Been a digital wargamer since the days of Computer Bismarck and Stonkers? Able to spot a John Tiller game in a blizzard at a hundred paces, and distinguish Panzer Corps from Order of Battle by the slightly different tracks they leave on damp Normandy beach sand? You should do well in the inaugural Tally-Ho Corner Grog Test. The fifty-question quiz below is designed to test genre familiarity rather than tactical nous or knowledge of war and weaponry.
Tackling the quiz with the help of AI or search engines will render the entire exercise pointless. It is meant to evaluate your general knowledge of PC wargaming not your research ability, so no Googling, please.
Answer feedback is instantaneous. Correct answers spawn a green frame, errors red ones. After answering all fifty questions the ‘finish’ button will activate. Press it and you’ll get your percentage score. Anyone who scores 60% or more has the right to call themself a grog.
Most questions are multiple choice. If you are asked to type a word into a box, then don’t worry about capitalisation – it’s unimportant. Standard spelling variations are also catered for.
While it would be great to see scores posted in the comments, for obvious reasons please don’t reveal answers.
Ready? Your first brainteaser is a relatively easy one…
#1. One of these wargames wasn’t released in 1997. Which one?
#2. Name one of Big Time Software’s aerial wargames.
#3. Which of the following battles was not the subject of a TalonSoft Battleground game?
#4. Select the game that doesn’t have ‘Panzer’ in its title.
#5. The Close Combat 2 demo featured which map?
#6. The game pictured above is…
#7. The studio that created this wargame shared a name with which US national park?
#8. Four of these games are published by Slitherine. Identify the odd man out.
#9. This largely forgotten American War of Independence game had a two-word title. What was it?
#10. All of Every Single Soldier’s published COIN wargames have titles ending in two-digit numbers. Provide one of those numbers.
#11. The generous Squad Battles demo recreates which military operation?
#12. The charmer originally known as BBC Battlefield Academy lacks one of the following things.
#13. The phrase ‘Borg spotting’ was coined by fans of which series?
#14. This American Civil War game was developed by…
#15. The printed manual that came with the first edition of Airborne Assault: Red Devils Over Arnhem had how many pages?
#16. Who hatched this wargame in the late Eighties?
#17. In 2019 Polish studio Serious Sim disorientated PC wargamers with…
#18. This is an advert for…
#19. Above is an extract from the manual of which game?
#20. This is the logo of…
#21. Launched in 1997 by TalonSoft, the Campaign series gained its latest instalment in 2022. That title’s primary focus was…
#22. This chap peered from the box lid of which naval wargame?
#23. Nick Thomadis, the designer of Ultimate General: Gettysburg, cut his teeth making mods for…
#24. What type of AFV appeared on the title screen of Combat Mission 2: Barbarossa to Berlin?
#25. In an alphabetical list, which of these games would appear first?
#26. Prior to 2012 3D wargame Graviteam Tactics went by the name…
#27. Hex size in Second Front is approximately…
#28. The designers of these games have which homeland in common?
#29. The ‘Recommended Reading’ section of the Gary Grigsby’s War in the East manual lists how many books?
#30. The icons ringed in yellow in the above Unity of Command II screenshot indicate the presence of…
#31. What word links the game pictured above to a notable 2001 military sim?
#32. Robert T. Smith, the designer of several classic ZX Spectrum wargames, went on to shape which famous franchise?
#33. Announced in 1999 and yet to release, the piece of vapourware pictured above is called…
#34. Name the land fought over in this hex-em-up.
#35. All but one of these wargames have animals in their names. Which is animal-free?
#36. Burden of Command players choreograph soldiers belonging to the…
#37. The titles of both of these wargames name-check the same European river. Which river?
#38. Select the game not made by Eugen Systems.
#39. The latest update added what to Command: Modern Operations?
#40. Which colour appears in the titles of both of these diversions?
#41. This 2023 offering recreated which Twentieth Century event?
#42. Which 2015 hex wargame forced players to consider inter-personal relationships as well as military strategy?
#43. Many people got their first taste of Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord via a demo scenario called…
#44. Which ten-letter word occurs in the titles of both of these games?
#45. A Steam installation of Rule the Waves 3 occupies how much HD space?
#46. The Universal Military Simulator included recreations of two English battles. Name the pair.
#47. Spot the fake Wars Across The World add-on.
#48. Oliver Keppelmüller, the driving force behind the upcoming Grand Tactician: Napoleonic Wars has previously designed games devoted to the American Civil War and…
#49. This lovely loading screen graces which wargame?
#50. Released a couple of years before Close Combat, this obscure 1994 RTT foreshadowed Atomic’s effort in many respects. What was its name?
Results
Recognized the Harpoon game from someplace in my memory. Otherwise, I guessed and got a total of 6 correct.
48% = Chimp who earned his school-leaving exams by doing enough practice tests to not be fazed by multiple-choice.
Twice as good as I was anticipating, particularly after the first ten when I had a big fat zero.
48% for me also, bizarrely. I do not pay much attention to the names of developers or publishers of games to be honest
The closest I think I’ve played to a war game is a handful of the Civ games, and a couple of the big-name RTS games from the late 90s. Still, I’m pretty sure I know the answer to #22.
60%. Those were tough.
22%. Most of those games just aren’t my thing.
36%. Grog license burned.
25%. Oooooh, the shame!
A mere 46%!