I began wargaming while in high school in the mid 60's after obtaining a copy of Morchauser's "Wargames in Miniature". Of course, I had always been interested in toy soldiers. About that same time I read a copy of Harold Lamb's "Hannibal", and I have been hooked on ancient warfare ever since. More precisely I find that my favorite period of history and warfare spans the time from Alexander to Julius Caesar It's no small coincidence that my rather bloated collection of ancient wargame figures is largely from this period of history.
To get back to my story, however, I began collecting an ancient army composed of 20mm Scruby figures, converted Airfix figures and Giant (Hong Kong brand name) plastic Greeks and Romans. You don't see many conversions any more, but there was something special about creating a new soldier out of something entirely different. I played my first wargames solo (Rome v. Carthage) in 1966 with a copy of Tony Bath's original "Ancient Rules" obtained from Don Featherstone. Not long after that Airfix released their Romans and Britons and Minifigs began producing their very first ancients. From then on it has been a steady addition of 25mm figures from a variety of sources until I now have literally thousands of soldiers.
I also have sizeable Dark Ages armies (Saxons, Normans and Vikings) in 25mm, 15 and 20mm Napoleonics, 20mm Civil War, 1/300 modems, 15mm Renaissance, 15mm Madborough (unpainted as of yet), 1/900 ancient naval ships, 20mm colonial (unpainted) and l/300 Late Romans (unpainted). Thus as you can see, I do playin a variety of historical periods, but my favorite is still the ancient era
I am what would best be described as an historically based ancient wargamer rather than a tournament or competition player. By this I mean that my games are between historical opponents, or better still are part of an historically based campaign. We have had some great historically based campaigns here in Lincoln, NE, most with several players which in turn involved diplomacy, strategic map movement, sea battles in miniature, sieges, treachery and a variety of land battles. On occasion I have also recreated actual historical battles.
My interest has led me to build an adequate ancient reference library, and consequently I prefer to do my own research rather than rely on "army lists". I also have a good collection of most published ancient-wargames rules, going back to the original Society of Ancients rules and the first WRG rules. I have generally played WRG rules, although I have never been completely satisfied with them. The WRG 7th Edition is merely another set on my shelf that doesn't pass muster. My ultimate goal is to write my own set of rules, but this has proved to be a slow and painful process. interestingly enough, we have great fun in our ACW and Napoleonic games with our home grown rules. Perhaps I am too much of a perfectionist in terms of the ancient period to satisfy myself. In any event, a good balance between fun and my view of ancient warfare is essential.
I first subscribed to "Slingshot" in the late 60's., and have been a member of the Society of Ancients ever since. I am also a member of the North American Society of Ancient and Medieval Wargamers. For the last several years, I have been the official reviewer of North American ancient wargames products for "Slingshot", more commonly known as "American Ctesias".
On a more personal note, I am 39 years old (just barely), married and with two sons. I grew up in Iowa and went to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where I graduated in 1970. I served 5 years in the Army, including 3 years in West Germany. When I got out of the service I went back to Nebraska for law school. I am now the State Tax Commissioner (please file those use tax returns on all mail order purchases). My war gaming time is shared with my other great avocation, rugby, at least in the spring and fall.
I am looking forward to being the ancient period editor for THE COURIER, of which I have been a long time subscriber, including the original version. I hope to present some articles that are both fun and informational, and which will give a balanced perspective to the ancient period.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Gibelfini, Lt. Col Vi., "The Last Charge", Tradition, Number Forty-Six.
Prieskop, Franklyn C., The Italian Army in World War II, unpublished manuscript.
Riccio, Ralph, Italian Tanks and Fighting Vehicles of World War 2, Kristall Publications, Ltd., (Henleyon-Thames, Oxon, England: 1975).
Back to Table of Contents -- Courier Vol. VIII No. 4
To Courier List of Issues
To MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1988 by The Courier Publishing Company.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com