1st Obsession - Wargaming

My First Obsession - Wargaming

I have had an interest in toy soldiers since I was seven years old, an interest sparked when my parents took me to a concert - more like a parade really - of the Scots Guards when the visited New Zealand in 1963. That interest got a kick along when I saw the film "Custer of the West" and started me on my life long interest in the American Civil War, an interest that was further fueled when I saw the July 1963 issue of the National Geographic, with those wonderful depictions of the Battle of Gettysburg (this in turn led to my fascination with that battle that has seen me collect more than 50 books on the subject).

My progression to wargaming, from playing with toy soldiers, came in 1972 when my parents bought me the book "Charge, or How to Play Wargames". I co-founded the Auckland Wargaming Club in 1974 and was for 15 years (1984-1999) involved in the "industry" in a business called Military Miniatures that eventally became Battlefront Miniatures.

I have collections in many historical periods, with a particular focus on the Ninteenth Century wars. My collections include:

• American Civil War
• Union
• Confederate
• Franco-Prussian War
• French
• Prussian
• Austro-Prussian War
• Prussian
• Austrian
• Italian 
• Austrian and Italian ironclad navies 
• Napoleonic 
• Austrian (1812-14)
• Prussian (1812-14)
• French (1812-14)
• Russian (1812-14)
• Russian (Retreat from Moscow)
• Spanish (1805-10)
• French in Egypt 
• French Revolutionary Wars
• British Peninsular (1812-10)
• British in Egypt
• Ottoman in Egypt
• Bavarian (1812-14)
• Swedish (1807-09)
• English Civil War
• Russo-Japanese War
• Russian
• Japanese
• WWI
• Europe 1914
• East Africa
• The Crimean War
• Russian
• French
• British
• Sardinian
• Turkish
• Wars of the Roses
• War of Spanish Succession Bavarian 
• The First Carlist War
• Carlists
• Isabellinos
• War of 1812 US Army
• WWII Blitzkrieg German
• American War of Independence
•  British
• Hessian
• French
• American
• Great Paraguayan War
• Brazilian 
• Argentine
• Uruguayan
• Paraguayan

I no longer play in clubs, playing instead in group of eight to ten like minded gamers. Some of this group has gamed together for more than 30 years. We generally meet every second Sunday and have a wargaming weekend away once a year.