"What was your first Wargame?" Topic

Another topic brought up the first wargame I ever bought, which was the StarFleet Battle Manual from Lou Zocchi back in 1977 when I was 14. I was wondering what others first wargame was.

I put this in Old School wargaming because, I'm so old that my first wargame IS old school.

Guadalcanal from Avalon Hill. My dad, a Pacific War vet himself, bought it for me when I was 10 years old.

1914. By Avalon Hill.

citadel by GDW

Panzer Blitz by Avalon Hill, 1976.

Dauntless, by Battleline. 1977.

Richthofen's War, by AH – around 1974.

'Charge! Or how to play War Games'

1968

Phil
soawargamesteam.blogspot.com

Ogre by metagaming . A new friend had me play then I got my own copy . It was being sold as a impulse purchase next to the registar at a local convience store in a small display with wizard and melee ( # 2 and #3 in purchase que)

First "rules" I bought, Charles Grant's "Battle!", though I had already read "Battles with Model Soldiers", "Little Wars" and "Charge!" The first rulebook, as disctinct from wargaming book including rules, would have been the WRG's "Infantry Action 1925-1975".

First boardgame I owned, but didn't buy beacuse it was a present, AH's "Afrika Korps". The first I paid my own money for was WRG's "Seastrike".

All the best,

John.

Alexander, Avalon Hill.

Like John, Charles Grants 'Battle'.

First boardgame was AHGCs 'France 1940'.

First RPG was white box D&D.

"1977 when I was 14"

Bah, a young thing. I was 16 then:)

First set of rules was Bruce Quarrie's Airfix guide for Napoleonics when I was 7 and my first board wargame was AH's Afrika Korps when I was 8 or so.

Avalon Hill's Gettysburg in 1964.
My first miniatures game came many years later.

Third Reich by AH was my first boardgame.

First miniatures set was Chainmail by TSR

American Civil War using Airfix figures and rules from Featherstone's "War Games". Circa 1968.

"1977 when I was 14"

Bah, a young thing. I was 16 then:)

Youngsters! I was 23!

Panzerblitz by AH, soooooo many years ago….

Tricolor. My first boardgame was Victory in the Pacific.

1st wargames with figures were the various Airfix rules (Napoleonics & ACW), then moved onto WRG Ancients.
1st boardgames were Chess, Colditz, Campaign & Risk; then the various Metagames, such as Melee, Wizard, Ogre, GEV, etc.
1st RPG was the white box D&D.

Homemade based on a Don Feathersone book I borrowed from the Libary. So I could fight my airfix figures against each other…

"Luftwaffe" by Avalon Hill around 1977 or so (age 12). I liked the box cover, but had no idea what a "wargame" was.

Discovered miniature wargames couple of years later when I purchased a copy of "Wargamers Digest" by McCoy. Again, cool picture on the cover, but had no idea what it was all about.

I was very lucky and started with a good one…BattleTech. I am younger than most others in this thread.

Avalon Hills "Blitzkrieg"

AH's "Stalingrad" in 1962.

I am older than dirt, and twice as hard to shovel when wet.

TVAG

For me…Squad Leader in around 1980 or 81 I guess. Can't remember any other. Got a few later that year but that's the oldest I can recall.

Another for Panzerblitz.

A little pamphlet put out by Roco minitanks, but they actually belonged to a friend.

The first rules I actually owned were 'Hardtack' ACW, and some WWII rules by Gary Gygax, a few of years before the public even heard about Dungeons and Dragons. They shipped directly from him, and he had a brief friendly note. Hardtack was fun, a classic 70's rules set, very broad and simple basics, with an emphasis on the game and fundamental tactics.

American Heritage's Civil War game which came in the magazine, @ 1963. But before that, about Kindergarden age, my older brother and I lining up our plastic army men and taking turns throwing darts at the other's line. Head/Heart area = Dead; anywhere else = Wounded. 2 points for Dead; 1 point for wounded. (My brother came up with those rules. He was about 10 then.)

