The Rural Gamer - an introduction

Hi there. My name is Jeff Cope, aka The Rural Gamer.

I've been gaming, in one form or another since being introduced to Dungeons & Dragons in my freshmen year of high school way back in 1979. I played D&D for several years, dabbled in Gamma World and RuneQuest (the original & best Chaosium version, btw) and eventually found my way to GDW's Traveller. For any San Jose folks who may be reading this, back then I used to get all my gaming supplies at either The Game Table or D&J Hobbies in Campbell. The Game Table is, sadly, long gone...but I believe D&J is still around.

After awhile I grew tired of RPGs and moved into tabletop wargaming, but this wasn't until I had moved from San Jose, CA to Columbus, OH at the tail end of 1999.

After getting married and having a kid, I found I had little time for painting miniatures, and moved primarily into pre-painted games such as Heroclix and AT-43.

In September of 2007 I opened Alley Cat Games & Comics in Dublin, OH and, regrettably, had to close it up in October 2008. I'm proud of our 13 short months in business. Statistically, 80% of new businesses close in the first twelve months. So, I'm happy that we at least beat that statistic.

Two years ago we bought an 1890 farmhouse outside of Delaware, OH and have been slowly rennovating it. It became, as these things tend to do, a far larger job that we ever anticipated. This year we really embraced country life and are now raising chickens (some for eggs, some for eatin') and pigs.

Moving out to the rural parts of Central Ohio has been great. This city boy has been growing in appreciation for the land, and cultivating our own vegetables and animals. But, from the gaming perspective, it's put a bit of a crimp in things.

There is a gaming store in town called Hobby Central. They carry some games (mostly Heroclix and Warhammer with a smattering of a few other things) along with comics, model kits and trains. But, it's been a challenge to get games going there as the shop isn't online. So, it's difficult to find out when games are running.

So, part of the purpose of this blog is to chronicle my attempts to find and develop the gaming community in my area. But, there's also be gaming news, interviews, reviews and more.

Stay tuned, and tell your friends to join the ride!