I like playing computer games and that is why I wrote this article. I prefer to play tabletop games with miniatures; however, it is not always possible to find opponents or those who want to play a specific era and rule set. When this is true, I fall back on my inventory of computer games. There a lot of computer games available that would be of interest to wargamers. These include historical and fictional themes. I admit to being a closet Warhammer 40,000 gamer as I have copies of three of the tactical games set in this fictional future environment (Final Liberation, Dawn of War and Rites of War). Possession of these games means that I do not have to collect all of the GW models and rulebooks normally associated with playing Warhammer 40K tabletop games. And that means more money for historical figures! In addition to providing one or more computer players or AI players, many of these games can be set-up quickly and require much less physical space. Games can be saved for later play without disrupting the current deployment of the counters or playing pieces. Another advantage of computer games is that the AI does all the mathematical calculations, which speeds up the pace very much! Human players just have to decide where and when to move while the computer considers how far each unit can move and its combat results. One feature in some of the games is the ability to edit by creating new scenarios. The main function is the creation of new battlefields with a terrain editor and then building opposing orders of battle. This means an infinite number of new scenarios for every gamer, who wants something new and is willing to be creative.

Here is a partial list of historical games by period:

Ancient

Alexander
Tin Soldier
Chariots of War
Legion
Spartan
Praetorians
Rome Total War
Age of Empires
Pharaoh

Medieval
Medieval: Total War
Shogun: Total War
Age of Kings (Age of Empires 2)
Crusader Kingdoms

Renaissance, 18th and 19th Centuries
Age of Rifles 1840-1905
Cossacks
Battleground (ACW)
Battleground (Napoleonic)
Age of Sail (1 & 2)
Sid Meier’s Gettysburg

World War 2
Steel Panthers (1 & 3)
Medal Of Honor
Battlefield 1942
Panzer General/Allied General
Korsun Pocket
War In the Pacific 1941-45
Gary Grigsby’s World At War
Battle of Britain

Modern
Battlefield: Vietnam
Steel Panthers 2
Conflict: Korea
Conflict: Middle East
Harpoon
The Operational Art of War 1900-2000

Like most wargames, these can be divided into strategic and tactical games. The former include Alexander, Age of Empires, the Total War series and others like Sid Meier’s Civilization and Rise of Nations, which require the gamer to start with a single unit and collect resources to build up wealth with which to buy more units and workers. Resources include food, wood and metals. Villages expand into towns and cities with the addition of various buildings and walls. These games require a lot of micromanagement to accomplish victory conditions. Attention must be paid to military, economic, social and industrial activities. Fortunately, most of these games have a variety of difficulty levels so that the gamer can decide how smart the AI opponents will be. This can be very important because one can feel that the computer players cheat by ganging up on the single human player and concentrating on basic requirements to quickly expand territorial holdings.

Some games are simply computerised versions of popular board games such as Risk and Axis & Allies. These can be either strategic or tactical based on a hexagonal or area map with counters or numerous playing pieces. Korsun Pocket is an example of a large-scale tactical game using a hexagonal map and counters.

Tactical games represent everything from a small engagement up to a major battle, so there could be a caste of thousands represented by the units. Rome: Total War boasts the ability to show up to 20,000 troops and has the distinction of being used as a platform for re-creating historical battles for a TV series shown on history and educational TV channels.

Games can be real time strategy (RTS), turn based, and first and third person shooters. The first is a constant action with the gamer deciding when to save the game, and then when to quit a session. The next is the typical everyone gets a chance to complete all actions and then a subsequent turn repeats the process. The first and third person shooters are like arcade games in that the gamer is either staring down his or her arm or a barrel or sight and looking for enemies at which to shoot; third person provides more of an over the shoulder view of the shooter.

One of my favourites is Steel Panthers, which is kept current by Matrix Games and a very industrious fan base that provides hundreds of scenarios. The game is now in its eighth version. While it is at heart a small-scale tactical game involving a few battalions or regiments at most, it can be easily converted into campaign games by stringing together a series of scenarios, either historical or fictional. I have “wasted” hundreds of hours playing the many scenarios as well as my own battles.

One of the pitfalls of computer games is the change in operating systems. Most games are made for Microsoft Windows. The introduction of new operating systems can mean the end of gaming, unless the OS is backwards compatible. This means that a game designed for Windows 95 can still be used with Windows XP. One of my favourite naval games was Harpoon; unfortunately the version of this game that I liked cannot be used on a Windows XP computer. I was hoping that Harpoon 4 would be produced to fill this void, but unfortunately it was cancelled in 2004.

I prefer the tactical games that are turn based as these are more like the tabletop games that I play with human opponents. I like to try out games from different eras for a number of reasons. I may like the type of game as represented by the multi-period Battleground series from Talonsoft. Using the same basic rules, I can play Napoleonic, ACW and WW2 games. Playing different periods allows me to try games for which I have no miniature armies or no access to such figures. Similarly I get to try periods or themes that are not part of the local club’s options. My club does not do much aerial or naval gaming so Harpoon and Red Baron were good solo games to play to give me variety.