Memory lane

This morning I was looking for a picture of the Styrofoam castle that Citadel released in the Late Eighties (early Nineties?) and found this gem of a resource on old miniatures: The Stuff of Legends
As a teen and a young adult I spent a lot of time and effort participating in the wargaming hobby, playing Warhammer Fantasy Battles, Warhammer 40k, it's predecessor Rouge Trooper, Blood Bowl, and Talisman.  I collected full armies of Orcs, Goblins, Chaos Dwarves and a mixed force of Bretonians, Elves and Dwarves with a few Empire war machines thrown in for good measure.  I competed in painting contests winning top prizes which I spent on more miniatures.  I was so bitten by the bug to collect miniatures I stared a mail order business at the age of 14 selling miniatures.  Of course my main goal was to provide myself with more miniatures.  Eventually I discovered girls, and spent less time and money on miniatures.  I sold off my 40k stuff in newsgroups during the early days of the internet but I held on to my Fantasy armies for the memories, also knowing I would regret parting with them.  Most recently my boys have gotten into the hobby, though it was not through me.  Actually their grandfather played Napoleonic in the 60's and he has been funding their army building.  They each have armies, a lizard man army and a Elf Host along with some smaller forces of undead and Chaos.  It has been great to see them enjoy the same hobby.  Setting up their war gaming table on the   I even got into the act writing a set of rules for Warhammer that are more friendly to a 6 year old's attention span.  Now if I had a generous benefactor funding and painting my miniatures for me, image how many I would have now.

I love that multiple generations of gamers are all enjoying the same hobby, sharing stories and techniques.