Anybody on Atlas Ever Played Military Board Games?

[NOVA Green]

So not really thinking of the garden variety military board games, which are frequently more like "kids games" such as Risk and Battleship, but rather real military boardgames.

I'll start.... when I was around ~ (8 y.o) got my first military board games.

Avalon Hill Afrika Corps and Gettysburg (1st Edition)...

By the time I was around (10 y.o) was able to finally get my first copy of Avalon Hill's Squad Leader.

Needless to say, had purchased and played many other military board games by the time I was (17).

Throwing it out there, since although I recognize that vast majority of Atlas posters tend to skew a bit younger than myself, am still interested in military board games, and in fact am even expanding my collection, in addition to purchasing copies online of military board games I used to own back in my teenage years to rebuild my collection.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I have a Stratego set.

[NOVA Green]

I have a Stratego set.

Doesn't count... kid's games rule.   

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I have a Stratego set.

Doesn't count... kid's games rule.  

Who said Stratego isn't a game for kids (though not just for them)?

[Meclazine for Israel]

I would have if given any.

Just Battleship I think.

[NOVA Green]

I have a Stratego set.

Doesn't count... kid's games rule.  

Who said Stratego isn't a game for kids (though not just for them)?

Well, okay Tim although I personally consider Stratego more of a "kids game", it is still possible to use various artifacts and strategy in terms of initial allocation of resources to the various "fronts", defense of the "Flag".

Had many successful Stratego games where I used inventive strategies based upon hand written layouts, including a few really successful ones where I placed my flag directly on the front lines!

Still, my original post had more to do with "adult" military board games, which were a major part of the board game market in the '70s and '80s, despite some ferocious growth in market share from "role-playing games" starting in the '70s and '80s.

Was thinking more of Avalon Hill style military board games, including items such as Battle of the Bulge, 1776, Alexander the Great, etc...

https://publish.uwo.ca/~dmann/gaming.htm

[ProudModerate2]

Own:

Stratego (since I was 9 or 10 years old).
Risk (the 2008 "Revised Edition" or sometimes called "Reinvention").
Supremacy, The Game of Superpowers.
Broadside.
Conquest Of The Empire.
Axis and Allies (1981 edition).

Used to own: Battle-Cry.

[dead0man]

I've played a lot of Risk and Stratego, but no, sorry, I've never done the nerdy ones.


The nerd board game of choice in my neighborhood growing up was Strat-O-Matic baseball.  (D&D for baseball)


I did have friend in the Air Force that did the little military figurines that the super nerds use in some kind of game.  I never really understood what was going on there.

[DaleCooper]

Axis and Allies and a few other less complicated ones over the years.

[The Dowager Mod]

Quite a few, some of my favorites.
Pax Britannica
Luftwaffe
Jutland
The Civil War: 1861-1865
Empires in Arms

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Yes, though I'm more into historical wargaming with miniatures: DBA and so on.

[Torie]

I vaguely recall in junior high school playing Gettsburg and Diplomacy. I enjoyed them more for the history lesson than anything else.

[Brother Jonathan]

Axis and Allies and Diplomacy.

I find that space-centric games are now quite popular, often somewhat similar but with different mechanics, more of an economic emphasis, and set in the distant future. So I have played a lot more of those/played them more frequently than the sort of classic military board games just because my friends tend to prefer them.

[Del Tachi]

Diplomacy
Axis & Allies
Risk

the basic ones

[Badger]

I have a Stratego set.

Doesn't count... kid's games rule.  

Who said Stratego isn't a game for kids (though not just for them)?

Well, okay Tim although I personally consider Stratego more of a "kids game", it is still possible to use various artifacts and strategy in terms of initial allocation of resources to the various "fronts", defense of the "Flag".

Had many successful Stratego games where I used inventive strategies based upon hand written layouts, including a few really successful ones where I placed my flag directly on the front lines!

Still, my original post had more to do with "adult" military board games, which were a major part of the board game market in the '70s and '80s, despite some ferocious growth in market share from "role-playing games" starting in the '70s and '80s.

