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WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 9:43:28 AM

MrsWargamer

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Ok so this is not about what was your first war game. Mention it if you must. But why did you even get that first war game?

It's all my dad's fault in my case. He was a toy salesman from Japan. Yeah how he met mom is a long odd story. Mom was a baker of Scottish decent.

I grew up with a lot of odd toys. I had epic battles on the floor with dad using army guys fighting attacks by the strangest of monsters (the other toys). It took a while, but eventually I was old enough that I wanted more serious battle games.

I miss those silly battles with dad. And yes Gojira is my favourite movie.

I was not very public with my interests when I was young though. I saw too much of what it did to dad. Only a couple of guys I grew up with ever knew I liked strange games. I rarely mention this hobby in person. Society can be really cruel.

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Play with Barbies 05% of the time.
Play with Legos 10% of the time.
Build models 20% of the time
Shopping 60% of the time.
Exlains why I buy em more than I play em.

Post #: 1

RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 9:55:37 AM

zakblood

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49 years old this year and i was 12 and mad into pc, 286, 386, 486 dx 32 dream machines, and i loved my spectrum 48k and 128k, still own them both with all the games, i was lying in a hospital bed with meningitis at the time, when my gran came to see me with me mum and some grapes and a pc magazine, not my normal one btw but a gaming one, with a war game on the front, since then i've been hooked.

many things have changed over the years, but not the love of war gaming, something about counters and hexes that bring back happy memories and remind me of fun as that's what it's all about, not eye candy, pure fun

< Message edited by zakblood -- 2/12/2016 10:56:56 AM >

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 11:18:21 AM

Hertston

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From: Cornwall, UK
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I started at Uni in the mid '80s. I was a pen and paper RPGer, and it was tactical elements and add-ons in those that got me involved in the Wargames club, and historical games. The first I really got into was 10mm miniatures Ancients using the old WRG 6th and 7th rules. Wasn't really a boardgame fan at the time, although I played Starfleet Battles occasionally. I've mellowed a bit on that since, but now tend to stick very much with computer games.

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 11:25:45 AM

Neilster

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From: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
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My Dad and two older brothers were both into history. I can remember watching The World at War as a small kid and not fully understanding it but seeing how interested the rest of my family were. Additionally, there were heaps of cool planes, tanks and ships etc. Then there were the usual 70s stuff like realistic looking toy guns, scale models to build and corny war comics.

Basically, I wanted to not just read about WW2, but to re-fight it. I saw this S&T magazine in a hobby shop one day and I was hooked. My next purchase was World in Flames. A bit of a jump up in complexity, but totally worth it

Cheers, Neilster

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 11:51:39 AM

Yogi the Great

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From: Wisconsin
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Too many years ago when I was 11 years old, my 16 year old brother bought a board game that was recommended for 12 years and up. He was hard up to find someone to play it so he asked me to play it with him. I won as the union at Gettysburg. This was the original Avalon hill square version. My signature explains the rest.

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 12:42:02 PM

aaatoysandmore

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I think my interest in wargaming came from the toys I got as a little boy. I got Fort Apache first I think and fell inlove with minatures at that moment. Then as years went by I got other minature like wargame items like Lime Green army men and the 100 pack of army men from the nickel store as we called it. Was actually M.E. Moses. This one christmas though was the icing on the cake as I got a whole wargame event pak game with exploding bunkers and bazooka men you could fire little peas out of. That was the most fun game I got. I used to pretend Giant Robot invasion with my wind up robot and have it walk by the exploding bunker. Was so kewl.

My best friend introduced me to Avalon's Gettysburg, D-Day and Midway and Battle of the Bulge and I never looked back after that. Kaybee stores started popping up and they carried most of the latest Avalon Hill board wargames.

< Message edited by aaatoysandmore -- 2/12/2016 1:46:18 PM >

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 1:13:21 PM

Max 86

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I was a big history buff at 11 or 12 and my older brother first bought me "The Encyclopedia of Military History" by Dupuy & Dupuy. He saw how I absolutely devoured that book spending hours and hours pouring over every page. I think that was for my birthday in July and then that Christmas he found AH 1776 and Squad Leader at a store and gave them to me. I tried to get him and my Dad to play but I guess it was too many rules and too much time for them. Same with my friends. I remember some years back my brother saw me play JT's Campaign Series games on the PC and was shocked to learn I still played wargames. He didn't know PC wargames even existed!

