Matt Fritz has these simple set of free wargamesrules for recreating the Siege of Tenochtitlan. He uses them with his students -- a great idea for both wargaming and learning! It inspires me to try similar things in my classroom.
This is an excellent resource for colonial wargamers. Warflag has a number of nice color plates of French, German and Italian colonial uniforms from 1889.
Games Workshop's Warhammer miniatures rules have been adapted to a wide variety of other periods. You can get the Warhammer 'Nam rules by joining the Yahoo Group.
Alan Saunders has a number of scenarios for the Fire and Fury American Civil War miniatures rules, including Wilson's Creek, Pea Ridge, Perryville, Prairie Grove, Pleasantville, West Port and Bentonville.
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.