Hobby Thread - November 16, 2024 [TRex]

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Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread.

We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin and it landed on a theme of strategy games for this week. Apparently the Wheel is interested in games of tactics and strategy. For purposes of the Hobby Thread, we are not talking about real-life diplomatic and political dynamics. We are talking about games, scenarios, and simulations done for fun and hobbying. If your professional job involves running military simulations or your education involved re-visiting battles of old, you are welcome to share.

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Once upon a time, TRex played Stratego and Battleship, but that is about it. Difficult to play strategy games with these short arms. Besides, dinosaur history games typically involve an asteroid and end quickly. Others, however, are much more into war gaming and strategy games. Some of this fun exists in board game form with dice or cards. Some fun exists on computer. Some fun involves getting together with others to recreate military conflicts with scale figures and landscapes.

Do you play games of strategy? Are they role playing games or board games or games on a computer? What are your favorites? Are there eras in the past or military engagements of the past that you find most compelling? Do you keep close to reality or do you play in the sandboxes of fantasy and fiction? Are you wise in the ways of Dungeons and Dragons? Aside from the fun aspect of gaming, have you found that strategy games helped your problem solving skills in general? Do you play games with your children to teach them about history?

Content below to get the conversation started, but looking for participation from our gray box friends. If meaningful to you, it will be meaningful to the Horde.

As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to collecting money. It can be difficult to separate money with politics but try to keep some tenuous connection to games and hobbying. Politics and current events can reside in threads elsewhere. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls. As usual, wearing pants is optional for thread participation.

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Our friend Skip sent a report from his war gaming trip to the fall convention of the Historical Miniatures Gaming Society. The event is called Fall In! (like the military command) and was held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

While I have thousands of figures, one does not need to take anything but your person. All games are played with the game masters figures. Sometimes a club pools figures for the game masters. I could if I wanted to run a game and pack my figures to the venue.
But came just to play, and maybe buy a few figures from the vendors. First game was a Wars of Oz. Yes besides characters from the Wizard of Oz, they have expanded not unlike Tolkiens world with factions good and bad and magic in a black powder period. I seem to be attracted to playing on the Munchkins side.

Next couple games went back to my usual Napoleonics. In the first game, the game master connected different sessions by continuing where the last game time ended. The next played a Napoleonic era game with rules from Wars of Oz.

Day 2 refought a historical Napoleonic game with a fantastic game board called the flank of Waterloo. The Prussians assisted the British/Allies at a town called Plancenoit. We almost won, losing one of the goal positions. On the last roll for a Prussian unit to stay or run out of that position, they ran.

Did not play this game, but just to show what extraordinary preparation some game masters do on their time and money. This was a modern warfare game.

I watched a WWI flying game that I see often at conventions. Well, watch enough and they will talk you into playing. I shot down one German but got myself shot down as well. Mostly tried to stay out of anyones sights.
These miniature game conventions are all over the country, and throughout the year and in other countries as well. One just needs admission and then find what you want to play. They are happy to explain rules, usually a quick description at the beginning and questions along the way are never a problem.

Thanks Skip! Anyone else participate in these types of events?

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Due to my small dinosaur brain, I do not pretend to understand all the nuances but it looks like part of the magic is the games and part of the magic is the builds and pieces parts. You can buy and paint figures, but people often make their own buildings, landscapes and figures. 3D printing is a big thing. Here is an overview of the event Skip attended - maybe he is in there somewhere?

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From the HMGS website:

Historical miniature wargaming is the recreation of historical battles (the Tactical level of war) through the use of a 3D terrain table over which are deployed model forests, roads, rivers and buildings as well as miniature soldiers and vehicles depicting the actual participants of the engagement. Each miniature represents a certain number of historical soldiers or vehicles, as in the popular rules called Napoleon's Battles where the ratio is one figure for each 100 historical combatants. The miniature forces involved are painted to depict the same color schemes or uniforms as were used by the historical combatants. In this regard, miniature wargaming departs from its sister wargaming wings using cardboard or micro chip in also being an art form as well as a competitive hobby.
Detailed rules instruct the players on how they may move and launch their miniature forces in combat against each other, drawing on extensive research as to what happened historically and why. The rules, and also the reference chats that accompany them, regulate such things as combat formations, movement, command-control (C2), morale and firepower. Dice, from 6 sided to 20 sided, are used to insert the uncertainty that has always been present in war into the game, and thus into the minds of the players as well. Thus while such things as morale and training might dictate that a unit of 1813 Prussian Landwehr (militia) might have only a 5% chance of victory when attacking a battalion of Napoleon's Old Guard Grenadiers, it can happen, though not very often.

More details at the site.

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How D&D Grew Out of Historical Wargames

Dungeons and Dragons has had a long history, but it's longer than many veteran players might realize. It is true that D&D saw its first release in 1974, but D&Ds roots stretch further back, not just to 1971's Chainmail, but all the way back to 1812. The path from then to the modern day has spanned over two centuries, but even now, traces of D&D's ancestry are still visible even in 5th Edition.
Starting in the 15th century, Chess and Shogi used game pieces to represent various military units and resources, implementing rules meant to loosely simulate the movements of an army, but it wasn't until the early 19th century that the first modern war games emerged. Initially invented in Prussia in 1811 and refined in 1812, Kriegsspiel is the great-grandparent of many modern games.

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Battleship is known worldwide as a pencil and paper game which dates from World War I. It was published by various companies as a pad and pencil game in the 1930s and was released as a plastic board game by Milton Bradley in 1967.

You can make your own Battleship game with grid paper.

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The Horde Might Know Things:

Here is a challenge for the Horde. The sign below and accompanying scale models are located in the North Carolina Racing Hall of Fame (near Charlotte). As the sign says, the museum would like help learning more about the two model cars in their collection. Does anyone in the Horde know or know someone who does? If the Hobby Thread is not successful, I will post on a future ONT for another attempt (but I have faith in the Hobby Thread Horde).

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Unrelated to strategy games but some of the Horde enjoys working on cars or following motorsport. This is the story of how one person became a lead engineer for a NASCAR racing team (Xfinity Series, JR Motorsports, Sam Mayer). Short summary: a lot of work, a lot of physics knowledge (some learned through academics but most learned through the school of hard knocks), little money, and little sleep. Success mocks those who want to accomplish big things and maintain a work life balance. It takes total commitment.
I Did Not Have The Money Or Skill To Be A Pro Race Car Driver So I Did The Next Best Thing

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Also unrelated to strategy games but very related to tools and proper caliper usage:

(h/t Kindltot)

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Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week with a collecting money? The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

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Notable comments from last week:

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Honorable mention:

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Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

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If war gaming and strategy games are not your thing and you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different hobby next time. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. The only winning move is not to play.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Welcome Hobbiests and Gamers

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 05:31 PM (fwDg9)

2 Not really a "strategic" game in the truest sense of the word, but family loves to play Blok-us at Christmas time 😊♥️🦎

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, Texas - Ace of Spades Ladies' Brigade plucky comic relief at November 16, 2024 05:35 PM (SRRAx)

3 I have a buncha Avalon Hill games up in the closet that haven't been touched in 30 years.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 16, 2024 05:35 PM (js3aQ)

4 My brother and used to love Stratego!

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 16, 2024 05:37 PM (B4Z3y)

5 I loved Stratego when I was young. For kids, it's a nice balance of stategy and luck.

Posted by: Ignoramus at November 16, 2024 05:37 PM (Gqoy+)

6 but family loves to play Blok-us at Christmas time

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, Texas - Ace of Spades Ladies' Brigade plucky comic relief at November 16, 2024 05:35 PM (SRRAx)
-

Also apparently popular right after the elections.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at November 16, 2024 05:37 PM (js3aQ)

7 I have never been a fan of board games. If I spend time in purgatory I would likely have to play Monopoly to pay for my sins. But I did like Risk enough to keep me interested for more than fifteen minutes.

I did like Trivial Pursuit (I knew a lot of useless stuff - but that game is very dated) and Pictionary (I draw good).

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Not Ready for the Cart at November 16, 2024 05:37 PM (Ad8y9)

8 I always watch these recap videos but yet to see myself, sometimes do see the games I played in. I do like to wear my shakos so would stand out if in them.

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 05:37 PM (fwDg9)

9 One of Paul's uncles was forever finding arrowheads out in the country. He had a few very impressive framed displays of arrowheads he had found over the years. It was very cool!

Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, Texas - Ace of Spades Ladies' Brigade plucky comic relief at November 16, 2024 05:38 PM (SRRAx)

10 I loved Stratego. But we played a lot of Risk!

Posted by: no one of any consequence at November 16, 2024 05:38 PM (+H2BX)

11 Been playing advanced squad leader since 2008.

Large collection of games from GMT games and avalanche press.

Enjoy playing historical minis games
Saga, black powder, lion rampant, and bolt action

Posted by: Joahua at November 16, 2024 05:39 PM (OBSHd)

12 proper caliper usage:

Slip joint pliers AKA Mexican micrometers.

Posted by: Commissar of Plenty and Lysenkoism in Solidarity with the Struggle at November 16, 2024 05:40 PM (nNkxN)

13 I posted a thread on the classic age of wargames: https://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=390331

Posted by: NaCly Dog at November 16, 2024 05:40 PM (u82oZ)

14 I loved the notion of dungeons and Dragons, and enjoyed playing...for a while. I have a really short attention span.

I liked being a DM, but it turns out I was far more interested in writing short stories based on the world I created. So I did not do a of DM-ing.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Not Ready for the Cart at November 16, 2024 05:42 PM (Ad8y9)

15 Regarding the Mazeda's..
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Mazda 323 GTX, by far the rarest flavor of the Japanese brand’s plucky two-door 323 hatchback (called the Familia in Japan). Imported to the United States for the 1988 and ’89 model years, the 323 GTX combined turbos, all-wheel drive, and a race-ready chassis into a rally package like Mazda had never produced. And yet, people forgot the GTX in the intervening decades since it was last offered for sale. That’s a shame—this hot hatch’s rarity, performance cred, and period styling would make a quirky and rewarding addition to any collection.

The catch? Finding one is tough, as only 1243 examples ever made it across the Pacific to settle in American garages, and many of them were treated… vigorously.
====
Via Hagerty

Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 16, 2024 05:43 PM (Q4IgG)

16 I did a chicken stew in my instant pot. Then, without cleaning it, I did some rice. It is savory.

There are many board games and tabletop RPGs with unpainted miniatures. Warhammer was my gateway here.

I have been working through Massive Darkness 2 and I just painted some angels. These guys storm the gates of hell EG Diablo.

https://x.com/BourbnChicken/status/1856085436499898611

Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 16, 2024 05:43 PM (lhenN)

17 Do any Morons remember a Risk- like game, where the board had a castle in each of the 4 corners, and a lake in the middle?

I recall it being a good, quick game, mainly because there was not much time spent on setup.

Posted by: 2009Refugee at November 16, 2024 05:44 PM (8AONa)

18 My brothers and cousins and I played Risk. My armies were usually crushed by opposing forces early. The boys could go on for hours, back and forth across the world while I read a book in another room.

Posted by: huerfano at November 16, 2024 05:45 PM (DKIGo)

19 I purchased a Go set awhile ago. This is reminding me to actually open it and learn to play.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 05:46 PM (7oYYI)

20 Hmmm. Where to start?

I played a fair number of classic strategy games, both tabletop and computer games.

Risk and Stratego are classics, of course, along with Axis & Allies.

The Command & Conquer series was always a lot of fun.

Steve Jackson games like Munchkin or Illuminati often require a fair amount of strategy in order to win, believe it or not.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 16, 2024 05:47 PM (BpYfr)

21 Strategy memories . .

Older brothers taking an hour to set up their pieces

Then taking 4 hours to play, trash talking all the way, with the occasional punch thrown.

Posted by: 2009Refugee at November 16, 2024 05:47 PM (8AONa)

22 While played board war games from kids age, then in military continued with more advanced Avalon Hill games, never played with miniatures until got to Virginia and guy on my crew asked if I wanted to play D&D, thought sounded fun. We played at recreation center taking the large chalk board on table so the Dungeon Master would drawl the walls and such right on the blackboard table.

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 05:47 PM (fwDg9)

23 I have an extensive collection of many simulations and wargames. From ancient days to the far future.

I mostly play Hearts of Iron IV when I get a chance.
These days I don't go in for conquest, but forming a strong defensible nation that is not attacked. I strive for a modernized and trained smaller army, but a lethal Navy.

In a game with 50 or more million casualties, I count it a win if I have less than 500,000 dead. The AI does not know how to factor in a pacific, but armed, modernized, and organized, nation.

If I am Germany, I wait to be attacked and I think sending any troops past Moscow to be stupid.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at November 16, 2024 05:48 PM (u82oZ)

24 Now... I do computer wargaming.

- Command Modern Operations
- Cold Waters
- Armored Brigade
- Sea Power (in beta)

All very difficult. To me.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at November 16, 2024 05:49 PM (Q4IgG)

25 I loved war games.

In high school, once I finally found friends, we'd play 'Risk' with six players.

I'd usually win about 40% of the games. Not bad. I was always the target but everyone knew once I felt I lost the game, everything would be turned to the person that did me most harm. That helped a lot.

My friend Mike and I tried playing "Operation Barbarosa' but it was too much. Too time consuming.

AD&D actually had a large war game for armies which was really cool. But you needed friends close by willing to commit a fair amount of time.

Love the miniatures.

Oh, 'Axis and Allies' was a lot of fun. Miss that.

Posted by: Stateless at November 16, 2024 05:50 PM (jvJvP)

26 Never got into strategy board games unless you include chess. When D and D came along I was too busy working to get started with it. I remember displays of the fancy war games in the window of Brentano book stores and thought they looked so cool but they were intended for adults and were beyond a kid's budget. Bummer.

Posted by: JTB at November 16, 2024 05:51 PM (yTvNw)

27 "I Did Not Have The Money Or Skill To Be A Pro Race Car Driver So I Did The Next Best Thing"

I autocross or rallycross usually about once a month and that takes care of my need for speed.

Posted by: fd at November 16, 2024 05:51 PM (vFG9F)

28 9 One of Paul's uncles was forever finding arrowheads out in the country. He had a few very impressive framed displays of arrowheads he had found over the years. It was very cool!
Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, Texas - Ace of Spades Ladies' Brigade plucky comic relief at November 16, 2024 05:38 PM (SRRAx)

My PawPaw had a large collection of framed arrowhead arrangements. He sold most but kept his favorites out at the farm in Burleson.
He also, I regret to say, had a partial human skull.
We didn't think anything about this, until our eldest was an anthropology student at UNT and turned it in to the dept. to dispose of properly.

Posted by: sal at November 16, 2024 05:51 PM (f+FmA)

29 DND can be fun with the right group. Or you get stuck with someone who role plays a Barbadian that has an irrational hatred for doors and you find out very quickly the hardness of all the doors in the land. My personal preference is not too much role playing there - I think people esp younger gens get carried away with it. I’d much rather get in combat and solve puzzles in interesting ways. But alas it takes too much time at the moment.

We have enjoyed wingspan, carcassone, qwinto, and pandemic lately. Debatably strategy games but I think they are a good blend of casual strategy. Somebody in our house is too good at strategy games like risk etc so for us those are a good middle ground. The coop aspect of pandemic is fun, and the rules are well done, though ofc it’s a touchy subject.

Posted by: H at November 16, 2024 05:51 PM (4N/0w)

30 I have played GDW's Fire in the East and Scorched Earth.

I nailed a metal sheet to a wall in a spare bedroom, and had over 4,000 counter magnets. Took a year to play each game.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at November 16, 2024 05:52 PM (u82oZ)

31 I don't recall what board games, aside from checkers, I played as a yoot. Tried to learn the rules to chess when I was in college and apparently did not have the interest or the mental firepower (something which as a Great Brain I find hard to admit). We played some card games like Fan Tan at home, but not much beyond that.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at November 16, 2024 05:54 PM (omVj0)

32 When we lived in Connecticut I would go to Cold Wars, Historicon and Fall In every single year. We did that for over 15 years and had a blast at every convention.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at November 16, 2024 05:54 PM (QNSds)

33 My young god-daughter and her older sisters would always play 'Connect 4' and other games.

Even though they were young kids, I never took it easy on them.

When they legitimately beat me in games with no dice, it was a pretty big deal.

Posted by: Stateless at November 16, 2024 05:54 PM (jvJvP)

34 Besides, dinosaur history games typically involve an asteroid and end quickly.

Y'all laugh, but there is a board game called "Happy Little Dinosaurs" that is exactly this.

The box shows a cartoon stegosaurus under a hail of meteors, with the subtitle "Smile, it's almost over."

