Krieg and Spiel

(Starting with a scenario that turned out to be very short due to the chaos of the RNG that I mentioned in the introduction post. This is the "Flash, Thunder" scenario from Lock and Load Tactical Heroes of Normandy where scattered paratroops have to roll a random event at the beginning of each turn to determine if they find more friends... or enemies.) Early morning, 06 June, 1944, somewhere on the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, France. PFC Walter Hird softly cursed to himself as he looked at his watch. His platoon should be in position to move on the objective at Pouppeville in 15 minutes. If they did, he was unlikely to be joining them, considering he found himself all alone, and had no real idea where he was. The drops had been one huge SNAFU, with his unit scattered all over the Cotentin. He leaned deeper into the shadows of the hedgerow he crouched beside and angled his compass to try to catch the light of the full moon. If he just kept moving East, he’d probably b

I bought my first 'wargames' in 1978, while on a family vacation to Florida. I was seven years old, and happened upon them in a discount bin in a "Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby" shop in a mall somewhere near Orlando. For $3.99 each I picked up Victory in the Pacific and D-Day, both by the Avalon Hill Game Company. I had somehow already become fascinated by history, and the promise on these boxes that they would allow "YOU" to decide how to pursue historical objectives and possibly change the outcomes was overwhelmingly attractive to my young mind. Over the next few decades I amassed a collection of several hundred games, from various companies, many of them purchased at a local store called "Men at Arms Hobbies" on my native Long Island. I would save my 'allowance' for weeks, fervently anticipating talking my parents into the 20-minute drive so I could stand before the tall shelves filled with potential gateways to different times and places.