"Companies You Can't Do Without?" Topic

Which are the five tabletop wargaming companies that are essential to your hobby enjoyment?

Elegoo – resin for 3d printing (and the orinter)

Revell – decent acrylic paint

Facebook – keeping in touch with the wargaming community

Amazon – rapid provision of "stuff" for wargame creation

Wargames Vault – great source of wargaming rules, models etc.

Well, one of those is a tabletop wargaming company…

Well, if it comes down to who I buy my figures from, it would be:
1. Wargames Foundry
2. Old Glory
3. Gripping Beast
4. Perry Brothers
5. Dragon Bait recently

Of course, this has changed over the years. Once upon a time, I would have listed Ral Partha and RAFM.

Grelber

Top 5 – in no particular order

Fire and Fury Games

Essex

Peter Pig

Old Glory

On Military Matters

Given additional options – would add Frontier Miniatures – though now defunct – I bought a lot of miniatures from them

@Bill – they are all companies that are currently essential to my wargaming experience. In the past my response would have been more "mainstream"

Currently? High P&P costs have severely curtailed (or, for the US, stopped) my overseas spending, so:

Eureka Miniatures (18mm SYW and others)

Back 2 Base-ix (movement trays, bases, my LED lightbridge)

Battlefield Accessories (buildings, game system accessories, etc)

Perry Miniatures (28mm WotR)

Litko- even if P&P costs have stopped me buying from them, their bases support my SYW collection (3600+ painted and based, more to do).

FYI Litko are now available via Pendraken…

Most recently Pendraken, Irregular Miniatures & Magister Millitum but Baccus were a major source not that long ago. For my more esoteric (i.e. non-historical) Brigade Models feature in a number of projects and for terrain Leven provide most of my buildings.

H&R, Irregular, Baccus, Litko, Perry, Warlords

Games Workshop
Forgeworld
Warlord
Atomic Mass Games
Parabellum

Spencer Smith Miniatures
Age of Glory
Warbases
North Star
Warfare Miniatures USA

None, including INLGames.

No commercial organization is essential</i? to my enjoyment of wargaming. Running INLGames gives me a lot of enjoyment. GW is probably the single largest company that creates the opportunity for garage saleing second hand figures for cheap and converting.

Hmmm…
Well, at this point, like etotheipi, I have to say none. I have the minis I want, the rules I want, the dice I need, and the other stuff doesn't come from wargaming companies.

But let's take it to "what wargaming companies were essential to put you where you are now in miniatures wargaming?"

In no particular order that would be:

Ares Games (Wings of Glory)
FFG (Wings of War, X-wing 1st ed)
Steve Jackson Games (Ogre, GEV)
Hasbro (HeroQuest)
Mantic Games (Armada)
Games Workshop (Warmaster, Battle of Five Armies, Space Hulk)
Kallistra (10mm fantasy)
Copplestone Castings (10mm fantasy— half my forces are probably Copplestone)
Whoever currently makes the plastic AWI toy soldiers sold by Hobby Lobby
Armies in Plastic (AWI plastics compatable with Hobby Lobby soldiers)
Ground Zero Games (spaceships)
Studio Bergstrom (spaceships)
Sally 4th (10mm MDF laser cut castle walls)
Chessex (dice)
DriveThruRPG (rules)
Wizards of the Coast (for old school TSR rules available from DriveThruRPG, but not really anything they produce now)

I'm probably leaving something out, and that list is solely for miniatures wargaming. For wargaming including board games, the list would jump considerably.

Shogun Miniatures. Steel movement trays. I don't know of anyone else making a similar product.
Little Big Men. Shield decals. Honorable mention to Battle Flag and VVV.
Badger Games – one stop shop for the US.
Stynylrez (Badger Air Brush) – brush on primer. My new favorite thing.
Hirst Arts – molds for plaster blocks.

Essex — the stapliest staple of my miniatures stable.
Eureka — always wind up buying something every year.
Litko — always well stocked up on 100 count bags of bases.
Steve Jackson Games — OGRE, hmm.
Things From The Basement — always something every year.

Honourable Mention: FASA — long gone, but I'm still hunting even more PlasTech BattleMechs on EBay to round out battalions for Alpha Strike!

