SATURDAY SHOWCASE!: Greg Smith: Greg has now become a very dear friend of mine and a veteran of this group, he is also Editor on high of our sister group Fifty Shades of Geek!. (found here https://facebook/50shadesofgeek ) So let us all get to know or even re know Greg and embrace him as the brother from another mother he really is! Name: Greg D Smith Age: Chronological: 34 Mental: 14(ish) Gender: Male Location: Mostly trapped behind a desk in my office at home, Berkshire Occupation: Freelance writer/editor/proofreader How did you get into wargaming?: I think that it was something that always appealed to me on some level. I remember being fascinated by chess from when I was really little and models always held my interest. When I was about 13 I met a guy who was heavily into GW and he introduced me to Warhammer, 40k and Space Marine Epic (as was). I whiled away many a happy hour painting his stuff and playing massive games that we never actually seemed to finish. From that point I was hooked and have been ever since, though to my eternal shame I buy way more than I ever get the time to play/paint, especially these days. How did you get into writing?: I had a big mouth! Seriously, it was something I’d always wanted to do, and I’ve always been ok with words but I had no real idea of how to write. I read a novel by an ex BL author who shall remain nameless that had only been published in the states and I happened to know him on FB so I sent him a message that basically said that the editing and proofing had been a mess and if he ever got it published in the UK please get it looked at again for a proper job. He replied and asked for some examples which I gave and then told me that he’d forwarded my original message to his publisher. Instead of telling me to get knotted, they wrote to me and asked if I’d like to do some paid proofing work for them. That got me started in beta reading generally and I got to know several authors who were very kind with their time in helping me to do what I did better. I started with red pen all over the place and there was one in particular who was very patient in telling me where I was overdoing it and looking at story structure, dialogue and that sort of thing. Last year, I finally decided to quit the day job and went freelance doing various things but luckily enough the writing seems to be slowly taking centre stage. What are you working on at the moment?: I do a fair amount for Mantic Games as their editor and lead background writer so I am kinda living the dream at the moment, getting to help shape different fictional universes for various wargames. Thus far I have done work on Deadzone, Mars Attacks, Kings of War and the new Kickstarter game Dungeon Sagas and I’m also currently editing the DreadBall Xtreme short story anthology as well as the rulebooks. I also just got accepted for my first non-Mantic anthology, Reflections by Fox Spirit, out next year and I’ve been invited to submit for a horror anthology too so I am trying to keep busy! Who is your all time favourite GW character?: God, that’s a tough one. In terms of the actual games, I think it was always Commissar Yarrick. I remember reading about his whole history in the second Armageddon war when I first got into the hobby and it just stuck with me – that iconic image of him stood there over the dead Ork warlord with his stump still spraying blood and the stuff about his understanding of psychological warfare with the evil eye and everything. Just amazing. If we are including the wider 40k/Warhammer settings that BL have furnished us with over the last decade or so, then the choice becomes so much harder. We have plenty of ‘brand new’ characters like Gaunt and his ghosts, First Claw and Inquisitor Eisenhorn and then we have new takes on old favourites like Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Kharn and John French’s amazing Ahriman. I think if you really twisted my arm I’d say Yarrick because he’s so iconic you know? But in truth there’s a whole wealth of good stuff there and it’s like being asked you pick your favourite child – you just can’t do it. What are your army of choice?: As I said, I’m not much of a gamer, though I have collected enough stuff over the years. It would depend of course on what system we were discussing, but roughly: 40K – Chaos Space Marines – I can’t be more specific than that because like the dark gods themselves I am massively fickle and veer between Night Lords, Black Legion and Word Bearers. At minimum. Warhammer – though I have only actually fielded them once, I have an enormous collection of Goblins (no Orcs thanks). They just always appealed to me because they are so ridiculous, zany and unpredictable. Plus have you seen what a fanatic can do to cavalry and chariots? Sadly they are also an impossible army for me to do justice to because there are just so many to assemble and paint. Warmachine – Though I don’t play all that much anymore, I used to rock Khador back in the day. Crazy Russian