2:30 Memoir 44 5:00 With It or On It 7:40 Tank on Tank - Westfront 9:30 Freeman's Farm 1777 12:00 Time of Crisis - The Roman Empire in Turmoil 235-284 AD 15:00 Lincoln 18:20 Richard III - The Wars of the Roses 21:30 Dual Powers - Revolution 1917 23:40 Brave Little Belgium 29:00 Europe Divided 33:10 Sekigahara 35:30 Nights of Fire - Battle for Budapest | Days of Ire - Budapest 1956 38:45 Wild Blue Yonder 43:30 Normandy Undaunted 47:50 Command & Conquer: Ancients, Battlecry 48:10 CoIn Games: Cuba Libre, Andean Abyss, Colonial Twilight 49:20 Hex & Counter Games: Dark Sands, Market Garden Series, Napoleonic 20 Series, No Retreat! The Russian Front, C3I 35 (2018) Gettysburg

Thanks for a great video! Memoir '44/Battle Cry 2:43 With It or On It 5:00 Tank on Tank: Westfront 7:39 Freeman's Farm 1777 9:31 Time of Crisis: The Roman Empire in Turmoil, 235-284 AD 12:00 Lincoln (Worthington) 15:05 Richard III: The Wars of the Roses 18:20 Dual Powers: Revolution 1917 21:25 Brave Little Belgium 23:40 Europe Divided 28:58 Sekigahara: The Unification of Japan 33:10 Nights of Fire: Battle for Budapest/Days of Ire: Budapest 1956 35:39 Wild Blue Yonder 38:38 Undaunted: Normandy 43:27

I'm with the commenters who mention theme. I can teach almost any game to anyone if they are engaged by the subject matter. Mechanics are definitely second imho. Game of Thrones fan? Start with a fantasy/medieval wargame. Star Wars fan? Go sci-fi etc. So it doesn't even have to be military history to get started, just get them engaged with their favourite theme right from the get go 👍

great suggestions. I love undaunted, Sekigahara, Time of crisis, and most of the command and colors.

You guys are awesome! So glad I found your channel. How lucky to have a buddy to play war games with. And, I love that you are able to get your Wives to occasionally jump in. Their Market Garden review was hilarious. Thanks again!

My 6yr old son got memoir 44 from Santa last year. Absoluetley loves the game! In my opinion, one of the best introductory games out there for kids. Honestly, he is getting tough to beat! lol his wish list this year is the British, Mediterranean theatre and Japanese, Pacific theatre.

Wow, what a great video. So much content packed into one hour. Thanks.

Great list and enjoyable conversation. Thank you for making it.

Great video- I always love your videos like this one that compare a bunch of different games. Keep up the good work!

Love this video. Thank you so much for doing it!!

cheers in advance looking into a few of these some great over all info

I think when it comes to introducing wargames to 'yourself' & /or others, interest in a setting is the key factor. My military history interests lie in 17th and 20th century warfare. If I'm really interested in a topic (say after a film or reading a book) I'll look for a game on it and I'll want to delve into and play it, forcing my way through the rules, scenarios, etc no matter how convoluted. Memoir is touted a lot as a good introductory wargame (game involving war) but if the gamer has no interest in ww2 its probably going to be counter productive. The strength of Memoir isn't the game itself, its the system. Its core mechanics are simple enough that it's been applied to about 3000 years of conflicts so it's more than likely going to offer something to someone interested in trying a head to head wargaming experience. I like the WW1, Ancients and Napoleonic games in C&C but I've no interest in the ww2, samurai, medieval, ACW, AWI, Fantasy, sci fi, themes, but the fact that those games exist are the foundation that make C&C stand out from the rest and I guess make it far more commercially successful that most. A random Google/Amazon search 10 years ago led me to cut my teeth (alone) on Federation Commander, Trench Zone and Combat Commander as my starting wargames after having only played Monopoly, stratego, risk and chess. The harsh learning curves faced during my first tentative steps were enough to engross me in the world of wargaming. I missed the memoir boat but also feel that if I'd found memoir I probably wouldn't have gone much further. I'd say if a kid or new/non-wargamer likes risk and stratego significantly, discuss a setting and go the C&C route if possible. If a heavy/experienced gamer wants to try it just go full GMT!!!

Please do a review on introductory hex & counter games.

