R Hooks
Smoke Break brb
Anyone interested in telling us how they began gaming that lead them to ASL?
I'll start.. back in about 1956 I was a kid with a bike, parents instructions were be back by supper, definitely a free range play child. My bike took me miles on some days, while passing the brand new shopping center on a Sunday (all stores closed by the blue laws), I saw a group of 12 or so men about my fathers age walking around the empty parking lot with tape measures, attracting my 9 year old interest, pulling me into their web.
Turns out they were all Navy Vets, and they were replaying the WW2 battles they had been in with alnavco (sp?) model ships.. BAM BAM went my young mind. Most of them had no clue what the ships they had been on actually did during the battles, since they were down in the hull, making everything keep running. This was their first chance since the war to understand what they had been through. I made myself helpful by dragging the end of the 100 foot tape measure about and holding it over the center of the ship models. I also passed along any "enemy" plans to launch torpedo's or make a turn.
I came back every Sunday that summer, and with the players permission was allowed to buy a Lt. Cruiser model and play it when one was needed, Alnavco models were pretty expensive on my 9 year old income, but I saved up until I owned it. The next summer vacation out of school (1957) I was back, and had picked up a couple of DD's, and a Hv. Cruiser (Japanese). The adult players had grown and more were there every day, but I wasn't sidelined and was allowed to put out an opinion, usually ignored by them after explaining why to me. I was now 10 and spent most of my library school time reading about naval Battles in the Pacific. As 1957 ended I was making plans to buy battleships.
The summer of 1958 was a let down, only a few people showed up, they had learned what they were after I guess, my battleship money was still in my piggy bank unspent, so to pick myself up I made a toy store run.. BAM there was a game called Gettysberg by AH, I bought it and have never been without a historic game since.
Years of AH games later I bought Squad Leader, got into its expansions as a playtest member, was invited to join the ASL playtest, but was involved as a SSI computer game tester so I had to decline. Please let me hear any stories you might share.
I'll start.. back in about 1956 I was a kid with a bike, parents instructions were be back by supper, definitely a free range play child. My bike took me miles on some days, while passing the brand new shopping center on a Sunday (all stores closed by the blue laws), I saw a group of 12 or so men about my fathers age walking around the empty parking lot with tape measures, attracting my 9 year old interest, pulling me into their web.
Turns out they were all Navy Vets, and they were replaying the WW2 battles they had been in with alnavco (sp?) model ships.. BAM BAM went my young mind. Most of them had no clue what the ships they had been on actually did during the battles, since they were down in the hull, making everything keep running. This was their first chance since the war to understand what they had been through. I made myself helpful by dragging the end of the 100 foot tape measure about and holding it over the center of the ship models. I also passed along any "enemy" plans to launch torpedo's or make a turn.
I came back every Sunday that summer, and with the players permission was allowed to buy a Lt. Cruiser model and play it when one was needed, Alnavco models were pretty expensive on my 9 year old income, but I saved up until I owned it. The next summer vacation out of school (1957) I was back, and had picked up a couple of DD's, and a Hv. Cruiser (Japanese). The adult players had grown and more were there every day, but I wasn't sidelined and was allowed to put out an opinion, usually ignored by them after explaining why to me. I was now 10 and spent most of my library school time reading about naval Battles in the Pacific. As 1957 ended I was making plans to buy battleships.
The summer of 1958 was a let down, only a few people showed up, they had learned what they were after I guess, my battleship money was still in my piggy bank unspent, so to pick myself up I made a toy store run.. BAM there was a game called Gettysberg by AH, I bought it and have never been without a historic game since.
Years of AH games later I bought Squad Leader, got into its expansions as a playtest member, was invited to join the ASL playtest, but was involved as a SSI computer game tester so I had to decline. Please let me hear any stories you might share.
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