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 1:37:04 PM

monniker

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The reason I took the plunge was because my father was a tremendous fan of the Ken Burns' Civil War documentary- but contrary to my father the side I found the most fascinating was the Confederacy! Ever since I've been a big fan of RE Lee, faults and all. I found out my little brother was playing AGEOD games, and I took the plunge into their Civil War 2 and never looked back.

That was the gateway drug that led to just about every recent Gary Grigsby game made on WW2 except Eagle Day to Bombing the Reich. And to a small but fun collection of military history books.

I find playing as the side who lost far more engaging- but that shouldn't be taken as a boast. More often than not I'm being whipped by the boys in blue!

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Post #: 8

RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 2:04:29 PM

Zap

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double post

< Message edited by Zap -- 2/12/2016 3:06:43 PM >

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 2:04:56 PM

Zap

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Zap

Around 1967 my older brother brought home 1961 edition of Tactics II. I remember when he unboxed it. I fell in love!. My senses were so strong I could smell the cardboard . I put my hand on the map just like you would a new car.I thought I was in heaven.

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 2:58:11 PM

Richie61

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Great subject. I saw the movie Midway in 1976 and the military equipment grabbed my interest. Dad is and I am too into auto racing, so he wasn't any help with military stuff. So I started reading anything I could find or watch on
TV. There happened to be a place in town call The Toy Solider. I pedaled my bike there one afternoon and same nothing but war games and pieces of table top games

I like single vehicles and squads, so I picked up AH "Tobruk: Tank Battles in North Africa 1942" and AH Squad Leader. Well I was hooked.

After that it was Panzer Leader/ Blitz, air war games and naval games till I
finished high school and then had nobody to play the games with. Combat Mission in 1999 brought me back

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 4:02:12 PM

timmyab

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From: Bristol, UK
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Girls wouldn't talk to me

Actually that's a true story

I used to make up games when I was a kid playing with Airfix miniatures. My first proper war game was ASL

Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. I never really took to board gaming although I liked and played Russian front solitaire quite a bit. I much prefer computer war gaming.

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Post #: 12

RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 4:31:20 PM

IainMcNeil

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I started when I was 3 with plastic soldiers and match stick firing little guns, before moving to dice a couple of years later :)

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 4:42:29 PM

Rodwonder

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Needless to say my love of history and military history at a very young age. The old "Milton Bradley American Heritage" games to my first true Wargame "Tobruk", miniatures and model airplanes and tanks. These would naturally move me toward PC games Like "Panzer General" and "Red Baron" and I would be lost forever in digital bliss...

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 6:15:31 PM

Kuokkanen

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My friend introduced me Civilization and Dune 2 when those games were new. I bought Civ from him with manuals and all, and copied some other games, including Dune 2 and Empire Deluxe (MS-DOS version). Since then it was one more turn... Then I read about Steel Panthers from computer & game magazines. I wanted it, I bought it, and I played it long and hard: one more turn. Since then Warcraft 2, Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation, and plethora of other wargames (shaddup grognards!) joined to my collection and experiences.

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 6:36:30 PM

aaatoysandmore

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Rodwonder

Needless to say my love of history and military history at a very young age. The old "Milton Bradley American Heritage" games to my first true Wargame "Tobruk", miniatures and model airplanes and tanks. These would naturally move me toward PC games Like "Panzer General" and "Red Baron" and I would be lost forever in digital bliss...

I had those also, loved them especially Battle Cry and Dogfight and Broadsides. Never cared for that Hit the Beach one though.

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 6:38:16 PM

aaatoysandmore

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

My friend introduced me Civilization and Dune 2 when those games were new. I bought Civ from him with manuals and all, and copied some other games, including Dune 2 and Empire Deluxe (MS-DOS version). Since then it was one more turn... Then I read about Steel Panthers from computer & game magazines. I wanted it, I bought it, and I played it long and hard: one more turn. Since then Warcraft 2, Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation, and plethora of other wargames (shaddup grognards!) joined to my collection and experiences.

Warcraft 2, Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation??? Wargames? Pahlease.

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 7:01:27 PM

barkhorn45

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Saw Von Ryan's Express at the drive-in when it came out 66-67 when I was 10 was hooked on ww2 from then on.
Played ah Africa korps and D-day.

< Message edited by barkhorn45 -- 2/12/2016 8:03:03 PM >

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 7:03:34 PM

RichMunn

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quote:

ORIGINAL: aaatoysandmore

quote:

ORIGINAL: Matti Kuokkanen

My friend introduced me Civilization and Dune 2 when those games were new. I bought Civ from him with manuals and all, and copied some other games, including Dune 2 and Empire Deluxe (MS-DOS version). Since then it was one more turn... Then I read about Steel Panthers from computer & game magazines. I wanted it, I bought it, and I played it long and hard: one more turn. Since then Warcraft 2, Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation, and plethora of other wargames (shaddup grognards!) joined to my collection and experiences.

