TOP 5 SPI Board Games VIEWER'S CHOICE / Simulations Publications Inc BEST GAMES

[@gs8494]

As a 57 year old I can categorically state that weren't smarter back then and we absolutely were insane. I owned The Next War, Wacht am Rhein, Wellington's Victory, Terrible Swift Sword, and War in the East. Every time I arranged to play these game with 3 friends we we sure that we get it done in the time allocated, bear in mind I had the space to leave these games setup so even if we didn't get it done we could make time to go back. If memory serves our completion rate was Wacht am Rhein 4 playthroughs to completion, Next War 2, Wellingtons Victory 1, Terrible Swift Sword 0, and War in the East 0. Also worth mentioning that 3 of the 4 Wacht am Rhein completions were 1v1. Now I don't know how many time we set those games up except for TSS which was once, I was the only real ACW guy in our group, we're all English and the enthusiasm wasn't the same for it with the other guys, but it was a lot more than the completions, a hell of a lot more. What's the definition of insanity again something about doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. These days the digital landscape is a godsend, one of the guys I played with back then is still a regular opponent these days and it's almost always a given there will be a joke about the games we tried to play back in the day during a hotseat or PBEM game. Oddly enough the one game I didn't pick up was The Campaign for North Africa, even though it was almost exclusively UK and Commonwealth fought until 43 it's a campaign that never landed for me.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Wow, that is quite the session report! At least you gave these games a try. I always wondered how in heck they even play tested those things given the time they took to play a single game...

[@Jan-hx9rw]

First subscribed to Strategy & Tactics magazine from SPI in October 72 - stayed through the bitter, bitter end by TSR. Have a couple hundred of their games, still fiddle about with them now and then. My favorite gaming memory was when I was in Germany in late 1976. My spouse had to return to the US a couple months early because of a death in the family, but I had 3 months left and had to turn in my married housing and move back into the barracks. Once I was settled into the barracks, I was able to convince the First Sergeant to allow several of us to 'midnight requisition" a 4x8 sheet of plywood and leave Terrible Swift Sword set up in our room in the barracks for about a month as we played out the campaign game on our off time. We had several people playing on each side, and since we worked on different shifts, there was almost always someone playing and the lines of counters moved back and forth over the maps each day. It was pretty funny that on the room inspection report that was posted on the company bulletin board daily, instead of "dusty, beds not made, etc.." our room had comments like “Union cavalry got pretty beat up today.” or "Confederates look like they might have trouble advancing on that ridge with all that artillery there." A couple of the guys who didn’t play had to have the inspection results explained to them that no, the 1SG wasn’t having some sort of stroke during room inspections. The 1SG thought it was kind of neat, we had fun, and the Company Commander had no clue as to why that large board with the maps was sitting in the middle of those people’s room, but since the 1SG wasn’t complaining, it was easier to just ignore it.

[@whhsfordian]

Great story!!!! Mine didn't end as well. Besides board games, I build balsa model airplanes. I was in the Marine Corps (Air Wing 1972-1976) and was building a 36" wingspan Control Line plane. I stored it next to my rack in the barracks. It apparently failed a barracks inspection because I came back from work one day after an inspection to find it gone. I was told it got shit canned. I never found it!

[@LegendaryTactics]

That's amazing. Thanks for sharing this story.

[@Phalanx11]

Not all 1st Sargents are dics. In the USAF at N.A.S. Pensacola (theres a secret USAF base on their property) we were at a red light smoking a bong when 4 senior sargents pulled up next to us. They saw our bong and raised theyr'e joints....

[@DelwynCampbell]

I think you also were short sighted in missing the 5th Corps series. Fascinating game system and a tightly contested game. Plus, the map was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

[@LegendaryTactics]

Thanks for letting us know about it! This video was all based on a numerical tally of viewer's comments to an earlier video about SPI, so it wasn't a matter of us being short-sighted, but I see what you mean.