Posted by: mikeski at November 16, 2024 05:54 PM (DgGvY)

35 Started with AH's Tactics II and Blitzkrieg. The last AH game I purchased was Richtoffen's War.

Moved on to PC games - Command HQ was a favorite. Loved the Talonsoft games. Still have Waterloo and Quatre Bras. Sold Gettysburg for a pretty penny.

Now I play Shogun I. Star Citizen is starting to come together, so I'll work on that some more.

Posted by: mrp at November 16, 2024 05:55 PM (rj6Yv)

36 One of Paul's uncles was forever finding arrowheads out in the country. He had a few very impressive framed displays of arrowheads he had found over the years. It was very cool!
Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, Texas
-----

I have a nice small collecton of indian pottery shards. I used to hunt along the edge of a tidal creek and gradual erosion of the bank would leave this exposed. I keep meaning to have them evaluated for age. I expect on the order of 1000 years old.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 16, 2024 05:55 PM (XeU6L)

37 Now do micrometers. They're actually easier to read than calipers though.

Posted by: banana Dream at November 16, 2024 05:55 PM (Y6IkP)

38 I was looking through my board games and came across "Frag" - A Steve Jackson game that's basically a first-person-shooter without the computer. Lots of fun with a surprising amount of strategy involved as you build your character with a combination of stats.

Do you want to be able to move quickly, shoot accurately, or survive at least one hit? It's one of the most important strategic decisions of the game as it will determine how you play.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 16, 2024 05:55 PM (BpYfr)

39 I have played a fair number of Avalon Hill board games from the strategic to the tactical. Played several SPI games, Traveler, D&D 1st edition through the original AD&D books 1st edition.

Lost interest as my fellow players in the neighborhood and I all went away to college and the old gang was broken up.

Longest marathon game session was Wooden Ships and Iron Men Battle of Trafalgar scenario. Took 4 of us--two for the Brits, two for the French and Spanish side. Took about 18 hours of gameplay fueled by caffeinated drinks and junk food.

Most advanced was Advanced Squad Leader which had so many additional rules it took forever to play.

Most boring, AH's 1914 which used an attrition model where you had several counters for one unit as it went through attrition and got weaker. PITA to keep up with on book keeping.

Most fun---a game called Top Secret where you played a spy, think that was a TSR one. Traveller was another fun one.

Also played a mini wargame, GDI?, which was some sort of Laumer's Bolo based tank game.

SPI's Invasion America was fun as was one that I cannot remember the name of but it was after a nuclear exchange and you competed in rebuilding.

Posted by: whig at November 16, 2024 05:57 PM (ctrM5)

40 Ooops. Forgot to mention World of Warships.

Posted by: mrp at November 16, 2024 05:57 PM (rj6Yv)

41 OT, but hobby related: I ordered some Carter Hall Match pipe tobacco and some Mac Baren HH Old Dark Fired this week, and should have them next week. The Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) which owns Sutliff and Mac Baren is closing a manufacturing facility in Denmark and moving production to another and smaller location. Which probably means that some Sutliff and MB pipe tobacco blends which are not big sellers will be discontinued. My purchases above were made with that in mind. If you like a lot of their blends, it might be wise to stock up now.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at November 16, 2024 05:57 PM (omVj0)

42 Play cribbage twice a day with the Mrs

Posted by: Zeera The people are coming at November 16, 2024 05:58 PM (lMEUd)

43 Most fun---a game called Top Secret where you played a spy, think that was a TSR one.

Posted by: whig at November 16, 2024 05:57 PM (ctrM5)
---
That is indeed a TSR product. It's sitting on my bookshelf less than 10 feet away from me.

TSR had several different genres of roleplaying games at one time.

Top Secret (spies and espionage)
Gamma World (post-apocalyptic wasteland with psychic powers)
Star Frontiers (standard science fiction)

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 16, 2024 05:59 PM (BpYfr)

44 whig

The game you remember, after a nuclear exchange and you competed in rebuilding, was SPI's After the Holocaust.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at November 16, 2024 06:00 PM (u82oZ)

45 The kind of gaming Skip does is interesting but making the figures and accoutrements historically correct is what catches my eye. It reminds me of the model train folks who make their own landscapes and reenactors who make their own gear and clothing. It involves the participant even more than just playing.

Posted by: JTB at November 16, 2024 06:01 PM (yTvNw)

46 I have some Franco pesetas. Not evil, he was cool. I do have a bunch of Soviet and Nazi coinage, though. I have a few silver 5RM from the earliest days of the Reich, when they were still unsure of themselves, and combining Nazi symbols with imagery of Hindenburg, the Potsdam Garrison Church, etc. I have a bunch of cool coinage from here and abroad.

I also have a big-ass collection of Soviet pins and buttons. They loved those little insignia. Stamped 'em out for every imaginable facet of Soviet life. I even have a button commemorating the first Soviet McDonald's.

I have a couple Stone Mountain silver half dollars I acquired a little while back. Those are interesting - Congress wouldn't authorize appropriations for the construction, but (being prodded by Coolidge) did authorize the Mint to issue the commemoratives at a premium as the fundraising mechanism. It worked, and Stone Mountain got built over the objections of Yankee Congresscritters.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 06:01 PM (7oYYI)

47 I've got a collection of arrowheads I've found thru the years. It's funny how you find them sometimes. They will be perched on little mound of dirt because the rain has eroded all the dirt around it except what was covered by the point itself. Other times I have found them with just part of it sticking out of the ground. There are a lot of them out there. I wonder sometimes how the indians lost so many points, knives, and scrapers.

Posted by: fd at November 16, 2024 06:02 PM (vFG9F)

48 I went to Origins I and II, and won prizes for winning AH's Midway.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at November 16, 2024 06:02 PM (u82oZ)

49
I did like Trivial Pursuit (I knew a lot of useless stuff - but that game is very dated) and Pictionary (I draw good).
Posted by: Pug Mahon, Not Ready for the Cart at November 16, 2024

***
In 1987 and '88, I had a group of friends who played Trivial Pursuit on Saturday nights. Some of us were recovering addicts and alcoholics, some were non-drinkers, but we all wanted a safe place to be on a Saturday evening, and TP was perfect. I discovered I was good at it. After all, I'd spent a great deal of my life to that point (and since) collecting "useless" information.

"I'm sorry, the card says 'Moops'!"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at November 16, 2024 06:03 PM (omVj0)

50 Never much of a fan of board games. I liked playing Risk until I'd get bored about halfway through and then I'd go on a suicide run and I could leave the game.

My kids loved a board game called Axis and Allies. No way did have enough attention span to play that game.

Posted by: Hedley Lamarr at November 16, 2024 06:04 PM (UWRAE)

51 Posted by: Teresa in Fort Worth, Texas - Ace of Spades Ladies' Brigade plucky comic relief at November 16, 2024 05:38 PM (SRRAx)

My best friend's uncle founded Old Trail Town in Cody, Wyoming. the sheer amount of artifacts he gathered over the years is astounding. the "town" includes the cabin that Butch Cassidy lived in when he was at Hole in the Wall (in the southern foothills of the Bighorn Mountains). If you go to Cody, visit. me and my friend are pretty certain that it's haunted.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Not Ready for the Cart at November 16, 2024 06:04 PM (Ad8y9)

52 This is a vast and ever-growing hobby that has really hit its stride in recent years. No matter what someone’s interests are, there’s a mountain of games to explore. Currently, our family is playing Shikoku 1889, an economic train game set in 19th-century Japan. It’s all about starting publicly traded companies, buying trains, laying track and ruthlessly exploiting market forces—perfect for fans of cutthroat strategy.

Another favorite of ours is Root, a game known as COIN game (COunter-INsurgency). It’s a highly asymmetrical war game featuring factions like crows, frogs, and even a lone raccoon, each with their own unique playstyle and win conditions.

What we love most about board gaming as a family is how it pulls us away from screens and brings us back to face-to-face interactions. All right, I’m off to bankrupt the train company where my wife happens to be the leading shareholder!

Posted by: HappyFun at November 16, 2024 06:04 PM (aIURK)

53 "I have a nice small collecton of indian pottery shards. I used to hunt along the edge of a tidal creek and gradual erosion of the bank would leave this exposed. I keep meaning to have them evaluated for age. I expect on the order of 1000 years old.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, "

Do any of them have incisions or stamped patterns?

Posted by: fd at November 16, 2024 06:06 PM (vFG9F)

54 We had The Book of Classic Board Games when the kids were young and played them until it almost fell apart.
They were almost all strategy games.
It was so convenient to have them all in one place and a set of black/white counters were included.
Fond memories.

