The Wargaming Scribe

Le livre avait une couverture grise, et il avait cette taille (« fait un geste avec les mains »)

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Back to traditional cwargames with Avalon Hill's Gulf Strike (1984), with an unexpected US+Iran+Peninsular Arabs alliance against Iraq+USSR. Bad UI (2 icons for everything - check the 4th screenshot) & major design flaws make this early monster game mediocre. Read my AAR:
zeitgame.net/archives/19231

All The Adventures Up to 1982 in Review It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to do one of these; my 1981 in review was posted December 20, 2021. The chart with plot types like Rescue, Escape, etc. just isn’t that helpful…

All the Adventures aims to give the history about and play every adventure game ever made in chronological order. The 1982 sequence has just concluded, and I've written a post looking back and collecting some notable games.

#history #adventuregame

bluerenga.blog/2025/05/14/a...

Paul Clansey's Alien (1984) is the first official game of the licence. Quite innovative and supported by excellent SFX, this Alien managed to create really tense moments; alas its many design issues and outright bugs will ruin most sessions.
AAR and context of the game:
zeitgame.net/archives/18838

Just published: Reyes y Castillos (1984) - the first Argentinian game of my blog. It's terrible, but I learned a lot of things researching Argentina & Uruguay, so it's not a total loss. I made sure the 2 last screenshots included lunfardo (rioplatenese argot)!
Read more: zeitgame.net/archives/18350

By the way if you search for « Alien » on my blog you’ll find two early Alien games you probably never heard off. One is super minor, the other is by Avalon Hill but was retired almost immediately for copyright infringement reasons (I believe).

It’s coming in my blog before end of the week! I don’t share your assessment, but managed to contact the author and have pretty interesting context on how it came to be.

Back with the article on computing & gaming in Uruguay. There was a weird Coleco ADAM presence, but Brazilian clones TK90S bagged close to 50% of the market. Uruguay also had a Spectrum peripherical that would make the Brits jealous Discover why:
zeitgame.net/archives/18891

Hey, I covered this one (zeitgame.net/archives/9970) - Jon Freeman called it "Chess but fun". I also covered the (inferior?) sequel. Interestingly, Avalon Hill tried to copy the genre with Beast War but they tried too hard and the game was just too hard to jump into (zeitgame.net/archives/16937).

Well, I delayed the Uruguay article because I ordered a book on the T90K (a Spectrum clone that had a huge impact in Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina) to understand how it was that successful. I have Swedish and Italian articles in the work but it will take some time before they’re out.

Just out: my article on the beginnings of computing & gaming in Argentina, from the first computer (1961) to the end of the 80s. What was the first Argentinian game? Why isn't there any famous Argentinian company until the 90s (and even then very few of them). Read here: zeitgame.net/archives/18373

In theory, Synapse's Air Support (1984) is a game for everyone with an arcade mode (combat-focused) and a strategy mode (where you move infantry around).
In practice, it's jack of all trades, adequate at none. It was also released at the worst possible moment. Read more:

zeitgame.net/archives/18753

... today I cover another one: PSS' Air Defence, which has a few interesting features that the others don't have, but is so slow and so poorly-designed UI wise that it may be the worst one. Read my review:
zeitgame.net/archives/18677

The best one? So far SSI's Fighter Command, soon on my blog.

Battle of Britain on ZX Spectrum (PSS, 1986)

Fighter Command on Apple II (and later C64) - SSI, 1983

Battle of Britain on ZX Spectrum (Microgames Simulations, 1982)

Pearl Harbour on BBC Micro, Microgame Simulations (1984)

In the "wargame subgenres that did not pass the test of time" category, there is "Air Defense", in which you allocate fighters to enemy bombing squadrons. This subgenre was particularly popular in UK (probably due to the Battle of Britain) - here are four examples below, but there are more (1/2)

Marooned: Playable (For the First Time) Anyway, here’s this skinny blonde kid, around 6 feet tall, wearing silver Ray-Ban sunglasses, driving a royal blue Formula Firebird that says he’s Kim Watt! Can you believe it? Oh well,…

Today for All the Adventures I have a most unusual post, as a game by Kim Watt (likely from 1980) was left in a non-functional state by the author and now is fixed and playable for the first time.

bluerenga.blog/2025/07/12/m...

