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I have quite a lot of interests outside of work: good dining, modern art, walking the dog, playing tennis, ... But most of hobby time during the past decades has been spent on playing and designing games in various forms and formats.
Schild & Vriend
My main hobby is miniature wargaming and the study of military history. I took up the practice of playing with toy soldiers on a large gaming table during my late teens. I have published in several miniature wargaming magazines on various aspects related to games design and miniature wargaming.
My current gaming group is nicknamed "Schild & Vriend" (*). We maintain a blog to report on our gaming activities: Tiny Tin Men Blog
See also my Wargaming Mechanics blog.
(Picture taken in my wargaming room, featuring an American Civil War battle)
(*) No connection with a right-wing political organization of the same name in Belgium, which came much later than our own hobby club.
Military History
I became interested in military history ever since I visited the Waterloo battlefield as a kid. I have a ton of military history books, especially on the Napoleonic Wars, World War 1 in Belgium, and the colonial wars of the British Empire.
(Picture: A small selection of my military history bookcase)
J.R.R. Tolkien
I started reading Tolkien as a teenager, and never looked back :-)
It is of course the quintessential author to read as a gaming/fantasy nerd, but in my Tolkien reading club, we delve into the literary origins of Tolkien's work quite regularly. I don't speak Old Icelandic or Gothic yet, but maybe one day ... We meet every 3 months, discussing specific chapters or stories from Tolkien's work.
(Picture: my Tolkien home library)
Winston Churchill
I've read countless books about the life of Winston Churchill, one of the defining characters of World War 2.
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour."
(Picture: selection of some of my Churchill books)
A few of the places and organizations at which I have spend considerable amounts of time during years past:
Program of Computer Graphics, Cornell University
After my Ph.D. in Leuven, I moved to Ithaca, NY, and spend 3 years (1998-2001) as a postdoc in the Program for Computer Graphics.
Picture: the famous Cornell Box, a standard scene for many rendering algorithms.
1ste Regiment Grenadiers
During 1990-1991 I served in the Belgian Army. First I was for 5 months in the Infantry School in Arlon, after which I served as 2nd Lieutenant in the famous 1st Grenadier Regiment (armoured infantry), and was platoon commander of 3rd platoon, 1st Company, and later of 1st platoon, 1st Company. 1st Company was nicknamed "Royal First", because 4 Belgian royal princes once served as officers in the Company.
During my service, the Regiment was stationed in Soest, Germany. Later, it was merged with the Carabiniers Regiment during one of the Belgian Army reforms, and is now located in Leopoldsburg.
I still know the following verses by heart (by the Prince of Hohenlohe), we had to recite or sing them regularly in the Officer's bar.
Fier in rijzige gestalte, indrukwekkend in vertoon, trots om de erve van het verleden en om de adel van weleer, waren de Grenadiers door alle tijd de hechtste steun en toeverlaat van hun Vorst en Vaderland.
Fiers de leur haute stature, de leur tenue imposante et plus encore des nobles traditions de leur passé, les Grenadiers furent toujours, Dans l’histoire le plus ferme et le dernier soutien de leur Prince et de leur Patrie.
Proud of their high stature, of their imposing dress and more on their noble traditions of the past; The Grenadiers were always, In the history, the firmest and the last support of their Prince and their Homeland.
During my student days as an undergraduate (1984-1989), I was involved in the student organization VTK, and lived in the VTK residence during my senior year. I mostly wrote and published the weekly and monthly newspapers for students of the Faculty of Engineering Science.
Picture: my beermug and codex during Theocantus 2019
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