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I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 3:17:22 PM

Lobster

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From: Third rock from the Sun.
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A war game was ink on paper.
Only a handful of player aides like terrain charts, combat charts and a chit on a column to keep track of turns.
The computer was the brain thing inside my head and a die or two to roll for results.
If you had cats or kids the entire existence of a current game hung by a tread at best.
Where a mishandled beverage could become a global disaster of biblical proportions.
The UPS man was Santa Claus in July.
The wife asked what you wanted for your birthday, christmas, whatever and the answer was always a new game and the reply was always 'why don't you ever get something different, that is so boring'.
Punching out new counter sheets could be an exact science performed as if a surgery with an exacto knife in an effort to avoid paper strings that could create counter stack disasters.
Orienting counters in different directions so I would know which had moved.
Setting up the game before I even knew how to play so I could admire it.
Having to actually read manuals before I could play. Some of them almost being the size of a novel.
Building a table large enough to play multi map games.
Building a kid/cat proof room to put the table in.
Building a special system of clear plastic sheets to put on top of the map and masonite sheets under the maps and using paneling clips to hold it all together to take down a multi map game, stick it in a specially made cabinet so it would be safe and able to be resumed later.

Ah, those were the days of true war gaming.

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Post #: 1

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 3:28:02 PM

MrsWargamer

Posts: 1655
Joined: 6/18/2014
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I got one for that list.

I tried to actually grow an opponent :)

Alas, he's a writer like me, and an artist like me, but not even remotely a wargamer like me.

Oh well, perhaps he can get someone to try and grow me an opponent. I'm too old for that notion now.

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Wargame, 05% of the time.
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.

(in reply to Lobster)

Post #: 2

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 4:19:49 PM

Lecivius

Posts: 4845
Joined: 8/5/2007
From: Denver
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"Punching out new counter sheets could be an exact science performed as if a surgery with an exacto knife in an effort to avoid paper strings that could create counter stack disasters. "

Been there, done that

"I tried to actually grow an opponent :) "

Me too, but my odd growth is currently more determined to outdo my youthful activities rather than "some boring strategy stuff"

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Post #: 3

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 4:36:49 PM

Yogi the Great

Posts: 1948
Joined: 4/10/2007
From: Wisconsin
Status: offline

Yes those were the days.

I remember using envelopes or better film canisters(something else that is almost gone) to hold all the counters with each labeled with the type of units inside.

I remember having a game in progress set up on a card table in a bedroom to find my two kids moving all the nits around and my 2 year old chewing on counters. (then had to worry about what was in the ink)

I remember waiting for each new Avalon Hill game to be released and sending off my order for it to be delivered. (was very hard to find the games in any store)

I remember mostly setting up my games to be played solitaire as finding an opponent to play in person was very hard and even if you did finding one who could take the time to get together for hours over a span of months while someone kept the game set up at their house was a near miracle.

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Post #: 4

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 4:51:06 PM

IslandInland

Posts: 891
Joined: 12/8/2014
From: YORKSHIRE
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For me wargames are computer based only. I'm not that old.

:D

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Post #: 5

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 5:26:33 PM

Kuokkanen

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Joined: 4/2/2004
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quote:

ORIGINAL: IslandInland

For me wargames are computer based only. I'm not that old.

Dude, first war games I played were on computers (or on console if we count North & South). In past 15 years I have gone to analog with BattleTech and Warhammer 40,000. Latter game is also played by much younger folk than me.

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Post #: 6

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 5:37:00 PM

Curtis Lemay

Posts: 12969
Joined: 9/17/2004
From: Houston, TX
Status: offline

Let's not forget "counter volcanoes": You put a stack of counters on a spot on the map were the paper is concave (depressed). But this is a time bomb. Eventually the map rebounds to convex and counters fly every which way like an erupting volcano.

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Post #: 7

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 5:54:34 PM

Rebel Yell

Posts: 470
Joined: 6/21/2003
From: The Woodlands, TX USA
Status: offline

So many good memories. I still have a closet full going back to the 70's.

But I wouldn't go back for anything.

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Post #: 8

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 6:42:04 PM

Twotribes

Posts: 6929
Joined: 2/15/2002
From: Jacksonville NC
Status: offline

Gave all my old games to slaackman he said he had a use for them. I hadn't opened one in decades

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Post #: 9

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 8:07:07 PM

Zorch

Posts: 7087
Joined: 3/7/2010
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Yogi the Great

Yes those were the days.

I remember using envelopes or better film canisters(something else that is almost gone) to hold all the counters with each labeled with the type of units inside.

