"Ultra-modern minis, or the lack thereof." Topic

Hi all,

Consider this a gripe if you wish, but this is actually a genuine question to model makers out there.

How come there are so few options for the more modern force elements out there? Being a person who is interested in wargaming a modern environment, I find it a little saddening that such forces as the Chinese, North Koreans, and modern elements like modern US military vehicles and British forces have such a limited range of forces available for wargaming.

Now I agree there are some available (QRF as an example), but there are still some major gaps in the ultra-modern scene, particularly in more modern infantry weapons and crew-served equipment.

It would appear that most models, for the good majority, seem to stop designing past anything beyond the mid 90's when it comes to vehicles, and a lot of groups that are pivotal on the modern stage, like China and North Korea, have very few infantry/ weapons teams, and almost no vehicles whatsoever.

It isn't a jibe, but is there a genuine sense that it is 'too early' to make such models? Or is there just no demand for it?

I mean personally I'd be all for seeing some of the latest and greatest – things like:

M1 TUSK tanks, M2 BUSK Bradleys, "any" Modern Chinese vehicles and "Any" North Korean vehicles or troops (outside of the one line by Khurasan, which is great by the way), modern upgraded Leopard tanks/ Leclerc MBTs etc.

These are only some of them, but there are a multitude of forces.

Anyway, what are people's thoughts? Here's hoping I'm not simply barking up a tree no one else is interested in :)

Keeping up is the problem – if you release a "modern" range, it's obsolete in a few years time, so you need to sell a lot fast, which is problematic for what's a fairly niche interest. Often a line can take years to pay for itself, so coupling that with a range that effectively has an "expiry date" on it is a problem.

If you produce WWII models, they'll always be WWII models, but if you produce "modern" rather than "for this war", you're definitionally making something that won't be much use (and therefore won't be bought) in a few years time….

Granted there is that, and I appreciate the concern there, but there will always be this era as well, much like there was the cold war, and WW2, and WW1 etc etc. It just seems surprising how little is done – I'm particularly focused on North Korea and China from my personal soapbox – both of these regions have been big movers and shakers throughout cold war and today – and the threat of NK/SK showdown is always a point of interest.

I suppose it just surprises me that, what I see as a real opportunity to corner a market for a whole what-if scenario hasn't really been exploited yet? (That and, with the right minis, they could easily be morphed into a low-tech/ mid tech sci-fi force).

We are just waiting to see what is not obsolete within 5 years.

I do have to question the concern over obsolute vehicles. Comsidering how many vehicles out there saw either little or no actual combat, were not front line vehicles, or are just not widely used, is that really an issue.

Many players engage in speculative battles, especially in the Cold War era. I think there is a desire to do the same with more modern conflicts. Truth be told, many of the ultra-modern vehicles slide into near future scifi forces as well.

I am not the expert here, so this is just me discussing, but it seems many companies may be hedging when they do not need to.

-Eli

Check out Old Glorly UK for some ultra modern British stuff

From what I have heard manufacturers say, it is that the major market is in actual wars. Even something like the Cold War Gone Hot is a side-show to actual wars from that period.

So those who do make "ultra-modern" focus on forces that are actually fighting (ie Iraq and Afghanistan mostly, with Russia getting some love because of Georgia/Ukraine) and not just putting on parades.

I think the problem you run into is a fairly narrow spectrum of vehicles are relevant. Like there's more than a few Abrams (although there's nothing that quite captures the post-TUSK Abrams well), a collection of T-90s, and a whole mess of T-55/62/72s because everyone loves a good Iraq game, but after that it trails off.

I wish someone would do K1A1s/K2s in 15MM. They're pretty darn scifi, and the K2 especially looks like it should be in the background of a scifi movie.

I've got some heavier weapons for the North Koreans coming -- thing is though they still have mostly antiquated weaponry. They WISH that their weaponry was 90s! Same goes for their tanks. Yes they do have some tanks they are trying to marginally improve in performance, but for the most part their fleet are unmodified T-55 and T-62. Those are the tanks that would be supporting infantry divisions which is what most gamers will be playing anyway.

I definitely want to do a Chonma-ho from my existing T-62, but there are other priorities -- like the Merk 4, for instance. It's designed, and I'll be modifying my existing T-72 design for the T-72AV that is used in at least one conflict today.

