From: "Paul O'Connor" Subject: Conflict, was Re: Battle Cry "David A. Vandenbroucke" wrote: > While we're on the subject of protowargames, another one that pops up a > lot on eBay is Conflict, an abstract strategy game with some military > trappings. The little metal battleships and cannons were so cool. Conflict is the game that made me a geek ... I mean, a gamer. When I was a wee lad my older brother used to play Avalon Hill games with his buddy. Being the younger brother, I'd hang around and watch. I remember being fascinated with Midway, primarily because of the top-view ship counters (this would have been in the early 1970s). Anyway, my brother's buddy had a copy of Conflict, and as it could accomodate up to four players, they actually let me play. Once. I think. I came within a die roll or two of actually beating the big guys. I absolutely loved the game. But it was out of print by then, no amount of birthday or Christmas pleading could turn up a copy, and my brother soon gave up on wargames and his friend drifted away with that copy of Conflict. I was hooked, though, and I inherited my brother's wargame collection and the rest is the usual sad gamer geek tale. Fast-forward twenty-five years. I see a copy of Conflict in a net auction and go nuts, pay too much for it, and the quest of a lifetime is fulfilled. Of course the game couldn't help but be vaguely disappointing. The metal pieces were just as wonderful as I remembered (especially that wild Buck Rogers style spaceship/aircraft thing), but the board was just a symmetrical land/sea grid. The game rules are pretty simple: roll the dice and move your guys, capturing pieces if you land on them. There are ships for the sea and cannons for the ground, and those airships that lord it over everyone. There are mine spaces that are safe for your own guys but not for the baddies. There's a rule for capturing pieces and then putting them back into play via a reserve (or something like that). Played it a couple times with my nephew and found it came down to a big air/sea skirmish in the center of the board, with the winner carrying on to knock out his opponent's capitol. Not a bad game, especially with four, and like Battle Cry it's a good game for parents and kids, because the luck element at the center of everything gives the kids a decent chance to out-dice their elders. I'm glad I've got a copy, and I'll play it with my son someday, who will probably look at me like I've got two heads when I tell him this story.