I remember having a game in progress set up on a card table in a bedroom to find my two kids moving all the nits around and my 2 year old chewing on counters. (then had to worry about what was in the ink)

I remember waiting for each new Avalon Hill game to be released and sending off my order for it to be delivered. (was very hard to find the games in any store)

I remember mostly setting up my games to be played solitaire as finding an opponent to play in person was very hard and even if you did finding one who could take the time to get together for hours over a span of months while someone kept the game set up at their house was a near miracle.

+100
I used pill containers to hold counters. Getting the labels off and putting my own on was a pain.

(in reply to Yogi the Great)

Post #: 10

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 8:13:56 PM

Twotribes

Posts: 6929
Joined: 2/15/2002
From: Jacksonville NC
Status: offline

I bought the containers that SPI used on their games when I could nice trays with slots.

(in reply to Zorch)

Post #: 11

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 8:16:26 PM

JReb

Posts: 459
Joined: 9/18/2002
Status: offline

I remember the 'glazed over' look my friends and family got in their eyes when I tried to show and explain wargames to them!

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Post #: 12

RE: I Remember When... - 4/18/2018 9:27:36 PM

Zorch

Posts: 7087
Joined: 3/7/2010
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Twotribes

I bought the containers that SPI used on their games when I could nice trays with slots.

But the glue on the trays has failed! After only 40 years!

(in reply to Twotribes)

Post #: 13

RE: I Remember When... - 4/19/2018 12:47:31 AM

shaddock

Posts: 192
Joined: 9/18/2013
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I remember my first wargame. Photocopied from a book or magazine and played in the library when I skipped class back in the '80s.
I remember my second one, Panzer Armee Africa, loved that game :)
I got a few others as time went on and parents agreed to pay.
Then it was onto the computers, at last, an opponent who wasn't me!
Now I'm clipping Beyond Valor and Yanks (ASL if you don't know), then onto A world at War.
And before the year is done I hope to be clipping a re-done version of GDWs Third World War.

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Post #: 14

RE: I Remember When... - 4/19/2018 9:29:59 AM

HunterICX

Posts: 90
Joined: 6/6/2014
From: Spain
Status: offline

I remember when I had to learn how to work with DoS in order to play my wargames and that SSI was pretty much a stamp on a case that immediatly got my interest when it came to Wargames/Strategy Games.

(in reply to shaddock)

Post #: 15

RE: I Remember When... - 4/19/2018 7:21:46 PM

warspite1

Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline

....I thought GRD would finish the Europa Series...

But on a brighter note, I also remember that feeling of opening a game for the first time - the smell of the box, the pristine maps and counters, the OOB's etc.

I am going to be reacquainted with that feeling soon too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=41&v=Jy1Z8z-LJx0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcqP5VbKqy4

I am moist with anticipation.....

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Post #: 16

RE: I Remember When... - 4/19/2018 7:35:12 PM

zakblood

Posts: 22687
Joined: 10/4/2012
Status: offline

i can remember when a mag came through the door and you inputted the code for a week or more, just to run your name in 3 or 4 basic colors flashing on the screen if you were lucky, eg miss prints happened alot and the mag came out each month, not week, so most of the time it could have been a month to fix at least, but mostly longer as i can remember.

i can remember going online and chatting on forums, which were a few lines of txt, but still took that long to get a reply to, you have forgotten the question and the answer was mostly meaningless.

you made and eat your tea while the pc was booting and warming up.

ah the good old days, when you bought a sx and your m8 got a dx so you fell out

Attachment (2)

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Post #: 17

RE: I Remember When... - 4/19/2018 7:37:04 PM

warspite1

Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: zakblood

i can remember when a mag came through the door and you inputted the code for a week or more, just to run your name in 3 or 4 basic colors flashing on the screen if you were lucky, eg miss prints happened alot and the mag came out each month, not week, so most of the time it could have been a month to fix at least, but mostly longer as i can remember.

i can remember going online and chatting on forums, which were a few lines of txt, but still took that long to get a reply to, you have forgotten the question and the answer was mostly meaningless.

you made and eat your tea while the pc was booting and warming up.

ah the good old days, when you bought a sx and your m8 got a dx so you fell out

warspite1

Yeah but there was always penicillin...

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Post #: 18

RE: I Remember When... - 4/19/2018 7:51:30 PM

Zorch

Posts: 7087
Joined: 3/7/2010
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I bought a 486dx that turned out to be no better than a 486sx.

Major bummer. I couldn't wait for Pentiums to come out.

(in reply to warspite1)

Post #: 19

RE: I Remember When... - 4/20/2018 2:00:16 AM

Yogi the Great

Posts: 1948
Joined: 4/10/2007
From: Wisconsin
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I am moist with anticipation.....

