My Top 10 Avalon Hill Games by Cardboard Commander

Comments · 213

• BR

  @brianrsmithca · 11 months ago · pinned

  Another AH game of the era that doesn't get much love is Luftwaffe. I played this game extensively in my youth. The advanced planning of coordinated bombing missions to get the opponent to either prematurely commit the German air defence or misdirect it was sublime. I remember sitting at my desk in school mapping out the bombing runs on the map planning sheet. Fortress Europa was another game that I played a lot.

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• DA

  @davidreagan7156 · 11 months ago

  These discussions with yourself and Zilla about old AH games really bring back the memories.  I still have my entire collection from the 70s and early 80s.  AH was my introduction to the hobby, and those games are still fun the play.  In the world today where things tend to be the 'cult of the new' its nice to remember that really good games were produced decades ago and have held up extremely well over the years.  I remember starting with Panzer Blitz, and then my next game was 3rd Reich.  I was definitely jumping in the deep end complexity-wise with that second game purchase.  Especially, for a kid that was new at the time to the whole wargaming hobby.  :)  Oh, and shout out to the AH sport games!  Those were fun to play.  I seem to recall you could buy/get each new season's team rosters for quite a number of years after those games had been introduced, at least for the Baseball game.  Thank you for the great content!

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• ZI

  @ZillaBlitz · 11 months ago

  Very nice list! So interesting to see how our lists are different. And thanks for the kind words! I've heard such good things about Breakout: Normandy. And I absolutely loved Paydirt, played it to death with my boss from work. I was also an APBA gamer, still have a couple of boxes of years from the 1970s and some of the older sets they made. I know Stratomatic was more popular, but I preferred APBA. Great memories, thanks for making this!

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• DR

  @Dragonracing-c8n · 11 months ago

  My first AH game was Gettysburg. Mosted played were Panzer Leader and Panzer Blitz. WSIM and Flat Top was also in there. Most played solo game two of them, Gunslinger and B-17 Queen of the Skies.<br>For sports it was Title Bout. That game went on every deployment I had. <br>The General was a must read every month.

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• RA

  @randallreed9048 · 11 months ago

  Nice job, Commander! As VP of R&amp;D for Avalon Hill, I managed to get a few design or development credits on your list. As the years have rolled along, I remember the people who designed and develped these titles. Sadly, some of the best are no longer with us, like Craig, Jon, John, Redmond, Mick, and others made the games for what they are and we had a total ball doing it. Time flied when you are having fun! Thank you.

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• QU

  @QuayleTBird · 11 months ago

  A wonderful list and memories, Jerry. &nbsp;I was mostly playing SPI games in my teens (the 1970s) however there are 5 AH games that I played over and over again. In order of how much I played them: Patton&apos;s Best, Paydirt, Kingmaker (My friends and I had so much fun with this one), 1776, and Luftwaffe. I still break out Patton&apos;s Best and play it periodically. Thanks again for the consistently great content and interesting videos. <br>Oh and GO ARMY BEAT NAVY ... 🙂The Midshipmen are having a great season! <br>Nick Stasnopolis

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• MA

  @marktisdale8058 · 11 months ago

  Guadalcanal was my first and holds a place in my heart. &nbsp;Blitzkrieg with the SPI add-on was probably next.

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• KL

  @klsc8510 · 16 hours ago

  I enjoyed the football game and still love APBA Baseball.<br>Have you played Flat Top or Submarine?

• UN

  @uncleeric3317 · 11 months ago

  My first purchase: Air Assault on Crete. Still has a special place on my shelf.

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• 1T

  @1teamski · 10 months ago

  One of my teachers allowed me and a friend of mine to play Squad Leader in study hall. &nbsp;We had to roll our dice in a backpack. &nbsp;Between Squad Leader and Air Force, my childhood was complete!

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• GR

  @GravyforDread · 11 months ago

  Two AH games that I played when I was young but have not seen mentioned were &quot;Bismark&quot; and &quot;Starship Troopers.&quot; The Troopers game followed the book very closely, unlike the movie.

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• GO

  @gowensbach2998 · 11 months ago

  I loved Storm Over Arnhem, and Victory in the Pacific. Two of my personal favorites as well.

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