History Main / WarGaming

Since the early 1980s (and [[UsefulNotes/MainframesAndMinicomputers to a degree, before]]) the advent of [[MediaNotes/PCVsConsole home computers]] resulted in wargames mostly transitioning to the realm of electronics, since it was much easier to program the often-complex math required to accurately simulate many military events than to try to create tables and charts for table wargames. These games evolved into the genres we now call TurnBasedStrategy and, later still, RealTimeStrategy. The increasing popularity of RPG's and collectible-card games such as ''Magic: The Gathering'', in addition to the advancing age of the hobby's base, the increasing lack of time to play large and complex games, and the disappearance of many important publishers all combined to send the board wargaming hobby into a period of decline through the 1990's. Even so, from the late 1980's through the 1990's, there still remained a hard core of dedicated map-and-counter-and-dice wargamers and companies to serve them, as well as numerous conventions large and small at which gamers could meet to play games and buy and sell them.

Other games of this genre consist of one or more maps of the theatre of conflict, a variable number of unit counters (small square pieces of heavy cardstock with printed numbers and symbols representing military units, as well as markers of various sorts), and rules with accompanying tables and charts. The most important such table is a "Combat Results Table", giving a set of battle results calculated according to the numerical odds of attacker versus defender; the players roll UsefulNotes/{{dice}} and compare the resulting numbers to the table to see how the battle came out. Table wargames can focus on any level of battle from literally man-to-man combat (e.g., the Squad Leader series) to whole army groups or fleets. {{Expansion Pack}}s with different scenarios are also common.

* ''Wings of Glory,'' an aerial combat simulator dealing with UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne planes