It's now over three years since I stumbled across BGG, and got back into wargaming...with a vengeance. I am primarily a wargamer with a strong secondary interest in fantasy and science fiction, and Ameritrash games.

In my teens and early twenties, I played wargames (mostly Avalon Hill). I started wargaming when I was 12, when I purchased Panzer Leader on a whim, not knowing what it was. It took a year or more before I met someone who had wargamed and could help me digest the rules. After that is was primarily solo gaming.

Once in college I lost interest, and threw out all the games (dumb, yes! but that was before eBay). After college I got my gaming fix primarily on the computer, and later on consoles; Xbox 360 is my current favorite. I also played Mage Knights for a few years and dabbled with D&D, though never got into a sustained campaign.

For some reason, since I was a young boy, I've been interested in military equipment. (My parents were not in the military or interested themselves.) As I grew older, that curiosity broadened into a more general interest in history and military history. I love to read, and have read widely on military history. In 2005, and after a 10 year hiatus, I returned to graduate school to complete a master's in history at University of San Diego. My thesis explored Alexander the Great's deliberate use of intimidation as a tactic to achieve military victory.

While looking for some software to create battle maps for my thesis, I thought back on my wargaming youth, and figured wargamers must have something on the net I could use. So I googled something like "wargame maps." I found what I was looking for, but I also found BGG.

It was a revelation. I had no idea that wargames were still going strong, and better than ever. I've always been a sucker for a good looking game, and new wargames' production values far outstrip the games of my youth. With more disposable income and a penchant for collecting, I went from zero wargames to 150+ in three years (averaging a purchase of one a week). Though I play more wargames now than I ever did when I was younger, my acquisition rate far outstrips my play rate. Many games wait, in my closet, for their first play.

I have a beautiful, non-gaming but very tolerant wife, and two up-and-coming grognards, boys, ages 8 and 5. I think I've already created a monster (two actually) as they request a board game with dad pretty much every night. They like Wii and Xbox, but LOVE boardgames. Heroscape is getting most of our play time presently.

About a two years ago, I met Paul O'Connor (BGG's goldenboat) who lives, luckily, just about a mile from me. We started a semi-regular wargaming weeknight, which is a good thing, as it accounts for 90% of my face-to-face play (so little time). Paul's a great guy and it seems has played pretty much every wargame. He is maintaining a geeklist of our battles called Operation Blackboat.

As of this writing, I am obsessed with ASL and working on a collection of the out of print modules.