in high-school, 1982 and 16 years old. I got into wargaming when Fulda Gap arrived one day and I skipped school the next morning to play it. The affair with wargaming has lasted longer than my marriage. I was married two years after I started playing wargames.



Hanal -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 12:31:03 AM)

Fell in love with the cover art for PanzerBlitz back in the day when they had brick & mortar hobby stores and never looked back.....



Phatguy -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 1:51:22 AM)

Old age has dimmed the memory a bit......First game I ever got was a copy of the S&T magazine with South Africa in it from my history teacher in high school...Second game he ever gave me was a copy of AH's France 40...... I do remember receiving a game for Christmas(would be around 70 or 71) in school from the nuns.All I can remember of it was it had a map of Poland and many heraldric shields..I was a bit too young to figure it out



Aurelian -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 2:21:29 AM)

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.



jwarrenw13 -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 2:24:03 AM)

As a kid I played with little toy soldiers.  Eventually I bought some little bags full of plastic toy soldiers about one inch high, mostly Civil War, but some others.  I loved reading about military history and started recreating battles using the toy soldiers.  I had about 200 of them.  Toy soldiers and dominoes to make hills and forts and the such.  I flicked a button to simulate gunfire, and would alternate moves and flicking the button.  I was actually playing a very crude miniatures game but didn't realize it.  Then one day in a local toy store I saw a couple of Avalon Hill games and bought Kriggspiel.  I was hooked.



Hanal -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 3:24:28 AM)


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.

[image]local://upfiles/10580/C6ECE90F87BE44A2A384E4B259566B7B.jpg[/image]



cantona2 -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 7:29:31 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: Perturabo

When I was a kid, I got Commodore 64. I don't remember when, precisely. I think I was 7 then, judging by how the first computer game magazine that I've read was from 1991.
My first games were on cartridge that I got with the computer. It was some kind of a soccer game, a chess game and some kind of a weird game that was very abstract.

Soon, I wanted more games. The main way to get new games would be to buy cassette compilations of pirated games.
Using a cassette would require loading every game on the cassette at least once to discover the counter position of every game.
This way I got to play tens or even hundreds of games, ranging from shoot-em-ups to wargames.

I was particularly fascinated with simulation games. Sadly, most of them were only one level. Full games were available only on diskettes but I couldn't afford a diskette station.

It was impossible to obtain original versions of most of games. Practically the only games released officially in Poland were games by Zeppelin Games which were usually very poorly balanced.

Some of my favourites were: Gunship, Up Periscope!, Silent Service, Strike Fleet, Legions of Death, Laser Squad, Druid II, Army Moves, Desert Fox, Midnight Resistance (I had an original version and I finished it), Bismarck (I had an original version and I finished it), The Spy Who Loves Me (I had an original version and I finished it), Commando, Great Escape, Into the Eagle's Nest, etc.

When my mother got a PC, one guy from class borrowed me a case of diskettes and a several original CDs.
On the diskettes I have discovered Transport Tycoon Deluxe, X-Com2 (I loved both and bought them later in a "classic edition"). I also played Warcraft II a lot.

Later I would be playing a lot of demos from demo CDs. I remember enjoying playing demos of simulations and wargames. I was especially impressed by Close Combat 3 but I could never afford it as it was very expensive - two times more expensive than other new games. I played all kinds of games but bought mostly simulation and strategy games and shooters. I was in privilleged position as I could afford buying original games (mostly when they were in prices of current GotY edition games, though).
I loved playing X-Com, Firefight (the shooter), Transport Tycoon Deluxe, Syndicate+, Crusader no Regret, Strike Commander, Wings of Glory and similar games.
Later I got into cRPGs. I loved Ultima VII, Fallout 1 and 2 (bought both of them when they were still full priced), got really disappointed with Baldur's Gate.
At some point I finally had an opportunity to play Close Combat as I got Close Combat 4 from a game magazine. I remembered loving the gameplay but not being really satisfied with the setting.
Then I got Close Combat 5 as it was released in a cheap edition.
I remember trying to make a mod for Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun that would make it more realistic. It was an exercise in futility.

Around 2006 I got into Close Combat modding and learned about existence of Matrix Games when the Cross of Iron was released.



Pretty much the same route, loved the C64. But add Pirates! and remove all the RTS. How could you have been disppointed with BG?!?!?!?! It was classic Dnd an, IMO, the best representation of pen and paper on the PC at that time.



Perturabo -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 8:13:05 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: cantona2

How could you have been disppointed with BG?!?!?!?! It was classic Dnd an, IMO, the best representation of pen and paper on the PC at that time.

I played it after playing Fallout 1 and 2, Ultima VII and ADOM. After seeing the directions that cRPGs already went into (heavily stat-based dialogue, non-linearity, multiple quest solutions, multiple skills, perks and stuff like that in Fallout and free exploration, interactivity, spells with reagents and the living world of Ultima, general game mechanics of ADOM) my general reaction to BG was - "1987 called, it wants its game back". Especially that it didn't have the creative problem solving that PnP D&D is famous for.



martok -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 9:54:54 AM)

When I was 15-16, I started playing Battletech with some of my friends in high school. A year or two later, I got into Risk as well. While neither probably constitutes an actual "wargame", they did at least introduce me to that world.