[@_N3M3S1S]

As an old grognard I still have virtually every SPI game, flat pack and S&T mag/game ever produced! Went through the TSR transition and then over to Decision. I'm amazed at the quantity of fantasy games in there as well as the list of others. For instance, War in the East I can understand. War in Europe I could understand. Fantasy wise, I think I would have gone with Ares' "Wreck of the B.S.M. Pandora". Other than that, Wacht Am Rhein, Ney Vs. Wellington, Drive on Stalingrad, Highway to the Reich, Blue vs. Grey, Island War, etc. etc. So many great games to choose from. A list of just 5 doesn't seem to cut it.

[@psychohist]

I remember War in Europe set up for months in the MIT Strategic Games Society room. I wasn't playing; it was mostly alum that had the time to play that big a game.

[@stevezorowitz642]

Way back in college in 1977, we set up and played War in Europe maybe 10 times, trying different strategies. What if Germany pivoted right to France after Poland? Do they get a head start on Russia's winter and make it to Moscow or do they not have enough materiel that early? What if Germany wins the battle at El Alamein (we force a die roll)? What does capturing the Suez Canal do? We even had one of our physics grad students figure out that some random hex in Norway was key! (I'm not sure why, probably something to do with the radius to affect shipping, or something) Lots of lost sleep playing the game over and over. Good memories.

[@LegendaryTactics]

That's awesome! I love hearing stories about that sort of thing!

[@jimalexander687]

I also had "Terrible Swift Sword" and "Wellington's Victory". Both excellent games which I was privileged to play several times each with multiple players -- with players each commanding a corps, and an overall commander for each army. I was always an overall army commander and controlled at least a single corp of my own. They were fantastic games.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Wow! That sounds like fun!

[@jimalexander687]

@@LegendaryTactics It was. It's much easier to game like this in your late teens or early twenties. For most people, once a person has their own family and greater responsibilities, time to play long games like these disappears forever.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Yes, it definitely is more difficult. We are all Dads and work full-time, so the KZbin channel kind of forces us to find time for it, if you know what I mean. We likely wouldn't game anywhere near what we do if we didn't have a KZbin channel.

[@tfd7915]

The monster of all the monster wargames was Objective Moscow. With a game map the size of a small bedroom we used to spend hours crawling around moving forces from western Europe to China and the pacific, I wouldn't say it was the best board game I ever played but it was one of the most memorable.

[@LegendaryTactics]

That has to count for something.

[@jimalexander687]

I had "The War in Europe" (which was a combo release of both "War in the West" and "War in the East"). We had it set up on three, large (banquet size) folding tables in a public hall next to where I lived, where we played it for a few weeks until we finished it. I'm fairly certain we played it with seven players. The problem with keeping a game with so many counters set up for an extended period of time is dust. You can't dust a map board covered with thousands of tiny (often stacked) chits. It also wasn't the easiest thing reaching units in the middle of the board.

[@furrysharker]

While 'Air War' was indeed impressive in scope, I always found it virtually unplayable and the errata was too excessive. 'Foxbat and Phantom', while dated and not nearly as complex, was at least fun to play.

[@randallturner9094]

My little brother (Cecil “Kermit” Turner) retired as XO of VMA-311, ACM** instructor, among other things. One year on taking our joint vacation back home, our war game buddies informed us they’d been playing Air War, and they were going to hand us our posteriors. I’d read the rules. Cecil claimed he sorta knew what to do if the simulation was accurate. Long story short: played three progressively more complex scenarios, starting balanced and ending with about a 1:2 handicap. Enormously fun. Completely dominated our ambushes. Couldn’t get them to play us again. 😛 ** - ACM: Air Combat Maneuvers

[@rags417]

I loved that game but yeah, way too complex for the topic it covered. Where was the adrenaline, the snap decisions, the desperation as your options ran out ? Instead it was all about careful micromanagement and endless energy calculations. One day after a game session I left it on the roof of my brother's car and it flew off in an intersection - I still remember waiting for the lights top change again and again so I could rush into the middle of the intersection to try to scoop up whatever counters I could. Hint - not many, game effectively wrecked.

