Here's a personal question: What brand of black primer are you using on your miniature wargaming figures? In the past, I've used Games Workshop's Smelly Primer, but it's pretty expensive. Following some advice, I tried a basic auto primer that I found at Murray's and I'm not particularly happy with the way it covers the figure. The brand I tried was Brite Touch. There also was a "sandable" type there, but that didn't sound good to me. I've also heard that Wal Mart has a good primer, but my local Wal Mart has several different types. If someone could give me a specific brand, I'd appreciate it. You can click on the comments link below to respond.
Thanks in Advance.
- The Editor
De Bellis Dinosauris is Jeffrey Zorn's adaptation of the popular historical wargames rules, DBM (De Bellis Multitudinis). DBD allows you to pit Dinosaurs against your ancients wargames figures. Its an inspired bit of silliness.
Over on The Miniatures Page, Thomas Pope has a review of Attack Vector: Tactical, a science fiction miniatures wargame from Ad Astra Games. The long and the short: its good.
Hamsterboy has written a complete guide to making hills for your miniature wargaming terrain kit. He uses the tried and true pink insulation method. His intended audience clearly is the Warhammer crowd, but historical miniature wargamers also could pick up some pointers. Pay particular attention to this piece of advice: the plateau on the top of the hill needs to be big enough to hold a typical unit of miniatures.
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.
