My name is Brian Girard, and I live in Bellevue, Washington (USA). I have been interested in wargaming since fifth grade, when I purchased an old Avalon Hill game called "Feudal" with money I earned from my newspaper delivery route. I discovered historical miniatures while getting a BA in history at Iowa State University. At that time, I took a military history class that focused on the ancient and medieval world—the class included a component where we each got to play out a number of historical scenarios the professor had put together using the Armati rules system. Although I loved the experience, I was a typical broke college student who couldn't afford the figures (although I always seemed to have money for beer), and when the class was over I tucked the rules away in a pile of papers and forgot about them. I got married, moved to Seattle, completed my Master's Degree in history at Western Washington University, and have remained in the western Washington region ever since. It wasn't until about eight years after I graduated from ISU, that I rediscovered historical miniatures by walking into a game shop in Seattle where there just happened to be a group of people playing DBM. My interest was reignited and, having traded in my Bohemian youth for a slightly more respectable adulthood, I was in a position to actually indulge myself. The rest is ... well, you know. I eventually gave up DBM and moved on to DBA, but I have been collecting and painting 15mm figures and wargaming with them for over ten years now.  As I mentioned on the main page, what I enjoy most is putting together and painting the armies, although my academic background has led me to continue to pursue my interest in learning about the ancient and medieval peoples and cultures.  My painting and modeling skills have vastly improved to the point where I'm actually quite proud of the aesthetic value of my work—I've gotten plenty of compliments on my work, and several people suggested I should put together a website to display it.