Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming that incorporates miniature figures, miniature armor and modeled terrain as the main components of play. Like other types of wargames, they can be generally considered to be a type of simulation game, generally about tactical combat, as opposed to computer and board wargames which have greater variety in scale.
While such games could also be played with counters on a table with colored paper to denote terrain types, the visual attractiveness and tactile satisfaction of painted miniatures moving around on a table with model trees, hills and other scenery has such an alluring power to convince many wargamers to prefer model/miniature games over the cheaper and easier board-and-chits alternatives.
The miniatures and scenario items at the core of the model wargaming experience are available in different scales, and many sets of rules are written with the assumption that a particular scale is being used.
The hobby got its start around the beginning of the 20th Century, with the publication of Jane's naval war rules and H. G. Wells' Little Wars. Commercial products just for miniatures wargamers and awareness as a single community of people with similar interests date back to the 1950s with the efforts of Jack Scruby; major developments in the field since then include the rise in the 1960s and 1970s of fantasy and science fiction wargames as an alternative to games based on historical conflicts, and the emergence of companies like Games Workshop, Battlefront, Foundry, Warlord Games, Privateer Press and many others.
The Miniatures are an alternative rock band from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. Their members include founding members Andrew Kennedy (vocals)(1991-1994), Steve Toms (bass)(1991-2001), Chris Finn (guitar,vocals)(1991-2004), Shawn Feeney (percussion)(1996-2005), drummer Nick Skalkos, bassist Ryan Allen, keyboardist/guitarist Kevin Hundt and singer/songwriter/guitarist Ian Smith.
In 2000, they released their first album, which was self-titled. Their second album, A Mood of a Room, released in 2003, included some live tracks and a demo called "Flood". One year later, The Miniatures released Coma Kid, and finally started gaining recognition in the Toronto music scene, mostly via the popular local radio station, 102.1 The Edge. The success of their track titled "Dragonfly" began to push The Miniatures in a new direction. In 2006, they released the album Dead Flowers, and really began to come into their own as musicians and performers in both the Canadian and International scenes.
Recently, they have toured through England and much of Ontario. They have also won various awards for upcoming new band, and have performed live on MTV Canada.
Tom Vasel (born on September 8, 1976) is a well known podcaster and reviewer of board games. Vasel co-hosts a long-running and popular gaming podcast titled The Dice Tower, and as of 2011[update] has posted over 1200 reviews on the internet database BoardGameGeek.
As of August 2003[update], Vasel taught mathematics at the International Christian School in Uijeongbu. He assumed the role of Pastor of Uijongbu Baptist Church, succeeding Pastor Rick Kelley in March 2007. After leaving South Korea, he has worked as a teacher in Florida.
Since May 2005, Vasel has co-hosted The Dice Tower, a podcast about board games and wargames. Originally, Vasel represented players who prefer designer games, while Joe Steadman advocated for those who prefer wargames. Steadman left the show in May 2006 after the 50th episode. Vasel, hosting alone with occasional input from Sam Healey for a few shows, rearranged the format to include recorded segments by guest reviewers and players. Gradually Healey began to take a larger role and was eventually promoted to co-host. Healey has since left the show and been replaced by the show's voice-over man, Eric Summerer.
Seth Benjamin Green (born February 8, 1974) is an American actor, comedian, voice actor, television producer and screenwriter. He is well known for his role as Daniel "Oz" Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, as Dr. Evil's son Scott in the Austin Powers series of comedy films, Mitch Miller in That '70s Show, and the voice of Chris Griffin on Family Guy. He also voices Lieutenant Gibbs in Titan Maximum and Jeff "Joker" Moreau in the Mass Effect video game series. Green is one of the creators and producers of the stop motion comedy series Robot Chicken, in which he also voices several characters. He has appeared in many other movies, such as Rat Race, The Italian Job, Can't Hardly Wait, Without a Paddle, as a child in Woody Allen's Radio Days, and in the horror films Stephen King's It and Idle Hands.
Green was born and raised in Overbrook Park, West Philadelphia, a section of the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents are Barbara (née Gesshel), an artist, and Herbert Green, a math teacher. After his parents' divorce, he has stated that camp was a place where he could reinvent himself and be good at anything he wanted. This camp was called URJ Camp Harlam in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania. After a camp production of Hello, Dolly!, Green decided that he wanted to be an actor.
Clare Grant (born August 23, 1979) is an American actress.
While studying theater at the University of Memphis she met director Craig Brewer who cast her in two indie films in Memphis before casting her in the film Black Snake Moan and later as the lead in his MTV series $5 Cover.
Grant modeled through Elite Model Management in Miami, Florida and subsequently modeled in Europe on several campaigns, including L-Oreal. While working on several independent films in Memphis, she was cast in a small but pivotal role in the movie Walk the Line, after which she moved to Los Angeles.
She has appeared in projects including the Showtime original series Masters of Horror: Valerie on the Stairs, CSI: Miami and Warren the Ape. She has done voices on Robot Chicken, MAD & Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and played the lead role of Megan Graves in comic writer Brian Pulido's first independent feature film The Graves. Clare also stars in the MTV/Craig Brewer series $5 Cover, about the trials and tribulations of the current Memphis music scene.