By Darlene Bowers
Almost everyone has a board game memory.

Maybe playing Candy Land, Yahtzee, Chutes and Ladders or even Battleship revives pleasant memories.

Thomas (Tom) Crownhart of Ada continues to compile his board game memories. Tom grew up in a military family who moved frequently. Tom recalls always playing board games with his family and 10 siblings. “Monopoly, Life, Trouble, any board game,” says Tom.

Later Tom started playing Axis and Allies with his brothers and pirate board games. He also recalls one old game called Broadsides and Boarding Parties, an elaborate miniature game. “To this day, I’d rather fly and see my siblings face to face and play board games with them than play online games,” states Tom.

Tom attended a mini gaming convention with a friend several years ago who had started a gaming club. The friend encouraged Tom to start a board game club in Ada remarking how the college and high school in close proximity offered a great opportunity to reach more players. Tom took his friend’s advice, and the Ada board game group began. The group meets on the third Sunday of each month at noon at St. Mark Lutheran Church on Johnson Street. Everyone is invited. All ages attend, and players can bring their own games if they wish.

Tom is a member of the Buckeye Gamers in Flight, a group of Ohio board game enthusiasts. The group often plays Wings of War (Wings of Glory), a card and board game that recreates aerial combat. The game is quick to learn and can be played almost anywhere since it requires only a flat surface and no actual game board. 

“It is simple and fun and can easily be started with just a few pieces and added to over time,” explains Tom. Wings of War uses cards to maneuver players who then try to outguess and out fly their opponents as they analyze each other’s moves and strategies. The game recreates the daring sky duels of World War I with painted, historically accurate aircraft.

The Buckeye Gamers in Flight group has regular gaming sessions and attends the national gaming convention called Origins in Columbus each year. Other games they play range from traditional board games to abstract board games to historical war games and more. Many of the games involve strategy.  The main focus of the gaming sessions, however, is social interaction with friends. 

“The group is open to all types of board games,” Tom says. Tom explains a new, non-traditional game played recently called Shadows of Camelot. “In the game, everyone is a knight playing against the game and not each other,” says Tom, “and there could be a traitor in the midst.”

Tom elaborates on the strategy, intrigue, skill and maneuvering involved in the game. Most gamers will explain the difference between traditional and non-traditional as the latter involving more variety and luck.

Tom enjoys watching gamers grow in their gaming and strategy skills but also in communication skills. “We discourage texting during play and, sometimes, especially high schoolers have trouble with that at first,” says Tom. In addition to following each game’s rules, the group also has a no cussing rule. 

“I love the interaction with people and the fun of it. I also enjoy talking afterward about the game and moves of the game. There’s camaraderie,” explains Tom. Anyone interested may check out the gamers forum at wingsofwar.org/forum. 

Tom’s call sign or insignia on the forum and in the Buckeye Gamers in Flight group is a cross which he wears on his B.G.I.F. game cap and his gaming shirt displays the group’s flying cardinal logo and “Cappy Tom” as his moniker. 

Tom’s day job finds him as an associate at DTR Industries, Inc. in Bluffton. He considers himself a jack of all trades and is learning to cook and makes great salsa. In fact, a friend of Tom’s has reserved a plot for him in the Ada Community Garden so he can grow tomatoes and she can enjoy his salsa at harvest time.

Tom enjoys travelling and has lived in many places from Arizona to Japan to Georgia and visited many places around the world too. He’s planning a trip to Poland next year.

Tom is active with St. Mark Lutheran Church and volunteers at the Ada Food Pantry. Biking is also a favorite hobby and as skillfully as he maneuvers around a board game, he steers his bike on to his next gaming adventure.