RU Serious ?!?!?!?! Wargame companies ESSENTIAL tp
me ??

Well, when I started playing, maybe Jack Scruby
but now NONE.

Sarissa
Perry
Badger Games

Avalon Hill…oh, wait.

Noble Knight Games
Amazon
Perry Miniatures
Thoroughbred

Minifigs
Fact and Fantasy Games
Fantasy Games Unlimited
TSR Inc
Grenadier

Perry, Front Rank, Elite, Old Glory, and North Star.

Old Glory-10mm ACW and conversions to Mexican War
Victrix-For the ancients-glorious!
Rubicon-For DAK Attacks! and my Bolt Action N. Africa battles
Perry-although slowly fading…
Eureka/AB Minis-I always need another Nap unit or two
Honorable mention-Vallajo paint, to bring the boys to life!

Pendraken
AB/Eureka
Steel Fist
Peter Pig
Gripping Beast

1). Miniature Market (it's where our group holds its monthly game day).
2). Litko – Great bases.
3). Baccus – Great figs.
4). Old Glory – Great figs.
5). Table Wars – Great Mats
6). Honour Publications – Great Rules
7). Osprey
8). Ares Games
9). Facebook
10) Amazon

Noble Knight
Irregular Miniatures
West Wind
Microworld
Pendraken

GHQ
Litko
GZG
ADB

Wargames Foundry
Perry Miniatures
Warlord Games

that is all I use, and Warlord Games is a very recent addition due to Epic Pike & Shotte.

Games workshop, or Warhammer as we should now call it. I don't buy their figures but they are essential for paints and other bits. Second, The Range, again for paints. Gripping Beast for figures.

The only essential is a good internet connection. From that I get the news of what's happening, the suppliers of new figures, paint, terrain etc, and stay in contact with others. Not having an internet hook up makes everything more difficult /

Smooth-on.

Pendraken.

Old Glory
Old Glory 15's
Gripping Beast
Litko
Zombiesmith

In a world of alternatives, there is not a single company out there that is essential to my enjoyment of the hobby. Not a single one.

Old Glory 25mm,
Old Glory 15mm,
Old Glory 10mm

will have to think about the other two……

+1 Extrabio1947

Interesting chat.
Five guys I use a lot.
In many ways these are recommendations.

Of course there are alternatives which is good news indeed.

1. Vallejo and similar paints (buy about 25 a year)
2. Warbases for mounting figures (buy about 100 bases per year)
3. Sylmasta for modelling putty (36" per year)
4. Flames war for rivers, railways etc. (The railways are excellent)
5. Geek Villain for mats (I now have 8)

thanks

martin

Just off the top of my head, and slightly unfairly:

Navwar
Tumbling Dice
HaT plastics (or Strelets)
Irregular
Heroics and Ros

Essex Miniatures
Gripping Beast
Perry Miniatures
Eureka
Wargamer (Poland)
Firelock Games
Catalyst Games
Northstar
Wargamer Vault
Vallejo
Apple Barrel

Wargames Foundry
Perry Miniatures
AB
GAJO
Warlord
Eureka
Crusader
Askari
North Star

Ed and Parzival have a point. I listed people I'd purchased from within the last year or two, but the armies are complete. They're "essential" in terms of having provided the troops, but not "essential" in terms of future builds, because there won't be much. I expect eventually I'll go back to Irregular for a microscale convoy and more 2mm Napoleonics, but right now there isn't even a planned order.

Too Fat Lardies
Peter Pig
Timecast
Warbases
Battlecsale wargame buildings

Tabletop providers of figures. There are many others, but I will stick to the question.

Baraka Figures and Games.
Brigade Games.
North Star.
Recreational Conflict.
1898 Miniatures.

Wow, this is much tougher than I thought.

As of today:

Perry Miniatures
Warlord Games
WW Scenics/War World Gaming
Sarissa Precision
Too Fat Lardies

But going back to my roots, I need to acknowledge:

Wargames Foundry
Battle Honours
Old Glory
CinC/GHQ
Games Workshop

And way back in the annals of time to the very beginning: Airfix.

Perry Miniatures
Vallejo Paints
Knuckleduster – for wild west and War of 1812
Old Glory
Too Fat Lardies