Miniature war games allow you to command your own army, recreate famous historical battles, or battle the dark villains of futuristic worlds. Whether your passion is history or fantasy, you'll find the figurines, model scenery, rules, paint supplies, complete war gaming collections, and hard-to-find miniature items all over the Internet.

 As a war gamer, you control your own miniature military and engage enemy troops commanded by another player. Gamers usually battle on a tabletop or floor following an intricate set of published rules known as a ruleset. In a sense, the ruleset is the game, outlining the rules of engagement, including how to move troops, fight, and score. It also provides the historical or fictional context for the game. Without it, all you have is a collection of static model figures.

Miniature war game rules come in all sizes and degrees of complexity from simple to sophisticated. All use tape measures and rulers to determine a troop’s movements and range of weapons, and dice to settle skirmishes and hand-to-hand encounters.

Historical miniature war games steep players in the great military campaigns that shaped the modern world. Most focus on Ancient history (prior to 8th Century AD), the Middle Ages, the Napoleonic era, the American Civil War, World War I, and World War II. For example, Flames of War, a fast-paced game with simple movements, focuses on World War II, using 15mm soldiers and tanks.

Fans of fictional miniature war games engage in futuristic or mythological battles of the imagination. The trend toward these fantasy and futuristic (science fiction) miniature war games began in the 1960s with Chainmail, a set of war game rules that allowed players to create individual characters with unique traits and attributes. Chainmail strongly influenced the Dungeons and Dragons role-playing game and the later Warhammer miniature war game. Fantasy wargaming took off, capturing the imaginations of a new generation of players.

Two game companies are key players in the fictional miniature war games market: Games Workshop and WizKids, Inc.

Games Workshop supplies wargamers with hugely popular games such as Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, and, Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game and a large inventory of tabletop miniatures (under the Citadel brand).

WizKids games such as Mage Knight, HeroClix, and MechWarrior cater to younger gaming audiences. You’ll recognize WizKids miniatures by their distinctive “Clix” rotating base that keeps track of combat statistics. Figures are packaged in starter, booster, and expansion sets much like collectible cards and are classified according to rarity.