By Daniel Griego
Playing in the Sand...
My introduction to Shadowfist came about began back in the Daedalus days at a local San Antonio gaming convention. Peter “Red” Trudell presented me with the game and gave me my first deck, featuring the Architects, during his demo. Later during the con, I played in my first Shadowfist tournament and I knew right away I’d found a great game. I kept it up for a while but dropped off after the Daedalus fallout. After dusting off my collection several years later, I made an active attempt to see what had come of the game and to find a new group. As luck would have it right around the first printing of Red Wedding I came upon Red and his group and they eagerly welcomed me back into the game.. I’ve avidly enjoyed the game ever since.
In my senior year of high school (Dec ’00) I joined the Texas Army National Guard. I’d known for some time that I’d serve in the military, but I chose the Guard so that I could go to college and serve my country and state at the same time. Following the September 11th attacks my unit began preparations for possible deployment and over the next four years bounced back and forth from alert status to dormancy. Our official activation finally came in August of 2005, and we left to do our duty. Mine is a Signal unit, wherein we provide the communications services for a given combat brigade. During this deployment, we supported the Rakkasan Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division.
The first step in our deployment process included three months of intensive combat training at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas. During this period, I made my first attempts at introducing my comrades to Shadowfist. Due to the esoteric nature of gaming I sought out soldiers whom I knew already had experience. These included two D&Ders, one of whom had previously played Magic: The Gathering. Anyone who has friends that game and friends that don’t will understand the ease in identifying my targets for teaching the game. They caught on to the basics of the game extremely well and thoroughly enjoyed its premise. We later added a fourth to the Ft. Hood group and played several more times before leaving for Iraq. In my efforts to give as broad an overview as possible of the game, I brought thirteen of my own decks, with every faction represented at least once.
For those soldiers unfamiliar with the gaming world, anything involving cards or books as a game meant either Magic: The Gathering or D&D, for they are to CCGs and gaming respectively as Star Trek is to sci-fi, due to their accessibility and well-known foundations. For the most part, outsiders reacted dismissively, but the gamers responded exceedingly well and continue to progress in their play here. The battalion reunited again for the first time since Kuwait following the closure of all outlying bases in the Tikrit area. Since then, two of the three players from Ft. Hood have returned to the game, and we have added three new players.
In the mix of the current crew, we have one private (E-3), three sergeants (E-5), and two staff sergeants (E-6). Four of us, including myself, have played MTG and all have at least some gaming experience. The primary selling points of the game to these new players include its mechanical similarities to MTG and it's unparalleled ability to pass the time in this desert wonderland.
With regards to gaming in a military environment, the army life affords us certain conveniences of scheduling that allow us to make our off time our own. Many soldiers have taken to working out or vastly improving their DVD collections, while others still enjoy capturing camel spiders and scorpions and watching them fight. Several of the Shadowfist group also have a D&D group here that meets weekly. We incorporate into our deployment lives what small parts of home we can to make our time away from home more tolerable. The Morale/Welfare/Recreation support organizations accommodate most any interest a soldier may have out here from singing and dancing (karaoke & salsa nights) to poker tournaments and crafts events.
From all of us in the sandbox, thanks for the support and we'll be home soon!