I've got a T-90A as well, so I'm doing what I can. Resin vehicles are a colossal pain in the behind to get manufactured -- I swear getting into it has shaved a decade off of my life! Things are proceeding but they move at a glacial pace ….

The point about active wars is definitely true. I spent a fortune putting out the NK and sell a few packs now and then. The Yom Kippur range vastly outsells them.

Look at the next con you go to and see what is being played. Plenty of WWII with plenty of gear. The few modern games are all like force on force and feature a handful of infantry, and few to no vehicles.

I like Modern, but cant get a game up to save myself, so I dont buy any of the few that are out there.

Owen

I like Modern, but cant get a game up to save myself, so I dont buy any of the few that are out there.

Not your fault as such, but there is the problem.
Unless the demand is there then no-one will make them.
If the few models around keep selling out, then more will be made.
Catch 22.

I agree that a lot of it trails off when it comes to direct action, however, I can think of a number of locations where modern equipment could be engaged.

@Khurasan: I think once you get a few more packs out into the NK range it will definitely sell better! The potential market for Norks is bound to be bigger than you're seeing once they get a few of their more unique elements on display. It's as though they built their army using junkyard wars as a reference guide, but boy did it make some amazing vehicles!

That's my problem as well Badger, FoF is a very rules centric listing, and there hasn't really been a "Flames Of War" style ruleset yet in an official sense that has really taken off. If Battlefront made a Korean what-if book, or an Arab/ Syrian uprising book, then I'm sure you'd see models sell like hotcakes as well.

Modern gaming (i.e 1995+) is a reasonably new field all things considered, but the potential is there if done right. (I have been spoilt following the BIGFoF blog over the years!)

TBH, most companies are not hedging on real world usage (otherwise near future sci-fi wouldn't sell) so much as commercial viability, as illustrated by Jon:

I spent a fortune putting out the NK and sell a few packs now and then

They will make their money back, eventually, [hopefully], but you do need to be investing in things that pay the bills and sell in sufficient quantity to fund the more esoteric items.

It would be nice to see the Modern stuff, but I can see the costs…
But it would be nice to see: Stryker, M1117 Armored Security Vehicle, L-ATV…and of course the MRAP and all its variants:
Buffalo, Caiman, Cougar, M-ATV (MRAP All Terrain Vehicle), MaxxPro, RG-31, RG-33, and a couple more I missed

What about them?

Are they ultra-modern enough? ;)

Yep, I wholeheartedly agree with you Geoff, and fully appreciate gents like yourself and Khurasan are business first (otherwise heck, we'd be up a certain creek without a paddle if you folks had to call it quits!)

It is one heck of a catch 22 as well – how far do you go down each rabbit hole? One vehicle? Two? A few packs of troops, weapons teams and vehicles?

Either way, if anyone starts making NK and Chinese vehicles and weapons teams/ infantry (or more as the case may be), Fennec recon, Leopard 2A6, Leclerc and Pzh2000 or AUF GCT artillery, then you'd get plenty of orders from one black duck at least!

Once I move mid-year :)

Marcin I've seen them on the facebook page, and am suitably drooling in turn for them! Shame you aren't making the RPG-29 for them though, it's a flame I hold dear to my heart to one day see that impressive beast in it's rightful owner's arms! (Although granted you are basing them on what has been seen in the Ukraine, so it's understandable).

It is one heck of a catch 22 as well – how far do you go down each rabbit hole? One vehicle? Two? A few packs of troops, weapons teams and vehicles?

I explore interest by making foundational stuff and if there is interest I reinforce it. To be frank I think it's more the customer's move after I do that. That's because it's easier for the customer to spend, say thirty dollars than it is for me to spend a thousand dollars. People sometimes say, "make more and maybe I'll buy," but the truth is people talk with their wallets when they like something, and if they don't buy the foundational stuff, they are not going to buy the reinforcements either.

I've actually done the whole "spend another thousand and then we'll talk" thing before. It doesn't work. On the other hand I've released isolated models that just sell and sell, even though a complete range is not made yet, and that's when I work to reinforce the range. One good example is my Europe 46-49 range, which right now is, erm, one model. But that one model, the M34 (T34 American superheavy) sold so well that I have had two more vehicles made, a German and Russian one. If the reinforcements haven't come right away, that's because it's really a herculean task to actually get something to market in this hobby!

