Miniature War Gaming: Free Miniature Wargames Rules, Wargaming Resources, Miniature Wargames Terrain, Painting Advice

Sunday, January 14, 2007

SpartaCon 2007

Miniatures Games

On Saturday, I traveled to Lansing, Michgian to attend SpartaCon, one of four big conventions held every year in Michigan. I look forward to the convention every year, and have missed on one in the last decade.

One of the things that strikes me about SpartaCon is the high quality of the terrain and minaitures that Michigan gamers offer.  All of the games looked as good as, if not better, than anything I’ve seen at Historicon, and a few were among the best I’ve ever seen—even in pictures. You can see photos of the event in the gallery.).

Attendance seemed to be a bit off from previous years—although I don’t have any idea what the official results were. Part of that could be just my impression, though, since the event was held in a larger room than last I was there.

There were ten to twelve games held in each of three sessions, and all of those games were full. In the first two sessions, there was plenty of World War II, plus two Samurai games,  a Viking skirmish, Cog Wars, Plains War (mine), Crimean War, Wayne’s Legion, Medieval naval Cog Wars, Warhammer Ancients (Romans), Bob Beattie’s Back of Beyond Game, Tod Kershner’s (He of Pig Wars and Warfare in the Age of Reason fame) 100 Years War, American Revolution, French and Indian war, modern micro armor, a DBA Tournament and several that I apologize for forgetting. I didn’t stick around for the third session. Visually, the most outstanding games were a Samurai skirmish, an amazing Flames of War Stalingrad game and a French and Indian war game.

The convention had four dealers, and some large table space for flea market activities (that’s a bring-and-buy for our friends over the pond). I was able to unload a couple of boxes of books and magazines.

One of hot topics of conversation was the death of the hobby store in Michigan—at least as far as miniatures gamers are concerned. The recent closure of Hobby Hub in Lansing has left that city without even a general hobby store; since the Alcove in Royal Oak cloased ten years ago, there hasn’t been a good miniatures store in metro Detroit. A lot of reasons were bandied about: bad management (there were a couple of well-known cases of that), bad service that drove customers away (there are a couple of known cases there, too), bad business climate in Michigan, young people drawn to video games, the graying of the hobby, the well-known cheapness of historical gamers and the internet.

In the end, there were no real answers.

Still, it’s a sad situation. Conventions like SpartaCon, and Pro-or-Con in the Detroit area show what a vibrant hobby miniature wargaming is.

 

Entry Permalink and Comments | Email this entry | List All Posts By Category

 

  Didn't find what you wanted? Try our exclusive Miniature Wargaming Search Engine.

Page 1 of 1 pages

Related Entries

Comments:

No comments yet.

Post a Comment:

Name
Email
Location
URL

Smileys

Remember my personal information
Notify me of follow-up comments?

Submit the word you see below:


 

recent forum posts

featured gallery shot

About the Miniature Wargaming Hobby

Miniature Wargaming is part of the "adventure games" hobby, which includes r ole p laying and board games. Wargamers recreate battles on the tabletop with toy soldiers, like a more complicated game of chess. Models range in height from 6mm to 28mm tall, with 15mm and 25mm being the most popular. There also is a growing interest in toy soldiers and military models, such as the 1/32 and 1/35 scale plastic soldiers from Conte, and Marx.

The most popular miniature wargames are fantasy and science fiction based, such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40K, Warmachine and The Lord of the Rings. World War II games such as Flames of War and Axis and Allies are new favorites. Other favorite historical periods include Napoleonics, the American Civil War, and ancients, such as Romans or Greeks. Other gamers enjoy miniature naval wargames, recreating battles like Trafalgar, Jutland and the Coral Sea.

Hobbyists research historical periods and paint their tiny soldiers in accurate uniforms. Others develop "historically realistic" rules sets or build scale battlefield terrain using model railroad techniques.

For pictures, visit the gallery.

Some of the bigger hobby companies are Games Workshop, which produces Warhammer, Wargames Foundry and Old Glory Miniatures. Wizards of the Coast produces several lines of pre-painted miniatures games, such as the Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons miniatures games, and a historical game with pre-painted miniatures: The new Axis and Allies game. Wizkids produces a fantasy collectable miniatures game, such as the Mage Knight and Heroclick fantasy games, the science fiction games MechWarrior and Rocketmen, as well as the quasi-historical Pirates of the Spanish Main.

Get Campaign Gear!

Website design and Expression Engine Development by Reese

All Content Copyright 2004 - 2007 by Bogey Media

hobby news

category archives

monthly archives

list all posts by:

syndicate

Webrings

Visit These Fine Sites:

Test