Looking for a good beginner hex based wargame

Goldchamp · Post by **Goldchamp** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 11:57 pm

Tile says itall, looking for good suggestions on hex based board game to get my feet wet in. With a good tutorial preferably.Any ideas?

Vinda-Lou · Post by **Vinda-Lou** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 12:20 am

I'm not sure where to find it, but Steel Panthers is a free download of a WWII game. It's an oldie, but free and from what I hear pretty good.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 12:41 am

Try the demo for Strategic Command at http://www.battlefront.com and then get it. Strategic Command is available at their site, and its also in a new six pack out recently called "Wargamer's Choice Strategy Six Pack" for around $19.99 in most Gamestops or at http://www.navalwarfare.net

There's also a new version of Strategic Command coming out in a few months or so that should be even better. The first one's still well worth getting though.

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 1:13 am

People's Tactics is a pretty good introductory level wargame. And its freeware and has documentation on the website. So you can check it out, see the docs for yourself and decide if the actual game is worth your time to learn.

Check it out here:
http://www.peoplestactics.com/

Being interested in a particular theater, time period, or scale helps though. So try to narrow down your wishlist. Otherwise its like asking people what's a good first-time FPS.

ChaoZ · Post by **ChaoZ** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 1:21 am

I always thought the Panzer General series were a nice and simple hex-based war game. Panzer General 2 remains a favorite of mine to this day. Then again, I'm not a hardcore wargamer.

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:17 am

Actually, how well do the Panzer General series work on today's OSes, like Win XP?

If Panzer General 2 works on it then I may have to scrounge in the bargain bin for a copy.

Goldchamp · Post by **Goldchamp** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:33 am

Thanks for the suggestions all I have the fre steel panthers, NOT a good game to learn on. I don't care what theatre or war as long as it has a good tutorial!

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 10:44 am

Strategic Command from Battlefront.com. It's a good beer and pretzels type game.There's a demo for it and I believe SC2 is going to be out in the not too distant future.

Jeff V · Post by **Jeff V** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 11:31 am

dbt1949 wrote:Strategic Command from Battlefront.com. It's a good beer and pretzels type game.There's a demo for it and I believe SC2 is going to be out in the not too distant future.

I thought SC2 was supposed to degrade to square-based (instead of hex-based). Did Hubert finally come to his senses?

Battles in Normandy isn't too bad. It is easy to learn, and there are plenty of options to tweak play in your favor as you learn. It is a very scalable game -you can adjust playbalance quite a bit, and even give one side a handicap with extra VPs. Using detault settings or harder, the game can be brutally challenging. It also comes with an editor (you should be able to find additional battles/scenarios) and the latest version of The Ardennes Offensive (Battle of the Bulge).

While there are other hex-based games suitable for beginners, many are old and don't run on modern OS, and none of them are scalable, so once you master them, you're done. Battles in Normandy is more accessible to beginners than Korsun Pocket mostly because of the subject matter.

You might additionally let us know what topics you are interested in. Interest in the subject matter goes along way in understanding abstractions used in hex-style wargames. These games don't come with their own visceral component like a RTS or shooter - the best hex-based game in the world is a crushing bore if you don't get into the topic.

Veloxi · Post by **Veloxi** » Sat Jan 22, 2005 1:37 pm

The Panzer General games, no question. Check out Panzer General for Windows 95. It's a game you can play for hours and hours.

Giles Habibula · Post by **Giles Habibula** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 4:21 am

Just saw Strategic Command today at Big Lots for $5.99.

JohnnyFive · Post by **JohnnyFive** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 11:11 am

www.matrixgames.com will have SP:WAW, which is a free (though enormous) download.

jpinard · Post by **jpinard** » Mon Jan 24, 2005 9:52 pm

Strategic Command is EXACTLY what you want. Itg is so perfect for what you're asking. Super easy to leanr, but lots of good strategic depth. It's a winner!

Head · Post by **Head** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 5:41 pm

Panzer General 2 - Excellent game to learn on
Steel Panthers - The next step up after mastering Panzer General 2

Samurai · Post by **Samurai** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:15 pm

If you're talking about in game/interactive tutorials, then this would not fit your description.. but War in the Pacific has a massive guided tutorial via a pdf file thats over 50 pages long IIRC. I would head for that game after you get your feet wet with some of the other games suggested in this thread.

Veloxi · Post by **Veloxi** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:52 pm

I'd think he'd need to slowly move from beginner to moderate to at-least-somewhat-expereinced before jumping into the ocean that is War in the Pacific.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:07 pm

Make sure to pick up the Revised Official Strategy Guide for Strategic Command on pdf at http://www.ww2n.com/schq/

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:16 pm

I'd go with Panzer General 2. I think SP is a bit complicated for a newbie, unless he was really going to devote himself to figuring the game out. But it would be a good follow on.

jztemple · Post by **jztemple** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 9:54 am

I'll throw in another group of games, the ones from John Tiller which can be found at http://www.hpssims.com/. They can be ordered direct from HPS Sims, or you can find them about $15 cheaper through http://www.navalwarfare.org/ (look at their store page). These are old school, hexgrid, I-GO-YOU-GO turn based games. No flashy graphics, but lots of honest gameplay. The AI is suspect at times and worse in the pre-WW2 games, but they excel for head to head or PBEM. The Scenario Design Site (http://www.hist-sdc.com/) has hundred of other scenarios plus other add-ons.

The Preacher · Post by **The Preacher** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 10:37 am

One that literally just came out is Flashpoint Germany. It's actually square-based, not hex, but it uses distances anyhow so it seems to do away with the need for hexes. It's based on the older Main Battle Tank games.

Siljanus has an impressions thread over here and it sounds great. It runs as a windows application so it will work on just about any pc from the sounds of it.

The Matrix Forums are an excellent resource. Here is a What is this game about? thread.

Hrnac · Post by **Hrnac** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 10:46 am

I will also recommend Panzer General. That game is a great game to introduce one to the war game genre.

-Hrnac

msurby · Post by **msurby** » Thu Jan 27, 2005 4:05 pm

Did anyone ever make a computer version of Ogre or GEV? Man, those little baggie games from Steve Jackson were a blast. Right now I am haviing fond memories of Ice War...

EDIT:

Did a little Google and found that these have come and gone (too bad)

This is totally cool (well...in a very geeky way) http://www.efran.org/embassy/lego-ogre.html

This is just plain stupid tho' http://www.sjgames.com/ogre/ogrethulhu/

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 1:37 am

msurby wrote:
This is totally cool (well...in a very geeky way) http://www.efran.org/embassy/lego-ogre.html

That is cool!

Massive Assault would probably make a good Ogre base. Ogre was about the only wargame that Dungeons and Dragons geeks would play.

jztemple · Post by **jztemple** » Fri Jan 28, 2005 9:31 am

msurby wrote:Did anyone ever make a computer version of Ogre or GEV? Man, those little baggie games from Steve Jackson were a blast. Right now I am haviing fond memories of Ice War...

Yup, had all of them, used to have a quick game at lunch with a guy at work. Great little games.

"Baggie games" brings back the fond memory of buying the first retail issue of Star Fleet Battles in the baggie, which was what, late seventies or early eighties? I eventually bought every single item they put out. My Master Rule Book was bulging out of a four inch binder, and it was a nice Sunday activity to sit down with red pen, scissors and tape to update the rules with the latest changes. Of course I photocopied the updates first! Sold all of them to a collector when I finally ran out of space for my computer games, books and board games.

I remember the first time looking at a Klingon B10 SSD and being amazed at all those little boxes