When did this site open up?

Opened 1 March 1999. 

What is the origin of the club?

Basically, we moved over from LeadEaters. We put together a website, recruited some of our friends and friends of friends (word of mouth) to come game with us. 

Prior to the internet, many of us slogged away in relative obscurity with cardboard units and maps, desperately looking for honorable opponents which seemed few and far between.

As the computer revolution started we thought we may be near the promised land of a new evolution in wargaming.  Those computers give us new games and a readily available foe to reinvigorate our interest.  Alas, slowly the realization dawns on us that the Computer's Artificial Intelligence just isn't as sneaky as your buddy that lived across the street years ago.

Then along comes the internet and software companies with new tools to reach out and game via e-mail and/or online.  Of course, the desperate search for honorable and quality opponents leads us to various small groups across the Web.

For many of us in the Blitz, this search started with the LeadEaters Wargaming Club. After a while, LeadEaters started to lose steam and creativity.  After several months of pain and suffering, three individuals banded together to say ENOUGH!

Our site was the creation of three members (Phil Baker, aka Panzermeyer; Brian Wynott; and Jim Mays, aka Jim von Krieg). 

We referred to ourselves as the triumvirate. We made our decisions by committee.  Not always the best method to accomplish things, but it worked for a while. Over time, the triumvirate leadership model broke down over many issues and personal disagreements.  I sort of became the leader of the entire club by default as Phil and Brian departed the scene.  I never intended to be "the guy". I was always happy just to work the CS portion.

Phil was the website guru and the original creative force behind the Blitz.  He also served as a Ladder Commander for several of the Ladders.

Brian was the administrative and financial honcho. He also served as the Op Art Ladder Commander.

I was the CS Ladder Commander and a tweaker of some of the website html.

Mark Higgins, aka Thor, came along later when the Triumvirate was breaking down. He was a player I was gaming with at the time and a big reason the club survived the early leadership breakdown.

Phil built the original Blitz site, but his creative bent led him to look for greener pastures and new territory to explore.  He was always tinkering with new ideas and sites.  This led to work on creating another club, aka the Grognards. 

At the time, I was working for unity of effort. Get all the war-gamers pushing in the same direction so that we could have a reliable place to hang out and maybe have some pull with the game companies.  As I couldn't control much outside my foxhole, I focused on building the CS portion of the club. I wanted to establish a club and community that would have longevity with many people contributing to it. I wanted to always have a place not commercially driven to hang out in.

Most clubs of the period would operate for a while, then close down.  Part of this was the result of everyone wanting to do their own thing.  Phil went off to build Grognards, but eventually couldn't do it on his own. This brought him back to the Blitz. He merged the Grogs into the Blitz and essentially dropped out of sight. We had other guys go off to start up clubs, but most eventually returned or disappeared.

Brian and I worked well for a while, but as time progressed he became more and more a difficult person for me to work with. From my perspective, he was always worried about Phil or I scheming against him. I don't know where this came from because I always thought of myself as a pretty upfront guy. I say what I mean and mean what I say.