Was thinking more of Avalon Hill style military board games, including items such as Battle of the Bulge, 1776, Alexander the Great, etc...

https://publish.uwo.ca/~dmann/gaming.htm

I had a couple of the Avalon Hill games when I was younger, including squad leader and a baby's first war game level board game called tactics. Also had Dune which is an amazing board game.

The problem with playing them was of course finding another kid my age geeky enough and patient enough to want to play these. Almost impossible. Or if we didn't have literally hours upon hours to finish the game was recording where all the little cardboard cut out pieces were on a scrap of paper and then getting the game out again when it was time to play.

Fyi, playing risk on a map of the Dungeons & Dragons Campaign World Grayhawk is pretty cool.

[Badger]

I have a Stratego set.

Doesn't count... kid's games rule.  

Who said Stratego isn't a game for kids (though not just for them)?

Well, okay Tim although I personally consider Stratego more of a "kids game", it is still possible to use various artifacts and strategy in terms of initial allocation of resources to the various "fronts", defense of the "Flag".

Had many successful Stratego games where I used inventive strategies based upon hand written layouts, including a few really successful ones where I placed my flag directly on the front lines!

Still, my original post had more to do with "adult" military board games, which were a major part of the board game market in the '70s and '80s, despite some ferocious growth in market share from "role-playing games" starting in the '70s and '80s.

Was thinking more of Avalon Hill style military board games, including items such as Battle of the Bulge, 1776, Alexander the Great, etc...

https://publish.uwo.ca/~dmann/gaming.htm

I had a couple of the Avalon Hill games when I was younger, including squad leader and a baby's first war game level board game called tactics. Also had Dune which is an amazing board game.

The problem with playing them was of course finding another kid my age geeky enough and patient enough to want to play these. Almost impossible. Or if we didn't have literally hours upon hours to finish the game was recording where all the little cardboard cut out pieces were on a scrap of paper and then getting the game out again when it was time to play.

Fyi, playing risk on a map of the Dungeons & Dragons Campaign World Grayhawk is pretty cool.

Also played diplomacy a couple times, but I think it was on other friends game boards. Also a couple times played those large miniature war games on giant dioramas at gaming conventions, which should tell you exactly how much of a nerd I am.

But unfortunately, for the reasons I stated in my first paragraph, it's why computer games have completely overtaken the model.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

But unfortunately, for the reasons I stated in my first paragraph, it's why computer games have completely overtaken the model.

You'd be surprised: the more traditional forms of wargaming are thriving, even as the computer game varieties have become so massive.

[An American Tail: Fubart Goes West]

I’ve played Diplomacy a few times. I think I played Axis and Allies once; wouldn’t mind trying it again.

[Progressive Pessimist]

I'm basic, so just Risk and Stratego.

[Penn_Quaker_Girl]

Doesn't really count as a military game, but I'm a huge sucker for Catan.  

[Mr. Smith]

I'm basic, so just Risk and Stratego.

This...and Battleship.

[NOVA Green]

I would have if given any.

Just Battleship I think.

Bummer... you seem about the right generation (Since think you've maybe got +/- (10 years) on me.

Loved Battleship when I was young, and granted was not as interested in the Wars on the Pacific Theater (Grandpa fought in WW II on the Western Front), Australia and NZ naturally played a major role in the fight against Fascism, and pretty sure there are some classic computer board games, likely better than even modern computer games there.

Are you saying we need to crowd-source a military board game for you, despite the outrageous P&P to ship to Australia.   

[NOVA Green]

Interestingly enough sounds like we have quite a few folks who have played Diplomacy, who did not participate in the last Atlas Diplomacy Tournament...

Muon2 declined to host this past year, since he was a bit busy with personal items and focusing on transitioning over the Atlas Annual Chess Tournament...

Back soon! 

[Santander]

Only Diplomacy

[NOVA Green]

So nobody here ever played Squad Leader?   

Totally bummed out....    pretty sure it wouldn't be impossible to do a "vote by email" or Atlas PM type gig, since primarily you are looking at more like a (2) player game so long as both parties have the same maps and agree on the same rules...