I have been wargaming--or engaging in "conflict simulations", if you prefer--since 1975. My fellow gamers are some of the most decent, intelligent, educated, devious, obsessive... but I digress ... and fascinating people I have met. I have played quite a few Avalon Hill games as well as Champions, Ogre / GEV, DBA / DBM / HoTT, and others, but I now spend most of my time on StarGrunt, Full Thrust, and naval wargames.
The Tidewater Area Naval Gamers play a variety of naval wargames, from Triremes through World War 2. Particular favorites are Mark Campbell's Close Action for 1776-1815, and Ironclads for the War Between the States. We meet in Virginia Beach near the intersection of Princess Anne and Sandbridge Road, usually on two weekends a month. We have great fun while ramming, running aground, accidentally shelling our own ships, exploding, and otherwise enjoying the pleasures of multi-player naval combat.
Ground Zero Games produces miniatures and rules for a games dealing with starship combat (Full Thrust) and squad-level infantry combat (StarGrunt). Players can create their own background; however, many choose to expand on the published background, as I have done with the Islamic Federation and Alarishi Empire. There is an active email list--check out the GZG List archives.
The Islamic Federation has a significant military and navy in the GZG timeline, although it is not officially described in any great detail. The Federation is politically fragmented, as the emirs strive to gain power and prestige at each other's expense, and the Sultan tries to keep the factions balanced.
The Alarishi Empire is a confederation of sovereignities--colonies, corporations, families, and social experiments--united under a libertarian monarchy and a free-market economy. It occupies various asteroids, moons and artificial habitats around three M stars. As almost anyone is free to charter a sovereignity, the Empire has become a haven for mercenaries, scientists, entrepreneurs, agents, political dissidents, and anyone else who wants to enjoy its rather laissez faire attitude. The Empire has a small corps of highly-trained, well equipped Imperial Marines; however, its main defense is the Imperial Navy.
The Oceanic Union is another canonical nation of the GZGverse, consisting of Australia, the Hutt River Principality, New Zealand, several Pacific islands, submarine cities, and any M star within reach and not otherwise occupied. The OU is not (officially) a part of the Alarishi Empire and the AE has not (as far as anyone knows) been annexed by the OU; the OU pages are merely hosted here on behalf of Zoe Brain.
The New Roman Empire is a non-canonical nation of the GZGverse, created by John Atkinson and sometimes referred to as "Byzantines in Space". His pages are primarily for gound units, although he does detail the ships and units of the NRE Fleet.
Full Thrust is a tactical space combat game that offers extensive opportunities for operational and strategic play, custom ships (such as these Alarishi and Islamic Federation designs) and unique weapons. Create your own background, or play out battles from your favorite movie, book or TV show. Tweak the rules and you can also use it for ironclad actions, submarine battles, pod racing, and more. For a simplified, one-page version of the rules, look at FT Lite. Primary Full Thrust links include FTJava - Full Thrust PBeM Starship Combat Client, Star Ranger's Starship Combat News and Roger Burton West's Ground Zero Games page.
StarGrunt is a fascinating game of squad and platoon level combat. The setting provided is in the late 22nd Century, but the rules work equally well with Viet Nam, modern, or near-future settings, and cover artillery, vehicles, air strikes, medevac, prisoners, minefields, and more. With a few modifications, it can even be used for the American Civil War and the various "Small Wars" of the British Raj in the Victorian era. Vital StarGrunt links are www.stargrunt.ca and www.hyperbear.com.
Wargaming-related links and resources not specific to one game.
I am a Christian, a Virginian, a husband and father, an American, a wargamer (no surprise there, eh?), a political conservative, a Presbyterian, a voracious reader and, probably, a non-player character. My job is sales -- I've sold industrial plastics, linguistic services, and other things. If you're in the Virginia Beach area and would like to push some lead around the tabletop, let me know.
StarGrunt, StarGrunt 2, Full Thrust, Dirtside, Dirtside 2, and FMA System are trademarks of Jon Tuffley / Ground Zero Games. Other games, movies and books mentioned on this site are trademarks of or copyrighted by their respective owners. Trademarks are used here without permission and without intent to infringe. Unless otherwise attributed, all other information on this site is copyright © 2002, 2006 by Chris DeBoe, and permission is granted to reproduce it for personal use.