My take on two player war gaming is find someone you like the play with. Half the time you are drinking coffee and talking about stuff and if that part isn't going well the whole thing is a bit painful. What you are actually playing doesn't really matter too much. I started with Panzerblitz, Mech War 44 & 77, Star ship Troopers and twenty or thirty other games that were great fun in the last Century but haven't played since. First choice nowadays is Squad Leader but I'll play and happily lose anything if someone wants to play something different.

You two do the best overviews and reviews ever.

Great Video. I loved the overview. I would add A Few Acres of Snow to this list, a Martin Wallace design. The artwork is nice and it is a deck builder with a type of area control.

Great stuff guys.

Thanks a lot T-P-A. My favorite gateway game to the cosim hobby is Memoir` 44 and Root.

Nice vid guys! Thanks!

A great video! Thank you! In my case, I've had great success playing M44 with my wife (who isn't really a gamer) and I'd love to try some other easy conflict simulations with her. This is a wonderful list of possibilities.

Very good video, thanks.

Best video ever. Thank you!

Nice list, guys! For hex and counter, I struggled with No Retreat: The Russian Front! I read the rules, they seemed fine, sat at the table, and just could not put it all together! I found Battles of the Bulge: Celles to be more manageable and to help me get some hex and counter concepts down! I’d had no problem with Cuba Libre, I am used to some of the more complex Euros, but I needed that easier hex and counter step first! Memoir was my first wargame! Then Conflict of Heroes, which I liked for easing you into the rules. Read a bit, play a scenrio, read a bit more, another scenario, ... Love Wild Blue Yonder! It makes me feel like I am playing with model aircraft and there are so many cool planes stuffed in the box. My son adores this game! Neat for hanidcapping as well, as you can take a less well matched option. I also like A House Divided as a doable intro wargame, though maybe play length can drag a bit, but rules I found fairly straightforward. With basic rules and optional ones to add more complexity later if you want. I like your suggestion of Liconoln, I liked how it gave me a flavor of the war in such a quick playtime! I think Undaunted for me is a great first one. Let’s hope the system beings in a bunch of new wargamers!

Lots of good suggestions here!

Thank you guys very much for this list! I have played economic and heavy euro games for years and am finally dipping my toe into wargaming!

thank you I have been looking for something for my grandchildren to get into.

Wow, I never heard of even one of these games. I guess the days of SPI's "Napoleon at Waterloo" or Avalon Hill's "Stalingrad" being introductory wargames are long gone. More recently there was Frank Chadwick's elegantly simple "Battle for Moscow: Operation Typhoon" as an introductory wargame, but somehow that missed this list too.

Thanks for doing such a great job enjoyed your video. I subscribe to you guys and really enjoy them thank you so much. I think I'm going to try brave Little Belgium once again thank you.

Awesome video! You guys should make another but with the best wargames for people that aren't beginners, but also don't want to get too in the weeds with crunchy wargames. Basically the best middle of the road wargames, not too simple or too complex

Thanks for the great video. For introductory hex & counter wargames, I can suggest Celles (Revolution Games), Leuthen (Victory Point Games), and Attack of the 50 Foot Colossi! (Tiny Battle Publishing).

TY for this VERY interesting subject! I may add that many people would like the Introductory wargames to STAY a this level to become their standard. The "real wargamers" would like new players to join them in their complex universe via those intro games but I don't think it works that way. I think if 1% of the overall players are made for those complex wargames, so only 1% of the new players loving the intro wargames will try to go further. But 99% of them will want to only stay with "intro" wargames. Richard Borg was one of the the brilliant inventors of this category but some others like the ones you show here did it and some new "light wargames" series will arrive maybe like the great "WWII Commander Battle of the Bulge" which is supposed to be the starting scenario of a new easy wargames collection. To be said I'm a Command & Colors Napoleonic huge fan owning the all collection, creating new scenarios and writing on different forums etc. My #1 game forever. "No retreat the Russian front" is tempting me but seems to be "borderline" for me (and my buddies) about complexity. Regards Generals - GG

I agree with Alex about Gettysburg from the C3i magazine, by Mark Herman. There will be a new game from GMT that uses the same rules: Rebel Fury. I would strongly endorse that one. There is a version of Waterloo that came on the next issue of C3i that works with the same system and could also be an easy hex&counter Napoleonic wargame. I also played recently Warriors of Japan, from MMP, by Makoto Nakajima with my kid and it seemed simple but with enough options to make it interesting for a veteran wargamer. And, finally, Battles of the Bulge:Celles, from Revolution Games, by Roger Miller. WW2 game, easy, hex&counter and easy enough for a beginner but not a totally simple one.

