Hex Based Wargames Still A Thing?

[Boseeinsteinshake]

I still vastly prefer my Battletech on hexes.

[rhlm]

Of corse they have a place, at least for me. I have been playing and collecting them for more than 50 years. I love them!

[abusha]

Advanced Squad Leader back in the day!!

[briangilgan]

Squad Leader, Panzer Leader, Belter, Wooden Ships and Iron Men, Azhanti High Lightning, Car Wars ... I kinda miss those days.

[dougbaker]

Conflict of Heroes series holds its own!

[bluebotic]

Space Empires 4X (Jim Krohn/GMT) is an excellent modern hex based galactic empire-building wargame. Two expansions have been released (Close Encounters and Replicators). It also comes with solitaire scenarios, all of which have variable difficulty levels and provide dozens of hours of replay value. I believe a final expansion is currently in the works. This game is proof that hex & counter wargames are alive and well and can give any modern miniatures wargame a serious run for their money.

[p.henrique]

For some players the hex or grid battlefield is seen as a way to mitigate errors and debates over 1mm ranges or line of sight.

I remember we used to play Heroclix over Mage Knight or Mechwarrior Dark Age only because it was on grids, for years I stayed far away from games that used measuring. My player group was very competitive, never we had problems with cheating, but most players didnt care for lore of the games, myself included, we where on the min/max to win, and we had much fun that way.

Today I appreciate games with measuring, the winning part is not as important as it was 20 years ago and knowing some of the lore helps getting hyped to play the game too.

I still like the simplicity of a hex battlefield, got a couple of battletech maps from catalyst and play Alpha Strike on them the most.

[Beatnik]

Last time I was at Games Paradise, I saw that OGRE was still available. I think you bring up good points about the rise and fall of the hexagon as standard. I did a lot of Starfinder RPG (the sci-fi Pathfinder). They don't use the hex grid for human scale; they use square flip mats. But for spaceship combat, they use the hex map. It always seemed to me to be a bit quirky that they'd have two different geometries for two different scales.

It makes you think of why, exactly, designers adopted the hex in those early games, and why the hex has fallen into disuse. And it seems to me that the hexagon was the best available proxy for a freeform map, while still maintaining the convenience of a grid. It is a compromise. Human beings normally think about their world and construct their world in combinations of 90 degree angles, not 60 degree angles. But a grid composed of 90 degree angles is very contrived and two dimensional. You can't work out angles and oblique maneuvers very well on a square grid without creating exceptions and fractions.

Besides, nature tends to resist right angles. It is more comfortably depicted on a hex grid than on a square grid. A bend in a river is more likely to be at a 120 degree angle than at a 90 degree angle. A jutting rockface is more likely to be at a 60 or a 120 degree angle than at a 90 degree angle. OGRE (and its spin offs GEV and Battlesuit), are played on a geologic maps. BattleTech was originally played on geologic maps (CityTech came later). The hex grid is a better grid to depict geologic and natural features. But if BattleTech was conceived of as a game of city fighting, I'd think it would have been designed around a square grid, as city architecture (blocks, streets, canals, structures) tends to follow 90 degree angles.

The problem comes when you need to simulate both natural and man made features on the same grid. Because then you have to either fit a natural landscape in a grid of 90 degree angles, or fit man made structures and pavements in a grid defined by 60 degree angles. Or, like in miniature wargaming, abandon grids altogether, and use tape measures and templates to govern maneuvering, so you can depict both kinds of features, without having to make compromises.

That's why I think the hex map has fallen into disuse, if anything.

[TheEr]

Loke's Big Book and Giant Book of Sci-Fi Battle Mats has some hex maps. Have you looks into those books?

[marinea]

I would prefer a self contained hex and marker game than a component spam that miniature based games bring.

[FreeFragUK]

As far as Hex based wargames are concerned, there are still quite a number on the market which are well catered for. While the graphical style varies significantly between publisher and system, there are those which offer reasonably elaborate graphics for both the board and the player pieces. Academy Games offer some of the more elaborate artwork (at least as far as I can recall) in the way of "Storm of Steel" and their other hex based wargames. The games from Lock n Load Publishing tend to vary in terms how elaborate the graphics are whereas games from GMT Gaming tend to be in line with more "traditional" wargames.

As far as physical size is concerned, this inevitably varies significantly depending on the size and scale of the game in question. While more contemporary games such as Gloomhaven are largely considered very cumbersome and difficult to transport, there are hex and grid based games which can become very bulky too.

The main thing that has changed, at least as far I see it, is taste and mentality. There are many games out there which require players to sit down ahead of time and fully digest the rules, while it is possible to teach some on the fly it isn't necessarily a viable strategy for all. I'd also argue that hex/grid/sector based on games which rely on counters tend elicit certain reactions from many gamers which can often lead to them being ignored in favour of more flashy games.

[jkapleau]

MR has several threads about a reprint on BGG. It looks unlikely.

[p.henrique]

C3i Magazine have games that I found very good. They have hex maps, counters and cards.

Sold my Empire of the Sun and kept Plan Orange and Breaking the Bismark Barrier because the smaller games are easier to teach and faster to play. They are more portable also, but not upgradeable.

[adamkubica]

Talon from GMT is great hex based game with modern twist.

[andrewschultz]

Uninformed opinion videos are the worst. I suspected you didn't know what you were talking about when I saw the Web and Starship graphic. FYI Web and Starship is not a hex based war game. Magic Realm is not a hex based war game. I only made it 41 seconds into the video, so I assume more ignorance is on display. Please talk about things that you know about. It makes the videos worth watching.