Wargamer 20 questions: Father's day edition.

Well since Poochie and Adam are doing it, I have to jump off the bridge too. Which is an ironically bad example to be setting for my kids, this being Father's Day and all. Speaking of which, my kids got me a cool gift (lots actually - now up to three kids = lots of presents lol). I wonder what the wargaming related one was? But first, twenty questions: 

1. Favourite Wargaming period and why?
Heroic Ages (any of them, the 'Dark Ages', Trojan War, Fall of the Han / Three Kingdoms). Originally it was the whole Arthurian thing but the more I delved into to the 'history' side of that the more interesting stuff there was in the actual history. That said, I am always just a hair's breadth away from dipping heavily into the mythological side at any given moment. I have only just started wargaming it recently - since with Wargamers you tend to get either 'Historical Gamers' or 'Fantasy Gamers' but the big advantage of the period, as I see it, is that it really suits 28mm figures and there are some awesome wargames for it now.

2. Next period, money no object?

See above - a fully themed Liu Bei (just before Shu-Han) army from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. The right figs exist to do it justice - but you really need lots of figs to get the right effect. Heroic Chinese warfare was very seldom skirmish scale! I've mused about this before but I prefer my armies to fight the correct opponents so this will be forever on the back burner until I feel up to doing two armies. So that's right - Cao Cao too.

3. Favourite 5 films?

Not really a film guy, however I like lots of films and have a particular soft-spot for those historical epics that the Chinese Film industry is churning out these days. In fact, I think I will create a new and more relevant category: Favourite 5 Video Games: Rome Total War; XCOM Ufo Defense; Perfect Dark; Civilizaton 2; Skyrim.  

4. Favourite 5 TV series?

The Wire; Rome; A Game of Thrones; Babylon 5; Black Adder.  And...

5. Favourite book and author?

Iain (M) Banks: Excession. Genius on so many levels. From the properly big sci-fi premise to the funny details

6. Greatest General? Can’t count yourself!!
Used to be Alex from Classics at school but I've come around to Julius Caesar. Tempted to put Zhuge Liang...

7. Favourite Wargames rules?
Impetvs.  I like SAGA and Flames of War a great deal but I could make cool 28mm Impetvs armies for the rest of my life and still not exhaust all the periods I am excited about.

8. Favourite Sport and team?

Is Wargaming a Sport?

9. If you had a only use once time machine, when and where would you go?

I don't like the way this seems to preclude me using it again to come back. I like it here, I have grown somewhat fond of my kids and they do shower me with gifts now and then...

10. Last meal on Death Row?

Bengali Fish

11. Fantasy relationship and why?

'relationship'?

12. If your life were a movie, who would play you?

All the actors I think of being tall enough are getting too old...

13. Favourite Comic Superhero?

Guan Yu. I am sure he exists in Comic book form!

14. Favourite Military quote?

I have to be honest (much as I deride the over-use of Sun Tzu quotes) I do like this one a lot. Probably because I saw it in a video game when I was a kid!: 

“The pinnacle of military deployment approaches the formless: if it is formless, then even the deepest spy cannot discern it nor the wise make plans against it.”

15. Historical destination to visit?
The Ancient sites at Anatolia.

16. Biggest Wargaming regret?

Not getting into ACTA: Babylon 5 when it was out. took the attitude that I could get into it at some point in the future, then it was gone. These things are much costlier and harder to do second hand and you can't always get the models you want.

 
17. Favourite Fantasy job? Speaking of Socialist Utopias... 

18. Favourite Song, Top 5?

This is a bit like the movies for me. More video games? No?

19. Favourite Wargaming Moment?

Putting down my crappy conscript Soviet Tanks in Flames of War V1 and having fun racing around 32" at a time vs the poor beleaguered German Panzers. I pretty much love any game where I can race around a bit.

20. The miserable Git question, what upsets you? Lol don't get me started. No mixing irritating things with wargaming. Wargaming is just for fun and people's dramas and general lack of perspective can stay outside the table.

 So have you all guess what the wargaming related Father's Day gift was yet? No ship models as yet (and really have to get that Conquest Army completed) but if it comes to it I am going to buy two fleets of this thing. It's just been bugging me since it was announced, I am one of the generation that grew up with reruns of the Star-Trek TOS on weekend mornings (along with the original Battle Star Galactica and other classics like proper Dr Who and Blake's 7) and this is too cool to pass up. They even have a fleet for the Gorn, though I prefer the Feds, and you can get transparent models for semi-cloaked Romulans.

Too cool.