Wargamer55's current favorite 25 wargames and why
Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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I wouldn't presume to call them the best 25 wargames, because there are still some good ones I don't know and I DO have my prejudices. For example, I like blocks, cards and/or ships in my games. Yet I think my tastes range widely. ASL and Memoir'44 are both on the list, after all. I do have reasons why these particular 25 stand out from the crowd of several hundred wargames I've owned or played. I offer them to bring them to the attention of other possible fans.
Update: It's been a while and there have been a few changes. I'll note which games are about to fall off the list in favor of the new ones.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Still my favorite. My introduction to block games. Strikes a nice balance between presenting history and a challenging game situation. My comments are based mostly on the Avalon Hill edition. I haven't had a chance to play the newer edition enough to make up my mind whether i'ts an improvement or not. The rules are better, there's more blocks and it seems more realistic. But the original version was so finely balanced, especially as a three-player game, that I wonder if that could be improved. The orginal game also takes less time to play, so you can easily play a match in one sitting.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Like a fine wine, time just seems to deepen appreciation for this game. It's always entertaining. Not even close to exhausting the play value.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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How can such a simple game be so involving? One of the absolutely true classics of all gaming. Been playing it since my best friend's older brother came back from college and showed us how to play. Spent a grand summer playing face to face games and have played steadiily ever since.
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4.
Board Game: Midway
[Average Rating:6.51 Overall Rank:1442]
Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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My first wargame. It really doesn't need any reason better than that, but it's still a good game, in my opinion. The most salient features of carrier warfare are scouting and "attacking effectively first" (Fleet Tactics by Capt. Wayne P. Hughes) It presents both with a minimum of fuss.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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This really represents an entire game system, Avalanche Press' Great War at Sea/Second World War at Sea series. The vast number of scenarios available are a naval wargamer's dream. Besides being a good low/moderate complexity naval game in its own right, each is a good scenario generator for naval miniatures campaigning. But 1898 is a little more. I've always had a particular interest in the Spanish-American War, and I'm thrilled that there's such a high-quality, mounted mapboard wargame on one of my favorite topics. One so obscure I never would have thought would get such a treatment.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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After hundreds of played games I have to say my respect for the game system has grown. While the lack of meaningful command control rules and the small role limited intelligence plays in the game mean I don't consider it the last word in realism, the detail is fascinating and the game play is always involving. Every turn is filled with decisions.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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My favorite set of minitaures rules. A little different from most, in thta it's really a contest in command between the opposing player/commanders, rather than a simulation. This is not to say that it's not authentic, it is. But the deterministic combat system makes it an unusually chess-like game for a miniatures rules set and it can really com into its own as a duel between armies of toy soldiers.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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This is another game that really represnts an entire game system. I like the TCS system for it's attention to proper artillery tactics and command control issues. Unlike most World War II-era tactical games, this doesn't use generic maps and representaive OBs but actual battle sites and troop lists. Semper Fi!, which is set in the Korea War, has some small, tight scenarios that make a good introduction to the game system.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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A more realistic game than AH's WS&IM, while not being significantly more complex, otherwise WS&IM would be in this list. Been playing it for years, when it was just a thin rule book.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Another game I have a very long-term relationship with. I've been playing it since the orginal, Adventure Games-published, rule book. It replaced a set of very involved rules that I determined used a lot of rules without achieving more realism. The system has evolved over the years, but always been the premier modern naval warfare rules set.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Another game with lots of play value. If you get the whole Down in Flames series you have hundreds of planes and more than 60 campaigns to play. It would take a long time to go through all the options, another good "Daert Island" game system. Another game that I think captures the salient features of its topic without getting bogged down in meaningless detail. Also, as a card game, it's player-friendly. Easy to learn and each individual game doesn't take very long.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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I haven't come across a block game I disliked, but there are some that seem to hit a good zone where the wargame, simulation and pure gameplay aspects find a sublime balance. This seems to be one of them.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Systemic brother to Liberty, this game is just a nocth lower because I'm a little more interested in U.S. than Scottish history. Both are great game fun without making the military history buff in me squirm over obvious inaccuracy.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Somewhat underrated, I am convinced, because players fail to account for the fact that, against evenly-matched opponents, one would expect very, very close games when both sides start out exactly equal in every repsect. The company Web site has other scenarios and I, for one, don't expect to crush my worthy opponents every time I play. I expect to enjoy a close, hard-fought contest.
Update: This is probably dropping off the list in favor of some newer stuff.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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This has moved up a lot lately due to my recent play on www.hexwar.com. It gets a lot of credit for being the free game on the site that got me to try it. But it's also a good game in its own right, one I never played all that much back in the day. Now that I've played it a lot, though, I see there's far more to it than I thought.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Another great block game. I like this one for covering much the same ground as VITP (see below) in a sufficiently different way to be worth playing. This game give more heft to the ground and aerial warfare elements of the pacific campaign than VITP.
Update: Another casualty being displaced by a new title.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Well, I'm convinced it's a "real" wargame. There's tanks, troops, terrain and tactics. That's good enough for me. I've played it quite a bit. It can be a bit heavy on the luck side, but so what? It plays quickly enough you can just play again
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Our local gaming group spent a couple years playing out about a half-dozen full campaigns. It was great, and I'd jump at the chance to ever do it again.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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I first got into wargaming through my interest in naval miniatures and after a lot of tries I settled on this computer-assisted rules set as striking the right balance between realism and playability for me. My only problem now is a good illustration of why manual boardgames have their advantages over computers. I have lots of 30-year-old wargames I can play anytime I want. I have a 12-year-old computer wargame that's nearly obsolete because I don't have an operating sytem that can run the old DOS software.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Quick and innovative. Just pick up the books and play.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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There's a lot of strategy involved. There's lots of dice to throw. There are ships.
Update: The third game whoe age tells againt it in favor of newer entertainment.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Just a very interesting game situation, allowing both sides to attack and defend. I nice use of classic wargame mechanics. I'm suprised the idea hasn't been tried in other games.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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This is a tentative placement, because I haven't played it but once, but I'm very, very impressed with what I've ssen and I'm looking forward to my next game. This has got blocks, so it's got a leg up.
Update: Now played, no longer tentative
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Another tentative placement, but I am really intrigued.
Update: Now played, now securely placed on the list.
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Seth Owen
United States
Norwich
Connecticut
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Despite some flaws, this makes the list now. It's collectible, true, but not insanely so. I've been able to get at least one of eveyr model. And the basic game is easy and fun.
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