Wargaming Resurrected As Indie Gaming Staple?

Thanks to DIYGames.com for their editorial discussing why PC wargames, formerly a mainstream genre, have been reborn in "the quiet and underground world of online marketing and word of mouth." The author points to companies such as Battlefront and HPS as offering good-quality indie wargaming, and suggests that "Wargames tend to have low costs for technological research and development meaning that more attention can be paid to the initial setup and scenario design. This is not the type of stuff that sells well in a screenshot or magazine preview. But it is the heart and soul of a good wargame."

Comments

NOTICE

[Anonymous Coward]

These games are even worse at getting you laid than D&D ever was.

Re:NOTICE

[Doctor_Jest]

Oh come on....women can't resist a man in uniform.... :)

A woman can resist a man dressed as a level 5 wizard, though.....

Here's to the last bastion of gameplay over flash. I remember my first experience with computer wargames (if you can call this game a "wargame") was Legionnaire on my Atari 800. :) It's been fun ever since.

Anyone remember the Avalon Hill "computer assisted" wargames like Dnepr (sp?) River line and the like? Where you had a map/counters, but the computer handled its own turns and told you where to move its pieces, and of course you informed it where you were moving yours. That's the zenith of anti-social board gaming, but fun....

My favorite old Avalon Hill game on my Atari had to be "Tanktics". Nothing like trying to use smoke to avoid the Josef Stalin II's moving south...heh.

Re:NOTICE

[DaBj]

Oh come on....women can't resist a man in uniform.... :)
A woman can resist a man dressed as a level 5 wizard, though....

If it wasn't for my policy never to moderate anything funny you would so get one of my modpoints.

The OLD Days

[jazman_777]

Nothin' like the old days: paper maps and cardboard counters and dice and charts. Just don't let the kids near!

wargames?

[mcmonkey]

the only winning move
is not to play.

how about a nice game of chess?

Battlefront

[Wyatt Earp]

I used to play the old Avalon Hill games like MBT and the Israel-Arab conflict stuff, so when I heard about Tac-Ops I bought it.

I buy every new version, and while I don't take part in any multi-player stuff, mainly cause I'm self consious about it, I subscribe to the mailing lists and keep up to date on things.

Great game, great support, great community.

Re:Battlefront

[Anonymous Coward]

Second that on the community. The Battlefront forums are second only to slashdot in terms of passionate debate. Unlike slashdot there isn't a ton of crap and trolls to wade through. And the guys who make the game are very active in the forums as well.

Their technical support is eh, but their customer support is the best I've ever seen. They own up to their mistakes and correct them however is best for the customer. Case in point - the strategy guide for Combat Mission Barbarossa to Berlin was filled with some incorrect numbers and stats, etc. Rather than dick the customer over, everyone got a second edition for free, no questions asked.

I never really got into Tac Ops, but CM rocks. Download the demo - in addition to an amazing game it's nice to deal with a decent company for a change, who seems to understand that a great product and cutomer service is the best way to make money.

The Combat Mission Games

[Anonymous Coward]

Never played any war games before, but I play the Combat Mission games and MAN are they fun. I always have a few play by email games going on. They're almost the perfect game - enough depth for serious war games but easy enough for beginners.

Thanks :)

[advocate_one]

Just resurrected my old hobby... I've got the time now that the kids have grown up and flown the coop...

I thought that there wasn't enough of a market to keep this stuff alive still. Happily, it seems I'm wrong.

Linkage

[Deternal]

Just thought you might want to check these sites out if you are into wargames:
Wargames directory - site name says it all :)
grognard.com old time wargaming website, still keeping the flag high :P

Wargames still come in some varieties in the relative mainstream tho - atleast I consider the Warlords series a wargame (tho not as advanced as say the good ol' Empire game :P). Also RTS' are starting to incorporate wargame elements more and more.

Why Wargames are more fun than RTSes

[MMaestro]

Players either :

A) don't have the crack reflexes to order all 20 workers to get resources while leading an assault on the enemy's base
B) would rather blow stuff up than decide whether to upgrade weapon damage or save up and upgrade their range

Its simple as that. Joe Average can easily order his troops to charge against the enemy, but Joe Average can't figure out the unarmored, light, medium, heavy, hero and structure armor system in Warcraft 3 in addition to the Magic, Normal, Piercing, Siege and Chaos weapon types. Even the ever popular Starcraft had it, Command and Conquer had it, even Dune 2 had a similar system. Complex methodology is good, but only if needed for advanced tactics and strategies.

Another Good Site

[AtariEric]

Shrapnel Games

(I am not affiliated with the site - just bought games from it)

For beginners..

[mutewinter]

If you never were into wargames in the past, I'd highly recommend you check out Battlefront's Combat Mission. You get impressive (ok, it aint Doom3) 3D graphics, and turn-based WWII play.

I know alot of wargames can be visually very boring, this one is not. In Combat Mission you issue commands to all your units and then for 60 seconds they play out their commands. In this period you can't control them. Basically this means you get to watch all the action -- and cringe -- as one of your tanks gets hit (plenty of detail.)

What am I saying, go download the demo.