My take is, in a market where there's low margins that are only achieved with tons of work, you reinforce success.

seems like everyone is sculpting the little green men. i don't want to game the takeover of crimea though. no one makes 15mm little grannies yelling at masked soldiers, lol

Should a gone 20mm! S&S have a good range of Modern vehicles – bulked out with some of the diecast and plastic kit offerings, lots available inc. Modern Chinese, improved T72's and newer Russian vehicles like the Vodnik……..Tusk kits for M1's ,MATV and MRAPS for the Western forces………!

I would have liked to see more modern (say 1970-90) vs current+. The gaming potential, to me, is larger since the old NATO-WP fight could happen in theory. A couple people make some (Eureka, FoA?, TAG) but the ones I was hoping to see more of (Mongrel/Badger) are pretty much dead. There's plenty of current+ going though, just not my area of interest. Besides that, I play in 28 and 6mm so lots of vehicles aren't an issue since most games of mine will be infantry action, but APCs, IFVs, softskins would be nice to have a bunch of.

@khurasan: That Weird War stuff is on my list. Can't wait to see more.

Let me play devil's advocate here…

How do you gauge sales accurately for product lines that are not realized?

How are people supposed to get into gaming periods when there is no way to do so?

I get what folks are saying. But there plenty of ranges out there that are way weirder that sell great after folks took a chance. I know Eureka has a surprising number.

-Eli

I also recognize that is a tall order.

Do not get me wrong.

-Eli

Well. Eli, I'll answer your question with a question. Did people not pledge enough to your Kickstarter to just get the basic infantry made? When they put those pledges in, all they knew were going to get made were the infantry without any vehicles or heavier support, which if I recall were "stretch goals." But they did, on faith that there would eventually be enough interest that the "realized" line would get made.

Let's look at it even more fundamentally. Did they know that the line was going to get made at all? No, all they knew was that they were getting a promise from you to make the stuff. And they waited I think a year and a half or so to get it, correct? But I assume very few people complained, because they knew they wanted the range made and were willing to wait. But they pledged and paid upfront because they wanted the models. They could have lost all of their money, and seen no models at all, if you didn't end up making the models. (I'm not saying you would have done that.) At least when they buy my models they know they will get them soon after payment.

So I think you were asking them to have a lot more faith in your range than I do.

I run my business on a more old-fashioned model than you ran that range you had made. I venture my own capital when I make a range. I don't use other peoples' money. I think if you were to do that, you would come to the same conclusion as I do -- it's better to make Wave 1 for, say, $1,800 USD of your hard-earned and see how people respond to it than to make an exhaustive line for, say, $4,000 USD only to discover that it fails to interest customers.

Well played sir.

However, mine is not the case I am using as example specifically because it IS NOT indicative of the norm. That said there are plenty of ranges out there, by you, by others, that have taken a leap and seen it pay off. Wgat has been released for ultra-modern hardly even constitutes an honest beginning.

I understand there are risks abd costs. I faced that, mysrlf and am atill facing it with LNG's stuff. But last time I checked nothing sells without being made available in the first place, then promoted. People will and have bought some crazy stuff when retailers have inspired them to do so.

-Eli

Sounds like if you want to sell up to date modern ranges you need a conflict. Best thing we can all do to get some modern stuff made is start a war. SO next election we need to find the blood thirstiest leaders get them elected and we can get some hot wars going…….I am joking by the way. :-)

Well, Eli, a model range is a model range. There's nothing unusual about releasing an alien range that will presumably include heavy weapons, vehicles, maybe flyers, etc. It's the same sort of faith that a customer would put in, say, my Kofun Japanese range -- which is finally getting its last two codes next week, the Be militia archers and the Emishi skirmishers. It took forever to get them made because the sculptor is extremely pressed for time and also does an amazing job on his models, but they were made because the range has been such a success. It's the same with a range of space dinos I reckon.

Not sure it's fair to the chaps who have been trying to put out modern models and figurines to say what's been done so far doesn't even constitute an honest beginning, but of course you're entitled to see it as you do. I know that even putting out a complete-to-platoon-level ultramodern US range was a mammoth undertaking and some of the stuff, like some vehicles and heavier weapons, has not even come out yet (Strykers and M1151 family coming soon though). It's not easy. I understand that you invested some of your own money in your KS because you severely underestimated the costs involved, but that should really underscore the point, especially when it's all your money -- the entire kit and kaboodle -- not just the overage due to miscalculation.