[@LegendaryTactics]

By the number of thumbs up, this is a popular opinion.

[@psychohist]

I remember playing one game of Foxbat & Phantom. The board was barely wide enough to contain one turning circle - long enough for, barely, two. I split my section and barely turned back to try to get at least one plane on the enemy's tail. I think he lost by running into the edge of the mapboard.

[@billmasters385]

I recall spending hours and hours trying to understand Air War and all of it's complexities. I think flying for four full seconds would have placed one in the Mensa category. Still, I think of it fondly due to an embedded streak of intellectual masochism.

[@LegendaryTactics]

You needed a Masters to master it.

[@Joey---]

I recall all those years ago, being excited at the prospect of building my forces in War in Europe, and learning for the first time of what happened at Gettysburg when playing Terrible Swift Sword, but it was War in the Pacific that really had my attention, as there was so much I simply didn't know back then.

[@LegendaryTactics]

When I look at an SPI rulebook, I realize there's still a lot I don't know.

[@sonoftherabbitpeople4737]

I have played quite a few SPI games as I had a high school friend who had subscribed to Strategy & Tactics magazine. I was more of an Avalon Hill gamer, but was always ready to play one of his. I remember the Punic Wars and Smolensk both being fun (and memorable obviously), but our favorite was a store bought game called Global War. It covered the entire scope of WW2, the map was a world map so even North America was a possible area for a campaign. The scale was quite small however, like France consisted of about 4 or 5 hexes. This made the game more fun in the early stages than in the latter part where the stacks of counters could be quite tall. I don't know how many others remember that one!

[@MrProsat]

Yea, i enjoyed that game. Nice building the A bomb!

[@LegendaryTactics]

Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[@swsanders9991]

War in the East was what I had been hoping for during the previous ten years before I punch’s Ed it about 1977. It was the war game that totally challenged me for roughly five years from 1976 until 1981 . I loved the game. I played lthe 1941 scenarios several times with others -layers in teams. Married life, children and work limited my time to play games. I gave up war games by the mid 80s, but I retained War in the East, my all time favorite war game. Thanks a good video.

[@LegendaryTactics]

No problem. Thanks for a good story.

[@gumbycat5226]

I would add Panzergruppe Guderian. That's my favourite SPI game followed by War In The East. I used to play mega sessions of War In Europe with my university friends in the 1970s, these went on for the whole of the summer holidays. The Eastern Front was better designed than the West though. I do think the first year in the East is both incredibly realistic in terms of outcomes and a little artificial in the way the supply rules force this - for example the eastern thrust into the Ukraine from Smolensk would not be possible in WITE; just too far and too expensive (in terms of attrition) for the armoured groups to do AND get back to the Moscow area unless there are simply no Russian units present. I always played the Russians in the campaigns. For PZG I play whichever my opponent doesn't choose to play - both are fantastic. Like so many SPI games these can be played solo. I still have the complete games plus a brand new War In Europe.

[@LegendaryTactics]

We included PG in our original top 10. It was an innovative system for sure.

[@williambutler2477]

I have very fond memories of playing swords & sorcery with my D&D group. It was a break for an evening to play tongue in cheek wargame with a fantasy theme. I remember tornados appearing spontaneously and if I remember correctly giant penguins attacking.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Classic.

[@michaelkennedy7352]

for about 10 years we had War in Europe set up in my garage. A group of up to 10 players. Lots of fun back then. I still rub shoulders with most of those gents, although our fare in games is smaller. No room or time for the monsters anymore. Still tons of fond memories.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Wow! 10 years - hopefully you finished that game in the end LOL. Just joking (kind of) - those games took a looooing time to play

[@michaelkennedy7352]

In the mid '90s Decision Games came out with computer War in Europe. We played that for another 15 years. Good stuff.

[@phookadude]

No mention of Panzergruppe Guidarian? Hidden Russian units, very playable with reasonable play times. A great one with a lot of derivatives (cobra is one I believe), eventually boxed up by Avalon Hill.