Posted by: sal at November 16, 2024 06:07 PM (f+FmA)

55 I liked Stratego as a game but as with many games of that era the game was often decided way before it was finished.

Oh I took your 1 and 2 piece? I'm almost certainly going to win but...it might be another 30 minutes.

Posted by: 18-1 at November 16, 2024 06:09 PM (oZhjI)

56 Started wargaming with Britain's Limited figures using H.G. Wells' "Little Wars" rules. Lots of fun knocking the figures over with the naval gun but didn't do much for their re-sale value. Graduated to board games (Avalon Hill's "Battle of the Bulge" was a particular favorite) and other miniature games. Now playing games on the computer, but mostly retro games like "Civilization II" and "Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri," but I still have almost all of my miniatures ready for action.

Posted by: Retired, thank God! at November 16, 2024 06:10 PM (9BIt9)

57 This is one of my home game boards. I do have thousands of Napoleonic era figures, in 15mm

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 06:10 PM (fwDg9)

58 https://i.post___.cc/jjKjdbTV/20200325-093636.jpg

Forgot to paste

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 06:11 PM (fwDg9)

59 I have a very well worn Chainmail pamphlet. I was one of those kids who got D&D for Christmas and never looked back. Have played on 4 continents.
Haven't played in 25 years.
Neverwinter is my game now

Posted by: Reforger at November 16, 2024 06:11 PM (xcIvR)

60 One of the first heavier board games I got into was Advanced Civilization, not at all related to the later Sid Meier video game. https://tinyurl.com/ybmzm7sw

Never managed to finish a game with anyone though.

Later I found a computer version of the game and it was fun but not quite the same as with actual people

Posted by: 18-1 at November 16, 2024 06:12 PM (oZhjI)

61 I wonder sometimes how the indians lost so many points, knives, and scrapers.
Posted by: fd at November 16, 2024 06:02 PM (vFG9F)

Missed their targets?

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at November 16, 2024 06:16 PM (OX9vb)

62 Look up the article " A Farewell to Hexes" if you'd like a run down on what happened to the board wargaming. Author takes aim at TSR for basically ending the board wargaming industry. A quote from the article states ".. and then TSR shot wargaming in the head" after their acquisition of S&T.

Posted by: RockwellT at November 16, 2024 06:16 PM (d99ra)

63 Started in on the old Avalon Hill games - 1776 and Starship Troopers then settled on Advanced Squad Leader. Still play on occasion.

Posted by: Rex Mundi at November 16, 2024 06:17 PM (GxDMu)

64 OT for the strategic games. The latest issue of Fly Tyer magazine had a great article about tying flies by hand, without using a vise. That was the norm until circa the 1930s but has almost entirely disappeared from the activity. A small group of experienced tyers got interested in the method, researched some old sources and are giving it a try. Turns out there are some advantages to being able to tie that way since you can make a fly on the water to meet the conditions. I would have thought such flies would be rather fragile since you can't use as much tension on the thread but that wasn't always the case judging by how many flies tied over a century ago have lasted. It is an interesting aspect of the hobby.

Besides the historical description, the article included photos and methods of how to tie the flies.

Posted by: JTB at November 16, 2024 06:17 PM (yTvNw)

65 I'm seriously considering a few Soviet and Nazi watches too. Nobody else really ever made large numbers of nationalist timepieces.

I definitely want an NKVD Smert' Shpionam watch, though. That shit is hardcore; I plan to get one at some point.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 06:18 PM (7oYYI)

66 I had an Axis and Allies sent to me when I was in Somalia.
Became such a hot item I was bought out to leave it there.
A three day waiting list when I left.

I own it again now with an extra set of pieces.
I also have version 2 which is a split set and I only have Europe.
I want Fortress America.
Grandkids seem realy interested so I may get into playing instead of collecting.
I think I'll start them on Risk which I own about 8 versions of.

Posted by: Reforger at November 16, 2024 06:20 PM (xcIvR)

67 Skip, can't get the link to work.

Posted by: sal at November 16, 2024 06:22 PM (f+FmA)

68 I have a couple Stone Mountain silver half dollars I acquired a little while back. Those are interesting - Congress wouldn't authorize appropriations for the construction, but (being prodded by Coolidge) did authorize the Mint to issue the commemoratives at a premium as the fundraising mechanism. It worked, and Stone Mountain got built over the objections of Yankee Congresscritters.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice
------

I have a couple of those also.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 16, 2024 06:22 PM (XeU6L)

69 Replace the underscore with eye em gee.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at November 16, 2024 06:23 PM (lhenN)

70 I have a couple Stone Mountain silver half dollars I acquired a little while back. Those are interesting - Congress wouldn't authorize appropriations for the construction, but (being prodded by Coolidge) did authorize the Mint to issue the commemoratives at a premium as the fundraising mechanism. It worked, and Stone Mountain got built over the objections of Yankee Congresscritters.
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice
------

I have a couple of those also.
Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc.
------

I have also climbed Stone Mountain. An interesting facet is that at least a couple of the stonemasons chisled their names and the date at various locations on lower parts of the mountain.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at November 16, 2024 06:24 PM (XeU6L)

71 ___ => i m g (remove spaces)

Posted by: Angzarr the Cromulent at November 16, 2024 06:25 PM (XMwZJ)

72 tinyurl.com/3umyc989
I copied the postimage not the tiny url

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 06:25 PM (fwDg9)

73 This is just my 1812 Russian Army vehicles, and probably not all. At Fall In got another cart for them.
tinyurl.com/3x3yb8n4

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 06:29 PM (fwDg9)

74 You know who really liked parlor games and board games?

Bennett Cerf.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at November 16, 2024 06:29 PM (0eaVi)

75 My wife's hobby is rooting for the Kansas State Wildcats football team. Game starts soon.

I am her support staff, and I have some tasking orders to fulfill.

Have a great day, everyone.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at November 16, 2024 06:31 PM (u82oZ)

76 Like a lot us guys that are a bit over 29, I started with Avalon Hill's "Tactics II." I then stumbled across "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" at a hobby store and never looked back. I still remember my college buddy and I playing a marathon session of SPI's "The Next War": we played 3 days straight and, after it was all over, we were both exhausted, NATO and the Warsaw Pact was exhausted, and forces pretty much ended up at the start line.

I discovered miniature wargaming when the Old Man gave me a copy of Charles Grant's The War Game. Then we moved close to Kettering, Ohio, where there was a an actual store, The Tin Soldier, that was dedicated to only wargaming! As a teenager, I got to meet Duke Seigfried, John Hill and some other guys that were big in the wargaming circles back in the late 1970s.

I still have a huge collection of games and miniatures but haven't played in years.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 06:32 PM (pJWtt)

77 This is amazing!
What are the little numbers on the bases- type? how many you own?
And is that a guillotine in the top corner?

Posted by: sal at November 16, 2024 06:32 PM (f+FmA)

78 Here's my contribution to strategy games, an old computer game from 1992, considered to be the grand-daddy of all RTS (real time strategy) computer games:

Dune 2 by Westwood Studios:
https://is.gd/VnpF85

I still occasionally play a campaign of this in DOSBox.

It's offspring (The entire Command and Conquer series) caused me to build new computers a couple of times during the releases of the various titles.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at November 16, 2024 06:32 PM (O7YUW)

79 Loved Stratego! The bomb was favorite in that go.
We played Canasta, gin and all sorts of board games. Also liked Master Mind. Another strategy game of sorts was Masterpiece. Had to sell your work of art and it was assigned randomly a value. The highest was 1million and lowest was forgery. Lots of salesmanship going on for that one.

Posted by: Paisley at November 16, 2024 06:33 PM (ny1NG)

80 The game you remember, after a nuclear exchange and you competed in rebuilding, was SPI's After the Holocaust.
Posted by: NaCly Dog at November 16, 2024 06:00 PM (u82oZ)

Twilight 2000? Loved that game.

I was also really partial to Traveler and later Megatraveler.
I still have a couple of those books around here somewhere.
Shit is worth a fortune now. I bet I could get $150 for my Chainmail.

