Firsts
Well, good to see you've made it, Horatio.
I was wondering what topic to post on (the first lines are always the most difficult) but your comments about your first wargames gave me inspiration.
My very first real miniatures wargame was actually 20mm Airfix and ESCI plastic Napoleonics using the first edition Napoleon's Battles rules. Talk about the deep end.
(The first set of miniature wargames rules I read was actually a copy of WRG's 4th edition (?) Ancients rules; not that I understood them but the troop types descriptions and tables fascinated me.)
That was way back in 1990 or so, before the days of the internet. Information was hard to come by and the only connection with the wargaming world was through copies of Miniature Wargames magazines from the local bookstore - as a schoolboy money was tight and a subscription was not viable then.
Games Workshop games were available then locally, if I recall correctly, but they were not as popular as they are now. Also, we wanted to play a historical miniatures wargame, and that was non-existent in the country as far as we could tell.
Armed with plastic figures, Tamiya acrylic paints and relying on an abridged version of Knontel's book as uniform guide, a few friends and I managed to paint up enough figures to play a few Peninsular battles.
Sure, the painting wasn't good by today's standards, and the terrain was nothing impressive, but we felt like we were pioneers. When I have played my first miniatures wargame, I realised that this beautiful hobby was not beyond me anymore.
Over the years improvements in communications and budget have enabled me to expand my collection of rules and figures, as well as connect with wargamers both overseas and at home. But thinking back, I don't think the feeling compares with the heady days of starting an obscure hobby with a few friends.
I was wondering what topic to post on (the first lines are always the most difficult) but your comments about your first wargames gave me inspiration.
My very first real miniatures wargame was actually 20mm Airfix and ESCI plastic Napoleonics using the first edition Napoleon's Battles rules. Talk about the deep end.
(The first set of miniature wargames rules I read was actually a copy of WRG's 4th edition (?) Ancients rules; not that I understood them but the troop types descriptions and tables fascinated me.)
That was way back in 1990 or so, before the days of the internet. Information was hard to come by and the only connection with the wargaming world was through copies of Miniature Wargames magazines from the local bookstore - as a schoolboy money was tight and a subscription was not viable then.
Games Workshop games were available then locally, if I recall correctly, but they were not as popular as they are now. Also, we wanted to play a historical miniatures wargame, and that was non-existent in the country as far as we could tell.
Armed with plastic figures, Tamiya acrylic paints and relying on an abridged version of Knontel's book as uniform guide, a few friends and I managed to paint up enough figures to play a few Peninsular battles.
Sure, the painting wasn't good by today's standards, and the terrain was nothing impressive, but we felt like we were pioneers. When I have played my first miniatures wargame, I realised that this beautiful hobby was not beyond me anymore.
Over the years improvements in communications and budget have enabled me to expand my collection of rules and figures, as well as connect with wargamers both overseas and at home. But thinking back, I don't think the feeling compares with the heady days of starting an obscure hobby with a few friends.
posted by captain arjun at 8:09 pm
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Hello old people! :)
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