Maxims and Mausers is a set of free wargames rules for European Wars from the 1870s. From the website:
Maxims and Mausers covers European Wars at the moment. Inclusion of Colonial Conflicts is planned. These are very simple rules. That may be played either as a board game on a hex map or as a miniaturtes game on large hexagons decorated as terrain.
Sound of the Guns is Arofan Gregory’s set of rules for 19th Century Warfare. Gregory writes:
This game represents grand-tactical combat of the mid-19th Century. The focus is on the deployment and planning aspects of large-size battles. Size of miniatures is unimportant, as time and ground scales are variable. All dice are ordinary 6-sided
dice.
The Sound of the Guns was inspired by that phenomenon which occurs at the end of a night’s gaming, when the battle has not yet been decided. In this case, the referee will say “I think this flank is going to crumble, that attack will falter in the center” (etc., etc.). Players then agree or disagree, and the outcome of the game is thus decided in a few minutes.
ASP Games offers Into Glory Ride, a set of free wargames rules for replaying the battles of the Marlburian, Napoleonic, American War of Independence, American Civil War, Franco Prussian and Colonial eras. They are designed to be used with any scale.
I like and play Warhammer Historicals’ Legends of the Old West. It’s got a nice feel without being overly complicated. Warhammer Historicals has promised to release rules supplements on a regular basis, the first of which is a new character type, The Hanging Judge.
Years ago in England, men such as H. G. Wells and Don Featherstone wrote rules for fast-moving, fun wargames with toy soldiers (military miniatures). They were eventually eclipsed by players who wanted more sophistication and realism in their games. Unfortunately this led to tedious gaming sessions that were as enjoyable as calculating one’s income taxes. The rules here are a return to the simple game, using playing cards instead of dice, a new way of resolving combat, and individual figures rather than groups of men on stands. They work for any number of toy soldiers and are fine for solitaire games.
I agree with his sentiments exactly, and as I get older, my tastes move away from simulations and more to games with the right “feel.”
Mackenzie Norman offers “Black Hat, White Hat”, a set of miniatures skirmish rules for games set in the Wild West. Adding some flavor to the game is the playing card based action system.
Full Sail is an “age of fighting sail” variant of the Full Thrust starship rules. The one plane vector movement and area damage of the Full Thrust game seems perfect for Napoleonic naval games. It also offers something else to do with those WizKids Pirates collectable ship models.
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.