[@randallturner9094]

There’s another game that used the same system called Kharkov, had the flipped Russian units. More importantly I had another engineering student buddy who’d actually play it with me. Over and over. Man, he liked that game. And he always wanted the Soviets! lol dedicated 😊

[@LegendaryTactics]

I included it in my original top 10 SPI list. Great pick.

[@caseyjp1]

Nice to see that Starforce got a mention. My all time favorite though was Battlefleet Mars. I loved it so much that a few years ago I hunted down a slim case of it and still have it on the shelf. 🙂

[@brianpeterson2142]

I have fond memories of Battlefield Mars. It was literally my first exposure to the wargame hobby.

[@randallturner9094]

Battlefleet Mars! Donut Ships! lol Y’all are helping my Alzheimer’s. 😊 That was a great game!

[@LegendaryTactics]

Lol.

[@asandrik3124]

I enjoyed it.

[@TheMartinChronicles]

What a fantastic video! I have ordered two games from Dark City games and am looking into creating my own copies of Citadel of Blood and Then Nightmare House from PnP. The nostalgia for these games is just so damned compelling.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Thank you! It's nice to hear positive feedback like this.

[@keithralston1133]

I've played a number of SPI games. I especially remember a store downtown that allowed us to form a club and we played all types of games. We even had a wall with sheet metal on it to play large games like War in the Pacific and Wacht Am Rhein with magnetic holders for the counters. AH, SPI, APBA and more were played there.

[@randallturner9094]

Always had trouble reading the whole counter with those magnetic clips. Also, the cat! 🫤

[@LegendaryTactics]

Great way to do it.

[@calessel3139]

My favorite were Panzer '44 and it's cold war equivalent Mech War. My friends and I played both quite a bit. I did have Air War but it was so detailed and drawn out that I don't think we ever finished a single game. Consequently, it fell out of favor with everyone shorty after I purchased it. (Off topic - I've never heard of Citadel of Blood but it sounds fantastic, it should be reprinted).

[@LegendaryTactics]

You're not the only one who loves it!

[@robertclopton8942]

Yes, I was going to mention foxbat and phantom but some one beat me to it. I hope they reprint sword and sorcery with a bigger map, more army counters for each race. And larger 5/8 th inch counters. I do remember search and destroy a game about Vietnam, it was brutal.

[@LegendaryTactics]

That would be a solid reprint.

[@michaelbobek3543]

Foxbat and Phantom was my very first war game. Fond memories 👍🏼

[@Phalanx11]

I've owned and played hundreds of board wargames and now I'm only interested in games with 5/8th" counters.

[@LegendaryTactics]

What is the best 5/8ths in your estimation?

[@beetcafe]

We played War in the East and War in the West/Europe several times back in the day. I even built a special table for War in the West because the Spain map board stuck out on its own. We even tried the World War One module. Great games and good times.

[@randallturner9094]

I put War in Europe up on my wall in college, then rubber cemented all the units up in their initial setup. It was pretty! lol Played War in the East, never did get a War in Europe game organized. But lots of positive feedback on wallpaper choice. 😊

[@gumbycat5226]

I deeply regret losing my WWI module in the move from South Africa to Australia. I do remember it required you to draw a new railway line through the Pripet marshes running East-West. I still have my laminated War In The East maps, counters and rules - the West maps got too grotty. I have a brand new set of War In Europe waiting to go.

[@LegendaryTactics]

I wish I knew where all my old bookshelf games went. At the time it seemed like a good idea to let them go.

[@DelwynCampbell]

My favoite SPI game has always been the original Red Star/White Star game. You had to learn how to operate as a combined arms force in order to succeed. I loved playing the last scenario in particular, where I used battalion tasks forces, one tank heavy and one mech heavy, instead of pure battalions. On the Soviet side, you learned how to set up their defense in depth in order to slow down the U.S. attack and hold the two towns for a victory. Finally, the clise assault rules made infantry a treasure, because an infantry unit in close terrain could absolutely destroy an armored unit without infantry support.

