The Mexican American Wars Yahoo Group has a set of free miniature wargames rules for the Mexican War called Across The Rio Grande. The authors write:
Across the Rio Grande is a simple, fast-playing, battalion-level rules set that is intended to impart the flavor of the Mexican-American War and simulate the battles fought during that period. By its nature it was a war of small unit actions where one man could turn a battle around through a heroic action or foolish blunder. Morale was as important as anything else for keeping an army together, and it plays a big part in these rules. Weaponry didn’t vary enough between the units for it to have a great impact on a battle, with the exception of the American light artillery units, which on numerous occasions had a disproportionate influence on a battle, and this has been built into the rules. Finally, hand-to-hand combat has probably been overemphasized in contemporary art and text since it didn’t actually happen that often. This is reflected in the rules for melee combat which result in few actual casualties, but which have a great effect on unit morale, especially for the losers. The intent of this set of rules is to be a quick-to-learn and fun game especially for gamers unfamiliar with the Mexican-American War and those who prefer relatively simple rules systems.
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.
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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.
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