My grandfather was a highly decorated WWII vet, which is from where I got my interest in WWII. He never really talked about the war.
I started to get into it at the end of high school/start of university. I played MTG during university and as I wound down, slowly began to pick up the ASL modules.
I picked up the last of everything in a frenzy when it was announced AH was closing down. Never played a game until I accidentally met someone in a downtown gym in Toronto wearing an ASL shirt. Got his info and we started playing. He was a great teacher and is one of the best players in Toronto.
He had some real life issues crop up and he dropped off the FTF scene (I went to WO with him). Met another player who was really great and we played FTF until real life got him too. In the interim I picked up almost everything I could. Stopped collecting/playing in 2003/2004 and moved over to Combat Mission in the interim to get my tactical WWII fix(ASL without dice
).
Played COH which is great, (but not the same as ASL) last year. Slowly getting the hankering back to get into some ASL, so here I am. Have a one year old (tomorrow) but wife is really good at allowing me to get my game on so I hope to be able to play FTF at least once a month.
Forums are awesome and you guys are great and very helpful. Always found the ASL hobby to be very friendly to noobs, but the barrier is definitely product availablility (and consistency thereof).
Looking forward to meeting the rest of the local Toronto ASL scene and getting some games in.