That sounds better if your girlfriend says that.

(in reply to warspite1)

Post #: 20

RE: I Remember When... - 4/20/2018 2:59:18 PM

Lobster

Posts: 5104
Joined: 8/8/2013
From: Third rock from the Sun.
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Yogi the Great

quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I am moist with anticipation.....

That sounds better if your girlfriend says that.

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Post #: 21

RE: I Remember When... - 4/20/2018 4:14:41 PM

Zorch

Posts: 7087
Joined: 3/7/2010
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Lobster

quote:

ORIGINAL: Yogi the Great

quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I am moist with anticipation.....

That sounds better if your girlfriend says that.

Old gamers have dirty minds. The older, the dirtier?

(in reply to Lobster)

Post #: 22

RE: I Remember When... - 4/20/2018 4:32:41 PM

warspite1

Posts: 41353
Joined: 2/2/2008
From: England
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch

quote:

ORIGINAL: Lobster

quote:

ORIGINAL: Yogi the Great

quote:

ORIGINAL: warspite1

I am moist with anticipation.....

That sounds better if your girlfriend says that.

Old gamers have dirty minds. The older, the dirtier?

warspite1

It was a line delivered by the gorgeous Daryl Hannah from the underrated film Roxanne but whateves as the kids say.

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Post #: 23

RE: I Remember When... - 4/20/2018 4:47:49 PM

Greybriar

Posts: 1148
Joined: 2/9/2007
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I remember when my DOS 486DX was the best PC gaming rig on my side of town.

< Message edited by Greybriar -- 4/20/2018 4:48:17 PM >

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Post #: 24

RE: I Remember When... - 4/20/2018 5:00:46 PM

Kuokkanen

Posts: 3545
Joined: 4/2/2004
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Greybriar

I remember when my DOS 486DX was the best PC gaming rig on my side of town.

Congratz. My dad bought 40 MHz 386. I played Doom on it. We skipped 486 entirely and went straight for 75 MHz Pentium in 1997. I played Quake II through on it.

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Post #: 25

RE: I Remember When... - 4/20/2018 5:06:29 PM

zakblood

Posts: 22687
Joined: 10/4/2012
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i don't have the ability to remember all those i had, as at the time i worked weekends at a computer shop so tended to swap and change more often than most, so at the time seems to have almost everything that was going, or so my mum and dad thought, as it wasn't many months before something new came out and i'd spent more than i'd earned on some newer tech but always got a fair wack for what i was getting rid of also, as someone else was always upgrading so it wasn't a loss, sometimes i made more often than not i got my money back, which was good at the time as i got it for cost most of the time working there so when it came to sell, there was enough of a mark up to get some of the later tech at less cost than most at the time could afford.

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Post #: 26

RE: I Remember When... - 4/20/2018 8:28:57 PM

altipueri

Posts: 869
Joined: 11/14/2009
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I remember making tanks from flat card using outline prints and playing with "Advanced Rules" using a logarithmic scale for distance designed by a Polish wargamer called Bish Iwaszko:

http://vintagewargaming.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Bish%20Iwaszko

And making lead soldiers with moulds out of bathroom sealant.

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Post #: 27

RE: I Remember When... - 4/20/2018 8:50:42 PM

berto

Posts: 20708
Joined: 3/13/2002
From: metro Chicago, Illinois, USA
Status: offline

Before pre-printed hex sheets were available (?), with aid of a plastic template, I remember devoting hours and hours hand drawing thousands of hexes when making my own games.

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Post #: 28

RE: I Remember When... - 4/21/2018 7:47:41 AM

Pvt_Grunt

Posts: 327
Joined: 2/13/2007
From: Frankston Victoria
Status: offline

Richthofens War was easy. It was short battles, no packup. https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1711/richthofens-war

But Avalon Hill Blitzkrieg was a nightmare. Games took weeks and it was a dog tail magnet! https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/4168/blitzkrieg

But, computers didn't solve everything, as anyone who has lost a savegame file will know!

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Post #: 29

RE: I Remember When... - 4/21/2018 8:48:08 AM

RFalvo69

Posts: 1380
Joined: 7/11/2013
From: Lamezia Terme (Italy)
Status: offline

I remember playing "War of the Ring" by Richard Berg over and over, thinking "There must be a more immersive way to simulate a Fellowship of Heroes with a Mission, crossing hostile lands full of monsters and encounters". A year later I smashed (literally!) my head against a scaffold in my FLGS full of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons volumes (*) and my second passion was born.

(*) My RPG of choice remains Call of Cthulhu, though.

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Post #: 30