This morning, after my First 15 podcast and a double espresso I settled in to start reading the new BCS rules 2.0. Very excited!
But I made a fatal mistake, I allowed social media to distract me.
However, I now hope to turn that distraction into something useful for all of us. A gentleman sent me a PM on facebook, asking for advice on how to get started in wargaming.
He was a regular viewer, reader, and he was also a non gamer [none…not even Euros.]
Sometime in the past he had acquired a collection in an estate sale of over 200 games, and after he sold most off, he started looking at these games and that led to him spending most of the proceeds on WW2 books!
Of course I cannot vouch for the veracity of anything shared with me, but I do not want to miss an opportunity to help a potential new gamer join our ranks.
The image above is the remains of the collection. I will note the 2020 release of T4T bottom right and Panzer Battles also.
Where do we get this guy started?
I was going to suggest – Tank on Tank for a tactical exploration and move-fight mechanics.
I recall the No Retreat series to be pretty straight forward but kind of involved. Did the subsequent versions get easier?
Obviously Panzer Battles the SCS system could be a good choice.
Maybe France ’44 or one one of the point to point games?
He had looked at Rommel from DVG and got lost.
Clearly he needs to set aside WaW, and OCS, BCS for now and EFS and probably Operation Dauntless and EotS…So that narrows the field a lot. OST could be good for tactical, but its rulebook aint real clear for a newbie.
My suggestion to him, was to pick a topic he liked, grab a game and skim read the rules, look at the maps, then setup the play example [S’44?] and do a walk through on a turn. Then see if they ‘get it’. From there setup up a few units and shuffle stuff around.
You are correct with pick a topic of interest first and skim the rules. Then, check out the game page on BoardGameGeek for videos of “how to play” or examples. Almost every game has some sort of video.
Put the pieces on the board and follow along with the video.
Cheers,
Mark
Of the wargames pictured, I would choose to walk a newbie through Field Commander Alexander. It is a solitaire, area movement, strategic game with only 15 pages of rules with good replayability. It has several campaigns that can be played individually or linked to cover Alexander’s entire life. It was designed to be easy to learn and fast-playing, Optional rules are shown right on the mapsheet.
If he enjoys that game and wishes to go further then I would tell him to pick a topic, skim the rules for a couple of more complicated games, and choose one to play through.
This is something he will be doing alone. As I mentioned he found Rommel from DVG[? ] a stretch!
I was going to second the Alexander game as a starting point, but given he spent the proceeds on WW2 books, I would steer towards Panzer Battles and SCS in general. I do think OST would be a decent tactical choice, but that would be down the road once he starts to get a flavor for what he likes. That said, what a nice collection of “left overs”!
Wow…. this is an extreme case of biting off more than one can chew…. **in a lifetime**!!
If this person were new to wargaming, I would have to direct him/her to the easiest, cosest-to-classic title of the bunch, to see if they can learn those basic wargame concepts. If they can’t do that, there’s just no point in going any further.
After an intro to basic rules like movement, ZoC, combat, CRTs, supply, etc.*then* begin to elicit interest in specific subjects and time periods and help them discover which of those games are within grasp.
Lastly, I would not leave a gamer-wannabe to his own devices to figure all this out. They need a mentor, for sure, as well as gaming partners. An introduction to Vassal EARLY might be more important than any one title.
Not sure if you have it in your collection, but I think the good ol’ “Russian Campaign” from AH is unbeatable for introducing someone to WW2 wargaming….it is simple, epic, and with a good historical value.
Good choice!
Most of these are heawy games. I would tell him to pick an era or place of interest, buy a simple game dealing with this. If he likes it he can start tackling these lsrger games.
Re: your OST rulebook assessment: is that of the latest version? The version that comes with III (PTO) seems quite enhanced.
Of course, so hard to put oneself in another’s shoes.
Hmm. Ive not looked in detail at pacific yet. I think once they fixed armor it was manageable.