Warcraft 2, Command & Conquer, Total Annihilation??? Wargames? Pahlease.

Many of us have "graduated" in wargames through exactly this path.

I now have WITE, WITW, WITPAE and DCB, and the love of my life JTCS, and CS. I can play some of these games. The first few mentioned I play a bit, mostly to confirm that they really are that complex, but I love these forums and am constantly interested in the AARs and exchanges by those who have the time and the desire to play them regularly.

I could tell you that before I got here I played Call of Duty, Far Cry, Fallout 3, Skyrim and its predecessor, and then on a more complicated (but nothing compared to the first-mentioned games!) the Total War games. Especially Empire, where I won the Peninsular campaign as Wellington, one of my few ever victories in any computer game, against the AI or not!

My greatest enjoyment, and frustration, is playing JTCS or the new Campaign Series ME, by PBEM. I've made friends who are my enemies. I'm pretty hopeless but I win sometimes.

I suppose all of us have a different route to where we are. I'm glad I'm here. These forums are brilliant.

Rich

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 7:08:55 PM

loki100

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quote:

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

Ok so this is not about what was your first war game. Mention it if you must. But why did you even get that first war game?

It's all my dad's fault in my case. He was a toy salesman from Japan. Yeah how he met mom is a long odd story. Mom was a baker of Scottish decent.

I grew up with a lot of odd toys. I had epic battles on the floor with dad using army guys fighting attacks by the strangest of monsters (the other toys). It took a while, but eventually I was old enough that I wanted more serious battle games.

I miss those silly battles with dad. And yes Gojira is my favourite movie.

I was not very public with my interests when I was young though. I saw too much of what it did to dad. Only a couple of guys I grew up with ever knew I liked strange games. I rarely mention this hobby in person. Society can be really cruel.

great question - I guess like many its come from an interest in history and the ability of some games to allow you to explore that in more detail. Like a few here, I started via S&T, in my case the 'East is Red' was my first game (along with their old Napoleon at Waterloo), remember playing it to death to the stage where the map needed to be held together with tape.

< Message edited by loki100 -- 2/12/2016 8:10:05 PM >

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 7:34:42 PM

terje439

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I (as many here I guess) started playing games on my old C64, and initially war games was not something I looked for or played alot of. Instead it was games like Winter/Summer Games, Football Manager, Stockmarked etc. However one day I bought a game called "Pirates!" simply because it looked very nice.
I fell in love with that game, and learned the name of its developer, Sid Meier. After that I always bought Sid Meier games whenever I found one. So naturally I got Civilization, and spent way too many (atleast according to my parents) hours on that game.

However, as I grew older, I got new computers, and I wanted "more" from the games I played. I wanted more realism, higher difficulties, better graphics. And I wanted something WWII (which has always facinated me after my grandfather told me about his experiences of the war). And I stumbled across something called Panzer General by SSI. Played that more than any other game, and looked for something similar, but could not find anything.

Untill, that is, I got a demo version of a game called Steel Panthers. At that time I was hooked on WWII games, and that was it. It was however a few years more before I arrived here, and that was by fluke. I went through an "old games"-bin at a game shop, and found a WWII game called "Uncommon Valor". That game had a steep learning curve, so I decided to look up the forum, and since that, you all have been stuck with me. So, blame that shop for selling UV cheap

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 7:41:58 PM

typhoon

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Not sure on the why but it began with lego and marbles would sort them out into different colours and make armies that smashed against each other. Think this led me to history though not sure first book was called Last of the Vikings that had the battle of Stamford Bridge at the end. Then there was a freezing night in Scotland came in from sliding around on the ice and saw The Red Badge of Courage was hooked got meself a note book and began to write all about the Civil War which led to so many other things undiscovered the marbles and lego became the sets of Airfix soldiers and models of all sorts was rubbish at building and painting them but had great times making them fight was an old airfix book of Wargame rules for World War two used that loads. Flirted briefly then with RPG blame Tolkien but with spectrums c64 amiga and atari returned to Wargames and of course the board games Avalon Hill Spi victory games. Somewhere in a loft they all sit in a home long vacated worth a good deal but with the kids the board games were not practical so it was not until the likes of War in Russia and Steel Panthers that I returned properly back to the fold. Now I get what I can mainly grand strategy many sit unplayed even now but I enjoy the rules enjoy the ideas and enjoy the thought that they are thee for me should I wish. Silly man though have continued with the children the youngest is but 15 months old so time is never a friend but the wargames well they will always be there and one day I will play them all.