Then about 10 years ago (when I was 24-25), I got to be friends with a gaming group who -- in addition to being avid D&D players -- were also into board games a lot, including both Twilight Imperium and Axis & Allies. I discovered that while those games take forever to set up, they sure are a lot of fun!




Anguille -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 10:15:36 AM)

I started with Risk. It got me hooked and i loved to play it.

As soon as i got a computer, i played the following Wargames: Task Force 1942, Field of Glory (Napoleon's last battles) and Civil War: Robert E. Lee.




sterckxe -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 12:26:15 PM)

Changed schools when I was 15 - one of my new classmates was my longtime buddy Phil who introduced me and a couple of others to this new "wargame" thing.

I can't remember which one was first - could have been Tactics II, could have been Starfall, could even have been one of Phil's designs. Third Reich was the one which really captured me.

I became a software engineer so was around when computer wargaming took off - played all the classics from SSG and 360 Pacific, even 3rd Reich the computer game from AH :)

I'm still around, but mostly playing tabletop miniature wargames and boardgames now as those are the areas where all the exciting stuff is happening these days.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx



bairdlander2 -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 1:15:59 PM)


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.)

Was it "Signal"?



wodin -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 2:15:23 PM)

Plastic soldiers and a marble...about 1977\78.



ird -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 2:52:39 PM)


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.

[image]local://upfiles/10580/C6ECE90F87BE44A2A384E4B259566B7B.jpg[/image]



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.



Hanal -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 3:20:23 PM)


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.

[image]local://upfiles/10580/C6ECE90F87BE44A2A384E4B259566B7B.jpg[/image]



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.



Phatguy -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 3:28:55 PM)

Forgot about risk...Played that a lot in77-79...Not sure if I would classify that as a wargame...At least to me



philturco -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 4:19:45 PM)

I vaguely remember playing a civil war game with card board pieces that had scotch tape over them to keep their shape. There was infantry,calvary and gunships on the rivers. I don't remember where the game came from but how I loved playing it with my brother or all by myselg. The next game I remember was AH's D-Day.We used to throw a dice and whoever gat the highest number won the battle...only later did we figure out odds and using a combat results table. And now I still play..several hrs per week on TOAW and Grigsby's east front game. PBEM games are my favorite way to play.



HansBolter -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 5:00:52 PM)

In my junior year of high school (1973) I met a guy who turned me on to wargaming and ended up my best friend for life.

My fist game was Kriegspiel (sp?). I graduated from there to Panzer Blitz, Afrika Korps and all the other great games in the Avalon Hill line.

The Rise and Decline of the Third Reich was our bread and butter go-to game for almost 20 years.

I managed to get my name printed in the design credits of Advanced Third Reich as a playtester. [8D]



andym -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 5:42:32 PM)

It all started for me at Boarding School,on a saturday after lunch in one of the class rooms the Wargame club took place.It took a while to get the courage to go in.I was intrigued with the sound of rattling dice and arguments over Cataphratcs attacking Peltast etc,which mean nothing to me,once i went in and becam hooked,i started on WW1 Naval then moved to Wild West RPG.This was back in 1973.



ird -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/26/2011 11:07:05 PM)


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.

[image]local://upfiles/10580/C6ECE90F87BE44A2A384E4B259566B7B.jpg[/image]



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?



Hanal -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/27/2011 12:04:43 AM)

Good for you! Yes I am not kidding about the font but if you have very good eyesight, you'll have no problem. Still worth it even with the font issue so enjoy [:)]



Prince of Eckmühl -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/27/2011 2:16:47 AM)

I was visiting a relative one day, bored-stiff, and pulled a book off of a shelf. It was titled  A Soldier's Story, and the author was Omar Bradley. I read the book from cover to cover over the coming days. But, I had trouble, at times, deciphering the maps. I was only eleven, and had no idea what the symbols really meant. Perhaps a month later, I came across a copy of Afrika Korps at a local hobby shop where I was shopping for plastic models to build. The box was adorned with symbols similar to those that I had struggled with in reading Bradley's account of WW2. The rest, as they say, is history.



ilovestrategy -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/27/2011 4:39:40 AM)

Circa 1983, I was at a hobby shop in a mall and saw this big cardboard box with an image of a Constitution Class Cruiser being fired on by a Romulan Warbird, an above the ships were the words "StarFleet Battles". Being a total Star Trek freak, I saved up and bought it. I had no idea at the time that this one act would lead to countless add on manuals, and 3 full rulebooks with smaller manuals to boot, and to this day I still remember all the rules and types of ships from each race.

Good God, what a nail biting game! [&o]



Duck Doc -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/27/2011 6:07:57 PM)

Walking through an ER in Portland, Oregon in 1971 (iirc) & saw some workers playing Avalon Hill Savo Island (iirc the name of the game - it was an AH naval WW2 game). Was smitten right there. Couldn't believe anybody was making anything so cool. Soon thereafter went into a store in Baltimore & bought Stalingrad & I was off. Ancient history.



Perturabo -> RE: How did you get into Wargaming? (10/27/2011 6:26:35 PM)

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



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