HOW IT ALL CAME TO BE I consider my start into historical gaming is similar to many others. I started with Dungeons and Dragons and board games in the early 80's, which led into Battlesystems and then by the mid 90's I was hooked on Games Workshop. I started playing Warhammer Fantasy, Necromunda, 40k, Epic and Blood Bowl, subscribed to White Dwarf. Yes, I was a junkie. I went to Jonescon in Gainesville Florida in 2002 for a Warhammer 40k tournament. My first real convention, gave me the opportunity to try a couple of other games including a Star Wars battle of Hoth. It was enjoyable and run by a member of the Ocala Garrison, a local wargaming club. It was fun and I wanted to go to another convention. However, it would take me two more years to get back as I went through some major life changes. The big "D", which led to me selling off three quarters of all my figures and all of my terrain. Only one army of Ores and Goblins remained and they led me to Jonescon 2004 for a 500 pt mini tourney on Sunday. I was left with all day Saturday to try a Wild West skirmish game, and to watch an impressive Sword of Africa game put on by the Jacksonville Garrison. Once home, I emailed the local wargame club and started historical gaming. Various scales, 12mm to 28mm Napoleonic's to WWII skirmish. WHERE I AM NOW Last fall I went to Hurricon, in Tampa Florida. A great convention, although definitely hurt due to a hurricane that prevented many from coming and cut it short for many others. I had the opportunity to play a few pirate games, a pulp fiction game and a modified vampire wars game that was put on by The Miniature Building Authority to showcase their terrain. I also watched a variety of other games and wish I could have tried them all. This upcoming year, I have already scheduled vacation time for two conventions, Recon and Hurricon, both put on by HMGS-South in Tampa. And I have worked up my own set of rules for Wild West Skirmishes that I will submit to MWAN, hopefully to be published, played, and enjoyed by others. CASH FLOW Now, part of the reason I convinced myself to switch from GW to Historicals was the prices are no longer within reason and I was spending too much money, especially after GW put restrictions on online selling and store discounts. Ironically, this last year I probably spent twice as much on miniatures, and wargame related products. But, I feel like I got much more bang for the buck, and I feel like I am helping to support the hobby, which I enjoy. I have ordered or purchased from Last Square, RLBPS, Foundry, Grandiosity and The Miniature Building Authority and have been extremely pleased with the service provided. I have also picked up a few purchases on Ebay, including a steal for Don Perrin, A six man team of very well painted Swat figures, which I didn't need but couldn't pass up. CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG I guess being new to historical wargaming I just can't understand all the politicking that seems to be going on. Although we may be accused of playing toys like children, there is no use acting like children which is how all the bickering on newsgroups and message boards sounds to me. I'm glad there are magazines, conventions, and wargame clubs. The all help promote the hobby. So, why can't we all just push some lead and roll some dice. And as far as MWAN goes, I don't really care if it's printed on the back of bar napkins as long as the content remains the same informative collection of writings that I subscribe for. FUTURE GOALS IN THE WARGAMING HOBBY Thank goodness my fiancee supports my choice of -diversions. I have heard there are a lot of worse ways to spend ones spare time and money. So, now what I have to do is paint the enormous amount of lead I have purchased, build more terrain, and roll more dice. I would like to actually run a convention game based on the rules that I created. I have given up the notion on purchasing, painting and owning a limited range and scale of figures. Sounds like a crazy idea when there are some many figures I want. I also need a bigger home and those space hogging children to grow up and give up their rooms. I guess I'm on my way to becoming a historical miniatures wargaming junkie. Back to MWAN # 133 Table of Contents Back to MWAN List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2005 by Legio X This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com