Played Sekigahara 93 times. If after 10 games you think you've cracked the code, you haven't. Best 1on1 wargame in my book.

Can we stop messing about these are the war games for the beginner: The Empire of the Sun Gmt games Enemy Action: Ardennes Compass games War in the Pacific Second Edition Decision games Here I Stand: 500th Anniversary Edition Gmt games Invasions: Volume 1 - 350-650 AD, Wisdom owl games Imperium Romanum 3 Decision games and finally SPQR Deluxe Edition Gmt games that should give any one a good easy start in the war gaming arena 😉 My bad because I also forgot the quick and easy trilogy of WW1 games 1914 Twilight in the East 1914 Offensive à outrance and 1914, Serbien muß sterbien by GMT games

I would love to see an update to this.

Thank you, I just wanted your two cents worth. I cut my teeth on AH games like Blitzkrieg and Panzer Leader about 40 years ago. So I agree that Root in principle is a wargame, I would not classify it in the same category as my hex and counter games. It is a fun game though.

At 04:06 Alexander doing perfect pirate face.

How do you guys feel about Axis and Allies: D day? I play a lot of two player games and have only played battlelore 2nd edition and undaunted Normandy, when it comes to war games. I can’t find a whole lot on D-day online. Thanks!

Love the channel guys! I'd be interested in a intro/survey of Wargame magazines. Just getting into the hobby and it's confounding. Many thanks!

Nice video, One Note, Time of Crisis max is 4 even with expansion.

I would really love if you did a multiplayer version of this! I’m trying to get my gaming group into war games but it’s difficult in terms of length/complexity. Some ideas on where to start would be great!

Freeman’s Farm is simple and solid. The latest rules clarifications really helped. If you haven’t played it since, need to! Great list! Memoir 44’ a classic! Hard to find expansions though now!

Sekigahara is a really good game. Nice table presence and with a rich historical background, explained in the rule book. Because of look and theme my wife enjoys playing it with me. Will never happen with deep hex and counter war games I suppose. Maybe I can try Liberty or Death someday :-) Thanks for this and your other videos.

Sorry I didn't know about this. I very recently wrote up a fairly short paper for a pair of general gamers asking about this very topic. My only 'original' observation, I think, was that wargames, unlike Euros, are all about the 'theme'. Wargamers are (generally) more concerned about getting a good portrayal of history than about the 'gaming' aspects of a game. So perhaps the prospective wargamer should pick a battle or period of history that delights them, rather than simply looking for 'a block wargame' or 'a card-driven game'. I think that for someone just looking at wargames for the first time, they may well not be satisfied playing out the battle of Waterloo when they would be thrilled to be playing out Thermopylae from '300', regardless of the game mechanisms, and should start by looking for a game that can give them that experience. The other thing I discovered as I wrote it up was that recommending a game that is actually _in_ _print_ is harder than it seems at first. GMT is an obvious example: you can recommend C&C Ancients, but oh wait, you have to wait for the 7th printing to make the P500.

I just got this game the other day haven't played it yet but it's called Charleagne Masters of Europe. I don't know if you guys did this game already as a review if not I would like to see you guys do one on this game thanks again. 👍

I suppose I have different lanes for what constitutes an introductory war game. For someone like my wife, playing Memoir '44, Red Alert, Battlelore, etc. came off as the perfect set of introductory games. So much so that she eventually sat down and played War of the Ring with me (and kicked my rear). Is she ever going to play a deeper war game like Holland '44, Panzer Leader or (gulp) ASL? Highly unlikely, but at least the light games laid the groundwork for being interested enough to play WotR, which was good enough for me! But if I was introducing someone to wargaming that had more of an interest in eventually getting to deeper tactical and/or strategic games, along with the aptitude to want to devote the time to them, I would start with something like Tide of Iron. The game is far from perfect (not to mention out of print), but it introduces a lot of common war game concepts like line of sight, op fire, support weapons and the like.

