"Glaciation and Wargaming" Topic

Based on this poll about what is "hot" using suggestions from six or so months ago, I wondered how often in the wargaming community what is "hot" changes for people.

Do we seem to have new, exciting, must-have miniatures popping up all the time, or does it seem we have a lot of the same with a few minor variations.

Me, I've been regularly playing pretty much the same core games for a few decades. About three-fourths the figures I get are (new variations) on existing forces I have and a quarter are "new" things for new forces. (Half of each set are bits of bobs for conversion.)

I've definitely settled into a nice, comfy, warm bath … mmmmmmmmmmmmm.

2-3 years with some favorites always around. FOW has been around for awhile and still seems strong locally. Age of Sigmar seems to be heating up.

I stay pretty steady. My preferences are for rules 40 years old like Gush, Rally 'round the Flag and WRG 6. Not many folks want to play those these days so I've gotten into S & F, F & F and FoG. The only "new" set that I've liked in years was BLB. My group is often much more mercurial. There will be much change in the future as our FLGS is dying.

I think there are three cycles:
(1) a relatively short rule cycle, possibly 5-10 years, where eventually they're replaced by a new edition or some other rules using the same basing. You can spot the "hot" rules because sommeone is continually adapting it to a different period or level of combat.
(2) A longer popular culture cycle--zombies right now; pirates before that. And I'm going to have to look through old convention programs to find out what came before pirates. It's a longer cycle because someone has to actually start making castings, and sometimes the terrain requirements are unique.
(3) The lifetime cycle. The young wargamer starts out with Column, Line and Square and will always be at home in tactical Napoleonics. Or sees ZULU in the theaters and never gets far from colonials. The next generation grew up with STAR WARS and video games of the "first person shooter" sort, and always has a science fiction army around.

I look on Dan's 2-3 year cycle as failures, though not always commercial failures. If you advertise something to death and put on demonstration games at every major con, you can move a certain amount of rule books, and maybe even some proprietary figures and dice. But most of the time, no one writes scenarios or organizes tournaments, and in three years you can buy the rules for $5 USD each, still in shrink wrap.

Me? Periods and scales stay. Rules--simple ones--come and go.The ones requiring new basing don't even come.

I stay pretty much the same. But my gaming groups often goes for the new shiny thing. I sometimes get dragged along.