Posted by: Reforger at November 16, 2024 06:33 PM (xcIvR)

81 We had a huge collection of pottery shards when I was growing up in phoenix. At that time there were still a large number of Pueblo ruins that hadn’t come under any control, small ruins, probably 2 - 3 families. They would be listed on 4 wheel drive maps, and my dad would take my brother out looking for them in his Toyota Land Cruiser (classic)
When you found them the trick was to find the midden, or garbage dump, which was generally a small mound within 100 yards of the main entrance. Dig into that and in no time at all you could fill a bushel basket with beautifully painted pottery shards.
Yeah I know, ethics shmethics.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 16, 2024 06:34 PM (W6hoT)

82 Most advanced was Advanced Squad Leader which had so many additional rules it took forever to play.

Posted by: whig at November 16, 2024 05:57 PM

I bought Advanced Squad Leader when it came out. Shooting a heavy machinegun in that game covered four full pages of rules. I gave up and never played it due to the complexity.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at November 16, 2024 06:37 PM (QNSds)

83 Hi war-gaming morons. In the Bruce C. Clarke Library at Fort Leonard Wood, home of US Army Engineers (and MPs, and Chemical Corps), they have a display of Avalon-Hill war games.

Boy, does that take me back!

Posted by: goatexchange at November 16, 2024 06:37 PM (W6sLr)

84 Carl van Vechten was a gifted portrait photographer, but my favorite one of his is the chiaroscuro shot he took of Bennett Cerf.

Also, speaking of prints, Cerf's daddy was a Jewish printing man, so I have a (vain) hope that maybe one of my kids will end up so successful

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 06:39 PM (7oYYI)

85 Missed the coin post, I have a draped bust early dollar collection, all AU, 1795-1803.

Posted by: Dr Spank at November 16, 2024 06:40 PM (W2avo)

86 Y’all can get off my lawn.
Born in ‘52. All the classics: Monopoly, Clue, 1812 with ships and removeable masts/sails lost to broadsides, Civil War, one with plastic tokens, one with figurines, WWI Aces with planes on mounts.
Later, Risk, Stratego, etc.
Then and now, huge Cribbage tournaments.
My dad was the one who would always play. And we took no prisoners.
Yes, it carried into my life.

Posted by: RI Red at November 16, 2024 06:40 PM (1Jzj5)

87 I fondly (yet vaguely) recall all-night, beer-fueled Risk games when I was in college.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at November 16, 2024 06:40 PM (mH6SG)

88 I've become a fan of Slay the Spire, a player vs. computer deck-building game. It's not war, exactly, but more of a constant combat game. You play through three maps (ages) one level at a time, each map having various crisscrossing paths from bottom (where you start) to top. At the top you fight the Boss for that age.

The maps contain enemies, elite enemies, rest stops (regain health or upgrade a card), shops to buy cards or potions or pay to remove a card, and "?" that could be any of the above or a visit to some creature or place that might do something to you or for you.

When you defeat an enemy, you get a reward or rewards (cards, potions, money, relics) to strengthen your arsenal.

The game has levels of difficulty, called ascensions, beginning at ascension 0. Each individual game, too, becomes progressively harder.

It's incredibly difficult. The best players in the world, playing at ascension 20, only win about 35% of their games. I'm running at about 17% on ascension 0 after playing a hundred games or so.

You can download it for free, which is nice; but I think you do have to have a Steam account.

Warning: highly addictive!

Posted by: Philip at November 16, 2024 06:40 PM (Ap4Nn)

89 Was sending to Rex settings this report in at HMGS they set aside a room for board games, yet never ventured in to see all what they are playing.

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 06:42 PM (fwDg9)

90 Avalon Hill games were my thing in the 80s.
Panzer Blitz, Panzer Leader, Arab-Israeli Wars, Squad Leader, one about ancient sea warfare I don't recall the name of, and their huge Normandy D-Day offering.
Bought all of them at Hobby Craft City at Shoppers Forum in Fairbanks, AK.
Good times.

Posted by: S. L. at November 16, 2024 06:43 PM (KuLCD)

91 I search high and wide, estate sales and thrift stores for certain games.
Any of the Milton Bradley Master Series high end stuff on the off chance one will show up. Missing 2 of the 5.
I have an uncle in MI who is WAY into 1812 era wargaming

Posted by: Reforger at November 16, 2024 06:43 PM (xcIvR)

92 Missed the coin post, I have a draped bust early dollar collection, all AU, 1795-1803.
Posted by: Dr Spank at November 16, 2024 06:40 PM (W2avo)

So I'm guessing you are never worried about going broke.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 06:44 PM (7oYYI)

93 Hi war-gaming morons. In the Bruce C. Clarke Library at Fort Leonard Wood, home of US Army Engineers (and MPs, and Chemical Corps), they have a display of Avalon-Hill war games.

Boy, does that take me back!

Posted by: goatexchange at November 16, 2024 06:37 PM (W6sLr)

The U.S. armed forces has a long history of using wargames. I remember playing a micro-armor (6mm scale) game at a convention where a guy that was a battalion S-2 brought his toys. The terrain was vacuum formed modules (about 18" x 18" as I remember) and you used a periscope to get a worm's eye view of the battlefield.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 06:44 PM (pJWtt)

94 And from a previous Hobby thread, printing is really making its mark on miniature gaming, figures, vehicles, buildings you name it its getting printed these days.

Also wanted to mention miniature gaming comes in all scales, from troops represented with not much bigger than a match head to 54mm figures.

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 06:47 PM (fwDg9)

95 I left out "treasure chest" on the maps. Just what it sounds like: goodies.

Posted by: Philip at November 16, 2024 06:48 PM (Ap4Nn)

96 I mean... all AU? Seriously, if I were you, I wouldn't tell people that, dude.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 06:49 PM (7oYYI)

97 93 you used a periscope to get a worm's eye view of the battlefield.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 06:44 PM
***
Great idea. Could also be useful for model railroad landscapes.

Posted by: TRex at November 16, 2024 06:49 PM (6zBSC)

98 I search high and wide, estate sales and thrift stores for certain games.
Any of the Milton Bradley Master Series high end stuff on the off chance one will show up. Missing 2 of the 5.
I have an uncle in MI who is WAY into 1812 era wargaming
Posted by: Reforger at November 16, 2024 06:43 PM (xcIvR)

Are you aware of the website Boardgame Geek? Pretty much every boardgame ever printed has it's own page and people will advertise copies for sale. It might be worth a look since you are searching for some specific games. I don't think I've ever had a bad experience buying a game since it's pretty much aficionados selling to other aficionados.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 06:49 PM (pJWtt)

99
When the kiddos were small, I taught them poker.

They've all growth into pitiless poker monsters, who love to play when we all get together. Very tough to beat now. Good family fun.

also, they're not big on strategic/war games but love the "german boardgames" like "Chinatown" and " "$hark", "Amon Ra", etc.

Those are fun too when we can all get together.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 16, 2024 06:50 PM (eDfFs)

100 Also, speaking of prints, Cerf's daddy was a Jewish printing man, so I have a (vain) hope that maybe one of my kids will end up so successful
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 06:39 PM (7oYYI)

Well, it helped that his uncle left him a fortune.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at November 16, 2024 06:50 PM (0eaVi)

101 Some of you people may remember I designed a game. More than one. But y'all might remember Moronopoly.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 06:50 PM (7oYYI)

102 I need a less expensive hoppy.
-B. Bunny

Posted by: Eromero at November 16, 2024 06:52 PM (jgmnb)

103 The Map of Board Games

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH4MaSJ8gXU

Seems appropriate for this thread...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 16, 2024 06:53 PM (BpYfr)

104 When the kiddos were small, I taught them poker.

Posted by: naturalfake at November 16, 2024 06:50 PM (eDfFs)

I'm playing poker right now! I love it. Can't play with two people, it's no fun, so I play online. Final four players. I've cashed! Woooooo!

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at November 16, 2024 06:54 PM (OX9vb)

105 102 I need a less expensive hoppy.
-B. Bunny
Posted by: Eromero at November 16, 2024 06:52 PM

I like big Bugs and I cannot lie.

Couldn’t resist!

Posted by: RI Red at November 16, 2024 06:55 PM (1Jzj5)

106 When the kiddos were small, I taught them poker.

They've all growth into pitiless poker monsters, who love to play when we all get together. Very tough to beat now. Good family fun.

also, they're not big on strategic/war games but love the "german boardgames" like "Chinatown" and " "$hark", "Amon Ra", etc.

Those are fun too when we can all get together.
Posted by: naturalfake at November 16, 2024 06:50 PM (eDfFs)

When the two grandson's were younger (about 10 -14) they loved playing Hotel Tycoon with Ma-Maw and Pop-Pop. The boys were very competitive. I still remember Mrs. Cop was considering buying a property during one session and one of the boys warned her, "Ma-Maw, you don't want to buy that land, you won't get a good return on you investment." LOL!