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 8:07:32 PM

RichMunn

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quote:

ORIGINAL: typhoon

Not sure on the why but it began with lego and marbles would sort them out into different colours and make armies that smashed against each other. Think this led me to history though not sure first book was called Last of the Vikings that had the battle of Stamford Bridge at the end. Then there was a freezing night in Scotland came in from sliding around on the ice and saw The Red Badge of Courage was hooked got meself a note book and began to write all about the Civil War which led to so many other things undiscovered the marbles and lego became the sets of Airfix soldiers and models of all sorts was rubbish at building and painting them but had great times making them fight was an old airfix book of Wargame rules for World War two used that loads. Flirted briefly then with RPG blame Tolkien but with spectrums c64 amiga and atari returned to Wargames and of course the board games Avalon Hill Spi victory games. Somewhere in a loft they all sit in a home long vacated worth a good deal but with the kids the board games were not practical so it was not until the likes of War in Russia and Steel Panthers that I returned properly back to the fold. Now I get what I can mainly grand strategy many sit unplayed even now but I enjoy the rules enjoy the ideas and enjoy the thought that they are thee for me should I wish. Silly man though have continued with the children the youngest is but 15 months old so time is never a friend but the wargames well they will always be there and one day I will play them all.

quote:

Not sure on the why but it began with lego and marbles would sort them out into different colours and make armies that smashed against each other. Think this led me to history though not sure first book was called Last of the Vikings that had the battle of Stamford Bridge at the end. Then there was a freezing night in Scotland came in from sliding around on the ice and saw The Red Badge of Courage was hooked got meself a note book and began to write all about the Civil War which led to so many other things undiscovered the marbles and lego became the sets of Airfix soldiers and models of all sorts was rubbish at building and painting them but had great times making them fight was an old airfix book of Wargame rules for World War two used that loads. Flirted briefly then with RPG blame Tolkien but with spectrums c64 amiga and atari returned to Wargames and of course the board games Avalon Hill Spi victory games. Somewhere in a loft they all sit in a home long vacated worth a good deal but with the kids the board games were not practical so it was not until the likes of War in Russia and Steel Panthers that I returned properly back to the fold. Now I get what I can mainly grand strategy many sit unplayed even now but I enjoy the rules enjoy the ideas and enjoy the thought that they are thee for me should I wish. Silly man though have continued with the children the youngest is but 15 months old so time is never a friend but the wargames well they will always be there and one day I will play them all.

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Without in any way wishing to interfere, the above post was so good that I thought I would try to make it more easily readable. I hope that this doesn't cause offence.

"Not sure on the why but it began with lego and marbles. I would sort them out into different colours and make armies that smashed against each other.

I think this led me to history though not sure. The first book was called Last of the Vikings; that had the battle of Stamford Bridge at the end. Then there was a freezing night in Scotland. I came in from sliding around on the ice and saw The Red Badge of Courage. I was hooked! I got meself a note book and began to write all about the Civil War which led to so many other things undiscovered.

The marbles and lego became the sets of Airfix soldiers and models of all sorts. I was rubbish at building and painting them but had great times making them fight. I had an old airfix book of Wargame rules for World War two; I used that loads.

I flirted briefly then with RPG. Blame Tolkien! But with spectrums c64 amiga and atari I returned to Wargames and of course the board games Avalon Hill and Spi victory games.
Somewhere in a loft they all sit in a home long vacated. They are worth a good deal but with the kids the board games were not practical so it was not until the likes of War in Russia and Steel Panthers that I returned properly back to the fold.
Now I get what I can mainly grand strategy many sit unplayed even now but I enjoy the rules enjoy the ideas and enjoy the thought that they are there for me should I wish.

Silly man though have continued with the children the youngest is but 15 months old so time is never a friend but the wargames well they will always be there and one day I will play them all."

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 8:43:21 PM

sullafelix

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I took my first book out of the library when I was pretty young.

It was a child's book of " The charge of the light brigade ".

I was mesmerized by the words and pictures.

Not long after, I saw Milton Bradley's Battle cry game and asked for it for Christmas.

