Miniature wargaming

Categories: Wargames

Image:Dr-report1-05.jpg
A 15mm WWII Game

Contents

Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming designed to incorporate miniatures or figurines into play. The miniatures used represent troops or vehicles (such as tanks, chariots, aircraft, ships, etc.). The games may reflect historical situations and armies, or may be futuristic or fantasy-based.

Many miniatures games are played on a floor or tabletop, with terrain represented by miniature scenery (hills, forests, roads, etc.). In this respect, miniatures wargames theoretically offer players great freedom of play, as well as a visual spectacle. Movement of the miniatures is regulated using a tape-measure. However, like boardgames, miniature games can also be played using gridded terrain (demarcated into squares or hexagons) or even gameboards.

Image:Warhammer4k-miniatures-m666.jpg
3 Warhammer 40,000 Miniatures

One of the main reasons people play miniature games, as opposed to computer or boardgames, is because many find the tactile element of soldiers and scenery on a tabletop to be aesthetically pleasing; additionally, some hobbyists enjoy the challenge of painting miniatures and constructing scenery. Miniature wargaming may be seen as combining many of the aesthetics of tabletop train modeling with the strategy of war.

Image:Bkc.jpg
BlitzkriegCommander in action!
[edit]

Scale

Scale is generally expressed as the approximate height of the figure in millimeters, as opposed to the ratio values used in scale modeling. Popular sizes include 54mm, 45mm, 28mm, 25mm, 20mm, 15mm, and 6mm which equate to roughly 1:32, 1:35, 1:64, 1:76, 1:87, 1:144, and 1:300. Some model railroad scales are close enough to the smaller-scale figures to provide usable structures and/or vehicles, possibly requiring some modification. Some wargamers use card model structures because of their economy and the ease of scaling them to appropriate sizes, and many wargamers scratchbuild their structures.

[edit]

Notable Miniature Wargaming Organizations

[edit]

Notable Miniature Wargamers

[edit]

Role-playing games

Main article: Role-playing game

During the 1960s and 1970s, two new trends in wargaming emerged: First were small-unit rules sets which allowed individual players to portray small units down to even a single figure. These rules expanded the abilities of the smaller units accordingly, to magnify their effect on the overall battle.

Second was an interest in fantasy miniatures wargaming. J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit and his epic cycle The Lord of the Rings were gaining strong interest in the United States, and as a result, rules were quickly developed to play medieval and Roman-era wargames, where these eras had previously been largely ignored in favor of Napoleonic and Civil War gaming.

The two converged in a set of miniatures rules entitled Chainmail, published by a tiny company called Guidon Games, headquartered in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Later, in 1974, TSR designer E. Gary Gygax wrote a set of rules for individual characters under Chainmail, and entitled it Dungeons and Dragons. Further developments ensued, and the role-playing game hobby quickly became distinct from the wargaming hobby which preceded it, developments which are not within the scope of this article.

[edit]

Rulesets

There are any number of miniature wargaming rulesets, including some which are available free on the internet. Most rulesets are intended for a specific historical period or fictional genre. Rules also vary in the model scale they use: one infantry figure may represent one man, one squad, or much larger numbers of actual troops.

Some miniatures games have achieved widespread popularity. Of particular note are the Games Workshop games - Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warhammer 40,000 (science fiction), and a game based on the popular Lord of the Rings novels. Games Workshop stores are open in most larger cities in the US and the UK. There is also a historical variant, Warhammer Ancient Battles. Privateer Press's Warmachine is gaining a lot of "Steam" though.

On historical wargames, the most popular Ancient-Medieval rulesets are Wargames Research Group (WRG) rules, like De Bellis Antiquitatis AKA DBA and associated games, including a fantasy variant Hordes of the Things and large-battle rules De Bellis Multitudinis AKA DBM. The older rulesets WRG6 and WRG7 are still also popular. While this article is being edited (Aug 2005), Phil Barker and Richard Bodley Scott are designing the successor for DBM, De Bellis Magistrorum Militorum (DBMM). The WRG Renaissance ruleset is De Bellis Renationis AKA DBR.

