About the Site / Frequently Asked Questions

What kind of games are within the scope of the site?

Commercial – Games sold for profit or for fun. Licensed games or simulations solely for military use aren’t of interest here.

Tactical – For the purposes of this site, any game whose main units are single soldiers or vehicles, squads of men, or platoons of men/vehicles is a “tactical” game. A couple of exceptions such as Soldiers come to mind, which uses infantry companies as the main unit of maneuver, but the reasons for this are hopefully made obvious by the time frame of the game.

Ground – Only those games whose focus is ground combat are within the scope of the site.

Modern – Only “modern” combat games are considered, for our purposes anything taking place in the 20th Century or up to the present.

English language - While the webmaster is aware of the work of Vae Victis in France or the Japanese wargame Panzergrenadier, it is has been decided that they are outside the scope of this site.

Serious – While no one denies the fun of Call of Duty or Castle Wolfenstein or Memoir ’44 or Tank Pong, they have been deliberately omitted from content on the site, except perhaps where they are mentioned tangentially. Generally speaking, anything requiring hand-eye co-ordination or luck to the exclusion of reasonable amounts of tactical skill are not discussed. While games such as M-1 Tank Platoon do have a hand-eye element, they are minor and the game can be played without touching the gunner’s controls. Not so Intellivision Armor Battle. Likewise, while Platoon or Up Front or even Advanced Squad Leader may be heavily dependent on unconventional design elements and/or luck, they are also more real-world data driven than, say, Stratego. While the webmaster realizes these lines are firmly drawn by individual interpretation, his own preferences are being stated up front here.

How can I write for Tactical Wargamer's Journal?

The page on submissions is here.

Fun, yes, but not exactly the most realistic tactical challenge.
Mattel Electronics' Armor Battle.
The Great Divide in the 1970s: Avalon Hill vs. SPI.