LMW Works Biographies

Autobiography

“All together, mee, mee, mee .” Tap, tap, tap went the chorus teacher’s baton as she attempted to get perfection out of her students many years ago at my high school. I suppose that is how I feel about writing even a brief biography of myself; me, me, me. I find talking about me is a less appealing retelling of history. Let me simply lay down important events in regard to my gaming history.

As a kid at my uncle’s lumber yard I would visit the scrap wood pile. Here all manner of wood blocks could be turned into miniature buildings. My uncle fostered such activity.

In junior high my interest in history became a passion. I made displays which were brought to school for classroom discussion. Eventually I was asked to share my interest and knowledge of history to other classes by lecturing on history.

Graduating from University (B.A. In History) I began gaming with others of a similar interest and purpose. The purpose; sharing history through miniatures.

Demands of family required helping the kids’ with show and tell. I would cart models, figures, chain mail and of course miniature buildings. The teachers thought when my kids volunteered me that I would do some shoe box cardboard modeling. Paul Forgette, one of my close friends, helped with his expertise in history and gaming. This encouraged me and Lynne (my wife) to expand this program. The kids loved it and so did the schools as they asked us to return repeatedly.

My introduction to conventions with others was The Great Lakes Wargaming Convention, 1976; held in a real hotel. To announce the event Gary Reynolds (a friend and organizer) and I went on a T.V. show called Buffalo Today. Here we explained gaming. To our surprise some 3000 people attended the convention.

Most of my buildings used for show and tell were sold to the Crossed Swords Shop of Dan Stapleton in Toronto, Canada. These depict the development of the English Medieval Castle.

With the help of Rich Kohlbacher and Ed Backer I entered on writing a set of medieval rules, Knight Hack. This was followed by Classical Hack, Classical Hack II, Fantasy Hack and then Classical Hack III: Hack in the Dark. Later came Scenarios Rome, Scenarios Macedonia Knight Hack Third Edition, Classical Hack Second Edition, Holy Hack Second Edition and Homeric Hack. Helping to demonstrate these games were Paul Forgette, Gary Rich, Tim Bennett and Bob Sillars.

Without Paul Forgette’s encouragement none of this would have ever gotten off the ground. Thanks too must go to Cy Taylor.

Family demands for Rich and Ed changed and I was left to my own designs promoting the Classical Hack Game system. Allen Fleming and my wife Lynne were a big help at this time. Allen was a God send as he helped G.M. the games and he added a flare to the games I put on.

Trekking from Toronto, Ontario Brian Lewis and Lembit Tover invited us to MIGS Con. James Mantos asked us to Hot Lead in Strattford, Ontario. In these places I found how others approached gaming. In Atlanta, Georgia we attended War Fair under the direction of Charlie Tabor. At The Siege of Augusta (with Jim Birdseye), Cowpens (Tim Walker) and Southern Front that I was introduced to some of the finest conventions I could have wished for. We can learn a lot about gaming from how others game. At the Siege of Augusta I saw an impressive Civil War setup by Chris Hughes and Dave Bonk.

Each show inspired me to do all manner of games from simple scenarios to big dioramic presentations like the Siege of Atrax or The Siege of Carthage. Because of these people I owe much of my success. Their setups, interest and appreciation made me want to do more.

The successes at the big shows like Cold Wars, Historicon and Fall In! were instrumental to our moving on to GAMA and western HMGS shows in Columbus and LA.

Our visits to the West Coast for ConQuest (Gabe Vega) and Strategicon (Rocky Johnston) shows lead to my model city of Troy being used in a possible TV commercial. This was just icing on my gaming cake.

My set-ups including the Siege of Tyre, Alexandria, Valencia, Carthage and others you may be familiar with would not have been possible without the creative genius of John Hutt at Precision Products.

The big conventions and organizers like JT Thomas, Pete Panzeri, Fred Hubig, Bob Giglio, Scott Holder and many others have always made time and room for me.

I have been fortunate to have been able to continue to write articles and rule books. My articles and titles. These have been published by LMW Works, Old Glory (La Gloire), Spear Point and Historical Miniature Gamers Magazine. On line items have been published on Mag Web (Russ Lockwood). Here too subscribers can read the Classical Hack Newsletter, reviews and articles.

This would be for nothing without all those evocati (veteran volunteers) that have helped me to put on Classical Hack Games. It was through their efforts that the Classical Hack Game system has been able to continue. These are my heroes. You can see these on the Classical Hack Site: http://wwww.classicalhack.com.

All this would just be more “mee, mee, mee” without mentioning all the people I have met and the places I have visited. The relationships I cherish. The places visited have shown me the different way things can be done and are as diverse as the people that attend them.

Finally, when you read an article I have written or see a building I have built you may well be looking in the mirror. What you see is a reflection of what you have done in all the places I have visited. I hope you approve of my vision of you. Sometimes it’s hard to see where you begin and where I end. It is a biography I am very comfortable with.