"What armies are people buying/playing?" Topic

I occasionally paint for a friend's painting service and my work has consistently been well-recieved and even praised by some talented folks. I am considering painting some items and offering them for sale on my own. I would rather work this way than take commission work because I am doing this for pocket cash to support my habit, and not to earn a living. I want to enjoy painting and not feel it's a burden that has to be done. I know with the economic situation, many people are feeling the crunch, but obviously there are still some people who can pay for this stuff!

That said, I know the common stuff today – Napoleonics, WWII and Romans. Oh, yeah, My painting speed in 15s barely pays, though I would paint 15s, but what I was really looking at was 25s as I can paint them fast enough to make them pay (I know – doesn't make sense does it?).

From both the players' and painters' experience what are the items that are pretty sure to get interest? Basic stuff like WWII American/German squad or more unusual stuff such as gun crews, special weapons, etc.? If everyone is buying Romans, is anyone buying Rome's enemies?

Probably sounds like some dumb questions, but I don't want to put out money for figs that aren't going to sell. If anyone does want a commission job, I can provide pics of my own figs and some of those I've painted for others. I prefer to stick to smaller units/orders though so that I can get them done in a reasonable amount of time.

@Sundance:

If you're going to paint 25mm you are on the right track. You should also pick figures you'll enjoy painting. So good bets are 40k, WW2 grunts – Germans, Americans and Russians, and so on. But there is some luck as well. So be prepared for an occasional clunker on E-bay and elsewhere.

YMMV

Let's see, what have I been doing lately?

WWI Belgians in 28mm.
Zulu Wars zulus in 28mm. Lots of these.
Tons of Colonial stuff of various sorts in 28mm.
6mm Maximilian's adventure.

Incoming soon I have 15mm Carthaginians, 28 Dark Elves, 28mm Carlist Wars and a ton of Wargods stuff.

Anything that the Perrys or Crusader Miniatures are doing these days seems to have a wide following.

Basic WW2 infantry squads/sections will do fine, you can never have enough riflemen.

Which era of Romans are doing well? I favour late Republican myself, but obviously they need someone to fight. Carthaginians and Pyhrric type hoplites are always good. Barbarians…. well, after doing a couple of hundred Gauls I swore I'd never paint another Gaul as long as I lived. You need lots of them and they are a PITA to paint, stick to nice easy hoplites or Numidians..or naked Gauls.

Aliens, zombies, civilians, and some law enforcement types (28mm). Kevin

WWII
US Airborne
SS Panzergrenadiers
Russian Guards
Tons of monsters, aliens and all tings weird for my Weird WWII gaming.

Brian

OK, so it looks like I had the right ideas. For Romans, I would probably do early Republic and early Imperial as I like the barbarian armies – Gauls, Germans, etc. Miscmini, I had thought about Pulp too – that would be like Old West: a few figures here and there rather than 200 Gauls (egad! I like Gauls, but I don't know if that much). Thanks for the ideas, guys. My own 25/28s are Dixon Old West and Perry Samurai, but the samurai take way too long to paint! I'll give it a shot. Thanks again!

For 15mm, I have heard of some well-done FoW stuff being able to pull decent prices.

Griefbringer

That's an idea. I just tend to be really slow with 15s – especially WWII. My own WWII 15s avg about 1/hr. I paint a lot of detail on them and give them a black wash. I have several painted platoons and a few partially painted platoons. I haven't worked on them in a couple of years – for obvious reasons. But they are very nice!

Just playing 15mm WWII USSR and 20mm SCW Republicans. Already played, 15mm ACW Confederates and Ancient Greeks. Working on more of all these, besides of 15mm Medieval Catalan-Aragonese and Napoleonic Austrian-Hungarian… and… oh yes, 28mm Middle-Earth characters for RPG and 15mm LOTR armies.

15mm Napoleonics are what I'm painting.

I'd suggest the "Stand Bys"

WW-II (15 and 28mm)
Napoleonics (10, 15 and 28mm)
Colonials (15, 28mm. Everyone needs more Zulus!)
ACW (10, 15 and 28mm)

These tend to be the core periods and most need lots of figures. Speed is where your profit is, the longer it takes the less money you are making.

Word on the street is that SEDAN CHAIRS are about to get very popular . . .

Ah, yes – I forgot ACW (DOH! That was the first thing I painted for my friend's service). And you're right – I have to watch out for sedan chairs now or business will crumble!