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 06:56 PM (pJWtt)

107 Boy, does that Stratego box bring back memories.

Posted by: Lady in Black at November 16, 2024 06:56 PM (qBdHI)

108 A glitch in the electronic Battleship (which may have sonce been fixed) allowed me to manually program in my ships with a 90 degree bend or two.
Needless to say my opponent was less than pleased to discover my shenanigans.

Posted by: Erebus- ex-killer whale at November 16, 2024 06:59 PM (elaR+)

109 41 ... "The Scandinavian Tobacco Group (STG) which owns Sutliff and Mac Baren is closing a manufacturing facility in Denmark and moving production to another and smaller location."

Hi Wolfus,
Yeah, I heard the same thing. These damn consolidations never seem to benefits the customers and US tobacco regulations don't help. We lost the original Amphora blends because they didn't want to put up with stupid tobacco regulations. Same with Frog Morton.

Love the Mac Baren HH series, especially the Burley, Dark Fired and Latakia flakes. Please let us know how the Carter Hall Match is. The original Carter Hall is my second favorite of the codger blends after Granger. As you suggest, might be time to stock up and cellar some of these.

Posted by: JTB at November 16, 2024 06:59 PM (yTvNw)

110 Risk besides Stratego was a common game

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 06:59 PM (fwDg9)

111 Boy, does that Stratego box bring back memories.
Posted by: Lady in Black at November 16, 2024 06:56 PM (qBdHI)

Had a neighbor kid that owned a copy. We played it when the Old Man was stationed at the Pentagon; that had to have been right after he got back from Vietnam -- so about 1970ish.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 07:00 PM (pJWtt)

112 I used to play Stratego with my brother in the early 70s. Even though I was a girl, I thought it was fun.

Posted by: Lady in Black at November 16, 2024 07:01 PM (qBdHI)

113 Harpoon was my time sink of choice, back in the day. US Naval surface, subsurface and air warfare vs the warsaw pact.

Posted by: old radar tech at November 16, 2024 07:03 PM (139if)

114 Was pulling into the QT gas station today as a tan Ferrari was looking to turn out of it.
Seconds later it was followed by a Lamborghini Diablo (I think) and a McLaren.

Posted by: Erebus- ex-killer whale at November 16, 2024 07:03 PM (elaR+)

115 Nice report on the miniatures convention, Skip.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at November 16, 2024 07:04 PM (mH6SG)

116 My Irish family used to play poker, penny ante, everyone in the family played, about age 5 and up. My grandma would get so caught up, she would start speaking in Gaelic, cursing us and herself. My husband thought she was possessed and speaking in tongues at his first game.

Posted by: Megthered at November 16, 2024 07:04 PM (Mtips)

117 Our risk games sometimes ended in nuclear war, where one of the players would get furious at a bad roll of the dice and kick the board over with all of the armies.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 16, 2024 07:04 PM (W6hoT)

118 My husband thought she was possessed and speaking in tongues at his first game.
Posted by: Megthered

Any proof that she wasn't?

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 16, 2024 07:06 PM (HE6Dk)

119 113 Harpoon was my time sink of choice, back in the day. US Naval surface, subsurface and air warfare vs the warsaw pact.
Posted by: old radar tech at November 16, 2024 07:03 PM (139if)

I loved Harpoon, that was one the great classic PC war games! The playable Gulf War scenario was incredible.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 16, 2024 07:06 PM (W6hoT)

120 Our risk games sometimes ended in nuclear war, where one of the players would get furious at a bad roll of the dice and kick the board over with all of the armies.

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 16, 2024 07:04 PM

You are only supposed to do that playing Monopoly. There are videos on youtube showing that.

Posted by: Mister Scott (Formerly GWS) at November 16, 2024 07:06 PM (QNSds)

121 I found it... Here's the PDF for the Moronopoly board, boxes, and cards:

https://tinyurl.com/5xa9cxbs

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 07:07 PM (7oYYI)

122 I found it... Here's the PDF for the Moronopoly board, boxes, and cards:

https://tinyurl.com/5xa9cxbs
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 07:07 PM (7oYYI)
---
Looks like the link isn't available unless I request access...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 16, 2024 07:08 PM (BpYfr)

123 Twilight Struggle, both the full version and Red Sea.

Posted by: PabloD at November 16, 2024 07:08 PM (vIwls)

124 Harpoon was my time sink of choice, back in the day. US Naval surface, subsurface and air warfare vs the warsaw pact.
Posted by: old radar tech at November 16, 2024 07:03 PM (139if)

Played a bit of Harpoon. However, even though the Old Man was a career U.S. Navy officer, I tended to not play naval-themed wargames: too much book-keeping.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 07:09 PM (pJWtt)

125 Any proof that she wasn't?
Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at November 16, 2024 07:06 PM (HE6Dk)
***
My mom and her family came from Ireland and there are times when we weren't really sure.

Posted by: Megthered at November 16, 2024 07:09 PM (Mtips)

126 Lady in Black - all our sisters and cousins played Risk and Stratego.

Some years ago looked into a Napoleonic Risk game but it was a couple hundred bucks

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 07:10 PM (fwDg9)

127 Also played a mini wargame, GDI?, which was some sort of Laumer's Bolo based tank game.

Posted by: whig at November 16, 2024 05:57 PM (ctrM5)

Sounds like Ogre, originally published by Metagaming in 1977 and now by Steve Jackson Games. It had a spinoff game, GEV, centered on the fast air cushion vehicles in the game. Sometimes I wonder if David Drake was partially inspired by those games when writing Hammer's Slammers.

Posted by: Steve Skubinna at November 16, 2024 07:11 PM (CnsOB)

128 Looks like the link isn't available unless I request access...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 16, 2024 07:08 PM (BpYfr)

Hmmm... Does it work now?

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 07:11 PM (7oYYI)

129 The only strategy games I play are Panzer Corps / General by Slitherine/Matrix games and Empire Deluxe by White Wolf.

Panzer Corps has a lot to DCLs and full length campaigns. You can play as the Americans, British, Germans or Russians depending upon which campaign you choose. You can also dial up the difficulty by choosing a higher rank such as playing the Colonel level versus Field Marshall.

Empire Deluxe is an old game from the early 90s. Where you to try to conquer the world, either a pre-created one or generated by your inputs. Up to 6 can play but I usually play against 5 computer players and up their resources for a more difficult game. Your weapons are jets, bombers, tanks, infantry, destroyers, cruisers, battleships, carriers and transports. For such a simple game it is addictive.

Posted by: Beartooth at November 16, 2024 07:16 PM (WuJwx)

130 Also played a mini wargame, GDI?, which was some sort of Laumer's Bolo based tank game.

Posted by: whig at November 16, 2024 05:57 PM (ctrM5)

Sounds like Ogre, originally published by Metagaming in 1977 and now by Steve Jackson Games. It had a spinoff game, GEV, centered on the fast air cushion vehicles in the game. Sometimes I wonder if David Drake was partially inspired by those games when writing Hammer's Slammers.
Posted by: Steve Skubinna at November 16, 2024 07:11 PM (CnsOB)

I remember sending off a couple of bucks to get a copy of Ogre when I saw an add in (I think) Analog magazine. I think Ogre was definitely influenced by Keith Laumer's Bolo fighting vehicles (we'd call them giant AI tanks now).

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 07:16 PM (pJWtt)

131 Saddest thing about goito conventions is until the last 5 years about I only went to 1 way back in the early 90s. Bought a few things and watched a little gaming but didn't play.
Game Masters want there games they made figures for, set up terrain to be played with as many as they can fit in.
They travel from all over, the War of Oz game I usually play he is from Massachusetts. The Napoleonic game I played both days was from Texas.

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 07:16 PM (fwDg9)

132 Command and Conquer was a great time sink. But you could do hacks like putting up a single sand bag wall to deter most enemies.
Built miles of them.

Posted by: RI Red at November 16, 2024 07:17 PM (1Jzj5)

133 I loved Harpoon, that was one the great classic PC war games! The playable Gulf War scenario was incredible.
Posted by: Tom Servo at November 16, 2024 07:06 PM (W6hoT)

Ahh..the screeching alarm through the PC speaker. Vampire, vampire, vampire

Posted by: A dude in MI at November 16, 2024 07:18 PM (/6GbT)

134 Looks like the link isn't available unless I request access...
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 16, 2024 07:08 PM (BpYfr)

Hmmm... Does it work now?
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 07:11 PM (7oYYI)
---
Yep!

