""I Haven't Seen a Game of That for Years"" Topic

Following on the theme of some of the current polls (best ruleset that never caught on etc….) and this post TMP link I wondered about having a thread of miniatures games that we have not seen or heard of being played in the last 10 years. If you have played, seen or heard of one that someone names being played at least once, then please let us all know (ideally, put a link in the comments!)! For sanity's sake, we won't include different versions, so DBA is DBA, regardless of which edition.

Here are some suggestions to start us off:

Newbury Fast Play Napoleonics
To The Sound of the Guns
Tactical Commander
Challenger
Don Featherstone's Wargames
Terry Wise's Battles With Model Soldiers
Bodycount
Big Wars
In the Grand Manner
Once Upon a Time in the Western Peninsula
Once Upon a Time in the West Indies
Bruce Quarrie's Napoleon's Campaigns in Miniature
Revenge
WRG 1750-1850
Mike Spick's Air Battles in Miniature

The Complete Brigadier
Phoenix Command
Corps Commander
Heart of Oak
Hostile Aircraft
Ral Partha's Battle System
Combat Commander & Warship Commander (Enola Games)

The Newbury game probably hasn't finished yet….

Looking at my shelves, what about:

Navar and Heroics and Ros – 5 mm wargames rules
Paragon – Aerial dogfight rules 1916-1918
Medieval warfare and Ancient Warfare (Gore)
Crusader Ancients rules

The Newbury game probably hasn't finished yet….

It would probably finish before a squad versus squad game of Phoenix Command…

JEB!- ACW
Stars & Bars- ACW
Tricolor- Napoleonic

Roundheads and Cavaliers ECW
Rusty's Rules

Tricorne (Ken Bunger)

Drums of War Along the Mohawk (Bill Protz aka Gen. Pettygrew)

A-Z Ancients

Wow, great list. Some good favorites that I played often. Tricolor was my first set of miniature rules in 1976. I had been a broad game only player until then.

Here in the southern part of the USA, they tend to play mainly a few rules only. Very rarely a diverse selection. Though the Ancient tournament group now plays an assortment.
So over half of the list I have never seen played. At conventions in the 1990s, the vendors would play in a vendors only game after we closed for the day. We played Rusty's Rules since the designer was a dealer and there. I still remember his character was six toe Pete. Great days and games.

Paddy Griffith's Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun.
Frappe
Napoleonique
Chef de Battalion
Retinue
Galacta-3
Rogue Stars

I was about to list Empire, but that brings up the more general question of when a "new edition" is effectively a new rule set, which applies to a lot of commercial products. Any suggestions? My first thought is (1) it's certainly a new rule set if you have to rebase, but (2) it feels like a new rule set when your army is wiped out, or can't be played without a major rebuild, which is a lot more common.

As it happens, I have managed to get a couple of games of Paddy Griffith's Napoleonic Wargaming for Fun in during the last 10 years: link

I was about to list Empire, but that brings up the more general question of when a "new edition" is effectively a new rule set, which applies to a lot of commercial products. Any suggestions? My first thought is (1) it's certainly a new rule set if you have to rebase, but (2) it feels like a new rule set when your army is wiped out, or can't be played without a major rebuild, which is a lot more common.

I was tempted to ignore it and despite everything, pretend that Empire (all editions), Napoleon's Battles (all editions), WRG Ancients (all editions – !!!!!) etc. are pretty much the same game. I know it isn't true, but I just can't think of a principled and simple way of doing it.

I often play and offer Cavalier and Roundheads games at conventions

No longer play 1776, Zulu, and many of the others listed above

Newbury Fast Play anything
Challenger
Tractics
Angriff

GDW's Fire and Steel
link

GDW Fire and Steel was a very expensive venture. Several expansion sets in the days before miniatures had expansions. Was it a miniatures with cardboard counters. Lol.came in a small red box, expansions were bagged.

Lance and Tercio for me! – as well as a lot of Steve Jackson games.

Car Wars with the SFB hit system. Later used by Battletech which has back strong since the 1980s debut. Played in many car wars games at conventions.

Verlonehauf, just found a copy in my old rules files.
Of course there is my 1989s era Guard du Corps.
Distant World Battles, sorta a Dba on far planets using 10mm castings.

