We've got it wrong.

 We've got it wrong.

No, we really have. In several ways.

Look, there are those who have immeasurable resources or who are simply able to pretty much buy what they want, but the vast majority of the people in this hobby have a limited amount of time and/or surplus funding.

I'm sort of lucky in that because when my wife met me, I was already a veteran, who, just like now talked wargames from opening my eyes to closing them (I even dream about wargaming - honestly) after Kayte said 'yes' to my proposal of marriage (amazing as I had no money and was not even sure I had a home) one dark night as I found her sitting on a friend's doordstep (waiting for him to come home) I was pretty certain that the whole gamer thing was OK with her.

Let me be clear, in the early days when we would argue with a degree of venom a cobra would envy, gaming could have been the end of it all.

But as Kayte got to know the same people I 'd grown up with or looked up to as some of the hobby's finest (in my opinion), who encouraged her to join in and find her own interests (most notably ECW, fantasy and Tudor armies of the renaissance) she became a force majeure in the Northern scene, known for her ability to control me when I 'went off on one' and also for being able to get anyone to part wiyh an army for way less than they expected - surprising them as much as herself.

Woe betide anyone who thought it OK, to try and chat up Kayte. If she didn't take them out with a look and a pithy comment, the unfortunate would find one or more of the clan dealing with them, and if they were really, really having a bad day, I'd have a chat with them at a time when as I have intimated, I was not the easy going, well adjusted individual I am today.

But, I digress...

As I said, I am lucky because if I go down a less than sensible route, I have 'off ramps' and owning a game store in the 90s gave me a great eye for stuff that was just a money magnet with little longevity. The sheer volume of pointless frippery, particularly in role playing is astounding, and don't get me started on that company selling loaded dice at present, like they are doing the hobby a service. 

Do the a hobby a BIG service and just simply fuck-ee off-ee... Cheating is bad enough, but servicing cheats comes only moderately below sexual molestation in my books and in competition games, equal pegging.

Wasted money is the bane of gamers. The sooner you realise that as soon as you buy metal figures, their actual value, unless competently painted, the better your life will be.

Now, we inhabit something of a candy store which, unless you are a member of the landed aristocracy, means ther will be a limit to what you can reasonably indulge in. So, by all means, try periods out, perhaps by joining in a few games with club members and when you find something you really like, play a few more. You can offer a similar trial of a period you own too. 

Still enjoying the period? Great... Now you can look at what the bare minimum you will need to play that period in a way reflective of the times and battles. If you can, look at the figure to man ratio. It maybe that switching from 1:20 the wargames standard for so many periods and rules to 1:50, makes large formations easier to represent. Just as long as you scale everything proportionally, it will work. This is a fact, not supposition.  

Look at scales of models. I have recently been doing this myself. As Roger said, we became possibly too fixated on 28mm, as we 'came up' with some of the original 'Chequebook Wargamers' in the 80s, who were putting together some stunning collections. People like Ian Smith, Mick Rothenburg, Bill Gaskin, and later on, Trev' Collins.

Added to this, I was under the spell of Lloyd Powell, the medieval historian, archaeologist and owner of more (albeit basically painted) Renaissance figures in 25mm than you can imagine.

But, we played a lot of ECW and Italian Wars in 15mm, using the Gallia and Mike's Models ranges. They were lovely, chunky little models, packed with character, and were, I believe, sculpted by Aly Morrisson, latterly of GW fame.

In the last 3 years, I have literally rebuilt my collection along lines based on what I love the most in my hobby, deliberately avoiding 'next big things' and 'latest periods' like the plague.

In doing so, I've where possible, gone with the scales that drew me in, which I gamed in the most and which actually look right for the period.

Fantasy... I already had a LOT of this in bags and boxes, so that all went to my fantasy painter, along witha load of additional stuff I've acquired since 2022... 25mm Citadel, Ral Partha, Asgard and a few more modern bits for the look of things. It's what I grew up with, wound intrinsically into my gaming DNA and my life story. Thankfully, that's all now in the process of being painted and by mid 2026 it should all be done, but I do want 600 Barbarians and Lizardmen painting in addition to 'round it it out' nicely.

