[Pzt_Rasalom]

Battleships is the first war game i remember.
On PC, a game called 1944:Across the Rhine was my first foray. Can't really class Wolfenstein 3D as a war game can we?

[Badger-Bag]

[quote="southern_land

Bracken fern was another good in us King country boys. Made awesome arrows. I still have a scar on my right thumb where i was using an axe to sharpen them to fire an the older kid across the road and missed. Doh!!![/quote]

Oh aye. We used to make up whip arrows with the Bracken stalks (We call it pig root, pig fern, up here) and when we really wanted to sow death from concealment, we made bigger whips, heavier handles for more throwing inertia, and made the arrows out of fennel stalks instead.

Once apon a time, we carted one of us home from a "toi toi war" with extremely serious head wounds. He had made up some fennel arrows with chipped scoria "heads" on, and nailed one of the "big" kids in mid throw of a spear, with about a kilo of rock and fennel shaft, right in the teeth. And the big kid promptly flew down the hill in a rage and pounded Bill with boots, fists, and *double handful of hair* the earth.

The sort of weekend we called fun, kids today would run screaming from.

I just saw "300" and I gotta say, that was a BLOODY excellent movie.

[dj]

Avalon Hill's North Africa board game. 13 years old and my first introduction into the world of wargaming. Wish I still had it, a classic for sure.

[Gen_Jack]

Board game - '88' by Yaquinto http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/4289 Turn based game for North Afrika. Hex board with terrain options. Down to the unit level.

PC game - The Perfect General. Simple but great turn based game. NAval version was the Perfect Admiral.

Cheers

[squadman45]

The civil war, Empire

Panzer General

Steel Panthers

Fields of Glory

[Pzt_Kami]

[squadman45]

Steel panthers was the first pure wargame i have, from SSI and the year was 1997 (i buy the gold edition).



Now there are two new free versions, SPMBT (steel panthers main battle tank) cover 1945 to 2020 with lots of countries and modern wars, the other game is the Clasic game with a new look.... more complex and more details (for example in both games you can use barbedwire).

There are another version but i dont remenber the name, is sold by matrix games..... but the other games are better for me.

You download the free version, is the game whitout a few tools, nothing important, you can download the patchs whit more scenarios.

Modern
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/SPCamo/wSPMBT/6.htm

WWII
http://www.shrapnelgames.com/SPCamo/wSPWW2/6.htm

Sorry but i dont know where you can download the original 3 games... a see the steel panthers original in an abandoware web but dont remember what.... sorry

[Pzt_Kami]

Thanks for the information and links provided squadman45

[ArcticBlast]

Actually, man, the Steel Panther world at War version is ALSO free to download, although there's a high end version you can buy, as well.

My first computer wargame - War in the South Pacific for an Apple IIc...after that, there was Carriers at War. first PC one would have been Panzer General.

[Blackhole]

I'm surprised no one mentioned Empire or Global Conquest but those were my first two, I still have both of them running thru Dos Box on my comp., along with V for Victory and Panzer General. Anyone like The Perfect General 1 or 2 (2 for me) by chance? I think those five rounded out my war gaming as a child.... good ole days....

[Pzt_Verghasi]

Amazing to read all the many different games people played over the years. I, like most, played the usual war games outside with the negihborhood kids, and eventually graduated to serious warfare with me still having a BB in my chest from a well placed shot when I was 11.

First board game was of course Battleship! But afterwards, discovered Axis and Allies, chess, Stratego, and many others. Those were the main ones.

PC wise, I started early on with F/117 Stealth game on the ole Ps2. Moved onward from there into several others until I came home from college in '92 and landed square on my face in CC1. Dived in, and have been hooked ever since. First multi-play was Mechcommander, which very nearly cost me my marriage on several occasions of late night playing.

Saw someone mention that they played Romance of the Three Kingdoms. This game is still being updated on the PS2 platform. If you have that platform, might want to check into the newer versions, I think they are up to 11 now.
http://www.us.playstation.com/PS2/Games/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms_XI

[AT_von_Manstein40]

I think you've all covered it. The BB gun battles, toy soldier wars, combat for atari 2600. Wasn't there a biplane game for the 2600? Squad leader and Panzer leader board games. War in Russia for the Apple II+ and the follow up The Second Front for the IBM, both SSI games and the reason I bought My first CC game CCV. You all forgot to mention the summer fireworks battles though! Those were the best really. Exploding roman candles, duel 100 shot rocket launchers taped to a sawed off hockey stick, the sawed off whiffle ball bat for as many bottle rockets you could fit in it, etc. etc. Also when we were younger we had the water gun battles, I remember i had a Thompson smg water gun and a Luger squirt pistol. Those were the days. Oh yeah and the winter snowball fights with rocks and ice balls inside a tightly packed snowball. I'd say the soccer games during recess in elementary school were really brutal also.

[jphinsley]

we played Avalon Hill Gettysburg; map in squares with rectangular divisions. Or maybe we carved the pieces out of dinosaur hide, hard to remember...

[artizan]

Does no-one remember DamBusters for the BBC and MSX computers, that was the first game I remember programming myself in BASIC from a code list on to tape. ahhh the good old days when the NES was the PS3 of its day .

[crv8505]

Squad Leader by Avalon Hill. Even though it was normally slow moving, I couldn't get enough.

[Troger]

CC2

[arkturas]

Well, I remember when I first got a copy of the demo for CC2 - It was as awesome then as it is now. South Africa didn’t get many of the common games that were released to the rest of the world I guess the market wasn’t very big then. I was in a PC shop many years ago and something "CC" caught my eye; it was close combat trilogy (CC1; CC2; CC3)- I didn’t hesitate paid 400 Rand for it.

[Dinsdale]

My first wargame was Avalon Hill's Afrika Corps. We didn't even finish the game. We then played Panzer Leader a few times before my friend told me about a game called Squad Leader that he had heard good things about. We chipped in together and bought the game shortly thereafter. From then on I was hooked.

[falkoga]

First wargame was the boardgame "Lutzen", simulating the battle of 1632 were the swedish king Gustaf II Adolf won the battle but payed the ultimate price himself. Me and some of my children friends made many mods in paper and plastic of that!

Later I Played a lot of Avalon Hill boardgames; Russian Campaign, Panzer Leader, Pattons Best ...

On computer. Think there was a game called Desert Fox for C 64, but it wasn´t really a wargame. First real wargame on comp was for me was Operation Crusader, a boardgame on PC. Steel Panters was a favourite before I discovered CC in -98

I can still recommend those really simple boardgames from the 70´s and 80´s. Computers are better for handling all data of the more complex ones like ASL. The cc games are really carrieing the heritage of that game!

[Miles_Teg]

My first wargame was with miniatures at a store call "The Toy Soldier" in Bath, ME, USA...I played rpgs there and decided to join the Sunday games the owner held, playing as Russians attacking NATO in Europe with the players controlling the NATO side, well, after that I dropped the rpgs! Started playing ASL soon thereafter....