[@sasha642]

I used to play war in the east with a friend it took us forever. we couldn't put them flat because of they table room so we bought celutex and pinned every counter to the game board. it was a black to play and we played it again and again. then we took on the monster of all games Drang nos ostanng (sp) by GDI dear god what a accurate simulation, cities were a nightmare to take. the stacks of units were incredible it went to company level. and though he is gone now I have memories of the late nights and the early morning sessions I will carry to the grave with me.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Thanks for sharing.

[@ericdoberstein8872]

My favorite SPI game is the monster game War Between the States. But it is not SPI's version of War Between the States. I wrote a new set of rules for it based on the rules for the GMT game The U.S. Civil War. I created a hybrid game that is 85% GMT and 15% SPI. If you are interested in these rules I have a comment about them on Board Game Geek in the comment section about WBTS. In that comment I include my e-mail address. Send me an e-mail and I'll send you the rules, (for free of course), in 9 Word documents. To play the game you'll need a copy of the game, (preferably with the Decisions Games map), the GMT rules, the latest rules for WBTS, (which can also be found on Board Game Geek), and my rules.

[@PatriceBoivin]

Panzer 44 is till my favourite. Simpler than the games you list, but it was my first strategy game purchase so it has sentimental value for me. I was in grade 10.

[@LegendaryTactics]

We may need to give that one a go on the channel.

[@MichaelKrinsky-hx1vu]

I didn't have much exposure to SPI games back in the late 70a/early 80s, but my three favorite ones were (in no particular order) Tito, Veracruz and Freedom in The Galaxy". Still own all three.

[@jonshive5482]

Yeah, War in the East. Set it up once in a junior officer's private quarters but we never got around to playing it. He told me later he actually played it out solitaire. Amazing devotion, no? BTW my two favorites were Kursk and Stalingrad. Still remember Stalingrad Rule J: "A unit may always advance one hex, even without sufficient movement points, if it could otherwise do so." Or something like that.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Awesome.

[@brunswicklord6365]

I saw on KZbin today that Squad Leader is being re released next year (2023). Great because my three copies are just about worn out. I would love a re print , re release or updated version of the following SPI games: West Wall Quad, China War, Seelow, Dresden, Napoleon's Last Battles, Quatre Bra. Any of the classic monster games.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Wow, that's really cool. I hadn't heard that. Thanks for posting the news.

[@michaelholmes7147]

Napoleon's Last Battles has been reprinted by Decision Games, who owns the rights to most of the old SPI catalog.

[@DelwynCampbell]

I think you also were short sighted in missing the 5th Corps series. Fascinating game system and a tightly contested game.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Awesome! Thanks for letting us know about it!

[@tommaslyk6696]

Played War in Europe about 40 years ago and there was 6 of us playing. Still remember on how big the board was and the tons of units. My friend and I got to play the Russians and I remember while Germany was busy taking France, we had nothing to do. so we took Turkey. We played for 4 weekends in a row and on the 3rd weekend I guess the other players saw how the Russian production worked and were worried. It was kinda like the snowball effect and the snowball wasn't so small anymore. We were already fighting the Germans when the Allies declared war on us too. Which was ok. After the 4 weeks, the guy who owned the game had to pack it up cause he needed the room. So nobody won but I enjoyed the experience as a wargamer it was something to see and be a part of. It also helps when the people you play with are into it. Like the first day I showed up and the Germans were in uniform.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[@michaelbaker2552]

The only way to play those SPI monster games back in the day was multi-player. Having a different person as a general for each army group and a logistics commander and so on was the only way to play them and it was hugely fun particularly when beer was involved. In War in the East the players would even try their hand at Russian and German accents.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Haha, nice! The only challenge was and is finding that many people willing to play them....

[@MrProsat]

Had a lot of fun with Global War. I like how they handled the merchant shipping and it was cool that you could build your military forces dependent upon your economy.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Thanks for sharing.