But last time I checked nothing sells without being made available in the first place, then promoted

Yes of course but that's the whole topic of this discussion, whether it will sell. When "it" is a huge range of figurines and vehicles that will cost you thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, you'll want to reconnoiter, or at least I do. It's also true that you don't see that something doesn't sell until you make it available in the first place. And that's not fun. Recently released an historical range that has not gathered any interest at all, and I look at the big box of miniatures sitting on the floor, thinking about the bills that could have been paid, or the nice vacation I could have taken my kids on, if I'd just not bothered to make them in the first place! I'm a grown-up and realise that there's nothing gained unless something is ventured. But I think customers have to see it that way to some extent as well, especially as the amount they venture is a lot less than thousands of dollars.

As an example, we have been selling Strykers for nearly 10 years now. It was built on the specific request of a poll for what we should build next. It then took 2 years before it became a regular seller and actually made it sorry back of the development costs. Likewise the Korean War (which started selling about 2 years after the anniversary).

This is one place where digital design and print-on-demand really comes into its own. I can design a base vehicle and turret, after which it's much less labor-intensive to design variants for it, since I can re-use the base model ad infinitum. That's pretty much the way I've made all the 3mm sci-fi stuff on my Shapeways store. Of course, POD is more expensive than buying an existing metal or resin model, but it's still an option.

@panzersaurkrautwerfer: I had actually started on the K2 at one point. I'm sure I can go dust that file off and see if I can get it to the point of being printable.

I recognize that folks have tried. When I mentioned a start, I think it is hard to get any individual piece to move in the absence of its components. So stopping after one or two releases doesn't keep the ball rolling.

A catch 22 had been mentioned earlier. I think that is the reality here. Stuff won't sell if it's not released but it may not sell if it is.

Thanks Geoff and Jon for chiming in with expert input.

-Eli

@marcin2501 Beautiful stuff. Can you add another figure with a RPG 29 ? I'll buy at least a platoon's worth or a company but I think we need an anti tank weapons.

Just my .02 worth. I have a ton of Khurasan stuff including about a company of NKs and a company of Syrians with the super crew served weapons that Jon makes. I've got one platoon each of these guys painted as Syrians or NKs with the balance in the case of the Syrians painted up as African Union Troops or 70's Russians. The NKs make great generic third world troops. Both sets of figures have multiple uses and are well worth buying.

If anyone is interested Eureka USA has an excellent line of ultra modern Russians.

Yup. I have KM's T-90s and African militia as well as Eureka modern Russians. Also have QRF Cold War Russian infantry. I have Old Glory Russian vehicles. Ton of Peter Pig types too. Still I cannot field much for a current day fight.

-Eli

Reading Jons comments I concur with everything he has said.
My Warfighter ultra moderns range is a good example if I can throw it out there. Initially it was developed as a range of small national releases, a squad and perhaps a plt hq per nation, aimed squarely for the 'moderns game of the moment" FoF from Ambush Alley (small unit action stuff). We have covered a number of nations and it is a period that I really enjoy, but although I would very much love to just keep on adding to the foundation and put an end to the email barrage I get constantly requesting more, at this time I simply cannot justify the expense knowing that email requests and customer pressure does not necessarily equate to sales made.
Im luckier than many in that I make my own figures and do not contract out sculpting, I also mould, cast, package and send my own products so the expense is kept inhouse (not factoring into the discussion our agreement with Zombiesmith). It must be a lot harder for companies like Khurasan and others who have to allocate vital funds to areas according to their own strategies.

What customers do need to factor into requests is that it is often difficult to balance a 1K-2K investment from a manufacturers perspective into something they are prepared to shell out a tenth of that for… hence in the short term things take time. There is no pleasing everyone unfortunately.

A common circular discussion I am noticing…

Your prices are too expensive (we cut our margin)
Your shipping costs are too high (we cut our margin)
Your ranges are too limited (we invest more from our pool of less)
Range still does not cater for everything (customers do not support existing range)
Your ranges are still too limited (we invest more from our pool of less)

Company falls over…

Flytrap

Not sure how much if it is expert input, so much as 20 years experience. Wargamers are notoriously fickle. You can get 20 say they want something, but unless you can get them all guaranteed buying you will still face a long time to recoup costs. On the other hand, things we built on a whim (many because we wanted it for ourselves) have sold rather well. Prominent anniversaries go without notice, with sales popping up a year or so later.

This is the sort of detailed responses I was hoping for when I chimed in.

