Say Hello to Tom

1: How and when did you start wargaming?

 

Was a gradual progression. At school when i was 7 years old we read The Hobbit and i loved it. I loved board games like Advanced HeroQuest and Risk. My older sister went to university when i was 11 and started Roleplaying a lot with her friends. Traveller mostly from what i recall. Her then boyfriend was GM and during visits we’d play games of Call of Cthulu and others. I had already started painting old lord of the rings models and others and was having White Dwarf delivered to my local hobby shop. This was long before the days of GW having a store in every town and city in the land! After graduating my sister and her boyfriend moved back to my home city. It was then that i really started wargaming. So i was 13 or 14 years old. I collected a WFB army and also a couple of Space Marine (6mm now called Epic) armies and my brother and i used to go to my sister’s flat then house to wargame. After my sister and her boyfriend parted company i continued painting the occasional model but didn’t game for quite a while due to lack of space and opponents.

2: What was your 1st wargaming purchase?

 

My first purchase of pure wargaming wouldn’t have been the Space Marine boxed set as i’m sure i got that for Christmas or my birthday. My first purchase would have been with gift money from Christmas or my birthday and i’m sure it would have been 6mm imperial guard sprues.

3: Do you remember you 1st painted models? How bad/good were they and do you still have any examples?

I don’t have any of my original 6mm painted models as they were at my sister’s old house and i was never able to recover them. I do have some of my very early painted Lord of the Rings miniatures and WFB models. My painting skills aren’t going to win me any awards but it is clear to see how much my skill has improved over the years when i compare my current models to the early ones.

 
4: How long have you known the other Lonewolves/how did you meet?

 

I can’t remember how long it’s been now. It’s probably 8 or 9 years. I was a bit of a stray cat really. I was living in South Bristol and wanted to play some games but without the inevitable tantrums of 14 year old opponents in the GW store. I think there was something in a GW about gaming clubs so i looked to see if there was one nearby. I saw that Zed lived nearby so i got in touch. I remember him saying that i was more than welcome but that if i turned out to be really odd i’d be not welcome for long. Turns out i’m not odd, hooray! I feel very lucky that i’ve made such good friends in the other Lone Wolves and their families.

 

5: Do you have a game that sticks in your memory (for good or bad reasons) that you'd like to recall?

 

There have been a few games. One was with Cortez where he was trying to wipe me out to win the game rather than hold the objectives and my Gretchin kept playing hide and seek with his land raider crusader. We ran out of game turns and it ended in a draw but it felt like a win and i found it funny. Binx, tomb spider and t-shirt. He knows what i’m talking about. There was the Blood Bowl final against Binx where at half time we realised i’d played the first half with only 10 skaven on the board. My own fault for not counting properly. Was a close game. Ah, what might have been...

6: What’s your all time favourite games system?

 

That’s a tough one. I do like the current version of Epic with the changes to anti aircraft and fire support during assault rules. Need to play it more to be a firm favourite. So it has to be Warhammer Fantasy Battle. I do love that game. I’ve not yet played Flames of War but have the rules and i think i’ll enjoy it a lot but i expect WFB will still be my favourite.

7: Any wargaming regrets/ things you would have done differently with hindsight?

 

I wouldn’t have stored almost all of my miniature collection in my sister’s basement. Also, dare i say it, Dark Stars. There i was told that Dark Eldar jetbikes were T5. I had a game where we only got to turn 3 because my opponent wanted photographs of every unit moving. I had a game where my opponent refused to tell me anything about his Slaanesh army and behaved like we were on the top table at a tournament rather than at a fun campaign weekend. Apart from some of my opponents I think there were too many people there to be able to organise the weekend and make it as fun as i thought it would be. On the plus side i did make objective markers for one of my armies which have been very useful over the years.

8: Any wargaming experience/ army/ model/ story that you are most proud of/ like to brag about?

 

Not really. We did have a painting competition which we did via Coolminiornot.com and i was in the top half of the results which i was very happy about. I wouldn’t have been surprised if i’d been last.

9: What do you see happening to your wargaming wise over the next 5 years?

I suspect there will be fewer GW purchases as i have most that i want/need for Warhammer Fanstasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000. I just have to assemble and paint my stockpiles. My interest in FoW will probably result in my collecting an army for that system too. All of this is time and money permitting. With a young family my time and money is not as freely available as it used to be.

 

10: Any final thoughts?

 

I’m looking forward to our first on-line Blood Bowl league in 2013. Finally, Zed and his family’s hospitality over the years in their different houses hosting the weekly games has been spectacular. I’ve stayed the night at the Zed household many times since leaving Bristol and i always feel welcome and that is something very special.