Re: An introduction AND EVEN AN ON TOPIC BIT!

>Well, since we're all doing it:
>
>I'm 36, and I've been wargaming "seriously" since I was 12 (i.e. in
1974)-
>Airfix tanks and infantry using Charles Grant's "Battle: Practical
>wargaming" rules, plus Donald Featherstone's books from the library.
>
>D&D, Traveller (black box) and C&S (Chivalry and Sorcery) in secondary
>school;  I still have, and play, my original copy of Ogre, in its
polythene
>envelope.
>
>I am fundamentally a tank nut.
>
>SF gaming started at school, using an American rules set called "Space
>Marine" (Do Mekpurrs, Rauwoofs and the Azuriach Empire ring any bells?)
>Starship gaming used an ultra-simple set of fast play ironclad rules
from a
>Featherstone book, and a small number of Garrison Starcruisers (which
now
>form my Scottish FT fleet) supplemented by various toys and 1/72
aircraft
>ordnance.
>
>ON TOPIC BIT!
>I discovered a bit of an old copy of the magazine "Battle", for August
1978.
>In the review section it says, "Jonathan Tuffley of Felixstowe has sent
>ussome samples of his new range of spacecraft models.	These come
supplied
>as two halves cast in white polyester resin (SNIP).  These excellent
little
>models range in price from 5p to 15p..."
>
>There are four models shown; 3 are assymmetric designs, while the 4th
is a
>longish vessel with engine podes at the stern.  I'll see if I can get a
scan
>of the pic.

My God, someone remembers these..... :-)
They were done about when I left school, and predate the first GZG
products
by at least seven years. Hand-cast in resin (2 halves to each ship - in
the
same style as the first Skytrex resin spaceships of a few years before)
in
hotmelt rubber moulds - the masters were made in balsa (yes, the grain
still showed a bit!!). Probably somewhere round at my folks' there are
still one or two of the ships buried under other junk.... the moulds
have
long since passed into obscurity (probably a good thing!). They got
reviewed in "Battle", as Rob says, and I sold a few through the small
ads
column in the back of the mag. I was using them for what eventually
metamorphosed into FT. IIRC, there were 2 forces (human symmetrical ones
and alien assymetricals), each having a small ship, a big ship, a
freighter
and a starbase, plus a couple of extra designs	used as "pirates" or
similar.
If you can scan the pic, by all means put it up!

Now having admitted at all that, I'd better just recap my potted bio in
case anyone is even remotely interested.....

Born 1959* (good year that, especially for Cadillacs... ). Interested in
military and SF from as early as I can remember (recall being bought
issue
1 of TV21 when I was about four - wish I still had it....)
Did usual toy soldier things with 54mm and 20mm Airfix figures, mostly
WWII. Never liked Napoleonics (still don't...<grin>)
Started "proper" gaming in very early 1970s with the first 1/300
microarmour (Kirk and Leicester Micro Models, all WWII and so rough you
just wouldn't believe it - but they WERE only 45p for 10 tanks!!).
Converted Grant's "Battle" to 6mm, also read all the Featherstone and
Wise
stuff. Discovered SF figures in about 73, with the first Minifigs 25mm
SF,
and the first Skytrex spaceships about the same time. Yes, I had the
"Space
Marines" rules too (FanTac, wasn't it?), which were later reissued as
part
of the Space Opera system by FGU.
Dabbled a bit in RPGs with first ed D&D (I never owned one, but a friend
had the white box set, plus Chainmail etc.) and bought Traveller (black
box) as soon as it came out (1978-ish?), plus a few AH and SPI
boardgames
(anyone remember SPI's "Sorcerer", with the different "colours" of
magic..?), but mainly stayed with minis wargaming. Published first GZG
item
(G-CAV) in 1985.. the rest is history!!

Jon (GZG)

* For the arithmetically-challenged, yes, that DOES mean I turn the big
four-oh this year.... ;-)
>
>Rob
>
>
>"Rob Paul
>
>Dept of Zoology
>Oxford University
>South Parks Road
>Oxford
>(01865) 271124
>----------------------------------------------
>"Once again, villainy is rotting meat
>before the maggots of justice!"
>"