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Miniature wargaming is a form of wargaming designed to incorporate miniatures or figurines into play, which was invented at the beginning of the 19th century in Prussia. 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.
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General overview
Miniature wargaming is a recreational hobby where players simulate a battle, which is played out using small figurines to represent the units involved. Many miniatures games are played on a floor or tabletop, with terrain represented by miniature scenery (hills, forests, roads, fences, etc.). 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.
One of the main reasons for playing miniature wargames, in both these respects, is because it offers players more freedom of play and a more aesthetically pleasing tactical element over traditional games or computer games. Additionally, many hobbyists enjoy the challenge of painting miniatures and constructing scenery. In many ways, miniature wargaming may be seen as combining many of the aesthetics of tabletop train modeling with an open strategy game predominantly, though not exclusively, with a military theme.
The miniatures and scenery used vary greatly in scale, from 10mm figures up to more conventional modelling scales. Usually, 15, 25 and 28mm are the most popular scales. The miniature figures are typically plastic or metal and are often sold unpainted. Scenery is often home-made, and figures are painted by the players, who will sometimes even "convert" shop-bought figures to better represent the units they are trying to depict.
There are any number of sets of miniature wargaming rules, some of which are available without charge on the Internet. Scenarios may depict actual historical situations and battles, or they may be hypothetical "what if?" situations. There are also fantasy and science fiction games with attendant wizards, spacecraft and other genres. Rules also vary in the scale they depict: one figure to one soldier is the most common for fantasy and some historical rules, but many historical systems presume that one figure represents a platoon, regiment or even larger formations on the tabletop.
Some miniature wargames have achieved widespread popularity. Of particular note are the three core Games Workshop games: Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer Fantasy Battles and The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. These games are popular enough that Games Workshop retail stores can be found in many cities in the United States and Great Britain. They have spawned a historical variant, Warhammer Ancient Battles. A number of historical rules sets have also gained considerable followings.
See also Concise history of historical miniatures wargaming
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Scale
Scale is generally expressed as the approximate height of a humanoid figure from base of foot to eyeline (though some count to top of head - hence the possible confusion) in millimeters, as opposed to the ratio values used in scale modeling. Popular sizes include 54 mm, 45 mm, 28 mm, 25 mm, 20 mm, 15 mm, 10 mm and 6 mm. These roughly equate to ratios of 1:32, 1:35, 1:64, 1:76, 1:87, 1:120, 1:180 and 1:300, respectively.
"HO" (1:87) and "N" (1:160) scale are popular among model railroad hobbyists. 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.
Part of the reason for the profusion of miniature sizes is the need for manufacturers to differentiate themselves in what is a niche market. This results in what has been termed 'scale creep' where miniatures listed in a catalogue may be identified by a measurement, but in reality may vary significantly from that advertised size. This is to encourage the purchaser into brand loyalty based on the aesthetic desire to maintain a look of uniformity on the tabletop.
Also, choice of miniature scale is a direct reflection of the scope of the game to be played. Larger scaled figures (25 mm and up) tend to be used in skirmish games where the single miniature represents (or signifies) a single man/animal/vehicle. This is for reasons of artistic sensibilities - a few single models do not capture the impression of many hundreds of individuals as if seen from a distance, and also for economic realities - larger figures are more expensive and consume proportionately more room on the playing surface.
Smaller scaled miniatures are typically mounted in groups and moved as groups. This creates the visual effect of a large mass of combatants, allowing games simulating platoon, company, battalion, and even corps level actions.
Historically, the perceived and agreed ratios of representative models to represented 'real world' objects was explicitly stated. This was particularly true of rules systems that claimed some form of historical authority. However, with the growth and popularity of fantasy games such as Warhammer Fantasy, model to man ratios are now predominantly left implicit in most modern commercial rules.
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Notable miniature wargaming organizations
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Historical Miniatures Gaming Society (HMGS) is the collective name for several regional miniature wargaming societies/organizations. (HMGS.ORG). Each HMGS chapter holds its own wargaming conventions. The largest group, HMGS East, holds three major conventions: Cold Wars, Historicon, and Fall In!. HMGS East also supports several smaller conventions. There are chapters of HMGS in most regions of the United States. *.
TooFatLardies Producing rules, scenario supplements and magazines, these chaps are one of the busiest wargames publishing houses in the hobby. Their rules focus on battlefield friction, command and control and attempt to present the gamer with the decisions that his historical counterpart would have had to make. Notably irreverent and focussing on enjoyable gaming they attempt to combine that fun with serious study of military history. One of the few, if not the only, wargames organisations to employ a full time Pseudo-Celebrity, Sidney "Lifter" Roundwood.
