What's the most popular "Historical Miniature" Era?

Started by agrippamaxentius, August 08, 2015, 03:29:03 AM

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agrippamaxentius

 Of course I don't want to touch the fictional miniatures "40k" etc. But if I attend a wargamers convention what era is the most popular? Also how do I know what units to select, is there some sort of codex and/or specific miniatures I want to purchase? Sorry for the noob questions, but im genuinely interested in getting some gaming in! Preferable i'd like to play either the American Civil War or WW2, but only if these areas are common amongst miniature gamers. I want to have people to play with after all.
https://www.youtube.com/user/AgrippaMaxentius For Scourge of War, Combat Mission, Ultimate General Gettysburg and countless others.

LongBlade

Hi Agrippa. Welcome to Grogheads!

It sounds like you have a hankering for historical minis, and while you have a preference, you'd rather find some fellow gamers to skirmish with.

Based on that I would ask you if you've found a group (or person) with whom to game? If not, you may be putting the cart before the horse.

That said it has been my experience that Flames of War (World War II version) seems to be like Warhammer/Warhammer 40k; if a town has a couple of stoplights, people seem to be playing that. IMHO it's not a perfect historical sim, and I have my quibbles with it, but it has one merit: you can push a lot of pewter and blow up a lot of armor in three to four hours. It's "good enough" to be worth playing if you're into WWII minis.

However, I would refer you back to my question above: it doesn't matter how popular Game X is if the group you find is playing Game Y. If you don't have a group and are looking for one, we may be able to share some resources to get you going.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

agrippamaxentius

Quote from: LongBlade on August 08, 2015, 09:32:31 AM
Hi Agrippa. Welcome to Grogheads!

It sounds like you have a hankering for historical minis, and while you have a preference, you'd rather find some fellow gamers to skirmish with.

Based on that I would ask you if you've found a group (or person) with whom to game? If not, you may be putting the cart before the horse.

That said it has been my experience that Flames of War (World War II version) seems to be like Warhammer/Warhammer 40k; if a town has a couple of stoplights, people seem to be playing that. IMHO it's not a perfect historical sim, and I have my quibbles with it, but it has one merit: you can push a lot of pewter and blow up a lot of armor in three to four hours. It's "good enough" to be worth playing if you're into WWII minis.

However, I would refer you back to my question above: it doesn't matter how popular Game X is if the group you find is playing Game Y. If you don't have a group and are looking for one, we may be able to share some resources to get you going.
Thanks Blade, that definitely helps! In terms of flames of war, whats the minimum price generally for an army?
https://www.youtube.com/user/AgrippaMaxentius For Scourge of War, Combat Mission, Ultimate General Gettysburg and countless others.

LongBlade

Quote from: agrippamaxentius on August 08, 2015, 11:12:43 AMThanks Blade, that definitely helps! In terms of flames of war, whats the minimum price generally for an army?

Depends on how big you want to go. I haven't kept up with the game. Originally you could bring any WWII models which were the appropriate scale. Just as I was phasing out of it company-sanctioned tournaments were starting to require a certain percent of company models be part of your force. The reason why that's important is pretty obvious once you think about it - unlike Warhammer minis, which are proprietary, anyone can make a sherman tank model. And, in fact, there are several companies which do so, and the cost of those models is less than half of the Flames of War branded minis. Now the Flames of War minis are better quality (more detail, higher quality pewter/resin etc) but minis are an expensive hobby no matter what game you play. Paying full retail for company minis is an even more expensive proposition, though I'll confess that I bought them when I could afford them.

So along those lines, when you play a minis game you might as well resolve yourself to spending cash. There are no cheap minis games.

Flames of War, like most minis games, is a point based game. That is to say you and an opponent agree on a point value for an army. 500 points, 1000, 1200 - whatever. Clearly the more points you agree to, the more minis you'll have to have.

That said, Flames of War is far less expensive than Warhammer, for instance. I think for $300 you should be able to build a decent starting force.

And after some quick searching I found a starter set for about $65. http://www.miniaturemarket.com/catalog/product/view/id/47198/s/fow-ofbx01/
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

agrippamaxentius

Quote from: LongBlade on August 08, 2015, 11:58:39 AM
Quote from: agrippamaxentius on August 08, 2015, 11:12:43 AMThanks Blade, that definitely helps! In terms of flames of war, whats the minimum price generally for an army?

Depends on how big you want to go. I haven't kept up with the game. Originally you could bring any WWII models which were the appropriate scale. Just as I was phasing out of it company-sanctioned tournaments were starting to require a certain percent of company models be part of your force. The reason why that's important is pretty obvious once you think about it - unlike Warhammer minis, which are proprietary, anyone can make a sherman tank model. And, in fact, there are several companies which do so, and the cost of those models is less than half of the Flames of War branded minis. Now the Flames of War minis are better quality (more detail, higher quality pewter/resin etc) but minis are an expensive hobby no matter what game you play. Paying full retail for company minis is an even more expensive proposition, though I'll confess that I bought them when I could afford them.

So along those lines, when you play a minis game you might as well resolve yourself to spending cash. There are no cheap minis games.

Flames of War, like most minis games, is a point based game. That is to say you and an opponent agree on a point value for an army. 500 points, 1000, 1200 - whatever. Clearly the more points you agree to, the more minis you'll have to have.

That said, Flames of War is far less expensive than Warhammer, for instance. I think for $300 you should be able to build a decent starting force.

And after some quick searching I found a starter set for about $65. http://www.miniaturemarket.com/catalog/product/view/id/47198/s/fow-ofbx01/
Wow that starter set looks rad! Thanks a bunch! This will be my next purchase :D, now I have to get some paints and after that stay tuned for some terribly painted miniatures xD.
https://www.youtube.com/user/AgrippaMaxentius For Scourge of War, Combat Mission, Ultimate General Gettysburg and countless others.

LongBlade

Just remember - with painting the more you do it the better you'll get.
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

bayonetbrant

Ultimately, the key advice is what LB said - the "popularity" that matters is the popularity of a ruleset or historical era with your local game group.

That said, across the broad spectrum of historical minis gamers, I would suspect that Napoleonic minis are most popular, followed by WWII and ACW.  Flames of War is all over the place in retail outlets, whereas many of the Nappy minis are done mail order or at conventions.  But I think the Nappy games get more play overall.

Just my 2ยข
The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Nefaro

That's a pretty big time & money investment Agrippa. 

If you can pull it off and get some regular games going, I'd be interested in hearing (or watching any vids you make) about it.  With my "designer" boardgame addiction, there's no way I could fit this genre in.  Although I have invested in some Check Your Six! minis & such, but the air combat minis games don't require as much.

LongBlade

Quote from: Nefaro on August 09, 2015, 01:08:47 PM
That's a pretty big time & money investment Agrippa. 

If you can pull it off and get some regular games going, I'd be interested in hearing (or watching any vids you make) about it.  With my "designer" boardgame addiction, there's no way I could fit this genre in.  Although I have invested in some Check Your Six! minis & such, but the air combat minis games don't require as much.

There should be several AARs on the front page that I wrote for Flames of War (if you haven't seen them).
All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

bayonetbrant

Quote from: LongBlade on August 09, 2015, 02:09:48 PM
There should be several AARs on the front page that I wrote for Flames of War (if you haven't seen them).

The key to surviving this site is to not say something which ends up as someone's tag line - Steelgrave

"their citizens (all of them counted as such) glorified their mythology of 'rights'...and lost track of their duties. No nation, so constituted, can endure." Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopers

Nefaro


LongBlade

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.


LongBlade

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.