I was surprised you didn't have Tank Duel from GMT games in there. Inspired by World of Tanks Computer game and card driven with relatively simple rules. I agree that Twilight Struggle while a fantastic game, it isn't a war game. Regarding COIN games, Colonial Twilight is the best introduction to Asymetrical Wargaming. Although a topic I knew next to nothing about nor had an interest in it was a great compelling game to play Also you didn't have any games from MMP - I would recommend Warriors of God, which is about the hundred years war and has a simple combat system with a great aging mechanic to deal with the famous leaders as that was the driving force behind the battles in that period. Truly great introductory wargame for the medieval period

I mean, my first "pure" wargame was Pax Romana and I instantly became obsessed with it. But of course, I have a wife, so videos like these are extremely appreciated, because bringing 4 neckbeards together for 20 hours for a game of Pax is not easy, especially during COVID.

If you are dealing with a euro board game player, Nevsky is an excellent gateway drug. It has many aspects that a eurogamer will find familiar but is definitely an operational wargame.

One more in addition, Verdun 1916: Steel Inferno

Really good video guys. I am a fairly experienced gamer that prefers heavier games, I enjoy depth, complexity, I play chess, med and heavy euros but apart from AA 1941 and Memoir 44 I don't own any war games. I'd love something very traditionally a war-game with a board, chits, 2-player WWII if you can recommend something like that?

East front is a better value(i.e. more in the box) than Westfront in my opinion so thereby a slightly better introductory wargame. Totensonntag is also a great option which has more historical flavour and less of the just blowing each other off the map as in Tanks West or East front.

No Blitzkreig?

I 've found OGRE / GEV to be great at bringing young players into the hobby. Warm regards, Rick.

I played combat commander, c&c, Cuba Libre, Andean abyss, Pendragon, root, and many other games mentioned but ohh boy I couldn’t get through the rulebook of Dark Sands! 🙈

There is no 5th player expansion for Time of Crisis. Good video as usual though .

Interesting attire.

I'd rather pick undaunted north africa instead of normandy...richer but doesn't increase the complexity. Also, I'd say conflict of heroes is quite straight forward.

Would you consider "Root" a wargame?

I designed and have recently successfully kickstarted a war game with this entire idea in mind. A war game for everyone. Fray: Champions of the every-verse.

I'm trying to get into wargames and absolutely love Memoir 44; however I disliked Undaunted.

Hmm ... I'm ambivalent about the concept "introductory wargame" ... I'm not even sure it's really needed. Personally I didn't seek out "introductory" games when I started. It was more a question of motivation. If you're motivated enough, you can learn pretty complex wargames up front. Also ... some of these games might not have the elegance as a game as people would expect from games they know. And example (for a game I've played): Lincoln is a really nice simple game you can teach anyone as easy as RISK ... however... it also quickly becomes clear when you've played it that replayability for the game is not that good. There is not much wiggleroom for alternative strategies - and it's not that fun to play the South. By choosing a too simple game you might risk failing to show the rich and fascinating world of wargames. Memoir-44 is a much better choice in that regard. Plenty of replayability. ... and a game which really is elegant is "Sekigahara".

I think that your qualifier that wargames are historical is far too limiting. MechWar '77 is very much a wargame, even though it covers a conflict that never happened. Battlefleet: Mars, Ogre/GEV, Godsfire, Sky Galleons of Mars, White Bear & Red Moon ... all are wargames by my definition and the definitions of virtually every wargamer I've ever played with (even those who would never play SF or fantasy themed games). Furthermore, you only discuss board wargames and don't really mention true miniatures games at all, a huge number of which are decidedly wargames and many of which are quite good for new wargamers. I have at least a couple hundred hex and counter historical wargames and I've played (and painted for) many historical miniatures games as well. I very much like historical subjects, but there's more to the genre than just historical board wargames. Note: I bought MechWar '77 when '77 was still in the future, just in case anyone wants to play grognardier than thou. 8-)

The idea of "twilight struggle" being an intro game is laughable. Easy to play but takes a few games to get even somewhat well.

I couldn't play if I wasn't interested in the subject.

I had to stop at less than 3-mins into on you guys. When you can really begin t talk about "Wargames"", then post something new and interesting, then do, I didn't tune if for a 55-min lesson on conjecture............. In fact i think i will unsubscribe to make my point m0re clear.