[@horrido666]

I played a lot of War in the East, at least three full campaigns. We also ran the entire war though once with War in Europe, which was fun. Most of our monster game time was with Europa, specifically Drag Nach Osten (later Fire in the East) which everyone agreed was better. I was mainly a Avalon Hill, TSR & GDW guy, although I played SPI quite often. I do wish I had gotten PRESTAGs, and kept that on the shelf. No regrets getting rid of War in Europe, though. Wouldn't consider playing Europa anymore, either. The state of the art has progressed. Why play Squad Leader when ASL is better?

[@LegendaryTactics]

Have you tried Europa Universals: the price of power?

[@BobK58]

I was into AH games but my friend subscribed to S&T so I got to try some SPI games. Borodino and Year of the Rat come to mind.

[@LegendaryTactics]

It seems Avalon Hill gamers were more plentiful for sure.

[@davidcook8230]

In my youth, SPI was the winner for detailed games while AH was better for playability. The deciding factors for me were the AH quality components and far smaller number of half-baked games. These days, I have rebuilt and expanded my collection. AH and Victory Games are present in large numbers along with many other more recent publishers while few SPI games were reacquired. For the most part in my collection, SPI is only really present in some games AH bought off SPI and improved or the later efforts of former SPI workers who moved into Victory Games after the TSR debacle consumed SPI. Victory Games was perhaps the best of both worlds as a hybrid mix of AH and SPI. You should cover Victory Games next.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Great arguments.

[@richardshagrin8565]

A few years ago a group of gamers lead by Luther Harris played War in Europe, with a break for Covid 19 closure of our club house Metro Seattle Gamers took well over a year to play it out. The Russians with American help took Berlin in early 1945 and beat Luther's Germans. Very challenging game, finally building lots of Russian Artillery made the difference.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Now that's a game.

[@trlavalley9909]

Air War was actually remarkably playable. Definitely one of my favorite games; but I have to agree with those to chipped in Cobra, now one of my favorite books from that time was Ballentine's Breakout; so it's a chapter of history I'm just drawn too; but the game makes clear in a way no book could, how impossible the Wehrmacht's task was, while the German player had these amazingly powerful Panzer Divisions, his infantry was so outnumbered that you had a Regiment at best opposite each Allied division, this meant the Allies could get a 9:1 local superiority anywhere they liked, anytime at all. Making events like The Falaise pocket inevitable. Despite this it was one of the most playable challenging games I ever played. I was 17 in 1977, and we were smarter.. : ) and definitely crazier.

[@randallturner9094]

We had no problem with Air War. Still skeptical of that lateral rudder roll, tho.

[@trlavalley9909]

@@randallturner9094 Was not meant as a dis, only that despite the apparent complexity of the rulebook, when actually played, the game flows smoothly and is more playable than the daunting rule book would imply. Actually I adapted the advantage system to a WWII game, "Air Force" I believe it was, which gave much more realistic results than the original. While the simultaneous plan and move system, in Air Force made staying on someone's tail just impossible. Anyhow Air War was definitely time well spent if you enjoyed SPI games. Happy Hunting, and steer clear of the Hanoi Hilton

[@randallturner9094]

@@trlavalley9909 re: “not meant as dis” - yeah I got that, I was agreeing with you that it’s actually pretty playable. Problem, as always, is finding enough peeps to play with. Really need about four.

[@trlavalley9909]

@@randallturner9094 True that. Happy Hunting.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Thanks for adding your thoughts.

[@peterfmodel]

I am a bit surprised how many fantasy games got on this list. Air War was no surprise, even if its on the edge of being unplayable. I really spent a lot of time trying to master that game. Good to see War in Europe on the list, also impossible to complete a game in a lifetime but i loved it. But as for War in the East, i am a bit amazed. The amount of time i spend on this game is astounding so other people must of been as mad as i was.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Me too. I expected that the SPI community would lift the military sims to the top.

[@GenIsysGames]

I loved Fast Carriers. Star Forec was fun to play as well. I liked Sniper more than AH Squad Leader.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Good call on Sniper.

