The Shots Fired Yahoo group "is dedicated to discussion of tabletop miniatures game play set in the law enforcement/crime genre, covering topics like rulesets, miniatures, terrain and any other relevant topic. "
The Strategy Page is "a comprehensive summary of military news and affairs, including battlefield reports, arms sales, weapon tests, space programs, espionage, terrorism, etc. We cover the inside data on how and why things happen."
I remember participating in nuclear bomb drills as a kid growing up in suburban Washington, D.C. The alarm would go off, and we would shove all of our desks into a corner and crawl underneath them. I'm not sure what it was supposed to do, but it did scare the heck out of us.
Later, we learned that, if a bomb did hit, we would all probably be vaporized and would never know it. Somehow, that made me feel better.
This site has a lot of information on the nuclear arms race, including a nuclear blast mapper, which proves to me that the under the desk thing was totally useless.
This page describes modern military vehicle camouflage schemes. There are dozens of links and a ton of information. Essential stuff for anyone painting modern military miniatures.
Fields of Fire is an online community for Vietnam wargamers. The site has a lively discussion forum, and focuses both on miniature wargames and on role playing games. Among the games supported are the classics Recon, from Palladium and RAFM's Charlie Company, both of which I own and have enjoyed.
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.