A few words about myself

Since my youth, I’ve always been a fan of military history, especially naval history. I can date it back to my 14^th birthday, more than 50 years ago, when a friend offered me “Tonnerre sur le Pacifique” written by Commander Vulliez.

I’d always been an avid reader, but that was my first “long” non-fiction book. Vulliez had mostly made a shorter recapitulation of Morrison’s naval history, adding some colorful portraits & vignettes (McArthur’s voyage out of the Philippines and arrival in Australia, the last stand of the Houston...). All this captured my imagination, and I was enthralled. I started reading history, first about the Second World War, then about nearly every conflict that ever occurred.

A few years later, I stumbled upon an oddity, “La Bataille de l’Océan”, written by a retired French naval officer in 1932. It was a novel in a genre inaugurated by the late Emile Driant under the moniker of Capitaine Danrit, a genre which led to the works of Tom Clancy, a genre of novel based on available information,  in which the story revolves about a possible coming war. In that novel, Fernand Boverat imagined a war between France & Germany where the decision is made... on the open seas! The novel is made of two parts. In the 1^st one, the French Navy, hopelessly outmatched by the Germans’ Deutschland class, cannot protect the vital convoys carrying supplies from the United States. The 2^nd part revolves around the same theme, but this time France has built its Dunkerque class battlecruisers, and with these, victory is at hand.

Over the course of my studies, I managed to acquire a reasonable command of the English language, which opened to me the many treasures of English naval fiction. Too many books to quote them all, but if I had to pick one, Fullerton’s “The Blooding of the Guns “ made a lasting impression on me. This left me a strong supporter of Jellicoe’s in the everlasting Jutland controversy, and have had quite a few – gentlemanly, as naval fans are a civilized lot- debates on the web.

This is why I picked up wargaming some 40 years ago. I had a glimpse of my first GHQ Micronaut at that time. It was still unpainted, but the richness of detail and the quality of the cast didn’t fail to impress me. But the price of the models made it a challenge for a beginning teacher’s salary, a challenge unattainable at that time. I’ve grown older since, and richer, and thankfully, my eyesight and hand coordination are still good, good enough for me to be able to start a growing collection over the years.

There has been a few years interruption since I started collecting Micronauts however, and you’ll notice that some of the models are, well, not up to what I do now,as well as my photo technique (about a year ago, I started using backgrounds). Please be indulgent! We live & we learn! I will not want to delay you longer with these inane ramblings, just to give an illustration of the path that leads to GHQ addiction... and now, let’s form line of battle, and cross the enemy’s T!