“Do you wanna play a game?”
I’ve been gaming since the mid-1970s when a neighbor kid in my small rural Western NY town introduced me to Dungeons & Dragons. From pencil and paper, I got interested in painting RalPartha miniatures and then into some Avalon Hill games. At the same time I was also a kid who was always building models, including Estes model rockets, Airfix plastic kits and a pretty extensive HO scale model railroad. There was also a lot history interest in my home, with my brothers and I being dragged all over on car trips to historic sites, forts, battlefields and re-enactments.
So, over the years, my brother and I played D&D and then got into American Civil War wargaming using Fire & Fury rules in 15mm. We attended a few cons in Rochester, NY and got introduced to other eras and scales, but then I parted ways with gaming as I entered college, completed graduate school, got married and moved to Brooklyn, NY in the mid-1990s.
When my first son was about 7-years-old, I began gravitating back to modelling and gaming as something he and I could do together. We stopped in at a Games Workshop in Greenwich Village and soon we were into Warhammer 40K and then Lord of The Rings. I found a local group of Brooklyn gamers (Metropolitan Wargamers) and started attending some of the HMGS conventions in Pennsylvania. I decided to jump back into historicals, and my son and I moved into World War II and Flames of War since we liked playing Axis & Allies together. In late 2011, I decided to change-up scales and eras, getting back to the American Civil War and recently the Anglo-Zulu War in 28mm.
Aside from gaming, my interests run far and wide — movies, books, comics, collectibles, architecture, design, visual art, carpentry, digital media, technology and probably a dozen other things I’ll come back to. Luckily, my wife and two sons accept (most of) my interests and even play along.
Kimber
Brooklyn, NY
December 2012
Brooklyn Wargaming 
Hi Kimber,
My wife and I just moved to Brooklyn in Nov from the DC area and I was looking to catch a game or two with someone local. I have only 54mm painted stuff but i do have a lot of it : Napoleonics, ACW, Sudan, Boxer Rebellion and WW2 are all “good to go” and I’m slowly painting up NorthWest Frontier and Russian Civil War figs. I’d love to meet some new folks and play some games. Any help is appreciated. thanks! – James
Hi James,
You’ve kind of hit the jackpot here in Brooklyn. You should check out Metropolitan Wargamers (http://www.nycwargames.com/) which is a 30-year-old gaming club with our own space in Park Slope. We game every scale and every era, plus boardgames, card games, etc. There’s usually a crowd at the club Thursdays through Sundays, but I would suggest joining our Yahoo Group (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Metrowargamers/), introducing yourself and then see what’s going on. We have multiple tables, including several award-winning sand tables. We welcome guests, and full members get 24/7 access to the club. It’s a pretty amazing group of all ages and walks of life. Check it out and hopefully we’ll see you soon for a game.
Kimber
Hey Kimber and all,
I recently moved to BK from Jersey and have been wargaming on and off for over a decade. I play 40k and X-Wing. I’ve played a few times in Midtown but would love a local gaming group to be in Park Slope. What is the 40K interest there? How can I get involved?
Hey Anthony,
Welcome to Brooklyn! We do have 40K players plus players of just about every miniature, board or card game you could think of.
The first thing I would do is join the club’s Yahoo group (http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/Metrowargamers/) and introduce yourself. People use it to set up players for games or just to see what’s going on in any given week. The club is the busiest weekends from Friday through Sunday with gaming during the day and late into the night.
Our quarterly club meeting is on January 25th at 1pm so there’ll be a ton of people in attendance that day if you can make it.
Hope to see you at the club!
Kimber
Hey Kimber,
My name is Anthony and I’m working on a documentary that starts with wargames. We are looking for help tracking down some specific games, Bodenberg, and someone who might have the Burg Branzoll castle. We are also hoping to shoot a miniatures games and thought I’d ask your advice.
I’m here in Brooklyn as well in Prospect Heights, What I lovingly call Park Slope East.
I hope you’re enjoying this awesome day!
A
NuBrand Gaming is the new hotness for tabletop war gaming in Brooklyn albeit with a focus on WHFB/WH40K. Show your support to the newest small business owner in war gaming by visiting the site below and stopping in to check out the space.
http://www.nubrandgaming.com/
Hi Kimber,
big fan of your site! I am nominating your for a peer Wargaming Blog Excellence Award- AKA Liebster Award.
http://panzeraddiction.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/wargaming-blog-excellence-award/
Check out the link for more information!
Cheers,
Ted (fellow gamer in NYC)
Hi Kimber,
I am Robert from Austria, an addicted wargame collector and hobby game designer. I am supposed to work the first two weeks of March in NYC and I am interested in a meeting. I would like to know about any activities of the Metropolitan Wargamers over the weekend from 7th to 8th March and it would be a pleasure to visit the club.
Thx and best regards
Robert
I saw your note on the club’s Yahoo board. We typically have a pretty full house all day Saturdays and Sundays, so we should have something going on. I’ll check in with everyone tomorrow and we’ll respond back.
I am from long island looking to get into some historicals. Do you guys play often?
Hi Steve – yes, we play often. Weekends are busiest but stuff happens all week. The best thing to do is join our Yahoo group (https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Metrowargamers/info) introduce yourself and see what’s going on.
Hi,
I’ve been interested for some time, but have not played for a long time (and then only board ones). i would like to join and to start. What should I do?
George
Welcome George!
Hi,
We are a Spanish wargamer and will be visit your City on next month, I would like to visit your club if it is posible in order to know how you play in the other side of the Atlantic.
If you read this email and it is posble meet with you I would like to fix a date.
Thank you in advance. Best regards,