types with bright red uniforms and brutal, straightforward tactics. What’s not to like? Dystopian Wars – CSA – I have a huge interest in the American Civil war so steampunk confederate double decker aircraft carriers was always going to win it for me. Enough said. X Wing - Rebels. Partly it just feels wrong to play as the Empire (though I have enough to field an Imperial fleet should the need arise) and partly the rebels have the Millennium fricking Falcon. Again, enough said. Deadzone – though I have yet to play the game that I wrote quite a hefty chunk of the background for, I know the style of each force and the rules well enough to know what I like, and what I like is Enforcers. High points cost but they are stone cold killers. Failing them I’d take Marauders, who are close to my heart after penning a short story about them which you can read in the Containment Protocols Anthology from Mantic Digital for only £3.99 *shameless plug* I should add that none of these choices are based on anything other than the ‘rule of cool’. I am the worst tactician ever so I just pick whatever I find most appealing in terms of background and appearance, and then when I am losing I can at least console myself that I am ‘on the right side’. What is your favourite colour scheme?: I think the colour scheme that struck me the most on any army was the original World Eaters scheme from pre-heresy. Something about that particular white and blue combo just looks…right. How did you find this group and how long have you been a member?: I was invited kindly by the founding members having been running with that particular bunch of reprobates for years. Where and how often do you usually play?: As often as I can, which is to say not all that often. Usually I will play at my local club or shop, though since moving nearly two years ago I’ve yet to be brave enough to introduce myself to the local club round here. What is your best and worst 40k or general gaming moment?: My best gaming moment came in a game of Space Hulk a few years ago at a local club. Space Hulk is one of my particular passions and I will wax lyrical all day about how it’s one of the best games ever. It is such a simple and tight rules system that offers so much tactical depth and strategy, and it plays out so cinematically. It’s like the perfect ruleset, and certainly the one that I judge all other systems by. Anyway, I’m playing scenario 2 from the 2009 edition as the Space Marines and I’m mowing down genestealers left and right. The game has everything – Brother Leon gets his assault cannon run dry on overwatch and is then overwhelmed and eventually it’s down to my last guy with a storm bolter facing down six genestealers coming down the corridor at him. He’s on overwatch and managing to stay unjammed right up until the last one comes at him, and it’s getting closer. Three squares away.. Miss. Two squares away – jam! Command Points to clear. One Square. BLAM! Takes him down. Literally the last possible gasp of the last possible moment. Both my opponent and I visibly released our breath as that last shot went home. I treasure that as not only my best gaming moment but an example of just how good Space Hulk is, that it produces moments like that consistently. What would be your best bit of advice to a new player?: I’d say just remember the ‘game’ in Wargame. The best fun I have had is with people who are all there just to have fun, even when I’ve been losing (and I mostly do). The worst is when you are playing against someone to whom winning is the ONLY object. Now don’t get me wrong – I respect and admire competitive tournament players, but there is a line that some cross. For example, I was recently told by an opponent at an X Wing tournament that I ‘talked too much’. I also used to have a regular opponent at my old local club who would just have selective rules amnesia – once he beat me in mission 1 of Space Hulk by literally leapfrogging his Heavy Flamer guy over another guy ‘because they could do that on corners’. So yeah – chill out, have fun and be prepared to lose. Losing can be just as enjoyable if you’re having fun. What would be your best bit of advice to someone who wants to write?: Not sure that I can hold forth too much on this just yet! But the old chestnuts are true – just write and keep writing. Read a lot and try and take in WHY you like what you are reading or why you don’t like it for that matter. Above all though, the best bit of advice I ever got about writing was ‘leave your ego at the door’. You are putting yourself out there every time you write something for people to read, and they won’t all love it. If you can’t handle that then writing isn’t for you. I know that people say that all writers are delicate flowers and all that, but the really successful ones, the ones that stay around forever are the ones with the thickest skins. What does/do your family/significant other/friends think about your funny toys?: ha! My parents never approved and I think that