50 Great Battles and the Games They Inspired

Armchair General staff | November 17, 2008  | 3 comments  | Print  | E-mail

The January 2009 issue of Armchair General magazine features an article titled "50 Battles That Shaped Our World." The ACG staff compiled this list of simulations that allow you to see how you would handle an army in these great battles of history. The list is nowhere near exhaustive. We attempted to list games that are currently in print or relatively easy to find if they are out of print (OoP). Computer games are identified by the letters PC and board games by BG after their name.

Ancient World 
MARATHON – Age of Battles: Battle of Marathon BG (Zvezda)
SALAMIS - Galley Battles: From Salamis to Actium PC (Shrapnel Games); "Salamis" expansion module for War Galley BG (GMT Games)
GAUGAMELA – 0 A.D., "Gaugamela" scenario online game (Wildfire Games)
CANNAE - Ancient Warfare: Punic Wars PC (HPS Simulation); Battles of the Ancient World BG (Decision Games)
TEUTOBURGER WALD - Battles of the Ancient World BG (Decision Games)

Medieval - Medieval: Total War and Medieval II: Total War (Activision) cover many of these scenarios.
TOURS
HASTINGS - Men at Arms BG (Strategy & Tactics magazine # 137, OoP)
MOHI
LAKE PEIPUS - Age of Battles: Battle of Lake Peipus BG (Zvezda)
AGINCOURT  - Men at Arms BG (Strategy & Tactics magazine # 137, OoP)
CONSTANTINOPLE - Constantinople BG (Strategy & Tactics magazine # 66, OoP)
TENOCHTITLAN
SPANISH ARMADA - Armada, 2nd Edition (SPI; OoP)

Pike and Musket - Cossacks: European Wars PC (CDV Software) and Age of Empires 3 PC (Microsoft) offer the opportunity to play several of these battles.
VIENNA  
BLENHEIM - Blenheim BG (The Wargamer magazine #4, OoP)
POLTAVA - Poltava BG (appeared in Combat! magazine Jan/Feb 1979, OoP)
ROSSBACH
QUEBEC - Quebec 1759 BG (Columbia Games)
YORKTOWN - Yorktown BG (International Team, OoP)

Napoleonic - The Operational Art of War III PC (Matrix Games) allows players to fight batlles from the Napoleonic Period to Modern Times. Cossacks 2: Napoleonic Wars PC (CDV Software) and John Tiller’s Battleground Napoleonic Wars PC (Matrix Games) cover most of these battles as well.
TRAFALGAR - Trafalgar BG (Action Games and Toys Ltd)
AUSTERLITZ - Le Grande Armee at Austerliz PC (Matrix Games); Napoleonic Battles: Austerlitz BG (Avalanche Press)
BORODINO - Borodino BG (GMT Games)
WATERLOO - Waterloo: Fate of France BG (L2 Design Group)

Late 19th Century
GETTYSBURG - "Gettysburg" scenario John Tiller’s Battleground American Civil War PC (Matrix Games); Gettysburg BG (Avalon Hill, OoP)
VICKSBURG - Vicksburg BG (Schutze Games)
SEDAN - The Sedan Campaign, 1870 BG (Strategy & Tactics magazine # 224)
TSUSHIMA - The Battle of Tsushima PC (HPS Simulations) "Tsushima" scenario, The Russo-Japanese War: Dawn of the Rising Sun BG (Clash of Arms Games)

World War I
THE MARNE
VERDUN – World War I, 1916 scenario PC (AGEOD); They Shall Not Pass: The Battle of Verdun, 1916 BG (Avalanche Press)
JUTLAND - Jutland PC (HPS Simulation) Great War at Sea: Jutland BG (Avalanche Press)
THE SOMME - World War I, 1916 scenario PC (AGEOD); First Day of the Somme BG (Panzerschreck magazine #5, OoP)

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Tags: game, Military History