"RIP Andy Gittins, wargamer, designer, actor and writer " Topic

I sadly have to report the premature passing of my great friend and fellow enthusiast Andy Gittins at the age of 59.

The funeral will be at Slough Crematorium at 9:30 am tomorrow (30th June)

I am sorry for the short notice … Andy had fallen out of contact with old friends during his illness and the family initially were unable to get in touch with us.

Peter Barham says more …

Andy, also known by the anagram ‘Tiny Sid Gnat' or just ‘SiD' died in June after a prolonged illness.

Andy was President of the Society of Ancients in 1987 & 88, and was on the committee for many years. He was the author of two of the SOA's most popular games ‘David & Goliath' and its successor ‘Gladiolus'. The latter was the SOA standard participation game for many shows, and before that he was also responsible for another show game ‘Horatius at the Bridge'.

He was a frequent Slingshot contributor, and was an inveterate games designer with published games in different periods, and many excellent un-published games – ‘Roman Politics' probably being the most well-known. When it came to figures, he had a penchant for lime green bases, and was a renowned user of Parthian & Dacian armies.

One of Andy's abiding abilities was to bring people into wargaming, he would always welcome new people, especially into ‘the Slough Barbarians', the club in Slough that he founded.

A true Eccentric, lover of Shakespeare and the Wars of the Roses, supporter of AFC Bournemouth, Windsor & Eton FC, Hampshire CC and The Denver Broncos, an actor, playwright, author, web–publisher, and scholar, he could be the most infuriating man to deal with, but the most wonderful company and always up for a game.

He is a loss to our hobby and I will miss him greatly.

Phil Steele
The Society of Ancients
LVP

A sad loss. I shall remember him whenever I play "Gladiolus".

I never met Andy … but I wish that I had.

The British wargaming community will miss his continued contribution.

He sounds like an interesting man. Condolences to his family and friends.

Here are some of the tributes coming in on the SoA forum and on my Facebook page …

Peter Barham says …
From a personal perspective I can say that almost all of my contacts and lasting friendships in wargaming stemmed from Andy, who discovered me in a pub in Slough reading Miniature Wargames, and immediately introduced himself and pulled a game from his bag.

Richard Lockwood says …
It was Andy that coaxed me back into mainstream wargaming – after nearly 10 years of inactivity I wrote to the SoA secretary of the time asking if there were any local clubs he knew of near where I lived, next thing Andy is telephoning me and essentially demanding I come along to the Barbarians hosting of the Punic Wars weekend to try them out. And the rest as they say is history.

I remember his basic level of painting in bright colours coupled with the lime green bases. And that bloody Parthian army of his. And the time he came back from, was it CoW (or the SoA Conference?) with one page of A4 rules that were the DBA prototype and made us playtest them all evening.

Martin Goddard says …
I new Andy well from 1975 to about 1980 then lost touch with him. I gamed with him, made figures with him and gossiped with him. I will never forget his dacians with lime green bases. lovely! A great person and wargamer. Many gamers pass away and their friends have to make excuses for their bad points. this is not so with Andy. Patient and good company. His humour will be missed.

Phil Steele says …
A great friend and collaborator, Andy devised the movement idea I pinched for 'Greyhounds in the Slips' – for a Vietnam game some of you will doubtless remember. Quite a few of my good ideas have been his, really …

Andy recruited me into the Slough Barbarians, and together with Roman Szwaba and Ian Greenwood persuaded me onto the Society's committee. Andy and Graham Fordham taught me to play WRG wargames some years after I thought I'd given it all up.

Ian Greenwood says
Andy was an innovator, an organiser and, best of all, a supporter.

Duncan Head says …
That's really sad news. Andy was, quite simply, a great guy.

Steven Neate says …
Sad news indeed. Andy was quite possibly the most all-round innovative gamer I ever met. I can remember at the end of SOA meetings in London we would meet in a local pub where Andy would produce a new game he was working on and we would sit in a corner scoffing ale and playing out his wonderful ideas. For a travelling Aussie wandering in a strange land, he was another warm and welcoming individual of the SOA who got me involved. An all-round nice bloke.

Thanks for all the contributions … there's a theme to them. What a great enthusiast … and what a great recruiter/motivator …

Phil

Andy sounds like a great guy; I wish I'd met him myself. May he rest in peace.

He does sound like a wonderful person, and a great guy to game with. I am sorry for your loss, Phil.

This is too bad. I only knew him as the president and contributor to the SOA. Way too young.

I played Andy's David and Goliath game at a Wargame Developments Conference years ago: it was a wonderful game, simple to learn, subtle to play and ideal for youngsters. I adapted the system for my gladiator game and my Classical Studies pupils always enjoyed it.
Thank you, Andy. Rest in peace.

Andy had a boundless enthusiasm which could carry others along in his wake. His games were great fun, often innovative and usually very memorable. A sad loss.

Arthur … I played David and Goliath with Ian Greenwood outside the pub* in Hedgerley at lunchtime after the funeral.

Phil
*Sadly not the pub where much of the design took place as it has passed into domestic use. But the nearest to it.

He sounds like the best sort of gamer and a loss to his family, friends and war gaming. RIP.

Here former SoA treasurer Graham Fordham (described by his wife on my Facebook page as Andy's 'partner in crime' for so many years) plays former Slingshot Editor Ian Greenwood …

That's the MkII board that has been in storage for a good many years … I sat in the passenger seat on the drive down to the funeral and sorted all the cards out*. They were all present and correct. It all came back immediately.

As I said, I can't think of a sight Andy would have liked more as a symbol of the years he spent entertaining friends and creating games with the Society of Ancients.

Phil
*I suspect that might be the right way to show respect for a player's passing: sort game components in the car on the way to the show (sorry, funeral) …

Very sad news indeed. I had not seen Andy for many years but knew him well in the late-80s/early-90s through the Society of Ancients and their conferences.
He was always inspirational and the most marvelous raconteur. 'David and Goliath' is still a great game.
He will be sadly missed. Wargaming is the poorer for his passing.