This is the first in what will hopefully be a regular feature in the Rebel Yell. I will try to profile local gaming clubs within the HMGS South parent organization. Naturally, I wish to start with my own. A US double-ender steams into combat against awaiting Rebel forts and batteries. The club to which I belong is the South Florida Wargamers. We meet on a monthly basis at one of the homes of a member. There are over twenty members, but the games usually have between four and ten attendees. Gaming interest vary widely. We can boast everything from French and Indian War gaming all the way to World War II. Some frequently repeated themes are American Civil War Naval, Limeys and Slimeys Pirate games, Fire & Fury American Civil War, Mexican - American War and French & Indian and Rev War Games. One of our club members, Mike Schundler, has even penned his own horse and musket era rules. He has yet to name them, but they tend toward a moralebased system. They are fairly simple and fun to play. A game with these rules usually runs less than four hours. The club recently completed a Guilford Courthouse battle that lasted four hours. Mike has a fine collection of 28mm AWI figures painted to a very high standard. A member of our club, Angus Konstam, is published published frequently in Osprey Magazine. He also has three books to his credit with Osprey. Angus is considered a subject matter expert on buccaneers and pirates. His most recent contribution to Osprey was his article in Osprey Military Journal Vol. 2 Issue 3, entitled Henry Morgan's Panama Campaign. US Troops fend off an attack from British Regulars at Mike Schundler's Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Another member has taken the most extreme gaming measure one can achieve. He has an apartment just for gaming. Ron Merriman has an apartment in North Miami which holds all his miniatures and his large gaming table. Ron frequently hosts games at his North Miami hideout. The best part about this is we can set up in advance and leave the game up if we don't complete it within the alotted time. Ron is an excellent host and is most generous with his apartment. In return, he gets to play in some really nice games. This is of course, all that really matters to a gamer. Member Jorge Sanchez-Gallaraga frequently hosts French & Indian War and Limey's and Slimeys games. In good weather he sets up his games in the back yard of his Coral Gables home. Not only is it a nice change, but it also helps keep the peace at his home. Its much better to place 15 unkempt and middle- aged (OK, over-the-hill) garners out of doors whenever possible. I will not elaborate of the reasons for such. I prefer to run games with my 10mm American Civil War collection using Fire & Fury or Mexican - American War with my large 28mm figures using Santa Anna Rules. However, I have done World War II Micros using both Spearhead and Mein Panzer depending on the scale. Granny White Pike splits the Confederate entrenchments outside of Nashville in the editors Fire & Fury re-creation of the decisive 1864 Battle of Nashville.  One other member, Jesus Rivero, drives all the way across Alligator Alley to game with us quite frequently. Angus drives two to three hours from the Keys to join us when he attends. Members John and Jason Rosasco our among the most frequent attendees and are our only father-son team. Jason also plays soccer on Saturdays and manages to attend after his games almost every month. Most of our members live in Broward and Dade counties. However, we have members in Palm Beach County and even on the west coast of Florida. Overall, it is worth the trip to keep gamimg whenever possible. The vast majority of our members belong to HMGS South and regularly attend Recon and Hurricon. Ron Merriman and myself even flew up to Baltimore and drove to Historicon in Lancaster, PA last July. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip, but came back with a lot less money than we had at the trips origin. The club offers a high degree of variety in gaming periods. Our terrain and figures are good by most any measure. When we game in our group, it is usually a visual treat. I enjoy these monthly Saturday forays into military history and rarely miss a meeting. Back to Rebel Yell No. 17 Table of Contents Back to Rebel Yell List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 by HMGS South 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