Through the years...

Well said FranieT!!!!

Third Reich and "burps". I did so enjoy playing Germany and trying to conquer the world...

It's like when you play Hearts: you got the guys who always play low...then you got those who try to shoot the moon. I am one of the shoot the moon guys. We had actually to put a moratorium on playing Hearts because my mom would complain we were dumping the queen on her on purpose. Well, yeah...

Games were a serious business in my household...

It was pure fun until the damn Americans entered the war. Armored exploitation was so helpful in crushing the Soviet Union.

My family always played hearts at holidays and family get togethers. My father was a life master at bridge and was very good at cards and pretty much every game he played except for chess. I supported myself in high school from a weekly poker game he had with his professional friends, he was an architect. I was allowed to play when I was 15 and by the time I left home for college I was over 10k ahead. Given that I had a National Merit Scholarship and three others, I never had to pay for college. That 10k stood me in good stead, I got to eat for the next four years. That proved critical because he cut me off financially when I was 18 after I turned down a Congressional Nomination and Appointment to the U.S. Military Academy.

He died of prostate cancer the day before 911. I got called down to Long Island that morning because he wanted to say his last words to me and my siblings. Evidently he had memorized a statement that he wrote out in the preceding weeks. He told me his biggest regret in life was all the time he had spent playing games with me. He said that it was selfish of him because I was so good at games and that just amazed him. He said that he regretted it because it caused me to neglect the "mundane things in life" in favor of gaming. I told him that I understood his concern and that I do tend to neglect the mundane things in life but that the time we spent playing games together was the best gift he ever gave me. I then reassured him that I would have found my way to playing games anyway and not to blame himself. He then said his second biggest regret in life was my not listening to him and going to West Point. I replied, "Dad, when have you ever known me to follow orders from anyone? He smiled, shook his head slightly and fell asleep. He awoke several hours later, quite disturbed to find himself still alive. He muttered something about being "double crossed" by God and then he did pass. Famous last words.

I think the mundane things in life are overrated, myself. It's the things that bring you joy/fun that are the important stuff. Interesting story, well-told. Thanks for sharing.

I played Panzer Blitz and Gettysburg from AH. Also play DnD. Recently taught it to my kids.

Squad Leader, D & D, Strat Football were my big face to face games.

Heros of Might and Magic 3 was actually my absolute favorite computer game and it's now available on Galaxy of Games (GOG).

My name is John and I live near Halifax Nova Scotia. Discovered Strat in the early 80's and was a member of a 4 person league. All 4 of us still play online here.
I guess I would be considered a professional logger, very much enjoying it and at 56 have no plans to retire. Played a lot of sports growing up but it took its toll on my knees. In warm weather you will find me hiking in the middle of no where. Winter in a gym somewhere coaching basketball. I was a former basketball referee but had to step away because of the previously mentioned bad knee.I still get out for the occasional round of golf, but nothing like the 80+ rounds a year I played when I was younger.
Other interests include music (pretty much everything), poker, history and my vegetable garden.
Hate watching sports on TV, matter of fact I will go weeks without turning a TV on. Occasionally I will binge watch a well done series.
As far as Strat, I love the competition but have learned to just enjoy and not get caught up in the little things. BarnStormers was a great experience, so many incredible managers, but it wasn't for me.

Glad you made this thread Bruce.

John

Famous last words.

Thanks for sharing that.

Name: Steve Anderson Born:1947. Except for a brief 2 year stint in the army as result of a draft and deployment to Bangkok, Thailand I have lived in Mpls/St Paul area. Married with three daughters and two grandchildren. Still working more than full time running a property management company. Enjoy walking, hiking, backpacking, and camping with the dog. Particularly along the 300 mile Superior Hiking Trail located on Minnesota's north shore of Lake Superior. Hence my teams named "North Shore". Played APBA baseball early 60's. Replayed the entire 1959 season. I still think I could recite most of the starting line ups from that season. Remember Kent Hadley or Reno Bertoia? Played a little Strat back then. Been on line for 5 or 6 years. Enjoy playing different styles, players and leagues as I try to improve my game.

Paul from CT 56 years old; I believe that play is the highest form of human existence -- my 30+ years of playing strat baseball face to face with my cousin have given me some of my dearest memories. I am not a fan of the on-line game; I use the site to view cards I don't have in my collection (approx 16 seasons plus the Hall of Fame set). I am also a big fan of board war games like Squad Leader and Third Reich-introduced to them by an army lieutenant during my college days.
Presently I am an adjunct biology instructor for two local colleges-thinking about trying to start a strat club at my local community college when the covid crisis ends.

Born in Indiana, moved to Phoenix at 11 where I grew up. Played Little League at both places but I was (and still am) a little chunky so I was usually catcher. Dad was a drywaller most of his life, white shirt - heavy smoker - heavy cursor - cigarettes rolled up in his shirt sleeve type of man's man. He also previously owned a Sunoco filling station. He could take apart an engine - add rooms onto our house, reroof - a real construction whiz. He could fix anything but I wonder why I could never do the things he did. He had little interest in my playing ball except one year out of the blue he volunteered to coach. Very unlike him. I was required to play on his team as coach's son. Oddly enough we went 14-2 and won it all. He retired from coaching after that.

I decided I didn't like school and wound up at a small computer store when they first started gaining popularity in the 70's. Entry level job building them but it gave me computer experience. I later took the postal exam and became a Mailhandler. While some people do this for life, I parlayed my computer experience back into doing that for life and studied to become a Microsoft Systems Engineer. Eventually landed in Silicon Valley where I am now at 64 1/2 hoping to get re-employed after pandemic layoffs. If it doesn't happen, I'll probably retire.

But I was also interested in tech and saw the ad somewhere for ATG1 at TSN. Back then you got $50 for winning a league, $25 for runner-up. I thought I could win a fortune with my computer saavy and I did win one $50 check, but like most of us here, I was addicted to the online game. Have never played the board game.

We had a large group of people that made up our community way back then and we thrived and found ways to keep it interesting. A played named Dobak made a web page for ATG "records" that he meticulously maintained. He also created an online tournament format that he called "Barnstormers" which took off. When Dobak disappeared, I didn't want his efforts to die off so I decided to take on both tasks and created my own web pages. For many years, I hosted the pages myself. Eventually TSN or was it SOM - asked if they could host a more formal web page and support the ATG community by offering prizes. And that's where we stand today.

I'm more organizational than technical as far as ATG goes and I enjoy "serving" rather than "winning". I miss the much larger "community" we used to have. I went to one of B.o.b.b.y's Vegas gatherings - that probably needs to be explained.

Mighty Moose ? I was deep into the CB radio boom in the 70's and a close buddy of mine who was a massively huge cop 6'5 280 called himself Mighty Moose. I thought it was cute and cool and stole that from him when it was time to give myself a name. I don't quite have his height but I do have the Buford T Justice belly.

What's the most difficult part of playing SOM online ? Hiding the purchases from Ms. Moose