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at November 16, 2024 07:19 PM (BpYfr)

135 Empire Deluxe is an old game from the early 90s. Where you to try to conquer the world, either a pre-created one or generated by your inputs. Up to 6 can play but I usually play against 5 computer players and up their resources for a more difficult game. Your weapons are jets, bombers, tanks, infantry, destroyers, cruisers, battleships, carriers and transports. For such a simple game it is addictive.
Posted by: Beartooth at November 16, 2024 07:16 PM (WuJwx)

There was an old PC game, "Clash of Steel", that my 2 college buddies and I would play on an IBM 386. WWII ETO, you had the option of playing the computer. It simulated a hex-and-counter map, and when you resolved combat, a pair of spinning dice would appear on the screen. It was a great game!

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 07:20 PM (pJWtt)

136 Evening all. Used to play Risk with my kids. We always called it the airplane game because we bought it one time when flying somewhere. Think we also had one called Red Storm Rising but don't remember playing it. After college, I and a group of friends played the ultimate strategy game....Dungeons and Dragons. Our Dungeon master painted all the little figurines we used. I still have mine.

Posted by: Sharon(willow's apprentice) at November 16, 2024 07:25 PM (t/2Uw)

137 I didn't just design that game. A bunch of cool stuff. Apparel, mugs, beer glasses, etc.

But Ace never showed any interest in marketing any of it, so I mothballed all of it.

Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 07:25 PM (7oYYI)

138 Time to say good night and thank you before the next act takes the AoS stage. Thanks for being here and contributing. If you're lurking, happy to have you along for the ride too. Come back next week for a more noisy Hobby Thread theme.

Posted by: TRex at November 16, 2024 07:26 PM (6zBSC)

139 I did PR Day at my gym today.

445 lb deadlift.
230 lb bench.
340 lb squat.

I missed my third attempt on bench. 230 felt good, so I jumped too much for attempt three. 245 was too high.

1,015 lb total! Thousand pound club, baby!

Posted by: bonhomme at November 16, 2024 07:28 PM (lIio7)

140 Thanks much for yet another great thread, TRex.

Posted by: Notorious BFD at November 16, 2024 07:29 PM (mH6SG)

141 I found it... Here's the PDF for the Moronopoly board, boxes, and cards:

https://tinyurl.com/5xa9cxbs
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice at November 16, 2024 07:07 PM (7oYYI)

Would buy.

Posted by: Dash my lace wigs! at November 16, 2024 07:30 PM (OX9vb)

142 Strategy games are basically my passion in life. A couple boys from church are coming over in a bit to play my new obsession, Twilight Imperium, with my son and I in a few minutes.

One of my favorites of all time is The Rise and Decline of the Third Reich, a battalion-level simulation game of World War II. A full play through takes about 48 hours. Me and my sons used to play it once or twice each summer. Miss those days.

Scythe is a great shorter strategy game as well, though I haven't been able to get a game of that together for a few years. Many others as well.

Posted by: Matt from Wyoming at November 16, 2024 07:33 PM (vk3Py)

143 Thanks Trex, Great topic!

OT , just saw something hilarious on X. We’ve talked about how all the progs have been jumping to BlueSky from twitter - to day Bluesky put out an emergency warning that their staff is now getting 3,000 content complaints an hour, a level they never imagined possible, and their staff is overwhelmed.
Looks like all the leftists who went there immediately started to complain about all the other posters there!

Posted by: Tom Servo at November 16, 2024 07:33 PM (W6hoT)

144 2009Refugee, I have that somewhere in a closet, it came in a 2-piece container that opened like a book, it was like medieval stratego with mobile pieces.

Posted by: Nazdar at November 16, 2024 07:34 PM (9XWKq)

145 Mr Scott didn't show up, I think, . He has a collection of was game miniatures, mostly WWII

Posted by: Skip at November 16, 2024 07:34 PM (fwDg9)

146 CBD music thread is nood.

Posted by: PaleRider at November 16, 2024 07:35 PM (83y/e)

147 https://tinyurl.com/5xa9cxbs
Posted by: Yudhishthira's Dice

That's quite cool YD

Posted by: vmom deport deport deport at November 16, 2024 07:37 PM (WL2lA)

148 Kinda-sorta hobby related: my "fix the damned Suburban" project inched a little closer towards completion. Touched up some missing paint on the manifolds, and painted the water pump. Installed the water pump onto the replacement engine, and also the alternator bracket. Pending sunset and cold drove me inside.

Posted by: Alberta Oil Peon at November 16, 2024 07:39 PM (J5xbZ)

149 @121/Yudhishthira's Dice: "I found it... Here's the PDF for the Moronopoly board, boxes, and cards:"

I just finished going through every page in that PDF. Loved every bit of it. Well done!

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at November 16, 2024 07:41 PM (O7YUW)

150 One of my favorites of all time is The Rise and Decline of the Third Reich, a battalion-level simulation game of World War II. A full play through takes about 48 hours. Me and my sons used to play it once or twice each summer. Miss those days.

Posted by: Matt from Wyoming at November 16, 2024 07:33 PM (vk3Py)

Played A LOT of Third Reich back in the day. Very good game. It was actually one of the first to actually account for economic development as a crucial part of WWII.

Minor quibble: the game is actually at Division/Corps level.

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 07:41 PM (pJWtt)

151 OT , just saw something hilarious on X. We’ve talked about how all the progs have been jumping to BlueSky from twitter - to day Bluesky put out an emergency warning that their staff is now getting 3,000 content complaints an hour, a level they never imagined possible, and their staff is overwhelmed.
Looks like all the leftists who went there immediately started to complain about all the other posters there!
Posted by: Tom Servo at November 16, 2024 07:33 PM (W6hoT)

Too funny! The solution is for Bluesky to tell the Lefties to fkvc off. Whether they have the stones to do so is another question.

Like the Old Man used to say, "Scratch a Democrat and find a Stalinist."

Posted by: Retired Buckeye Cop is now an engineer at November 16, 2024 07:44 PM (pJWtt)

152 #46 Another reason to like Coolidge.

Timeline is an elegantly simple trivia game. Place the beginning card down, like 'Gutenberg's Press' with the date. Next card goes to the right or left. Next card goes to the right or left or in between. And so on until your hand is empty.

Educational and fun and quick with very easy set up.

DnD---well, I wrote a module with a friend-- 'Temple of the Dying Sun' under DND's free license.

Multiverser: RPG---dimensional travelling heroes tabletop rpg. Wrote some stuff for this as well. It is m eant to offer infinite possibilities. You could travel from fighting with Forrest on oversized velociraptors to a world with AI controlled cyberpunk 'zombies' to world in which there are five Grand Canyons (each created by Paul Bunyan or Pecos Bill or John Henry....)

Posted by: Eric2 at November 16, 2024 08:05 PM (hSVY4)

153 Back in the 1980's, I wound up the president of Iowa State's wargaming club because I was the only person attending the meeting who was eligible to be an officer.

Man, that takes me back.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at November 16, 2024 08:30 PM (iZEhM)

154 About time you had a topic on wargaming. I've been a gamer since 1965 (or, to be more precise, starting 30 years before I was born). Great hobby, lots of socializing and reading (for most gamers). Miniatures for those who want to get physical with painting and terrain; boardgames for those who limit their non-playing time to pimping out the games. As I'm nearing 30, I've come to appreciate recent wargames using cards and euro-style mechanics. Can be played in an hour to two, leaving time for a beer and conversation.

Posted by: GrenadierX at November 16, 2024 08:33 PM (M3pDV)

155 Historical wargaming is my jam. Minis, boardgaming, PC games... They're each fantastic and it's a great way to learn history. Many years ago I walked into my buddy's basement for game night, looked at the table and setup and asked, knowingly, "Franco-Prussian?" To which I got the answer "No - War of the Spanish Succession." Many profanities later I had a few MORE books added to my collection to learn about THAT one.

Posted by: HaveCigarWillTravel at November 16, 2024 08:52 PM (a6SP3)

156 Play a lot of ASL and ASLSK. Also play cdgs like POG and TS. Also design strategy games. My biggest seller 1989

awn of Freedom has been printed in 6 languages and won 3rd place for game of the year in 2013.

Posted by: Ted Torgerson at November 16, 2024 08:55 PM (W6Tth)

157 For anyone looking to play Axis & Allies virtually (alone or with friends), check out TripleA (triplea-game[dot]org).