Image:Crete 1941 - Crawley Wargamers.jpg
A Crete 1941 Game in Process
Image:OG Bengal Lancers (NWF).jpg
28mm Bengal Lancers
Image:Nervous Austrians peer across no mans land..jpg
Austrians peer across no mans land
[edit]

See also

[edit]

External links

  • Warhammer Tabletop
  • The Miniatures Page, the web magazine for miniature wargamers. Hobby news, manfacturers and painting services directories, forums, and more.
  • Civil War miniature gaming, a large photo gallery of 15mm Civil War miniature wargames.
  • TinyWars.com, is one miniature wargame hobbyist's (sporadically updated) attempt at providing a useful collection of tips and tricks of the trade to the online wargaming community. Looking for a particular article? Go to the "About" page for contact information.
  • The Wargames Journal
  • The Wargames Directory, A comprehensive directory of wargames traders with detailed information on the products and services they offer, plus links to wargaming and military history web sites, product reviews, rules directory, gallery, articles, forum and noticeboard.
  • MiniatureWargaming, A listing of free online wargames resouces, including free wargame rules, paper figures and terrain, painting tips, terrain modeling tips, articles and more.
[edit]

Rules / Scenarios

  • Brikwars, a freely available wargame, built using the customizable and adaptable environment of Lego.
  • BlitzkriegCommander, fast-play tabletop wargame rules for combined-arms operations, 1936-45.
  • Enduring Valor: Gettysburg in Miniature, regimental-level scenarios for refighting the Battle of Gettysburg in miniature.
  • Free wargame rules, free wargame rules for a variety of periods
  • Free Wargames Rules, a website that hosts and links to rules for games of all periods. All the rules on the site are free.
  • CHARGE!, a quarterly newsletter of the Johnny Reb Gaming Society. Offers regimental-level ACW scenarios, painting guides, terrain tips, uniform guides, and historical articles.
  • [1], Miniature accessories for 25mm wargames terrain. Includes furniture!
[edit]

Manufacturers

  • Manufacturers Directory at TMP Listing of manufacturers
  • The Wargames Directory, A comprehensive directory of wargames traders with detailed information on the products and services they offer.
  • DeepFriedHappyMice A site featuring side-by-side comparisons of miniatures from over 30 different manufacturers. Also includes book and miniature reviews, how-to articles, and much, much more.


  • Battlefront 15mm WWII
  • Britannia Miniatures 20mm WWI, WWII, Vietnam
  • Copplestone Castings 28mm Colonials, RCW, CCW, Sci-Fi
  • Gammazon Publisher and distributor of historical miniatures rules and associated items, from World War Two to Modern.
  • Eureka Miniatures Manufacturer and distributor of quality gaming miniatures and associated items. Full online store.
  • GFI / Minifigs Historicl and fantasy wargaming figures and accessories / rules sets. 10mm, N scale, 15mm, 25mm scales.
  • Musket Miniatures Rustic Rails (HO) Structures (HO Buildings) Rustic Rails(N) Structures (N Buildings) Scenery and Terrain. Wild West. American Civil War. American Revolution. Mexican-American War. British Colonial. WWII.
  • Old Glory 25mm Ancients, Medieval, Rennaisance, ECW, League of Augsburg, Seven Years War, AWI, Napoleonics, ACW, Colonials, WWI, WWII
  • Peter Pig 15mm Ancients, Rennaissance, ECW, ACW, Colonials, WWI, RCW, SCW, WWII, Moderns, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
  • SHQ 20mm WWII, Vietnam, Gulf War
  • Wargames Foundry 28mm Ancients, Medieval, Rennaissance, ECW, Thirty Years War, League of Augsburg, Seven Years War, Napoleonics, Crimean War, Colonials, WWI, WWII, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
  • WTJ Naval 1/3000 Scale Naval Miniatures
  • Xyston Miniatures 15mm Ancients
  • Dragon Models USA U.S. importer of Zvezda's Age of Battle and King of the Rule series.


Scale modeling
Model aircraft | Model cars | Model commercial vehicles | Model figures | Matchstick models | Model military vehicles | Model robots | Model trains | Model rockets | Model ships | Miniature wargaming

it:Wargame tridimensionale fr:Jeu de figurines