Rally Round The Flag, (Iron Bde Minis/Heritage Rules) from 1976…

The Jackson Gamers play "To The Sound of the Guns" occasionally since we were great friends with the late Larry Brom who developed those rules.

Jim

Starguard! by McEwen Miniatures.

Oh yes, does anyone remember the Battlecars board game?

Any of the OG published rules -- except for the Wars of Oz.
😄😆😬😀😜🙄

Chainmail
Tractics
Jagdpanther
Angriff!
Fletcher Pratt's Naval Wargame

Might of Arms
Beat To Quarters
Ship O' The Line
Generalship: American Wars
Generalship: Napoleon
Tank Battles In Miniatures (any of the various volumes)

Mustangs and Messerschmitts
Alien Space Battle Manual

Gamertom mentioned Ship of the line which became Wooden Ships and Iron Men. The first Battleline version can be distinguished from the Avalon Hill version. The Battleline had the ship name on each counter. AH had numbers.

Phoenix Command, now there's a name I haven't heard in years, still have a copy of that and several of their other rules somewhere.

In the Grand Manner is the preferred set at Legendary Wargames Holiday Centre…massive table with 28mm figures.

Thanks @bobm1959 and ColCampbell and DisasterWargamer, always good to hear that an old classic is still giving pleasure to gamers. I think now you mention it I recall hearing that about the WHC on a podcast…Henry Hyde's maybe.

Mustangs and Messerschmitts was recently played at a regional con!

TimePortal:

GDW's Fire and Steel was a complete boxed set of 15mm rules, with no expansions that I know of. It was later used as the basis for the 'System 7' cardboard counter sets, which used a reduced ground scale version of the 15mm rules. I have both.

"a thread of miniatures games that we have not seen or heard of being played in the last 10 years."

Picking nits here, but I think you mean "rules" rather than "games." Rules are what we use to play games.

79thPA – great to hear!

I never got around to making the flight stands. The plans looked intimidating to my much younger self!

Fast Rules (Guidon Games)
Imperialism

Both were among my intros to the hobby back in '79. I may have to run them again.

Couldn't swear to it, but reasonably sure I've seen both Tricorne and Drums of War Along the Mohawk at SYWA conventions within the past 10 years.

You know, I had a notion once that there were really only about 40-50 "slots" for miniatures rules. That gave you a rule set for each broad period, at each level of command and with choices for casualty removal by roster, figure and base. Beyond that, it was pretty much fashion and taste, so new sets had to displace old ones, and were well advised not to invent a new basing system. I'm less certain now, but it still feels about right. Raises questions about when and why we give up one set for another.

OC, thank you. I was trying not to say that, but someone needed to.

Battleground WW2
Battalions in Crisis

OC and Robert,

Happy to be nit-picked, but I don't understand this one. However, re-phrase it as you like.

And thanks for all the suggestions (and rare sightings!) so far. And maybe some people will be inspired to put on one of these old games. I might have a go at one of the Tank Battles in Miniature sets, at some point!

Ncc1717, you are correct. I had both as well. I did not clearly denote System 7 and the connection. Fire and Steel was a complete set. A unique concept of a complete box set. The box was of a small size. Many rules by TSR and UK used the format that would fit in the box.

Update. Definitely saw Tricorne on the SYWA Convention game list last weekend.

Whirlwind, Chess, Monopoly and Baseball are games. You can make different decisions, roll different dice or different people can play, but it's always the same board or field, the same objective and almost always the same number and types of pieces or players. ("Family" board games are the outlier on numbers of players, though I've seen Chess handicapped.)

But wargame rules aren't that. Once we pick a set of rules, then someone--the host? The commanders of the armies?--has to determine the terrain, the objectives and the forces engaged, and particular battles may require further customization. I have seen dreadful games (and played in a few) when there was nothing wrong with the rules, and classic games were played with the same set.

A lot of us say "game" meaning "rule set" but I think it's a distinction worth maintaining. I can buy and read rules much more easily than I can produce a worthwhile game.

Robert, I don't think I would contest your distinction, I just don't quite get the meaning in this context. What one sees at a convention or at a club is a 'game of DBA' or 'game of CLS' or whatever, no? So in this context I wouldn't see much of a difference between "I didn't see a game of Flames of War on the convention circuit last year" and "I don't hear of many people using the Flames of War rules at the moment". Maybe I am missing something.