Wargame Developments (WD) was founded by game designer and author Paddy Griffith in 1980, and is an international group dedicated to developing all types of wargames. It publishes a journal - The Nugget - nine times per year and holds an annual 3-day long conference - COW (The Conference of Wargamers) - every July.
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Notable Miniature Wargamers
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Frederick the Great, king of Prussia from 1740 to 1786, was "obsessed" with automata . According to Manuel de Landa, "he put together his armies as a well-oiled clockwork mechanism whose components were robot-like warriors. No individual initiative was allowed to Frederick's soldiers; their only role was to cooperate in the creation of walls of projectiles through synchronized firepower. Under the pressure of the increased accuracy and range of firearms, military commanders in the following centuries were forced to grant responsibility to the individual soldier, to let him run for cover or stalk the enemy, for instance. The human will returne to the battlefield."
H.G. Wells - Known as the "Father of Miniature Wargaming" and author of the miniature wargaming classic Little Wars.
Jack Scruby-The Father of Modern Miniature Wargaming. Popularised modern miniature wargaming and organised perhaps the first miniatures convention in 1956. Jack Scruby was also a manufacturer of military miniatures whose efforts led to a rebirth of the miniature wargaming hobby in the late 1950s.
Charles Grant - Game industry author who helped popularise miniature wargaming.
Donald Featherstone - One of the most prolific authors on the subject, very influential in the development of the hobby.
Duke Seifried - Sculptor of over 10,000 other gaming miniatures, founder of Heritage, Custom Cast, Der Kreigspielers Napoleonic, and Fantastiques Fantasy Figures.
David Waxtel - Co-founder of the Historical Miniature Wargame Society. Publisher of Fire & Fury, Spearhead, Shako, They Died for Glory, Crossfire, Tactica, Armadi, Grande Armee, Age of Eagles, and over 20 other published games.
Walter Simon - The "Father of the (HMGS)Historical Miniature Gaming Society." First President of HMGS and Organizer of the Potomac Wargamers, publisher of the PW Review.
Sidney "Lifter" Roundwood - Official "Pseudo-Celebrity" for TooFatLardies and their range of rule sets and products. A notable bon viveur and regular on the wargaming 'celeb' circuit his range of faux-leather products for the gamer are now a major business.
Michael J. Varhola - creator of the Skirmisher miniature system and co-author of the Chevauchee medieval miniatures rules.
Brigadier Peter Young, DSO, MC - Highly decorated World War 2 commando leader, commander of the 9th Regiment of the Arab Legion, founder of the Sealed Knot English Civil War reenactment society, Reader of Military History at Sandhurst, author of several books on military history, also author of Charge! Or How to Play Wargames and The War Game: Ten Great Battles Recreated from History.
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Role-playing games
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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 & 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.
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Rulesets
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There are many 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.
Wargaming in general owes its origins to military simulations, most famously to the Prussian staff training system Free Kriegspiel. Consequently, rules designers struggle with the perceived obligation to actually 'simulate' something, and with the seldom compatible necessity to make an enjoyable 'game'. Historical battles were seldom fair or even, and the potential detail that can be brought to bear to represent this in a set of rules always comes at the cost of pace of the game and enjoyment. Most rules aimed at the non-professional hobby market therefore inevitably contain abstractions. It is generally in the area of the abstraction liberties taken by the designers that the differences between rules can be found. Most follow tried and true conventions to the extent that a chess player would recognise wargaming merely as a different scaled version of his or her own game.
Some miniatures games have achieved widespread popularity. Of particular note are the Games Workshop games - Warhammer Fantasy Battle, Warhammer 40,000 (science fiction), and The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game. Games Workshop stores are open in most large cities in the US and UK, and have businesses based in nine coutnries around the world. There is also a historical variant, Warhammer Ancient Battles.
Notwithstanding Games Workshop's success in attempting to drive a worldwide standard, there are dozens, if not hundreds of other manufacturers of miniatures and rules, each trying to carve out a portion of this niche market. Some are short lived. Others, such as Privateer Press's Warmachine, build 'steam' and market share through multiple media and distribution methods.
On historical wargames, the most popular Ancient-Medieval rulesets are De Bellis Antiquitatis/De Bellis Multitudinis and Warhammer Ancient Battles. For World War Two, the five most popular rulesets are: Command Decision, Flames of War, I Ain't Been Shot Mum, Rapid Fire, and Spearhead.
See List of Miniature Wargames for a more complete listing.
