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My Introduction to Board Wargaming
By Mike | July 23, 2007
You could say that I was first introduced to wargaming in high school when I joined the chess club and learnt to play chess although I did not think of this as wargaming at that time. I was pretty good at it and obviously had the beginnings of a tactical mind.
It was not until 1979 at the age of 30 that my real first introduction was made and by pure chance. I had been very ill and was signed off work for 3 months and whilst on a visit to hospital I noticed a shop called the Games Gallery in Edinburgh so stopped off to have a browse. My initial interest was for the chess sets on sale however after noticing the back and side wall displays I moseyed across and entered a realm from which I will now never escape.
What I saw in front of me were beautifully boxed games by companies such as Avalon Hill and SPI and reading the game descriptions I was intrigued. My main interest fell on an old Avalon Hill classic called Caesar’s Legions and although very expensive, around £12.00, remember this was 1979, I made the decision to buy the game.
From that day on I was hooked, my first wargame kept me amused for hours and I actually had free time to play as I was on 3 months sick leave. Even to this day I never get tired of that first experience when you break open that cellophane wrapping and absorb the contents of the box.
Sadly Caesar’s Legions has now left my collection sold many years ago to a second hand dealer and I have over the years aquired and resold many other games each with a higher degree of complexity and reality. Over the past ten years my interest waned slightly and I sold off quite a few games on E-Bay I think that they had become over complex and my advancing years made it too much of a bother to try and play. My wife was overjoyed to get back some cupboard space.
I have recently at the age of 59 returned to wargaming and have gone back to the less complex games that I could never part with (more in my next blog) however I have also been buying new stuff from my favourite supplier GMT Games (see link) and these are again more complex and detailed but are a pure joy.
I may be in my 60th year but I have no intentions of putting my toys back in the pram just yet.
Topics: General |
2 Responses to “My Introduction to Board Wargaming”
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July 23rd, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Don’t ever remember seeing that box lying about Dad. Good post. I wouldn’t mind 3 months off myself.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:40 pm
I wasn’t an official member of the chess club in highschool but I did drop in from time to time, over lunch, to play a few games. My first wargame was Warp War, played during lunch during one of my impromptu chess club visits. From there I discovered the Avalon Hill and SPI game catalogs, subscriptions to The General and Strategy and Tactics followed and the rest is the typical wargamer history.
John