Crimson Eagles is a set of aircraft rules that combines FASA’s Crimson Skies (which themselves were based on a Renegade Legion space combat system) and the 3D mechanics of Blue Max/Canvas Eagles. Unfortunately, to get these you have to join YAYG (Yet Another Yahoo Group—and one of those that require you to write an essay explaining your motives, to boot).
FASA, BTW, stands for Freedonian Aeronautics and Space Administration, a nod to the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup movie.
Warriors is a set of free miniature wargames rules for World War II, played on a hex grid at 1-1 scale. Infantry sections are mounted on a single base.
Eric Laurent has written Verdammnis, a “weird World War II” modification for the excellent commercial rules set “Dogs of War.”
The modifications include rules for Nazi scientists, zombies, super soldiers, and werewolves, as well as providing stats for WWII British, Russian, US and German troops.
Paper Tiger Armaments offers Paper Tigers, a set of World War II skirmish rules. The author writes:
Paper Tigers is designed as an introduction to miniatures war gaming for the beginner. It is intended to be played with paper miniatures printed in 1/72 or 1/76 scale. To that end, the rules are kept deliberately easy to learn. This does not mean the rules are unsophisticated. Players will find that good tactics are generally rewarded. Paper Tigers uses a standard deck of playing cards to generate an interesting and sometimes surprisingly tense turn sequence. Higher value cards allow you to act first, but they are more difficult to successfully use. Lower value cards are easier to use, but with them, you are more likely to act after your opponent.
Most players! initial games are likely to be solo efforts. This does not pose a problem as Paper Tigers is purposely designed to work well in singleplayer games. The card-driven turn sequence combined with other mechanisms that limit player control make Paper Tigers highly suitable for solo play yet still provide an enjoyable multi-player game
Valor and Victory is a free hex-and-counter World War II squad level board game. The rules are professionally done, as are the counters, maps and such. This is a major piece of work.
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.
