Steve Jackson's GURPS (Generic Universal Role Playing System) is one of the grand old men of the role playing world. The game provides one of the most realistic, detailed gaming systems ever. Because the combat system is so good, I know of many miniature gamers who use it for skirmish games. Steve Jackson games has released a free "lite" version of the rules as a pdf download.
Germ's World has a set of three paper vehicles in 6mm wargaming scale: drop pods, a mega drop pod and a drop ship. These would be useful for Battletech, or Reaper's CAV, or Games Workshop's Epic 40K.
BrikWars! is a site dedicated to fighting miniatures battles with Legos. No, I'm not kidding. You have got to see it to believe it. There's a Lego Napoleonics battle that makes me want to raid my kids' collection.
Assault Squad, by Marios Damoulianos, is a set of free wargames rules for playing squad vs squad miniatures battles. The rules are very professional, and have some great illustrations. One of the best things is that there is a set of basic rules that can be added to in a modular fashion until you have a game that satisfies your need for complexity.
Marios writes:
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Miniatures Company Dragon Rune has released these free wargames rules for playing fantasy gladiatorial combat. The downloads page includes the rules, champion cards, a hex grid arena, and coins.
Famed science fiction writer HG Wells also is widely acknowledged as the first to write a commercially published set of miniature wargames rules. Published in 1913, "Little Wars", has long been out of print -- and existing copies are rare and expensive.
However, because the copyright has expired on Little Wars, it can now be freely distributed. So, here on Miniature Wargaming dot Com, is the full text of Wells' classic wargames rules (no pictures, unfortunately.)They will be published over the next six weeks -- one chapter each Saturday morning. And the best part is: Little Wars is free.
Here, then, is Part V
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MWG now is now experimenting with banner advertising. There will be a free trial run for a limited number of advertisers until September 1, 2004. To learn more, contact the editor.
And, if while you're visiting, you DON'T see an ad at the top, please let me know. I need to find out if this thing is working for anyone but me.
Thanks
You've seen him on the History Channel's "Mail Call", in "Full Metal Jacket", and "The Boys In Company C". Now you can visit R. Lee Ermey's Official Website. Don't miss the animated introduction. Its a hoot.
Kilroy Industries has released this guide to making jungle terrain for your miniatures wargames. I have been working on terrain for my 25mm United States in the Philippines games and found this advice useful. Its in the PDF format, with pictures. These also would be good for WWII Pacific theatre stuff, as Venus in a Gaslight campaign, or as a homeworld for your Kroot in Warhammer 40K.
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.
