I thought I would begin this blog with a few words about myself and what I intend to post here. I am a long time board, role playing, and war gamer. I first started war gaming when I was 5 or 6 years old by taking Lego blocks (this was in 1975ish so we are talking generic Legos) using them to build opposing castles and then laying out different colored blocks to represent knights and soldiers who would then fight epic battles to capture said castles. These epic Lego battles would usually end with the castle completely demolished and my mother yelling "CLEAN THIS MESS UP... NOW!!!"
As I got older I played Crossbows and Catapults, fought deadly bb gun and firecracker wars using Star Wars figures, and was introduced to Dungeons and Dragons by my older brother. However, it was when I got to Junior High School that my life was altered forever (to my wife's present day chagrin). I met a guy in class who invited my over to his house to play Panzerblitz and boy-howdy did I love it. I immediately went out and bought the Avalon Hill classic Afrika Korps followed very quickly by Squad Leader.
The next logical step in my wargaming career was, of course, miniatures...unfortunately, I could not afford those little lead guys. So for a long time I just read Wargaming Magazines and wished I was rich. Fate would intercede in High School when I met a fellow wargamer who could actually afford multiple Napoleonic miniature armies! We spent entire weekends refighting Waterloo, Austerlitz, Borodino, and whatever else we could think of. We made up rules or tried to decipher Empire III (I still have them and have still never successfully played them!). Still not being able to afford lead figures I bought all I could of Airfix and Revell plastics for the American Revolution, American Civil War, Zulu Wars, and Plains Indian Wars. I found out very quickly that I am rubbish at painting miniatures. However, my lack of artistry did not stop me from continuing to collect, paint, and play with miniature figures to the present day.
Today, many years later, I mostly play solo because of demands of work and family but also because the historical wargaming community here in middle Georgia has remained elusive. That does not deter me however, and I continue to collect figures and rules.
I prefer rules that can be easily played solo and that have a good sense of historical flavor while being fun and manageable in a reasonable amount of time. I play many different periods and many different rules. The level of the rules I use depends on the period. For the horse and musket period I like to play large scale battles, for World War II or modern I prefer skirmish or company level, and for ancient/medieval/ fantasy I will play any level but tend toward small armies and skirmish.
The rule sets I use for the horse and musket period are my own home brewed rules for the American Civil War, the original Piquet rules, Fire and Fury and Volley and Bayonet. For World War II and modern I use Chain of Command, I Ain't Been Shot Mum, and Charlie Don't Surf (all from Too Fat Lardies). For fantasy/medieval rules I use Songs of Blades and Heroes, Dux Britannarium (TFL), and Rally Round the King. I have other rules but those are the ones I play the most.
I still cannot really afford metal miniatures...in fact the only metals I own are 6mm Baccus Napoleonic French (that I am only halfway finished painting). I do have a large collection of 1/72 plastics for the American Civil War, as well as Briton and Saxon warbands for Dux Brit, and the beginnings of platoon level American and German forces for World War II. For everything else I use paper minis. For fantasy wargaming I use Mayhem in Paper, Okumarts, and Sanity Studios. For pretty much everything else I use one of the greatest websites on the net, Junior General.
I haven't even scratched the surface of my obsession but I suppose this is a decent overview of what to expect from this blog. Thanks for reading and I will see you soon!
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