Avalon Hill Wargames

Richthofen's War was an AH title. Looking across the office at a copy on the shelf actually. WW 1 aerial combat.

 

Hi TA, and thanks. Also, if I still had mine-i'd gladly offered to let you give it a home. ;-)) I either gave it away-or threw it away about 12 years ago.

 

Hi;
Panzerblitz was a lot of fun. The only guy I could get to play it with was my friend Jim and we would go at it all day and all night long. I always played the Russki. "Discovery of the Nile" was a fun game you could generally interest a guest in after a few drinks. Squad Leader? Well than one I played both sides and well...one tends not to surprise oneself. Yeah the old boardgames were a lot of fun!
These modern computer games tend not to interest me for some reason...
JeffinMNUSA

 

AH games remain brilliant. I used to play a lot of the strategic ones, but only own The Battle of Midway, and some non WW2 ones.

The thing I like about them were the massive scale, and also how once you had learnt how to play one you could play any of them.

 

Wotno;
Well it was a social thing too-like I would study and study the rules and possibilities than explain the ABC's to a friend and have them up and running in the matter of an hour (and a couple of drinks). The light in the eyes would go on and the imaginations would start running. Now Jim was another matter as he came with a background in MI and had played Panzerblitz with some heavy hitters over in Europe in the Service. These games got really fierce!
The computer games? Well they look mostly like "shootemups". I am into other things these days but do any of you old "hexigon and cardboard tag" players have any recommendations on the newer stuff?
JeffinMNUSA

 

Well yes the social side is one of those things which, for me, go without saying, so I didn't say it...

Personally the games I prefer now are table top wargames in 6mm (or microscale as we used to call them), which I've been playing for decades. Combines painting, modelling, sociability, spoddism and beer. All worthy pursuits.

I wouldn't play a multi-player wargame on the computer or console. Sure I've played a few themed shoot 'em ups, and they're entertaining but just not the same. I've watched and played network games and the faces of the players which are far too serious for me, and you're also running at a machine's speed, not your own.

Give me laughing at your enemies dramatic push which failed, threatening to shoot particular pieces for cowardice because you failed a dice roll, subtly hinting at how an empty forest is packed with your reserves and the general return to childish fun which a tabletop game delivers.

 

Wotno;
Like the difference between eye to eye card poker and video gaming? I prefer the former. Cyberspace does have it's uses, but I do not believe anything in computer gaming could compare with those hotly contested Panzerblitz marathons I had with my good friend Jim back in the seventies. My kids are back from out West for their Grandpa's funeral this week and they were laughing about these events the day before yesterday. Like the time during the "Kursk" simulation where he went after my trucks in the gulley? Trucks?! I let the trucks do as best as they could and went AFTER HIS PANZERS! When the count came out Jim won on the decision because Russian trucks were worth more in the final count than I had guessed!
"You Kraut Bastard you, Jim!"
"Read the rules, Russki!"
And perhaps the eye to eye versions are closer to the reality than anything a computer programer could dream up? Like "two commanders taking the measure of each other then trading blows?" Trucks worth more than tanks indeed!
JeffinMNUSA

 

I believe you're right. Programmers have to define the game and it's limits, players are effectively being taken for a stroll. I prefer the players defining their own play which has a much wider scope.

There's something very natural about the pace of a table based game, including even the mundane like taking a break, or spotting something out of the window.

There's a relaxing joy to the whole thing, whereas when machines dictate the pace based on calculations by a programmer it's too similar to office work. They might label it as "real-time" but on a computer that typically means too damned hectic.

I've introduced my son to miniature games, and he much prefers them to computer games. So I've only the majority of the world left to convert. ;-)

 

Wotno;
Well maybe the military simulations written by actual military people have something of the reality in their calculations-but these are not commercially available the last I heard of.
JeffinMNUSA
PS. Jim still boasts about how I was kicking his ass but then how he turned it all around by whacking my supply column.
PSS. Minatures then? I have been thinking of giving that a try for years and might once I get a little more time to spare.

 

My biggest problems with computer based games are:

1. You cannot see the underlying algorythms and data to determine the accuracy of the game. In a manual board game or in miniatures the rules are all there for you to see. Related to this is the difficulty in changing the computer game the way you can modify a manual one. In the end you learn far less from the computer game.

2. There is really little ability on your part to expand or escape the scenarios of a computer based game the way you can with a manual one. This means you cannot explore scenarios or use equipment that does not come with the game in most cases. Where you can you are still limited by the programming itself.

So, in a computer game you end up learning the game instead of applying history to it in almost every case. Yes, these are games but, they do allow you to learn from them to a degree. The degree of learning is based on their accuracy or you ability to compare the results to history.

 

Good points.

 

GrossBorn:
I have not had the pleasure of playing any of my favorite Avalon Hill board games for a long time. Over the years I kept my favorties and sold off the others. So I still have Third Reich, Fortress Europa, The Russian Campaign and Midway.

I would love to try a play-by-e-mail game of The Russian Campaign or Midway to get back into the games.

Anyone interested in trying...

Thanks

Todd

 

There is a website that still supports Squad Leader.

Go here: Squad Leader Academy

Enjoy