This is a very rough order of how much I subjectively liked every game. Game ranks can change over time as I reconsider previous rankings.
- Four stars
- Reach for the Stars (1983/1985/1988) – Standard AAR, Advanced AAR, R&R
Three stars - War in Russia (1984) – AAR part 1, part 2, R&R
- Wreck of the B.S.M. Pandora (the) (1982) – AAR, R&R
- Eastern Front 1941 (1981) – AAR1, AAR2, R&R
- VC (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Close Assault (1983) – AAR & R&R
- Bomb Alley (1982) – AAR Malta North Africa, R&R
- Southern Command (1981) – AAR part 1, part 2, R&R
- Germany 1985 (1982) – AAR, R&R
- Baltic 1985 (1984) – AAR, R&R
- Galactic Gladiators (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Starbase Hyperion (1980) – AAR + R&R
- Rebelstar Raiders (1984) – AARs : Moonbase, Starlingale, The Final Assault; R&R
Two stars - Space Station Zulu (1983) – AAR + R&R
- The Fall of Rome (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Eagles (1983) – AAR : Early 1917, Late 1917, Early 1918, Late 1918 ; R&R
- The War of the Worlds (1983) – AAR + R&R
- RDF 1985 (1983) – AAR, R&R
- Operation Whirlwind (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Pacific War (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Shattered Alliance (the) (1981) – AAR, R&R
- Star Trek (1971+) – AAR + R&R
- Archon: The Light and the Dark (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Computer Diplomacy (1984) – AAR + R&R
- Operation Apocalypse (1981) – AAR, R&R
- Norway 1985 (1985) AAR, R&R
- Cytron Masters (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Guadalcanal (1984) – AAR Part 1, AAR Part 2 + R&R
- Fortress (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Computer Ambush (1980) – AAR, R&R
- Parthian Kings (1983) – AAR1, AAR2 + R&R, Multiplayer AAR
- Invasion Orion / Starfleet Orion (1979) – AAR part 1, part 2, R&R
One star - Strategy 2 : The Hunt for the Bismark (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Conflict [aka Computer Conflict – Rebel Forces] (1979) – AAR + R&R
- Epidemic! (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Computer Bismarck (1980) – AAR, R&R
- Conquest (1984) – AAR + R&R
- Final Conflict (the) (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Nebula (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Cosmic Balance (the) (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Across the Rubicon / Rubicon II (1982/1983) – AAR + R&R
- Road to Gettysburg (the) (1982) – AAR + R&R
- North Atlantic ’86 (1983) – AAR : Early November, Late November, Finale ; R&R
- Pursuit of the Graf Spee (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Empire / Empire, Wargame of the Century (1987) – AAR + R&R
- Dreadnoughts (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Geopolitique 1990 (1983) – AAR : Peace, War ; R&R
- Excalibur (1983) – AAR : Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4 ; R&R
- Guadalcanal Campaign (1982) – AAR Coral Sea Guadalcanal Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec ; R&R
- NukeWar (1980) – AAR + R&R
- Panzer War (1984) – AAR + R&R
- Knights of the Desert (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Parsector V (1980) – AAR + R&R
- Saratoga (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Space Ace 21 (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Andromeda Conquest (1982) – AAR + R&R, Multiplayer AAR
- Galactic Empire (1979) – AAR + R&R
- King Arthur (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Redweed (1983) – AAR + R&R
Obsolete – at this point the ranking is extremely theoretical - Islandia (1984) – AAR + R&R
- Tawala’s Last Redoubt (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Computer Napoleonics (1980) – AAR, R&R
- Tanktics (1978) – AAR, R&R
- Stonkers (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Warp Factor (the) (1981) – AAR, R&R
- Broadsides (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Computer Air Combat (1980) – AAR, R&R
- Combat Leader (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Emperor (1980) – AAR + R&R
- Dark Forest (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Battle for Normandy (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Nobunaga’s Ambition (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Battlezone 2000 (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Supreme Ruler (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Time Lords (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Legionnaire (1982) – AAR + R&R
- North Atlantic Convoy Raider (1980) – AAR + R&R
- Tactical Armor Command – TAC (1983) – AAR, R&R
- After Pearl – AAR + R&R
- Armor Assault (1982) – AAR+R&R
- Galactic Revolution (1980) – AAR + R&R
- Dnieper River Line (1982) – AAR + R&R
- The Alien (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Panzers East (1984) – AAR + R&R
- Plunder (1983) – AAR + R&R
- NATO Commander (1983) – AAR, R&R
Totally obsolete - Johnny Reb (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Max-Command (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Bez-MX (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Shoot ‘Em Up in Space (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Trek80 (1977) – AAR + R&R