they’re still waiting for me to grow out of it! My wife calls them my ‘little men’ but she’s always been very supportive of my hobby even if she doesn’t get it herself. She’s still very proud of herself if she manages to distinguish between an Ultramarine and a Blood Angel (or a ‘blue one’ and ‘one of them vampire ones’ as she puts it). My friends who are gamers are obviously fine. Those who aren’t always seem to say things like ‘oh, Warhammer? Yes, my son/brother/cousin/friend was into that when he was about 13’… What’s your favourite book?: Good god I have no idea. I genuinely couldn’t pick just one. In terms of the book I have read the most (and this is gonna sound strange in context) it would be Tom Sawyer most likely, just because it was one that I took to in my youth and have read a bundle of times. As far as genre stuff, I’m a big Abnett fan and I think Titanicus is possibly one of his greatest works and certainly one of the best novels that BL has ever published. I’m also a massive Aaron Dembski-Bowden fan so Soul Hunter and Betrayer are right up there, and John French – who is the most amazingly lovely man you could ever meet – did amazing things in Ahriman: Exile. Then casting the net a little wider there is anything by Terry Pratchett (the man is an absolute genius). I have read and re-read so many of the discworld novels and it’s always a pleasure. They are like a duvet – you just slip in and let the prose wash over you. Bliss! What is your favourite Tv series?: I like all the regulars – Game of Thrones, BSG, Fringe etc. But funnily enough I had this very conversation the other day and the absolute BEST TV show I have ever seen is The Pacific. It isn’t for the squeamish and it is unflinchingly horrible but I think it is the single best portrayal of war and its complete effect on the human spirit – from the initial shock through grim acceptance to the numbness of being back in the real world where you just don’t fit in anymore - that there has ever been on the TV. I urge anyone who hasn’t seen it yet to give it a go. What is your favourite film?: I think at the moment it’s Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which anyone who sees my FB feed will know! So many elements just combined absolutely perfectly. I had known of the characters as something that Dan Abnett had worked on, being a fan of his work, but I had never gotten around to them before the movie. Something I am remedying right now! But I have a lot of love for many films. In terms of the one I have watched the most it would have to be Ghostbusters – I often argue with people about this because for me it is the best film of the 80’s but people argue that there is Back to the Future and stuff. But for me, Ghostbusters is the perfect film – it has drama, comedy, action and heart and it romps along, never outstays its welcome and there isn’t an ounce of fat to it – every scene is perfect. I think Guardians is the same – I have seen it four times now and it still just flies past. You’re having so much fun that two hours just pass in an eyeblink. What is your favourite band?: If you’d have asked me about *cough* years ago, I’d have said Metallica, back when they were riding high off the back of Load and Re:Load and then they did that concert with the San Francisco Philarmonic. Then Jason left and they went a bit off the boil. I am a massive fan of Rammstein these days, though again with their last album I felt they had lost their spark a bit. Essentially if we are talking bands I will always cite rock, though I am very much an old fuddy duddy and I don’t know any metal beyond 2003 or so! Generally I have quite an eclectic taste, but my all-time favourite album ever is Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds – I have been hooked on that album since the age of 4, and I have listened to it so many times that I don’t just know all the words, but every beat, every nuance, every pause for breath. If I could only listen to one album ever again, I’d pick that one every time. What are your favourite sports?: Generally anything involving four wheels and engines – F1 Sportscar racing, Rallying etc. I also like American Football but with my schedule I tend to only really get to watch the Superbowl each year. Do you have any pets?: No. I had lots growing up and it was always incredibly painful when they died, plus animals are a lot of hard work and need time and attention which would detract from writing and playing games! I do love animals though – especially cats. What are some of your other interests?: I read whenever I can, I watch a lot of movies and TV boxed sets and I play an awful lot of boardgames. I play videogames too when I get the chance, which isn’t all that often and I am a big fan of history. I will never pass an opportunity to go to a museum or a motorsport event and a combination of the two is just gold dust!
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 14:32:47 +0000
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