Despite my devil's advocacy, I really do tend to fall more to thd manufacturer's side of things even as a consumer. Let's be honest, other than my space dinos, I am still a consumer.

My dinos were an idea I kicked around the internet for about a decade. I even tried shopping the concept to manufacturers. I had little succsss with that so when I decided to throw my hat into the ring, they were what I decided to go with. Even still, my initial plans were for a few packs worth of figs to plant a seed. It just so happened that the Kickstarter craze was hitting the minis scene at ths time. I decided to punt.

As Jon pointed out, it took a year to make good on the promises of the Kickstarter. As it is, things went way off plan. I had technical issues that turned into cost issues. As an example, my casting costs double from their estimate based on what was NEEDED to make it all work. For every dollar the Kickstarter raised, I paid (and still am) a dollar out of pocket. The thing was a huge, often wild, beast. I was committed and it HAD to work. In the end, I managed a release that was commendable, including more than 10 different codes.

I have always respected the non-corporate independent producers and even more so.

Sorry, felt I needed to be open if I was asking others to do the same.

-Eli

To be faie Geoff is right. We (MG) Have commissioned CADDS models and used our 3D printer to make them. The models have been up on Shapeways as part of the deal but they have sold very few. For limited runes the cost of the model is not cheap. manufacture of limited runs is not cheap. You make moulds and cast them. Great and cheap foer big runes but not cheap for a dozen or so. £D printing is expensive. We may now have a route to get a model out for about £5.00 GBP to the punter for 1:144 but its still apremium price as the volumes are limited.

Eli, I think everybody learnt a lot from your kickstarter, and yes, your product is awesome – more importantly though, it has shown everyone how we can use it to make product lines become reality, and the pitfalls we could suffer.

Why not share the knowledge of how it all went? Heck, it seems the perfect way to test the waters for 15mm lines where you just aren't sure the interest is there.

Why not put out kickstarters for new lines folks? You're all trusted producers, and people will see your names against something and go "These folks deliver the goods, it may take a while, but they're all legit!"

I think that is a perfectly valid option for new mini lines.

It let's you:

A) See how much interest exists for *insert random line you aren't sure has a product value behind it to produce* without the undue cost of actually building the minis if they don't reach certain thresholds.

B) Lets you show where you intend to take a series if it is successful

C) Using Eli's experience, you can avoid half the pitfalls that had happened with that kickstarter, whilst at the same time improving on the good parts.

Trust me, if the money is there, people will wait. Look at the recent Empress miniatures line for Pacific 28mm – I don't even play 28mm anymore but I got some, why? Because they looked awesome! I WANTED the goals to be reached, I paid more to help reach them! :)

As for 3D printing – I am all for that as well, it's the way of the future for all miniature models as metals become more and more expensive.

I was actually doing Shapeways models with another fellow on here, who would build the models of what I was after, and I would pay him to have rights to print however many I wanted for myself, and he would sell the build on his own shapeways page. However, the poor fellow has had to focus on more immediate family issues in recent months.

From there, I am yet to get a hold of the printer I want (it's a few thousand dollars so it's not a toy… however it is for MAKING toys in this case!)

Further to last, I think the biggest benefit it has for the producer is that (again, noting we have seen and learnt from how Eli's kickstarter went) with the right calculations, or even if you simply double your costs, you can cover the cost for initial design and production as part of the kickstarter funding.

Also, @Javelin98… colour me intrigued… do you design for 3D printing? How about 15mm troops? :)

To chime in re: Kickstarter. The big players are in a better position to avoid the pitfalls I ran into. They already have the vendors, the experience and the knowledge to better predict how things will run, cost, etc..

I am pretty sure that most of them wouldn't even run into half of the stuff I did except for maybe some of the issues I and my casters had with transitioning some of the sculpts to moulding and casting figs. I've been told by the best out there that there are always unforeseen surprises.

-Eli

Yeah the origins of 15's were in the ancients period. Later it became the biggest scale for sci-fi and later still the World Wars. This is just a niche within a niche. It's just going to take time and an interest by wargamers to play that era. Fantasy and science fantasy gamers we'll call them, operate in the larger scale and granted there is some overlap but regardless those folks interests won't have them dropping their laser toting orcs in favor of a fictional battle between modern China and Russia.

