What started your trip down the road to VSF games?

[Conquistador]

Historical variants of colonial or Horse/Musket rules that gradually added more diverse elements?

Books (ERB Tarzan/Barsoom/Carson influenced by Zorro was my gateway into VSF gaming)?

Seeing miniatures that find your imagination?

 Other?

[Dr Mathias]

The Foundry 'Darkest Africa' range got me started into historicals, and shortly thereafter a friend of mine suggested I look at a little site named "The Major General Tremorden Rederring's Colonial-Era Wargames Page"... the rest is history.

[The_Beast]

Dragged, kicking and screaming, by friends.

Okay, not so much kicking...  

Weirdly enough, first love is space craft, the fleets burning noiselessly in the ether, but I suppose that helps explain why I'm most excited by the 'nefs.  

Matt: The tales of Ouargistan makes for a fine gaming pedigree!

Doug

Edit: Must say, 'started down the path' probably should include most of the literature and film mentioned below. ...Time Forgot, Center of the Earth, Earth's Core, 20K Under Sea, etc. were all part of childhood, and Chadwick et al have much to answer for with Space 1889. However, actually placing figs on table? See 'VSF Gamer.'

[Sinewgrab]

A Mars variant of The Sword and The Flame, followed up by the Space 1889 rpg.

[Blodwin]

I blame it all on john of ironclad minatures & i've told him so in no uncertain terms - bxxxxxd
Blodwin

[MaleGriffin]

I started wargaming in the late 1960's early 70's with Avalon Hill.

I'd been a Victorian fan since "Zulu."

"Space 1889" pushed me over the edge and I haven't looked back.

I think we are now in the "Golden Age" of VSF Gaming.

[tin shed gamer]

I have to admit ,I just walked straight in with a copy of Space 1889.half an hour in and I'd blown three walls out ,and brought the roof down on everyone ( seriously who makes a cell block from stone coloured stucco).
Now I'm stuck with a two and half foot ether flyer in my workshop.An airship and walkers.Clogging up my storage.
Mark.

[chantyam the 2nd]

Have to admit that it was the Perry twins and the "Battle for Big Tooth River" Games Day display Pretorian Guard and trying to add steam engines and smoke stacks to Leman Russ tanks using the old shade spay can of "Snot Green" (I think) to paint them up like something from Tomas the Tank Engine.
Add Space 1889 and the various movies such as The First Men on the Moon

[N.C.S.E]

I wanted something that had character, wasn't Warhammer and I just like the look of VSF.

Then I read IHMN and I was set.

[Supercollider]

A combination of Space 1889 and Edgar Rice Burroughs.

[HerbyF]

I was always a Sci-Fi fan growing up. Started wargaming in the early 70's, Napoleonics, ancients, & colonials. Read just about anything by ERB & HG Wells as a youth. When Hinchcliffe did their John Carter of Mars figures I bought just about every figure I could find back then. There were not very many available. Nor any rules. But I kept looking for anything that came out. Heritage did a John Carter series too & I got a bunch of them too. When Space 1889 came along I was ready.   

[black hat miniatures]

Started with Gaslight and then wanted to play bigger games but didn't like any rules so wrote Martian Empires. Couldn't find the figures I liked so started Black Hat Miniatures to produce them....

13 years on and I'm doing it full time and have done for the last 9 years!

Mike

[Tommy20]

Space: 1889

'Nuff said!

[Captain Darling]

Hmmm I was playing alternate history colonial era games then came across the FUBAR VSF rules they interested me so I put together a small force to try them out and the rest is (alternate) history!

[vodkafan]

Always liked anything Victorian, the film Zulu was a major factor...and the HG Wells/Jules Verne stuff was always in the background..on the other hand I have always found the Barsoom/John Carter/Space 1889 stuff a turn off so it didn't come through that route.