Greetings

Hello! My friend WhoAmI who has been a researcher here for some time and who introduced me to the site, has told me that I should write a few words to introduce myself - so here goes.

I was born in 1986, so I'm still at school. My classmates have often described me as a nerd, and they are absolutely right. I like to follow the nerd lifestyle of rather un-cool (but highly entertaining) pursuits such as reading, watching "Star Trek" and painting small figurines and other metal models prior to fielding them upon the tabletop of battle - although the latter is currently (to my satisfaction) emerging from the realms of nerdiness and entering the blissful light of actually-quite-cool (although this is written from a nerd's perspective...). I am also (not very) well known for my over-use of long, complex sentences. Sorry!

As I have already intimated, my main passion in life is the fine and noble art (yes, if done properly it is undeniably an art) of tabletop wargaming - more particularly science-fiction wargaming. Many people may be familiar with the world-spanning wargames empire known as Games Workshop. I first discovered this many years ago, and since that time I have become involved in many other areas of the hobby. Nowadays most of my wargames are set in the fairly near future, with recognisable technology and in plausible settings. My favourite wargames are those produced by Ground Zero Games, a small company based in Suffolk. I still paint GW figures, and play their games from time to time.

Besides wargaming I enjoy playing computer games, particularly real-time strategy titles such as the celebrated Command and Conquer, although I rate turn-based strategy games highly as well. I'm not fond of the more popular first-person shooter games, of which the most obvious example is the well known Half-Life. Right now the game I play most often is Emperor: Battle for Dune, the latest offering from the studio behind CnC: Westwood Studios. However, my favourite game of all time is probably Sid Meier's classic Civilization II - with the original CnC: Red Alert in a close second. The former is fantastic because of its addictive gameplay and the ease with which it can be modified. The latter was the game that originally got me hooked on RTS games and which swayed me from the management and Sim games I had played before (sorry WhoAmI, but Transport Tycoon, while good fun, cannot compare to Red Alert).

I'm frankly obsessed with science-fiction in all forms. I watch most sci-fi television if I can, with Star Trek, Babylon 5 and the highly entertaining Buffy the Vampire Slayer coming top of the list. Star Trek remains almost alone in today's sci-fi milieu in being optimistic about the future, something I wish was more prevalent, although in recent times even this series has darkened down slightly. Babylon 5 finished here in the UK, with the last season either screened at stupidly late times where you wouldn't possibly notice it (and therefore manage to set the video) or simply not shown at all, I don't know which. In any case I missed it and I'm waiting for repeats to come around, but there's no sign right now. I wish I had satellite. Finally, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is hugely lacking in large starships and impressive CGI battles (which the first two feature in abundance). It makes up for it with wonderfully choreographed fights and an excellent plot - the 4th series which finished not long ago on BBC2 was the best yet, the addition of the Initiative being (in my opinion) a touch of genius. I hope the 5th series, just started here, is as good. I'd just like to note that my reasons for watching Buffy are as outlined above, and have nothing to do with the more widely recognised attraction of the series to people my age. Don't forget that I am a nerd, these things have no meaning to me.

I also enjoy SF literature, a taste that is satiated by the voluminous library of SF books in our loft. My particular favourites are the perennial masters of SF, Isaac Asimov (except some of his later titles) and Arthur C. Clarke, although more recently I have enjoyed reading John Wyndham and Robert Heinlein's books as well. I would say that Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read, although have to say I feel that the first chapter is by far the best part. Politically speaking, I find the views expressed by Heinlein in "Starship Troopers" to be appalling, but his dramatic description of futuristic warfare is exciting and superbly written - serving as the basis for much of the tabletop wargaming I participate in. Those people who have seen the film, I advise you to go an read the book. Paul Verhoeven's film was harsh towards Heinlein's "utopian" neo-fascist society, which I appreciate, but has ruined the style and plausibility of the titanic battles by removing any kind of military sense and turning the whole concept into a middle-ages style hack-and-slash fight with machineguns. The soldiers just run across the dirt into the claws of the bugs, none of whom posses ranged weapons (unless you count the anti-aerospace plasma bugs), and thusly get sliced apart in numerous gory and ultra-violent ways. In the book, most fighting happens at great range, with weapons such as beam-type incendiary "flamers" and guided missiles. The bugs have guns too, while the humans wield "power armour", self-powered highly resistant battle-suits equipped with rocket motors enabling the soldiers to "bounce" across the battlefield at great speed. Fantastic!!!!!!! Of course, I also rate very highly the Hitch Hiker books of Douglas Adams, but then I would say that here...

I wonder whether this introduction is in the top 20 longest ever written for H2G2? I do hope anyone who has actually read this far has found my comments interesting, and will maybe investigate some of the things I have mentioned. There just aren't enough wargamers in this world...

- Flembard

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