[@crapphone7744]

They're American revolution game which was area movement remains the best simulation I think ever of the American revolution. Not to mention it's a cliffhanger of a game

[@LegendaryTactics]

That's interesting - I hadn't heard of that one. What makes it such a cliffhanger?

[@jimpollard9392]

Re: Air War. I bought multiple copies of this game, but played maybe twice against an opponent. Played rather more solitaire. I then went on to become a US Naval Aviator, which allows me to comment on the movement system: It's a valiant effort, but does not totally succeed.

[@LegendaryTactics]

What would you say was its primary deficiency?

[@jimpollard9392]

@@LegendaryTactics Well, it's been a few years, but, from what I remember, the energy mechanism did not seem to capture the way energy actually worked, and the complexity of keeping track of it made a cumbersome game more so. Plus, in general, it's very tough to force the dynamic, continuous, smooth trajectory of an airplane onto a discrete hexagonal grid. The 12 point facing gave it a little higher resolution, but further complicated the movement mechanics. Clash of Arms Games "Speed of Heat", which came out many years later, does a slightly better job, I think. Subjective impression, but yeah. ...I played the game during my college years from 75-79, as popular works on the air war over Vietnam were being released. I consumed all of these that I could get, and we tried to see if some of the described air combats could be reproduced in "Air War". Some of them actually could...we validated that an F-4 should not enter a horizontal scissors with a MiG-17. We used "lag rolls" a couple of times in the game, and just a few years later I was doing them for real in a TA-4J Skyhawk trainer as part of the air combat maneuvers syllabus. As I say, a worthy effort, much better than the earlier SPI air game "Foxbat and Phantom".

[@jaykaufman9782]

I was mainly an Avalon Hill gamer, but my favorite SPI games were "Russian Civil War" and "Invasion America." We were usually four or so friends at a time, so multiplayer games were our thing. RCW and I:A were quick to set up, and play was quick, with minimal fiddling around trying to optimize that last combat factor. And of course RCW was terrific because you could attack your own units and add them to your hurt bag. I also have fond memories of a solitaire game, "Empires of the Middle Ages"; I preferred to NOT play as the OP Charlemagne, but instead try to thrive with randomly generated royal mediocrities, whatever the game system gave me.

[@gumbycat5226]

Russian Civil War is a fantastic game to play with a unique concept - two sides yet each player has pieces in each side - truly chaotic and then out of chaos...

[@LegendaryTactics]

It's amazing how many of these games people remember so clearly still.

[@bunnyniyori5209]

Easy to print out a copy of War in Europe or the other two pieces. I have the files. The reason I haven't, is I don't live inside a spare unused warehouse :) If you buy Gary Grigsby's War in the East 2, you get the same experience, but it fits on your desk in your computer :) Not cheap though. 100 bucks. He also did WitE 1 and War in the West 1.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Lol.

[@markherman50]

Its interesting that most of the top picks are either Fantasy/Sci Fi or Monster WWII...

[@LegendaryTactics]

Yes, it was an interesting selection, and somewhat unexpected

[@QuizmasterLaw]

In my experience SPI was no cheaper in cost than AH. But had lower quality due to paper mats with no backboard. Worse, it was hit or miss. Half the SPI games were half-baked. Some were good, many were dogs. Unlike AH SPI was able to consider contemporary and hypothetical combat. Panzerblitz, though revolutionary, is also barely accurate as a representation of battalion level combat. In all SPI provides an interesting study but as games go I never ran into one that was as good as the various AH titles.

[@LegendaryTactics]

This is a balanced comparison. Thank you.

[@donj2222]

I have lots of memories playing War in the East and War in Europe. One thing you can do with the latter is create additional scenarios by invading a neutral country to see how to do it better in a real game or why it is not a good idea to do at all. That way, you can see just how hard the Swiss are to defeat and also the Spanish and Turks, who often do not get into the game.

[@GhostRider-sc9vu]

Really want to set up War in Europe and Victory in the Pacific with the S&T issue that gave rules to combine them. Problem is have no one to play against now that I have room to do it.

