How Many Here are Wargamers and...

[Werewolf]

How many here are active wargamers (I am) - be it computer, miniatures or board style.

And...
If you play on a PC you might find this one of interest:

Forge of Freedom. It covers the American Civil War. You can experience the frustrations Lincoln and Davis had to deal with when dealing with state governors, assigning and promoting generals.

The game covers both economics and strategy. Militarily you control units down to the brigade level and assign them to divs, corps and armies. You control the Navies and blockade runners of each side. You can fight battles instantly (computer calculates results), quickly (line 'em up on a chess board type field with charge, attack, defend and route columns) or even fight with individual units on a very detailed hex map with terrain suitable to the state/province in which the battle is occuring.

You determine how important international diplomacy is.

This game is extremely detailed and playing it from start to finish will take awhile - (I've got about 12 hours in it so far and have just barely gotten into 1862).

If interested you can go to http://www.matrixgames.com for more details.

[BakerMikeRomeo]

I tried a couple of times to build Warhammer 40k armies, but I simply don't have the patience to paint 8,000 miniatures and then find some other nerd in the same town as me to play with.

As for online wargames, I'm a little bit too dense for any of the legit ones like Steel Panthers or that civil war one. Massive Assault is about all the information I can handle.

So.. uh.. I guess I'm not really a wargamer. Just sort of a warposer.

~GnSx

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

I used to get into RPGs when I was younger.  Played a lot of Axis and Allies in my day, too.

[Sindawe]

Wargaming is fun, but lacks the sense of involvement that a good FPS gives.

I've not seen a wargaming program I've enjoyed since Fantasy General.

[meinbruder]

How many here are active wargamers (I am) - be it computer, miniatures or board style.

Does used to be count?  I was an Avalon Hill addict as a teenager, even playing well into my twenties.  Various games over the years but the Panzer Leader series was my favorite.  Sadly all my opponents stopped playing.  I guess it's hard to keep an interest when one gets soundly trounced every time combat is joined.  I even had to give my brother a fifty percent advantage to hold his interest, he refused to learn from mistakes and had no idea what to do with self propelled artillery.  I bought copies of the squad leader series but have never played them.

I did play something called "The Perfect General" for a while, on my PC, but once I figured out how to sucker the AI it was to easy to win.  The AI played for points, one doesn't win a war playing for points.  Sadly my computer doesn't have a video card or the capacity for any of the modern games and I don't have time to devote.  Even now, my reloading bench is calling my name.
}:)> 

[theCZ]

I played a lot of Panzer General 2, and lately I've been playing a lot of Hearts of Iron II, which isn't really a war game, but a WWII game involving TONS of micromanagement.  I've played through as the Ruskies and it took me about 35 hours, now I'm up to 1943 as the Germans.  I really get a kick out of doing outrageous things that never really happened.


Example?  Oh heck, if you pull my leg...   

Agree to an Armastice with the Russians in late '41, then move down the Balkans towards Iran and invade England.  Way fun!

[Werewolf]

I've been playing a lot of Hearts of Iron II,

How does HOI2 compare to HOI1? Is it worth getting 2 if one enjoyed 1?

[theCZ]

How does HOI2 compare to HOI1? Is it worth getting 2 if one enjoyed 1?

I never played the first HOI, but I've heard they really did a lot of fixing on the AI and historical events.  If you are WWII nerd type like I am, I'd definately buy it.  I didn't even hear about the first, only found out about the second by a thread in another obscure gun forum and was intrigued.  There's lots to not like about it if you are being picky, but it's totally my kind of game. 

[El Tejon]

Used to play a lot of Advanced Squad Leader in undergrad and once in a while in grad school.

Any tactical games on the 'puter?

[Werewolf]

Any tactical games on the 'puter?

Quite a few actually - some of which are actually pretty good.

To name a few:
Conquest of the Aegean - Crete, Balkans and Italian WWII campaigns. More operational than tactical. Highway to the Reich - Operation Market Garden - again more operational than tactical. www.matrixgames.com

Point of Attack 2: Modern warfare. Control squad/platoon/company sized units. www.hpssims.com

Prosimco makes a series of games that cover various modern battlefields with an emphasis on mechanized warfare. I thinkt the link is www.prosimco.com but if it isn't google The Star and the Crescent. That'll get you there.

Steel Beasts: The best tank simulation on a personal computer ever (and as an ex Tanker I can say that with some authority). published by esim games. link to forum and publisher site at www.steelbeasts.com. The Army asked me to make some custom scenarios for them which were well received by units at Ft Hood and in Europe.

A game I am really looking forward to is Cross of Iron which is a remake/update/upgrade of Close Combat 3 from 8 or 9 years ago.  CC3 was squad/individual vehicle level combat on the Russian Front. Matrixgames will be publishing it and if it lives up to the hype (and Matrix games usually do) it will be on my hard drive for a long while.

There's a lot to offer wargaming wise for the computer even though it has become a niche market. It's rare now a days to find a quality wargame on a retailers shelf - the independents who sell online though are another matter entirely.

AI has improved some over the last 20 years but nothing beats playing a human opponent and with the internet that is getting easier and easier to do these days.

[MechAg94]

I always like real time strategy games.  Total Annihilation was one of the greatest games ever.

[S. Williamson]

I've been involved in the development of no less than three tabletop wargames over the past couple of years... one set in World War 2, another in medieval times, and the third in space.  Until the lead developer is ready for release, I can't talk too much 'bout em, except that the manuals are .5" thick when printed double-sided on regular printer paper. 

As far as other games go, I'm more of a first-person shooter/ flight sim type.

[El Tejon]

I loved table top games.  We played "Third Reich", "World in Flames", 'Civilization" a lot.  Tactical games we played "Advanced Squad Leader", "Wooden Ships and Iron Men".  A game I really enjoyed was the Battle of Cambrai by SPI "To the Green Fields and Beyond", great game.

Games in which I had the most fun had to be "Starship Trropers" (criticized at too convential like "PanzerBlitz in Spacesuits" but I loved it, remember the alternative scenarios that ran in the General those were great) and "Fortress America" by MB.  I loved FA, drink beer, eat pretzels, invade America--nothing better (I got real good as the Chinese player of penetrating into the Midwest and grabbing the laser sites).