I started out playing bookshelf wargames by Avalon Hill around 1978.  Right around that same time, I also discovered Dungeons & Dragons.  The Dungeon Master at the time, Mike Cooper, played using miniatures and this is where it all began for me.

 

Within a year or two, I had taken over Dungeon Master duty and needed to start acquiring my own selection of models.  Thus, certain monsters, dragons and characters are the oldest models in my collection.  At the time, Ral Partha and Grenedier were the heavies in the lead model industry.

 

I played 25mm World War II, Micro Armor and 25mm American Civil War when we had a sufficient following to make it interesting.  However, Dungeons & Dragons and my Fantasy collection continued to grow and maintain a steady following; even while I was away in the Army.

 

I tend to play lower level games (I can count the number of player characters that got above 5th level on one hand) and my characters tended to accumulate a posse of henchmen and hirelings as they advanced.  So, it wasn't unusual for a D&D party of 4 player characters to have over 20 models on the table when baggage handlers, men-at-arms and healer clerics were taken into account.  It was one Friday evening in 1989 when our warband was ambushed by Nupo, our arch-Nemesis wizard and an army of Lizardmen.  The ensuing melee (using 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons rules) took all weekend to play out.  That was when we realized we needed a better combat system to deal with this little war we had going on.

 

Enter Warhammer Fantasy.  Although the system worked differently, I came up with conversion tables and we suddenly had the ability to fight bigger and bigger battles.

 

As I became more annoyed with players who couldn't show up for Dungeons & Dragions sessions, my brother and I started playing Warhammer for the sake of playing Warhammer.  When 4th Edition came out with it's introductory box set, he took the Goblins and I took the High Elves.  As we were all ready building Undead and Empire armies from the models in our collection, the snowball started down hill and gaining momentum,

 

By 2001, I was collecting every Warhammer Fantasy army in addition to 6 Warhammer Ancients (historical) armies.  I opened my own business, Wizbangs Inc in 2001 on account of my passion for the hobby.  For me, it wasn't just about Games Workshop's miniatures.  I didn't like the way they did business (and many of their prices were prohibitive), so I sought out alternative miniature makers and found ways to incorporate them into my games of Warhammer regardless.  For me, it was all about the hobby and the models.

 

When I closed up shop in 2003, I had the domain and website, so I chose to convert it over to a Hobby Showcase where I could use it to display my work, talk about the hobby and as a focal point to run campaigns and post Battle Reports.  This is where Wizbangs.com exists today.  What once was an ecommerce site for a business as become a hobby outlet.  After 18 years in the hobby and 30 years of collecting models, I hope you enjoy the content of the website and share my passion for such a unique and multi-faceted hobby.  Regards.