"Is Napoleonics Losing Popularity? No!" Topic

You were asked – TMP link

Several of our readers have posted their observations that Napoleonic miniature wargaming is in decline. Do you agree?

58% said "no, Napoleonics is not declining"
22% said "yes, Napoleonics is declining"

This I am very glad to hear, popularity means new products.

What percentage of respondents are Napoleonic fans?

I'm going to say that "80's style" Napoleonics is declining: no 48 man units, laundry list of modifiers. I wonder if something like Rune wars would make it more popular. Two man Cav units, etc

wow, i was worried!

It seems impossible for Napoleonics to decline as a wargame genre. Too many attractive features: uniforms, personalities, tactics, numerous books on the era, etc.

Sorry but I do not see the number of players as I did in the 90s and those present are aged- in respect to the 50 states.
Nor see the number of young folks getting into it.

It seems to be strong in UK and has grown in the Australia from the "TMP" view.

Was the surveys from supplier information?
Was it based on respondents and to their age?

This survey would be a challenge to address accurately.

If there could be a true random population taken of response, then addressed by age, then by quantity by "age buckets" , for each region ( USA, Can, UK, EU, Australia etc) might show a trend more to a true perspective.

for example

all gaming-100 responses( adequately random)[a problem in it self]
30 responses are Yes to NAPs
60 do not/No
10 have been in Napoleonic but have left
Of the 30 yes, 4 are New to the period/ started NAPs in past 5 yrs

of the 30 who said yes
5 are 70+ age
8 are 69 to 60 age
7 are 59-50 age 2 of 4 new
4 are 49-40
2 are 39-30 1 of the 4 new
1 are 29-20
3 are 19 or less, 1 of the 4 new

Possible conclusions Derived:
Nap players have declined by 25% overall
Nap players over 50 is 60% of the current and 50 % of the new players-only 40 % are under 50.

Possible Adequate Conclusion: Nap is on a decline trend

I think historical wargaming is in the decline. Some of the new rule sets on the market are little more then a joke, just a means to drum up trade on a new line of figures. I started out playing Napoleonic but found that rules like Fog Napoleonic for one just turned it into a joke. Black powder is not much better.

I doubt historical wargaes are in decline but the amount of figures used are now smaller. People play more skirmish games as Sharp etc.

I think the younger crowd likes fantasy more than historical. They like Warhammer, Lord of the Rings, Sci-Fi, and zombie junk.

I think since Europe was the center for a majority of histories wars that historical is stronger in Europe than the U.S.

Amongst younger people it's basically dead. On the other hand, I notice that high-concept board games are quite popular and selling readily. That might be a way forward. The issue is that younger people no longer have the time, space or money to collect, paint and store miniature soldiers. My own range of figures sort of tries to fix those issues, but I think I'm younger than most of my customers (I'm 37!). I also think its a generational experience thing. Most Millenials have no connection to the military, and most who do have one would sooner play videogames.

errr… plus an extra 4% if you count those who say that Napoleonics is growing in popularity.

Dunno. I played a massive game at the weekend (Ligny Refight)
and I was the youngest player (I'm 41). But then I was playing in Austria where wargames really aren't that popular.

for a look at the game see my blog

leadpoet.blogspot.com

Huge resergence at our club in recent months. Lots of ppl building 6mm to join their 15/2025/28mm collections.

Agree most younger folk are Fantasy/Sci Fi as most came into figure gaming via Warhammer/40K.

personally I don't care – there is a wealth of excellent miniatures out there – as long as they are produced and I can spend my money, I cannot be bothered