I have sevreal mini-collections of 1/1200 scale naval, principally ACW and Renaissance. These are all from NavWar and are based on memories and sentiments from the early days of my hobby. It's a nice scale visually and fun to paint. Add in coastlines, and the like and you have a wonderful 'god's eye view' wargaming experience. My original fleets are lonng gone, so I bought new ones this year and will paint those myself.

28mm Late Victorian era 'what if' scanarios. Inspired by the Perrys and their Battle Of Dorking themed Prussian invasion of England, and handily owning a LOT of  Grand Manner English scenery, I decided that this would be a bit of fun, with around 30 units per side, so not particularly large, but a rather colourful way to indulge myself in a dirty little fetish as well as paying my respects to the excellent collections of 15mm Peter Laing models for this era, owned and painted by the redoubtable and erudite John Armatys.

And finally, both Roger and I have talked much in the last few months about the sheer joy of massive Italian Wars games, played with those Mike's Models figures, and have decided to go back to our roots, despite having 28mm pike and shot collections in various forms.

You see, the aesthetic of the Mike's Models minis, run strong in our souls. BUT, look, it's only recently that people have started to use 'proper' pike formations of 96 or more figures. 28mm looks great, but it's a really cumbersome scale for a 'club game' or on a table of even reasonably large dimensions. 

If you look at contemporary paintings of battles, you see massive bodies of men but also swathes of countryside, so cramming figures onto a table withouth this consideration looks, well, 'a bit wank' as the hip kids of the 80s might say.

Switch to 15mm and those units actually look larger (try it and see) and the ground scale immediately doubles, so that you can have those large armies on the table and also have the right 'look'. 

Enhance this with Hovels 15mm buildings with their 'magic proportions' of decreased footprint and increased height and proper towns and villages can be portrayed in a way which looks unbeatable.

And so, we've gone back to those tried and tested basics. Perhaps you should. The added bonus is that if you are of limited means, you can build a 'club' sized army cheaply and quickly, thus reducing that buyers remorse that can inflict gamers when they can't get that immediate 'fix'.

When we were kids, ( although admittedly, we were making a mint by 80s pocket money standards, painting for older gamers) we often simply bought either MM or Jacobite Miniatures army packs, painted and based them and repeated the process. It was amazing how fast those 150 model sets built up amongst a group of 3 or 4 of us. 

Indeed, this weekend, I ordered 3500 Mike's Models to kickstart this renaissance of the renaissance, the beauty being the fact that so many of the troops can be used in various armies of the period, giving you a lot of play value for your pennies as well as a ridiculous riot of colours and flags.

My aim now is to get the look of renaissance paintings rather than the usual wargames trope of fights in car parks.

In every case outlined above (although admittedly the 6000 fantasy 25mm will NOT fit on my table in one go)it's been a case of how a given period ought to look, coupled with using scales which drew me to the period originally. 

Also, I have a mantra, which I took up in 2018 which was 'everything should have value', meaning that if I did or bought something which did not improve my life or hobby, it was pointless. 

In doing this, I have actually been able to achieve much, much more - a perfect example being having 6000 fantasy figures which in some cases had sat untouched for 40 years or more, painted, thereby adding value to my life and hobby.

As I said, we have got a lot in this hobby wrong, and the idea that we must play everything and with everyone are prime examples. Find a few trusted friends in the hobby (flip the finger to those who say you have to be friends with everybody - it's crap - and make their day as you prove them right in saying you are antisocial, you are adding value to their lives by doing this selfless act) and chat about what you are all most interested in.

Decant that down into a few periods which are also different to each other or which segue into each other.

Look at the best scale of figures, man to figure ratio and army sizes and use that to drive how you approach a period.

Resist every little thing the magazines and companies try to get you to buy into. Very few are doing more than pushing product these days, and it shows in the way so many 'necxt big things' are seen on eBay being sold within a couple of months. Stick to the periods which have blossomed for over half a century and you'll not go wrong.

You are not being disloyal if you don't buy everything Big Bloated Bastard Games tries to sell you. You are being realistic and discerning and your gaming will be better for it.

You don't have to agree with me, and I don't have agree with you, but hopefully it has given you a few ideas.