My first "real" wargame was Blitzkrieg (SPI?) about 1970.

First miniatures wargame was a medievel homebrew system a friend learned from his older brother and showed me how to play; the force composition was based on chess. I was in 4th grade, he was in 5th, the brother was, I don't know, 8th grade? So this was fall 1971 or spring 1972.

First boardgame wargame was something in the junior high boardgames club, 7th grade so 1974. They had most of the games mentioned above, Alexander, Panzer Blitz, Gettysberg, Afrika Korps, many others.

The first I received as a gift was that same year, the entry level Avalon Hill game with a generic battlemap -- Tactics II? Something like that.

First wargame I bought myself -- we will not count all the D&D stuff I was buying after that point, since I think the original poster does not intend RPGs -- was probably Ogre, and that was published in 1977.

Panzer Blitz by Avalon Hill in 1982

I think it was metagame's Melee, if that counts. Soon followed by Ogre, which I loved.

I didn't discover 'real' wargames until my late 20's, though.

Tactics II by Avalon Hill back in early 1970's was my first military board game. Angriff by Zimmerman & Myers, was my first miniature game, that was around 1973 or 4.

In 1961, as a part of the ACW centennial, Life magazine had a strategic level ACW game as a pull-out. That was my first formal, as opposed to the rule-less "playing with soldiers or cowboys and Indians" wargame.

JJ

Avalon Hill's 1914 in the '60's.

The first minis war game I played was a hack job of Fantasy Warriors. We hadn't read the rules completely and just made up stuff as we went. Then my younger brother traded if off before I could read it all. Then the first game I ever bought was a copy of A Fistfull of Miniatures from the local hobby/craft shop about a month or so after that.

Both those rule sets have a special place in my heart. :)

The rules set Angriff(does anyone remember that?) and some boxes of Airfix and Atlantic figures!

Chainmail. 1979

AH Gettysburg

The Sword and The Flame

Risk.

Anglo/Zulu wargame in early 1964, after seeing the movie "Zulu". The rules were some "house rules" Dad was working on because he didn't like the Colonial rules that were available at the time. He had an old SAE Colonial army. Those "house rules" later became "The Sword and The Flame".

Rocroi by SPI. 1977, I was 14 or so.

AH's Waterloo and Battle of the Bulge (one for the Birthday and one for Christmas – I don't remember which was first) in the early 70s.

Chainmail, then Battlesystem, then DBA then WRG 7th…

Terrement, that was the pull-out I was referring to above…I thought it was American Heritage, but I think you are right. American Heritage also came out with the game in boxed form a few yerars later. We had both, according to a quick check with my brother.

Avalon Hill's D-Day.

First game where we used rules:

we played some very simple games with rules in his back yard; Foreign Legion versus Arabs, using guns from Royal Horse Artillery sets. Troops could move one length of a little tray (from those boxes full of trays for storing nuts and bolts and things) and shoot two trays. Whatever you shot at was killed. Great fun. from link

That was round about 1972. First rule set we bought was Angriff. Later we ordered Charles Grant's Battle round about 1975 or so, along with P. Dunn's Sea Battle Games.

Afrika Korps was our first board wargame, bought by and played at my friend's house.

We started D&D with a starter set – I think it was blue in colour in August 1977. We were so clueless: the DM didn't read the rules very well and each time a monster attacke, he first rolled a d20 to see what level it was. Giant rat attaking at 17th level, anyone? It came with those roly poly dice which i still have, along with the caltrops of a d4. Also we used a bunch of premade dungeons which I think were in blue.
--
Tim

Ogre, 1977.

Cross of Iron, didn't know that Gamette meant expansion rather then small game.

Got Hitler's War (Metagaming version) and Squad Leader for Christmas a couple months later.

First miniatures game i played was a dungeon crawl using AD&D 1st ed. My uber cool uncle set it up for his friends and let me tag along to play too. think I was about 7 or 8. GEV pocket edition was first Actual Wargame, about 9 or so. First I bought Battletech, also introduced to WHFB 3rd around same time and it's been all down hill since then….