WinSPMBT
 

A real classic. I used to maintain a WinSPMBT resources thread stickied at the forum top until three years ago, but there just was too little to report, expect occasional update releases.

I wish it would get a graphical overhaul. It desperately needs that. Not more missions, platforms added, but a complete exchange of the graphics and re-do of the colour palette.

I concede that the graphics are somewhat dated. However, from the perspective of an old-time board gamer WinSPMBT v7 is outstanding. And LZ-Xray campaign from that web-site is an outstanding hi-res simulation

My baseline of reference is Avalon Hill's Blitzkrieg. I have two of those games. My original game is in a dilapidated box, with many dog-eared pieces, customized board with mod'd terrain. In the late 80's I went to a GameCon and picked up a brand new unopened game. I can't remember if it was shrink-wrapped or not. Did they do that in 1964 when the game was initially released? I don't recall but it may have been cellophane wrapped.

I grew up on that sort of stuff. A buddy of mine had Wooden Ships, Iron Men and a Blitzkrieg successor Axis and Allies or something like that. Another buddy had Freedom in the Galaxy. Many a night sitting at the kitchen table, drinkin' beers and playing these board games unto the wee hours.

Most people were intruiged with the level of sophication. My Dad not so much, but once we had a Blitzkrieg game on-going in the garage for a few weeks. Mom would periodically come out and take stock of the situation find out who's winning. The guy I was playing was Polish and his Dad grew up in post-war Europe. He'd come over to take stock of what was going on. He'd accuse me of "not playing right", cheating and getting in my face about how inaccurate the game was. And he'd lambast his son for always being the loser. They'd get into arguments over strategy. My buddy would come back the next day and make more stupid moves and get his butt kicked again.

:rotfl2:

His Dad was something else on all that. He'd come over all liquored up and go off on some tirade about what was not right with the game. One day my Mom had enough of that nonsense and banned him from the premises. The kids are just playing a game for crying out loud. My Mom is Austrian and Dad is German and my Grandfather was tank battalion commander in Operation Barbarossa. My buddy's Dad definitely had an axe to grind about Germans and blitzkrieg.

The problem with these sort of strategy / tactics board games was where to store the board and all the pieces that have been moved while a game was in progress. Sometimes that was an issue for several months. One of my buddy's had Battle of the Bulge and rigged up a wooden board to hold the game board to a pulley system. Each corner of the board had a thick cotton cord attached that went vertically to a pulley mounted in the ceiling. There was an eye-hook in the center of the board on the bottom side where the cord could be hooked into. This kept the game out of harms way. We'd unhook the cable and lower the board onto a couple of saw-horses. Works good last long time. Until one day the pully binded when we lowered it down and the board tilted. Several hundered pieces scattered all over the floor like so much confetti.

:/\\!!

From that perspective, WinSPMBT :rock:

Hexfield CoSims, Tabletops - those were the glory days. :) My favourite in the mid-80s to early-90s were GDW's Third World War series modules 1 (Germany) and 3 (Scanmdinavia), 3 (Balkans, Aegean) rarely, 4 (Gulf) just once or twice, Victory Games' Aegean Strike and Gulf Strike, Ambush! series, 2nd Fleet and 6th Fleet; and Avalon Hills' Flight Leader.

I realyl would wish for a Flight Leader PC conversio9n, that was a very good balance between simulated realism, and accessability and fun. If I would be able to code and would do a cosim game, this would be it.

I still have them all. A review of mine about the superb soloüploayer design "Tokyo Express" can be found ion the revie section of subsim. One of the rare games that were designed and optimsied for single player, and then got added rules and options for two players. Usually it was the other way around (except Ambush!, which was solo player exclusively).

I have been SPMBT fan since many years, but now have grown tired of the drastic coluur palette, really. The game is so old now, it needs and deserve a dramatic visual overhaul. And I am really not one of those who fancy eyecandy over gameplay, usually. Some game mechanisms also should be tweaked, especially regarding many things related to infantry. Good game, but now hopelessly aged.

Heck, even SBP-PE gets visually lifted now! That really says something. :)

Good hexfield cosims for PC today: War in the East (moster game, beware), The Operational Art of War III, Modern campaigns: Danube 85. Vector based instead of hexfield: Conquest of the Aegean (I know there is a next title in the series focussing on the Bulge battle).

If you do not kn ow it: Armoured Brigade. Its in development, and free. Plays quite well, if you do not have SBP-PE's map-play available.

LINK: http://www.armoredbrigade.com/news.html