Friday, March 24, 2006
SPI - Avalon Hill
Ring any old bells? I was looking at some of my old Strategy and Tactics magazines last night. For you youngins who only know computer based war games, back in the olden days (mid 70s - early 80s) wargames were played either on paper, most often on hex overlayed maps, or with miniatures. Like the LAN parties and such of today, we often had large groups of geek/nerds gathered together over paper and dice to fight wars like Borodino, Chinese Farm, and others. There was one upstart company, Steve Jackson Games, that made itty-bitty games that came in plastic envelopes and cost about $3 - Ogre/GEV being probably the best of the breed. On the other extreme were multi-map monstrosities that cost $50 or more and could cover several tables (wooden) with maps and tables (paper). War in the Pacific and War in Europe are two that come to mind. While I don't know of anyone who completed a War In Europe campaign, I did have a hand in setting up the full complement of maps and charts. I belonged to a wargaming club back around 1978 that was called the Wichita Wargamers and was based at McConnell AFB. We actually managed to get the MWR office to help us buy games and give us a room to play in.
For awhile, a friend and I would play in my office area during our lunch hour at McConnell. We used a locker room and were able to keep our map stored up out of the way between games. He was into the Civil War and Napoleonic era while I enjoyed NATO/Warsaw Pact type situations. If you read this (and I confess, I've forgotten your name), are you still painting 54mm miniatures?
I still have quite a few of the old SPI games sitting around the house. Many of them are still in the flimsy plastic trays/boxes. Interesting concept, but not very durable. They were blow molded black plastic with a cardboard back. There a lot of small compartments with clear plastic covers that didn't quite stay in place. They did however, make a great way to keep and organize the small pieces and dice.
