Slitherine

quote:

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

I took my squad leader game with me to basic training in a microformat, just enough pieces, and a small hand-made limited board.

I had a chance to play my actual squad leader (in Canada it's not called a squad though).
My Sgt did NOT appreciate being 'schooled' by a low form of life.

I was told to store the game, and I could have it back when I left basic training.

The lesson learned, you don't know **** when in basic training. You might actually know, but you fake being stupid if needed :)

quote:

ORIGINAL: RFalvo69

Some years ago I went on vacation in the wine country south of Pavia - a nice place of hills, old churches, food and wine. There I met this guy who had a strong interest in military history and in tank models (he created whole dioramas). He also owned this wargame, AH's Stalingrad, and asked me if I was interested in trying it.

Now, I don't know what went through my head. I knew and had played Stalingrad a lot in the past but, for some reason, I answered that, no, I never played a wargame and I was curious about trying one.

That evening the hotel owner told me how this guy was a friend of his and had tried to play "this damned game" with everybody, his girlfriend included. I was the first to say "yes"... in years!

The day after he arrives, explains to me the rules (which I knew better than him, but I kept nodding) and then we played - from 3PM to 7PM. I won keeping the Russians. I smiled meekly "You know... beginner's luck..."

Next day, re-match. I still won as the Russians. He stormed away.

Third day, and the wife started to be miffed. She was driving around with the daughters and enjoying the vacation but she couldn't understand how I could miss all the sun and the landscapes for a stupid game played in a hotel hall. Maybe she was right... Anyway...

So, third match. And, out of the gate, my opponent tried the "softening attack" tactic, an ugly bug in AH's early games. Basically, if you were defending an hex with both a strong unit and a weak one, the attacker could attack the weakest unit, kill it, and then force an unfavourable counter-attack - something that you simply don't want to do, but those were the rules.

I knew all about this "tactic" and how in those early AH games a single strong unit should never be paired with a weak one. Normally I never did that, but, remember "I didn't knew that game". To me, two units were better than one. Of course I was also waiting for my opponent to be tired of losing, go on the internet and learn about this little trick on BGG or such. I made a point anyway to make a scene and point out how the rules were broken. Then I repositioned my defense - which thus become better - and won again.

By then, desperation was thick among the Germans. I offered the hypothesis that maybe the game was unbalanced and favoured the Russians. I also said that I wanted to try the German side. Now, there was another tiny thing that I had kept hidden: In Stalingrad I always played with the Germans. But I had kept hidden that I was a wargamer in the first place, so one thing had led to the other. Anyway, to make a long story short, game four, and I almost cleaned up all the Russians from the map.

That evening I noticed the game box lying abandoned on a table. So I phoned this guy but he just said "keep it". We meet again but we never played Stalingrad again.

But I kept the game. I'm looking at that box right now, while I'm typing this

quote:

I offered the hy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: RFalvo69

Some years ago I went on vacation in the wine country south of Pavia - a nice place of hills, old churches, food and wine. There I met this guy who had a strong interest in military history and in tank models (he created whole dioramas). He also owned this wargame, AH's Stalingrad, and asked me if I was interested in trying it.

Now, I don't know what went through my head. I knew and had played Stalingrad a lot in the past but, for some reason, I answered that, no, I never played a wargame and I was curious about trying one.

That evening the hotel owner told me how this guy was a friend of his and had tried to play "this damned game" with everybody, his girlfriend included. I was the first to say "yes"... in years!

The day after he arrives, explains to me the rules (which I knew better than him, but I kept nodding) and then we played - from 3PM to 7PM. I won keeping the Russians. I smiled meekly "You know... beginner's luck..."

Next day, re-match. I still won as the Russians. He stormed away.

Third day, and the wife started to be miffed. She was driving around with the daughters and enjoying the vacation but she couldn't understand how I could miss all the sun and the landscapes for a stupid game played in a hotel hall. Maybe she was right... Anyway...

So, third match. And, out of the gate, my opponent tried the "softening attack" tactic, an ugly bug in AH's early games. Basically, if you were defending an hex with both a strong unit and a weak one, the attacker could attack the weakest unit, kill it, and then force an unfavourable counter-attack - something that you simply don't want to do, but those were the rules.

I knew all about this "tactic" and how in those early AH games a single strong unit should never be paired with a weak one. Normally I never did that, but, remember "I didn't knew that game". To me, two units were better than one. Of course I was also waiting for my opponent to be tired of losing, go on the internet and learn about this little trick on BGG or such. I made a point anyway to make a scene and point out how the rules were broken. Then I repositioned my defense - which thus become better - and won again.

By then, desperation was thick among the Germans. I offered the hypothesis that maybe the game was unbalanced and favoured the Russians. I also said that I wanted to try the German side. Now, there was another tiny thing that I had kept hidden: In Stalingrad I always played with the Germans. But I had kept hidden that I was a wargamer in the first place, so one thing had led to the other. Anyway, to make a long story short, game four, and I almost cleaned up all the Russians from the map.

That evening I noticed the game box lying abandoned on a table. So I phoned this guy but he just said "keep it". We meet again but we never played Stalingrad again.

But I kept the game. I'm looking at that box right now, while I'm typing this

quote:

ORIGINAL: springel

quote:

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

I took my squad leader game with me to basic training in a microformat, just enough pieces, and a small hand-made limited board.

I had a chance to play my actual squad leader (in Canada it's not called a squad though).
My Sgt did NOT appreciate being 'schooled' by a low form of life.

I was told to store the game, and I could have it back when I left basic training.

The lesson learned, you don't know **** when in basic training. You might actually know, but you fake being stupid if needed :)

Interesting. You already played wargames when you joined the army?

The most striking thing that wargaming showed me, is that a soldier's function is to be put into the grinder, which is nice in a simulation, but a ****ty position for a real person.

(Maybe that was why your Sqt wanted you to put the game away?)

quote:

ORIGINAL: DD696

Back in 1973 I was a Corporal working in S-3 (operations) at Subic Bay Marine Barracks, Philippines. The 1st Lt in charge was Lt James Patterson. I had brought a few of my SPI games over and told him about them. He was intrigues, and wanted to play me in the Korean game, even tho officers fraternizing with lowly enlisted personnel was strictly forbidden. He and I got together, him taking the the North Koreans/Chicom and myself the Allies.

Well, I whipped the pants off the Lieutenant. Told him you have to protect your flanks and cannot charge unsupported against the opponent. He later said to Colonel (Edward Snelling), who won the Navy Cross during the Korean conflict, that I could handle any position there. He tried to get me to go to officer's school, but I wouldn't. These were two officers that I still respect to this day. Sadly, they are both now under the ground. Lt Patterson, later a captain, was stationed at Quantico teaching officer trainees, one of which was my brother, who dropped out. Captain Patterson died 1 April 1997 (can't find out much info about him - good man). Colonel Snelling died almost 2 years ago not too far away from me.

I wish I could have met them again. Good Marines.