great thread :)
growing up, I was a sucker for games with electronic components (The Black Tower, Stop Thief!, etc).
Axis and Allies eventually replaced Risk.
Fortress America and Shogun were a blast.
I played Stratego with my grandfather.
I remember my first group of gamer friends, and playing a lot of Car Wars, a game by Steve Jackson. Steve Jackson also put out Ogre, which was in the lexicon of the day, “way cool”.
Also got bit by the “Play By Mail” bug. Am I the only one here who used to look forward to getting their turns by mail? lol
Researching backgrounds for my wargames
plus
growing in a Marine Corps family
produced a professional historian:
Me!