Posted by: Rusty at November 16, 2024 09:02 PM (QbQKU)

158 Rusty, I played the first round of TripleA in history. This was during the dice hack phase of the CD-ROM, around 2005. The game crashed trying to land the British bomber after a bombing raid of Germany Turn 1. Glad to hear it’s still going.

Posted by: Ted Torgerson at November 16, 2024 09:06 PM (W6Tth)

159 Was a fantasy RP gamer in my teens, never did manage to convince my mom that D&D wasn't thinly disguised satan worship. Went on to board games, Risk, Diplomacy, Avalon Hill box games, mini ziplock games like Ogre and Awful Green Things From Outer Space. Eventual became addicted to the AH game Titan. Addicted my elder sis. We attended the AH / World Board Gaming tournies at Lancaster many years to play Titan. Actually managed to win 2nd place one year (my opponent had 1 HP left on his Titan) but my sis later managed a 1st place - partly because so many opponents didn't fear a women gamer enuf. Beware the estrogen.

Still play Titan - but as a game app on my iPad.

Posted by: BobM at November 16, 2024 09:26 PM (dhSLF)

160 To me, the ultimate strategy game is Diplomacy because it relies on something much more dangerous than luck ... trust.

Haven't played it since college, and only then a few times, but it's still my favorite.

I define strategy games as including those that use resource allotment. Terraforming Mars has that mechanic. Each player collects a certain amount of industrial metals and money at the start of each turn, then decide how to spend them. There are also projects on the market that can bring the player closer to victory.

Each turn represents a generation; therefore the job will take several centuries. Will we have that sort of dedication?

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 16, 2024 09:39 PM (p/isN)

161 @Weak Geek The Steam version of Terraforming Mars is pretty good, at least for practice. Much more fun at the table, but not bad for a computer game.

Posted by: HaveCigarWillTravel at November 16, 2024 09:48 PM (a6SP3)

162 Speaking of digital war games is anyone playing Sins of a Solar Empire 2? I've been playing with a friend and have got six or seven comp stomp games played (not all won) and we're up to the second highest difficulty (nightmare I believe). It's quite an accomplishment for the studio to have put out such a great game. They built the engine themselves at a time when 90% or more developers just license Unity or another big platform.

It's highly mentally intensive. Honestly not fun to play solo at higher difficulties. But worth a look if you are a 4X or RTS fan. It's really both, with an edge to the RTS gameplay.

Posted by: Ghost of kari at November 16, 2024 10:03 PM (Wsh/V)

163 I Iove table games, and I had several as a kid. Trouble was, I lived on a farm, with nobody to play against but my sister, and Mom and Dad on occasion.

In high school I received a subscription to Strategy & Tactics and played a few of its games with a classmate who was a wargame nut. He easily whipped me; one time I forgot that I was due to receive reinforcements.

I loved the concepts of those games, but the counters were too small for my big fumbly fingers. And once wind came through the window screens and blew the map and counters off the table.

When comics and I parted ways in my 50s, I began to buy current games. I could get my sons to play with me, especially Settlers of Catan. My daughter wanted to play only Clue, we males quickly tired of that.

Now I have a slew of games in an empty house. Few of them ever hit my table. And I fret that my peers in the senior center that I will frequent someday won't think of anything other than Monopoly or Uno.

One ray of hope: Oldest son and his fiancee play a lot of two-person games, and I visit them to play. Guess who's going to inherit my collection.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 16, 2024 10:09 PM (p/isN)

164 @161 --

Thanks for the info. I'm a technodolt; I don't know how to use Steam, and my computer is in dire need of an upgrade.

I'm weak in my geekdom.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 16, 2024 10:13 PM (p/isN)

165 I like playing through books of chess matches though I’m not that good a player. Right now I’m playing through the Karpov-Kasparov matches. Bobby Fischer’s “My 60 Most Memorable Games” is my favorite chess book - dynamic analysis, written in the ‘60s before he went crazy.

I used to like Avalon Hill board games a long time ago. My favorites were Squad Leader and Air Assault on Crete. With the latter game I liked the randomness of dice rolls deciding where the airborne troops would land.

Posted by: Norrin Radd, sojourner of the spaceways at November 16, 2024 10:25 PM (tRYqg)

166 @54 --

I have that or something close to it. A novelty publisher -- what was its name?

That book had so many games I'd never heard of. I really liked Roundabouts.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 16, 2024 10:26 PM (p/isN)

167 @79 --

Masterpiece was one game that my folks would play with me.

I remember that my sister, who is four years younger than me, didn't understand the word "countrrfeit." But when I defined it as "forgery," it was clear to her. We played a lot of Masterpiece.

Posted by: Weak Geek at November 16, 2024 10:34 PM (p/isN)

168 Buckeye Cop, when did you hang with John Hill? I was one of the play testers for his original Johnny Reb miniatures rules (I still have the original photocopy he made for me) and gamed at his store in Lafayette Indiana in the late 70s, so we might have met.

I also knew Duke Seifried, but mostly saw him at conventions; for years he would do fantastic tables for games at Historicon-I think there are photos of some of his games still available on the internet-try his Lord of the Rings game or his Pirates of the Carribian game for absolutely stunning scenery.

As for the Harpoon naval game, Larry Bond used to occasionally run them at Historicon.

As for other famous gamers, Peter Cushing was a miniature gamer for years-article here:
http:// baberonwargames.blogspot.COM/ 2021/01/peter-cushing-wargamer.html (kill the spaces).

I might also have met any of you who visited the historical miniatures rooms at GenCon in Indy where I ran games for about 10 years or so ending about 15 years ago.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at November 16, 2024 10:58 PM (uk4V/)

169 As for the idea that board war-games are in decline, that's nonsense. The hobby isn't dominated as much by a few big companies as It was in the past with Avalon Hill, SPI and GDW, but there are some big game companies like GMT Games who are constantly churning out new games and providing wider distribution for smaller companies' products. In addition, there are hundreds and hundreds (likely thousands and thousands) of game companies throughout the world producing games on almost every topic imaginable-historic and otherwise. For example, I know a company that sells two games modeling the logistics of the American War of Independence-one for the northern colonies, and one for the southern. The same company has a political game for Charlemagne's Frankish kingdom.
Miniature gaming is every bit as prolific. Nearly every historical war covered, and figures have been sold for the figures in the Oz books as mentioned by Skip, the Redwall books, Teddy Bear figures for the Seven Years War, the Martians from War of the Worlds and John Carter on Mars and 28mm figures to refight the street fights of Romeo and Juliet--also figures for Roman gangs and gladiators for skirmish gaming.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at November 16, 2024 11:20 PM (uk4V/)

170 Back in the early 80s I used to love playing the Dune board game with my friend and my older bros. I couldn't believe a few years ago seeing it back on the shelves! Same game, just with a facelift and I'm kicking myself for not taking it with me when I moved out of my folks' place all those years ago.
Highly recommend - you play one of six factions (Atreides, Harkonnen, Fremen, etc) and the game is so well balanced that any player can win with any faction if you get the rules.
Highly recommend!

Posted by: Brother Bob at November 16, 2024 11:28 PM (zZe7j)

171 I still have a Stratego game we got a long time ago. It is at least 50 years old. The pieces are wood. Loved that game.

Posted by: JML at November 16, 2024 11:28 PM (1UudH)

172 Not only are there rules and figures available for almost every historical period, many figures are available in more than one scale or size-(1/2400 is a scale, while 15mm or 25mm is really a size, and in practice quite variable ones at that). Wargame people miniatures are generally described in sizes (3mm, 6mm, 25mm, etc) while ships and aircraft are mostly described by scale (1/2400, 1/600, 1/285, etc). Armored vehicles can be described both ways, scale generally for micro armor (1/300 or 1/285, but sometimes 5mm) and size (15mm or 25 or 28mm) if used for armor and infantry games.
So for WW1 and WW2 ships, they are available in 1/300, 1/700, 1/1200, 1/2400, 1/3000, 1/4800 and 1/6000, and possible others I've missed. Of course, Battleships and fleet carriers are big for the table in 1/300 and destroyers are small in 1/6000 so the scale used depends on the size of the real ships-e.g. 1/600 for ACW river war ships like the Pook Turtles. WW1 air games are mostly done in 1/300, 1/144, or 1/72 scale-I prefer 1/144, and WW2 air games are mostly done in 1/350, 1/300, 1/200, and 1/72 (or 76 depending on what's available)-there are smaller scales available.

Posted by: Pope John 20th at November 16, 2024 11:38 PM (uk4V/)

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