American Battlelines (AWI, MAW, ACW)
Bag the Hun WWII Aerial rules from TooFatLardies that have a growing following
BattlestorM (Ral Partha's Fantasy Tabletop Battle game)
Bayonets and Ideology (SCW)
CAV - Combat Assault Vehicle (SciFi Mecha and Combined Arms)
Chainmail (Medieval and Fantasy - out of print)
Close Action (Age of Reason/Enlightenment)
Conquerors and Kings (Ancients-Medieval)
Contemptible Little Armies (WWI)
Eight Hundred Fighting Englishmen (Colonial)
Ever Victorious Armies (19th Century)
Final Argument of Kings (SYW)
General Quarters (WWII Naval Combat)
Habitants and Highlanders (French and Indian War)
Harlequin Miniatures (Raven and Doctor Who: Invasion Earth)
Hey You in the Jail! (Westerns)
In the Name of Glory (Napoleonics)
In the Heart of Africa (Colonials)
Jovian Chronicles (Sci-Fi "Gundam" like setting)
Kiss Me Hardy! Napoleonic Naval rules from TooFatLardies, ideal for those without degree in triganometry or an interest in 19thC knots.
Koenig Krieg (18th Century European)
The Men of Company B (Vietnam)
Napoleon's Battles (Historical)
Patrols in the Sudan (Colonial)
Poor Bloody Infantry (WWII)
Rally Round the Flag (ACW)
Reaper Warlords (Fantasy)
Rocket's Red Glare (War of 1812)
Sons of the Desert (FFL in North Africa)
Third Kingdom Skirmish Game (Wargame involving Animals)
Tigers and Stalins (WWII Armor Skirmish)
Triumph of the Will (RCW, Freikorps actions, SCW from TooFatLardies)
Volley & Bayonet (Horse & Musket Warfare)
Warfare in the Age of Discovery
Warfare in the Age of Reason
Warlord (Fantasy from Reaper Miniatures)
Whites of Their Eyes (American War of Independence)
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See also
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Web Directories
ScaleModel.NET Searchable directory of Wargaming related web sites around the world.
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History
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Community and fan sites
The Miniatures Page A web magazine for miniature wargamers. Hobby news, manufacturers and painting services directories, and forums.
Miniature Wargaming A listing of online wargames resources, including wargame rules, paper figures and terrain, painting tips, terrain modelling tips, articles, and more.
Elhiem A resource for 20mm wargamers.
Mainly 28's Site containing rules and reviews of figures, vehicles and terrain; catering mainly for 25 and 28mm wargames products.
Battlegames A website accompanying bi-monthly printed magazine aimed primarily at historical wargamers, but with a section that also looks at the world of fantasy and sci-fi gaming.
The Wargames Directory A directory of wargames traders with detailed information on the products and services they offer.
Metropolitan Wargamers NYC Many pictures of games in progress from 6mm to 54mm. A place for people to play wargames and historical miniatures in New York City.
South London Warlords Premier London wargames club with lots of pictures and free rules: all scales and periods.
The Gamer Hotsheet The latest news and information about new miniatures game releases, new miniatures, and events
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Rules and scenarios
Deep Fried Happy Mice A site featuring side-by-side comparisons of miniatures from over 30 different manufacturers. Includes book and miniature reviews and how-to articles.
* site for modern wargames discussion with a large photo album of wargames figures and terrain
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Manufacturers
Eureka Miniatures Manufacturer and distributor of miniatures and associated items — 2, 6, 10, 15, 20, 25, & 28 mm ranges.
Ground Zero Games Sci-Fi in 25mm, 15mm and 6mm for Stargrunt, Dirtside and Full Thrust.
GFI / Minifigs Historical and fantasy wargaming figures and accessories / rules sets. 10 mm, N scale, 15 mm, 25 mm scales.
Metal Storm modern and WW2 rules
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 25 mm Ancients, Medieval, Rennaisance, ECW, League of Augsburg, Seven Years War, AWI, Napoleonics, ACW, Colonials, WWI, WWII.
Peter Pig 15 mm Ancients, Rennaissance, ECW, ACW, Colonials, WWI, RCW, SCW, WWII, moderns, Fantasy, Sci-Fi.
SHQ 20 mm WWII, Vietnam, Gulf War.
Wargames Foundry 28 mm Ancients, Medieval, Rennaissance, ECW, Thirty Years War, League of Augsburg, Seven Years War, Napoleonics, Crimean War, Colonials, WWI, WWII, Fantasy, Sci-Fi.
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Miniature painting services
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