- Jericho (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Squadron Leader Games (1980/1982) – AAR + R&R
- Midway Campaign (1980) – AAR + R&R
- War (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Kamikaze (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Cosmic Balance II (1983) – AAR Part 1, Part 2, R&R
- Paras (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Wargame (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Savo Island (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Waterloo (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Carrier Force (1983) – Coral Sea, Midway, R&R
- Ants!!! (1979) – AAR + R&R
- Starclash (1980) / Starclash II (1984) – AAR + R&R
- Battle of Shiloh (the) (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Tigers in the Snow (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Kawanakajima na Kassen (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Trek73 (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Conquering Worlds (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Torpedo Fire (1981) – AAR, R&R
- Strategy One – Invasion (1983) – AAR + R&R
- William the Conqueror (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Battle of Britain [Microgame Simulations] (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Centurion (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Panzer-Jagd (1984) – AAR + R&R
- Pearl Harbour (1984) – AAR + R&R
- B-1 Nuclear Bomber (1980) – AAR + R&R
- Panzer Attack (1984) – AAR + R&R
- Domination (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Battle of Zeighty (the) (1982) – AAR + R&R
- 50 Mission Crush (1984) – AAR + R&R
- Napoleon (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Lordlings of Yore (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Conflict 2500 (1981) – AAR + R&R
- Dragonriders of Pern (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Cosmic Conquest (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Zendar (1982) – AAR + R&R
- New World (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Empire [Shards Software] (1983) – AAR + R&R
- Battle of Gettysburg (1982) – AAR + R&R
- Raider 41 (1984) – AAR + R&R
Could not rank
Those are games that I covered but that I cannot rank :
- Galactic Trader (1979) – AAR + R&R (trading game – not very good)
- Galaxy [Galactic Empires] (1981) – AAR + R&R (designed for multiplayer)
- Napoleon’s Campaigns : 1813, 1815 (1981) – AAR, R&R (the only available version has a critical bug)
BRIEF
The BRIEF are not ranked, but for completion sake here is the list :
- Admiral Graf Spee (1983) – BRIEF (no strategic or tactical decision)
- Assault IV (1981) – BRIEF (sessions last less than 5 minutes, more puzzle than strategy)
- A World at War (1983) – BRIEF (sessions last less than 5 minutes, simple)
- Battle of Britain [Molimerx] (1981) – BRIEF (arcade game pretending there is a strategy layer)
- Bomber Command (1983) – BRIEF (arcade, no strategic layer)
- Civil War (1968) – BRIEF (an arch-precursor on mainframe, a resource allocation game)
- Convoy (1977) – BRIEF (early mainframe game)
- Deepspace (1975) – BRIEF (a variant of Don Daglow’s Star Trek, itself a precursor to Trek73)
- Galactic Attack (1980) – BRIEF (no strategy but skill with calculating angle quickly)
- Global Thermonuclear Warfare (1983) – BRIEF (no player agency)
- Godzilla (1980) – BRIEF (sessions last less than 5 minutes, no strategy)
- Highnoon (1970) – BRIEF (an arch-precursor on mainframe, luck driven)
- Land Battle (1982/1998) – BRIEF (multiplayer only)
- Leyte (1981) – BRIEF (no real strategy)
- Luftwaffe (1982) – BRIEF (no real strategy)
- Mission Empire (1982) – BRIEF (inferior copy of Galactic Empire)
- Roman Empire (1982) – BRIEF (part of Lothlorien’s early “almost wargames”)
- Peloponnesian War (1982) – BRIEF (part of Lothlorien’s early “almost wargames”)
- Radar (1977) – BRIEF (early mainframe game)
- Rescue Raiders (1984) – BRIEF (arcade with a varnish of strategy)
- Sahara Warriors (1979) – BRIEF (one part of the game is multiplayer only, the other is not a wargame)
- Samurai Warrior (1982) – BRIEF (Lothlorien early game. Not even wargame-adjacent)
- Starbase Zero (1979) – BRIEF (early Trek73-like)
- Star Trek [Peterson/Don Daglow] (1974?) – BRIEF (a simpler precursor to Trek73)
- Sea Battle [Mainframe] (1979) – BRIEF (early mainframe game)
- Sea Battle [Intellivision] (1980) – BRIEF (multiplayer only)
- Takeover (1982/1998) – BRIEF (multiplayer only)
- Tank Command (1980) – BRIEF (not a wargame)
- Tyrant of Athens (1982) – BRIEF (part of Lothlorien’s early “almost wargames”)
- Utopia (1981) – BRIEF (designed for multiplayer)
- War (1972) [Carlson/Bonicatto] – BRIEF (early mainframe game)
- War (1973) [Bob Dores] – BRIEF (early mainframe game)
- Warfish (1983) – BRIEF (early mainframe game)
- Warlord (1982) – BRIEF (part of Lothlorien’s early “almost wargames”)
- War of Nerves (1979) – BRIEF (arcade & multiplayer only)
- World Power (1978) – BRIEF (no strategy at all)
- Zor (1982) – BRIEF (no strategy, only random results of attacks)