Hanghai, 1930s the Exotic Far East in Miniature
or
Mike Paine's Travelling Circus
Mike Paine is one of those people who meet once or twice and then consider him a friend, and his hobby is an elaborate interactive game using model building ships, people, cars, and buildings to create an imaginary Far East China port called HangHai (rhymes with Shanghai.)
Whille not exactly historically accurate, after all there are just too many ships in the harbor, too many exotic looking things, and lots and lots of stuff, not to mention the occasional presence of monsters and magical artifacts and supernatural beings of all kinds. (And if you do look carefully or are told, he will admit that one of his Asian buildings really is a model of the Alamo with some Terra Cotta Army statues in front to hide the iconic entrance, but that's okay.) Mike travels around to wargaming conventions in the northeast lugging all these things with him, setting it all up, and making a lot of people laugh and enjoy themselves when he does. If it's not the real China, then it is the China of our old movies and imagination. it's really something to see, and, if possible, participate in.Rules were surprisingly simple, some might argue too simple, but no one cared about that as everyone was having fun.
I was told to choose a main character (I chose Professor Flagg as I really enjoyed the old 1980s "American Flagg" science fiction comic by Howard Chaykin) and then a sidekick and three other figures.
Professor Flagg and his companions, a beautiful side kick, three French sailors, a large Mongolian warrior, and a nun. Never hurts to bring a nun for moral, morale, and spiritual support in such places.
The rules were such that it really did not matter what figures I chose, as they all were treated pretty much the same in the rules, but the visual effect and the stimulus to the imagination are everything in this game.
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