"What's Not Hot?" Topic

Which former trends in the hobby have died away? Name things that were once hot, but aren't any more…

15mm massive battles

Microarmor

Games that take longer than 4 hours

"Collectible miniatures games" (Clix, Pirates of the Spanish Main, and all that)

Warhammer Historical

Mongoose Publishing as a major actor in the miniature wargaming market

Boardgames of the entire Chinese theater, modelled at platoon level. 32 maps. 97,270 1/2" X 1/2" cardboard counters. Printed in two colors. D6 CRT.

1. Saga (still warm but not hot)
2. Resin (generally)
3. Osprey (once the wargamers go to)
4. Flames of War (not everywhere, like it was a while back)
5. Zulus (and Brits) … basically Warlord Games have moved on (applies to quite a lot of stuff) …

I'd love to say 28mm plastics but I don't think that trend is over quite yet

Be good to see a real resurgence of proper historical wargame guide type Ospreys (there's still loads of battles not covered … ) but I think the brand's best days are in the past now …

Phil
(and yes, I know that I nominated Lion Rampant as hot and I know who publishes them )

Were 15mm massive battles ever hot?

Phil

Pirates?

"Were 15mm massive battles ever hot?"

I paid the mortgage on my house most years from 2002 to 2006 or so on painting mostly 15mm Napoleonics.

True 25mm.
Alas.

Ah … Napoleonics … (who knew?) !

Thanks, Pictors …

Phil

The last things I bought.

Wings of War
Axis and Allies (collectibles)

40mm anything. FoGAM. And true scale 25mm.

40mm? Just as I am getting into it?

You are making me feel like I am doing the Macarena while wearing a mullet.

Doing a 15mm Waterloo right now. Battalion level so it's pretty big.

40mm is good to go for me too.

I would say to my view is

FOW dead and buried i played is solid 4 years , now i dont have a tank or book they ruined a good thing.

Resin buildings too old MDF is the way now

Rules that say "you must have"

GW seem to imploding and intent on self destruction, all the rules and fluff they are throwing out WHY?

-15mm remains consistent in 15mm Naps and ACW large battle games in that it's still well played and does not seem to suffer highs and lows as much as others. IMHO I would say it's neither hot nor cold.

-FOW I feel the same way about that as Naps and ACW in that it's neither hot or cold. One must say they are still selling well as they have trouble keeping things in stock. However with Cold War releases it may go hot if they can keep up with the supply and demand.

- Agree in true 25mm is significantly down.

Christopher

Wings of War made be dead and buried but Wings of Glory is hot – the big bombers have gone up on Kickstarter and the money came flooding in.

Zombies, not dead yet (snicker) but starting on the downward slide.

Paris Hilton.

Steampunk

Philadelphia Eagles.

Historical gaming is not hot. Its become a small genre in a small genre. If you like it, it probably happens in your club or kitchen table. You wont find it in many stores.

Oh yeah pogs arent hot anymore either….

What is hot is giving your money to Monty Haul kickstarters that never come….

Yeah, zombies are dead.

I think people are missing the OP point…a lot of things listed (FoW, Wings of War, SAGA…) are STILL being played (and by a lot of people, even if you aren't). The question is what has died?

I second 25mm and I'll add casualty removal in pre-20th century games.

1. Hobby Shops that sold Historical Games and Figures
2. MWAN
3. Rules that cost less then $30 USD
4. Rules with lots of Charts
5. Rules/Games that don't have to be REVISED every 2 – 3 years in order to attract "New" players

I think people are missing the OP point…a lot of things listed (FoW, Wings of War, SAGA…) are STILL being played (and by a lot of people, even if you aren't). The question is what has died?

I'm inclined to agree, although Bill's question can be taken as somewhat ambivalent. It could be read as:

* What is now more or less dead in miniature wargaming? (CMGs, WAB, etc)

* What can be identified as having been trendy at some point in the not-too-distant past and having now reverted to or levelled out at a state of normalcy? (Pirates, Old West, 30s gangsters, Border Reivers, Darkest Africa, retro pulp sci-fi, etc)

* What is seriously old school in a way that's not very common anymore? (True 25mm, etc)

* What is in a slow state of decline, such that it's still common but seems to be slowly losing ground? (Resin terrain, etc)

They're all interesting questions, but we don't all seem to be answering the same one in this thread.

If someone thinks 40mm figures are dying away, I keep getting orders from new customers every month for our Trident Designs and Men-at-Arms 40mm ranges and have customers now in 37 States and 16 countries!

Hobby shops or game shops are Not Hot. Anyone pontificating on what gets played in brick and mortar game shops is Not Hot either.