[@LegendaryTactics]

You're definitely not the only one.

[@GhostRider-sc9vu]

@@LegendaryTactics Turns out it may have been a Moves issue that had the combination for VitP and WiE.

[@jameshenderson4876]

Funny. Air War (TSR version) is the only SPI game I have left.

[@LegendaryTactics]

That seems to be the case with a lot of SPI gamers.

[@doctorbuzz987]

Foxbat and Phantom is one my son and I had fun playing/

[@LegendaryTactics]

That's great!

[@barkingmonkee]

Neither this nor the preceeding vid include my favorite SPI game/game system. By a wide margin my favorite SPI games were the 'pre-stags' (pre-seventeenth century) system games. If I had to pick one I suppose it would have been "Phalanx" but I pretty well loved them all. Least favorite might be "John Carter, Warlord of Mars". It had a slew of cool concepts and flavor but was so badly executed and written that it was anybody's guess how you were supposed to play the thing. Just felt like a massive waste of potential.

[@LegendaryTactics]

I believe you are the first one to mention Phalanx. For worst game title, I think John Carter, Warlord of Mars must be the hands-down winner.

[@chetg.2205]

AirWar was great, still have my copy 👍❤️👍

[@LegendaryTactics]

Have you got anyone brave enough to play it?

[@dougeriksson927]

War In the East was my favorite

[@LegendaryTactics]

Yes, I've heard that one is a great one!

[@JeepWrangler1957]

How about something on Victory Games?

[@LegendaryTactics]

What would you say is their best game?

[@bobsyoruncle4583]

Why, I've wondered, were so many of these fantastic war simulation board games never just faithfully reproduced as computer games - the genre seems perfectly suited for conversion to computer format with minimal need for 3d graphic concerns - Panzer General on pc still has a cult following for example. Surely these games would be relatively cheap to convert and there is nothing like them on the market. You wouldn't need space for large maps and save hours of fumbling through stacks of counters in games like War in the East. What a shame - these games would be such a delight to play on pc 😢

[@LegendaryTactics]

Perhaps it's time to resuscitate them.

[@johnwalsh4857]

First SPI games I played were Titan Strike and Bundeswehr. back in 1980. They were OK.

[@GhostRider-sc9vu]

The S&T game Oil War introduced me to the genre. Simple little game that came close to predicting Desert Storm.

[@randallturner9094]

There was a similar Victory Games version of war in the gulf region. Sooo long ago..

[@johnwalsh4857]

@@randallturner9094 Yah Gulf Strike. there was also a 3W game that came out during the gulf war whcih cashed in on the whole event.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Thanks for taking time to leave your thoughts.

[@GenghisVern]

Kampfgruppe panic rule was interesting- pick a chit! 380 games? at 1-minute per review?...

[@LionKimbro]

Wow! Citadel of Blood looks amazing!!! But it’s like… $200 on eBay. 😭

[@peterfmodel]

You may be able to get a printable version on the internet, many SPI games are out their.

[@LegendaryTactics]

Not too many of those available now. Supply and demand.

[@steveoh9285]

Air War (yikes)? Terrible Swift Sword would be my easy #1, but to each their own.

[@LegendaryTactics]

TSS also made our personal top 10 spi list.

[@wartable]

LotR #1

[@LegendaryTactics]

Yes! Have you also tried War of the a Ring? We're looking to tackle that one soon for the channel

[@wartable]

@LegendaryTactics played it bsck in 1980s...just found a copy again.

[@Hero1117a]

Insane

[@LegendaryTactics]

It certainly takes a certain degree of that to tackle these games.

[@robs5688]

Wow, Air War, that's just crazy. When it comes to modern air combat, nothing beats Flight Commander 2, for the PC. It's not a flight sim, but a top-down game played on a map. Players can knock out a multi-plane sortie in 10-15 minutes, easy. It's old, from the early 1990's, but it still plays on my Win 7 computer.

[@LegendaryTactics]

It's also likely the reason that games like Air War faded into the history books.