The map was 3x3 sectors, and you could only see the sectors you had troops here. Here is a reconstruction of an early turn.

All I can say about War Zone (1984, CCS) is that it is a wargame. It is the most generic experience I can think of. No salient feature whatsoever, and no huge flaw, beyond its absolute blandness. Still praised at release because there were so few wargames then.

AAR: zeitgame.net/archives/18490

Splash of the game, with the compulsory volcanic explosion

The research screen. Not all technologies are useful - more than half are just prerequisites. Others give real bonuses.

The strategic map with the various civilizations indicated by a letter.

Tactical map with a large city in the North (the star above the late) and a small city next to the right border of the screen (the arrow).

Before Civilization, there was a Civ-like(ish): Incunabula (1984). It included most of the Civ-like staples: Research, Disasters, City-Building, choice of politics, trade and of course warfare. It missed dedicated combat units and stopped at the bronze age. Read my AAR:
zeitgame.net/archives/18543

« Grande Armée? Interessant. »
< Sors ses propres figurines de la boite et les déploie sur la table>
« Moi, je joue SPACE MARINES »

Turn 4 of Warlords

A short turn with only two impulses. This is bad for my rival Rastignak though: Morpheus manages to push him back from the border of his castle and retake a town, and I start my move against Dayyalu's former castle - wealthy yet isolated.
Rastignak was poised to win. Not anymore.

Turn 3 of the Warlords' (1978) AAR;I received only two impulses vs three for the other players this turn :(

Rastignak moves first AGAIN and garrisons Xity. I move away. He then beeline for Morpheus and defeats his main army in front of M's castle - but the turn ends there so Morpheus can rebuild.

But the random turn order every impulse favours Rastignak, and he gets to garrison his city before I can launch my assault. I am not willing to attack a city with "only" a 3:2 ratio, and I take a poor territory instead. That's the last impulse of the turn.

It's time to buy new armies. Money that wasn't spent the previous turn can be used to buy army everywhere, money earned this turn can only be used to buy army in the castle. My revenue is 17, Morpheus' 18 and Rastignak's 25. This means immediate alliance with Morpheus...

But the random turn order every impulse favours Rastignak, and he gets to garrison his city before I can launch my assault. I am not willing to attack a city with "only" a 3:2 ratio, and I take a poor territory instead. That's the last impulse of the turn.

Dayyalu gathers what's left of his force in his castle, but Rastignak's force is stronger, or luckier, and Dayyalu's castle is overrun!

Meanwhile, I hope to exploit the fast that Rastignak's army are fighting Dayyalu to seize the wealthy [X]ity... (3/5)

Dayyalu and myself agree on an alliance in which we both converge on Rastignak. The alliance never materialize: Rastignak moves first and attack a swamp South of Dayyalu's castle! (2/5)

Turn 2: A lot of impulses, and a player already down (1/5)

I replace the [L]ake by blue squares to add some colour and show that they can't be crossed.

Turn 1: Rastignak proposes that I seize the unguarded Dayyalu's castle from the North while Dayyalu is moving South.
I don't see the point given Rastignak has the best start and it's a risky move anyway. Good choice: the number of impulses every turn is random, and the first turn has only one!

Great. Another one…
In the 23th century, on Mars, everyone was a « stimhead ». It came with the grueling work on the « colony ». The only exceptions were the A class under their ivory dome - people like Mabel Dore. Modern people would do well not to judge the heroes whi gave them their rights.

Ajar’s book reveals the situation faced by Calderon: constant threats from traitors/stooges of Omnicorp & Tricorp. Many of these plots never materialized, but they were real.

After his downfall, the seriousness of the situation was downplayed both to demonize him and for Martian reconciliation.