This is the biggest point I'd like to highlight for the miniatures crowd out there that assumes we're some homogeneous group that love all mini gaming. 6mm WWII gamers may think 28mm miniatures with ridiculous sized hands and weapons are just silly. Meanwhile there's someone comparing his 28mm massive laser cannon toting armour clad imperial space gothic knight priest of awesomeness with a historical 28mm Viking miniature and in his eyes, there is no comparison, etc. etc. etc.

Hell you may like them all but I want to reiterate that not everyone shares that opinion and you can't look at the totality of miniature buyers as your market.

I think the interest will get there. The last part of the key that is needed now is the "basic, large scale army" Flames Of War style gamebook that exists for sci-fi (Gruntz, GW) and WW2 (Battlefront). Granted there are other rules like Tomorrow's War/ FoF (which I thoroughly enjoy) but most Modern rulesets are what I'd call "advanced" rulesets… Rules that the average 13y/o would find difficult to learn.

Once we have an entry-level ruleset for a basis in modern rules, that is when you'll really see moderns kick off like it has with sci-fi and WW2.

Don't get me wrong- I love some gothic sci-fi on occasion too but not everyone drops cash indiscriminately on all things mini. :)

Having just read Force on Force, this thread has me interested in a whole new area of miniature wargaming, which I can't afford either. Thanks.

You're welcome Grommet… anything I can do to help haha! :)

I'm embarrassed to say that I pushed Geoff to crank out some American troops, but they're actually only correct for Afghanistan from 2008 to 2010, maybe the first half of 2011.

That's not a particularly useful range for *current* US Army. (Khurasan's range is good for 2010+)

Stuff is just changing too dang fast right now. Look at the Stryker Brigades. MGS? It's been canned, the turret is nearly impossible to keep functional. There are something like 9 different Stryker types, most of which are visually different at 15mm. Unless you do something like lower hull and upper hull, there's no way to economically make all the different types (most types would sell 1 or maybe to per player, with a dozen Stryker ICVs in the company)

If you really want to talk about quick-changing, look at the MRAPs. How many different MRAP designs are there? How many are still in use by the US Army?

And let's not forget that the Army is trying to scrap the humvees for a lighter but still MRAP-rated vehicle. Well, lighter in that it only weights 14,000lbs instead of 30,000lbs, for a vehicle that can haul 5000lbs of stuff. So whenever the DoD gets around to finishing that contest, there will be a good 5 years transition as the Hummvees go away.

What about the replacement for the Bradleys? FCS got canned (bad call, IMO), and it looks like GCV program (replacement program for FCS) is dead, too (nobody wants to buy an APC that weighs more than an Abrams!!).

USMC? Well, the EFV got canned, so vehicle-wise we're still good with the AAV7s (with the enhanced applique armor kit). But what's coming up next? Lord only knows.

Oh I understand that everything is moving fast for most of the current western gamut. I must say that I use "ultra-modern" to describe anything 1995+ in this case, as the ranges for vehicles (outside of some left and right of arc) mostly cut off at that point in time, as do most troops.

It's simply the case that modern 1995+ (unless you're talking modern Insurgents, who could just as easily be Afghanis from the Soviet Invasion) isn't covered in any real way outside of the few troops and the odd vehicle or two. It can be a little frustrating at times.

As for nations that aren't western/coalition/ruled by warlords who still live in 18th century mud huts in Afghanistan or Africa… Well Russians have some kit, a few rare packs that work for Russian 1995+, and vehicles are okay ex-Soviet era.

Chinese, there are a few packs, but sadly squat all modern vehicles for them… wait and see if they ever get anything past "It's 1975 and humans cost less than our bullets".

The others that suffer are the European nations – Czechslovakia, Poland, Germany, France, Italy etc. They have some amazing pieces of gear, and little of that is produced.

As for North Korea… well, they're more a 'nice to have, but I'm not sure people want to fight the US Army using the People's Tractor with a 130mm cannon bolted to the roof".

For those who sell moderns do you see a spike in sales when conflicts erupt? For example Russia and Ukraine at the moment?
I tend to think conflict with N Korea would head nuclear pretty quick but would a minor conflict result in more interest immediately or is there an amount of time to wait before its tasteful to wargame that period?

@enigmatic baron trapdoor Do you cast for other people?

Not really. We see random spikes all over the place. Currently it's WW2 again.

A slight bit of thread hijacking here but relevant. I've just started up a 15mm community on Google+ that might be of interest. plus.google.com/u/0/communities/113353844958862829809