Majestic 12 games has these demo rules for their Grand Fleets miniature wargame. My group has played these and really enjoys them. Majestic 12 explains:
Grand Fleets is a comprehensive miniatures game of dreadnought-era naval warfare. In addition to rules for everything from ships to aeroplanes, Zeppelins to submarines, the rulebook includes:
Data cards for over 120 ships, plus guidelines for converting any ship of the period to game values; Eight scenarios encompassing conflicts from the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 through the opening salvoes of World War Two, including several variants; Fifteen pages of weapon data, covering all major gun and torpedo models in use through 1939, over 200 aeroplanes, and more than 20 airships; and Optional rules for flotillas, night-fighting, smokescreens, and more!
The good folks at The Flames of War have these instructions on building a Dieppe Town House. Flames of War is a commercial set of World War II miniature wargaming rules.
If you game the Zulu Wars, or other Darkest Africa scenarios, you know that painting dark skin on wargames miniatures can be difficult. From the Lloydian Modeling site comes this advice for painting dark skinned figures.
The Jackson Gamers have this set of free wargamesrules for the English Civil War. They use a card activation system, (not surprising, considering the acknowledged Brom influence), and d6s to resolve actions. These rules are 20 years old and in their 6th edition, so they are well-tested.
Majestic 12 Games has these demo rules for their For the Masses Fantasy miniature wargames system. Here's their blurb:
For The Masses is a complete fantasy mass-combat wargame system. But it is also much more: The flexibility of the system allows players to use any fantasy setting and armies to play out famous fantastical scenarios and ancient epic battles. Several sample army lists are included in the book but the real strength of For the Masses is the unit creation system. This system encourages players to be creative, use their imagination and have fun, which is the way wargaming should be.
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.