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 9:02:01 PM

bairdlander2

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Well for me it started when I was an 8 year old boy.I had a Betty Crocker easybake oven and many dolls and cooking sets...one day my father,who was a gunnery sgt/drill instructor in the USMC approached me as I had my cooking apron on and was preparing a nice dinner for my Barbie,Strawberry shortcake and magic pony dolls.He said to me in a loud voice "what is your major malfunction numbnuts?".This was quite a shock as it was he who chose and bought me my toys.He immediately took all my toys out to the backyard firepit and burned them.I was very sad,the very next afternoon,he arrived home with many GI joes,toy weapons as well as my first copy of Squad Leader.He taught me how to play and I have been a wargame player ever since.

< Message edited by bairdlander -- 2/12/2016 10:03:53 PM >

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 9:47:06 PM

wings7

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From: Phoenix, Arizona
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For me it started with army men, when I was about 6 years old our next door neighbor (who was about 18 at the time) asked me if I would like his plastic army men collection and of course I said Yes! Little did I know that his collection was a trunk (foot locker size) collection! Wow, I was in heaven for many years! Then at a relative old age of 20 or 21 my cousin Mike introduced me to Tactics II and the rest is history. I was really spoiled for many years, my cousin was The rules expert so he taught me alot...I can't remember what happened to my army men (I still wish I had them

), those were memorable and joyful times growing up!

Patrick

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 10:06:40 PM

waltero

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quote:

ORIGINAL: bairdlander

Well for me it started when I was an 8 year old boy.I had a Betty Crocker easybake oven and many dolls and cooking sets...one day my father,who was a gunnery sgt/drill instructor in the USMC approached me as I had my cooking apron on and was preparing a nice dinner for my Barbie,Strawberry shortcake and magic pony dolls.He said to me in a loud voice "what is your major malfunction numbnuts?".This was quite a shock as it was he who chose and bought me my toys.He immediately took all my toys out to the backyard firepit and burned them.I was very sad,the very next afternoon,he arrived home with many GI joes,toy weapons as well as my first copy of Squad Leader.He taught me how to play and I have been a wargame player ever since.

That is some funny s**t! laughed my ass off.

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 10:14:36 PM

jday305

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From: Northeast Indiana
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I too started in the early 70's with the green plastic army soldiers and playing war with the other kids in my neighborhood. In High School a friend got me involved with board games like squad leader in the early 80's. Been hooked ever since.

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Post #: 28

RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 10:24:02 PM

warspite1

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How did I get into war gaming?

Well I�ve always loved playing games � sports, board games or whatever.

My mum and dad were both involved in WWII and so any war film or documentary that was showing would always be on the telly. I was 5 or 6 when my dad took me and my brother to watch Battle of Britain at the cinema. A few years later ITV showed the World at War series � wow! Just wow!

Meanwhile my dad had a set of Purnell�s Encyclopedia of WWII which I loved looking at, my brother was navy mad and had loads of books on ships that I liked looking at. Note no reading at that time � that was boring - just looking at the pictures and maps would do.

Then I got into Airfix models � 99% of which were WWII models � mostly aircraft and ships (tanks were too difficult because of the tracks). HMS Hood was my first (disaster) � HMS Warspite was my best�.. Sadly I don�t have the time � or the eyesight quality

� to enable me to make models anymore (I still have a large HMS Warspite, started in 2013, to finish off � maybe one day�).

During this time my growing interest in WWII got meshed with my love of games. Games like Escape from Colditz as a kid, then Risk, then Diplomacy and in between times Airfix HO/OO Napoleonic figures (and of course the rolled up tin foil used to throw at the enemy) � complicated rules obviously�...

In my mid-teens the games became more serious � Avalon Hill�s Bismarck being the gateway to the world of wargaming. Then quite a few years later came my first computer war game � Desert Rats � for the old Spectrum and later, when I got a �proper� computer, the Battleground games � Waterloo in particular.

After trying a few strategic games I finally found World In Flames. That took over my life for a couple of years solid and it was this game that, many years later, got me involved with Matrix when I stumbled across the computer version.

The great thing is my love of history makes me want to play games and my game playing in turn feeds my need to read about history of which WWII is the main focus.

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< Message edited by warspite1 -- 2/12/2016 11:27:27 PM >

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RE: WHY did you start war gaming - 2/12/2016 11:13:02 PM

bobarossa

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Joined: 6/11/2002
From: Columbus, Ohio USA
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I was about 10 when my 13 year old brother bought Blitzkrieg and needed someone to beat up on. We ended up joining the History Book Club and got the West Point Atlas of American Wars as the introductory book. Playing games and reading history has continued every since (~50 years).

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