"Best Obscure Army?" Topic

I have a German friend who doesn't actually game, but has a huge collection of historical figures. Interestingly, he owns very few of the "Big Three"—no WWII, no Napoleonics and no Imperial Romans. Instead, he collects armies from more unusual periods and conflicts.

He has, amongst many others, forces for the Rif War (1921–26), The Deluge (17th-century Poland) and The Taiping Rebellion.

Not so long ago, many obscure armies were difficult to collect. You either had to convert figures yourself, search for specialist manufacturers or commission someone to make them for you. Today, with 3D printing, almost any army from any period seems possible.

So, what's the most overlooked army in wargaming in your opinion?

If you could persuade every wargamer to collect one obscure army, what would it be—and why?
NB I'll take fleets t accommodate the naval gamers amongst us.

Obscure armies are not for everyone, nor would I want everyone to dive into a period. I've attempted to do Norway 1940, and have a lot of figures for The Deluge (not obscure at all in Poland!). I'm happy in my obscurity.

The 1932 Emu War (which, not surprisingly, is NOT obscure in SW WA) could be a good choice as it is something out of the ordinary.

One side would be the Royal Australian Artillery soldiers – armed with Lewis guns, evidently – who would be easy to collect in their WW2 battle dress & slouch hats.

However, their opponents might not be….who makes large, flightless birds in 20mm?

Well, they could be small flightless birds in 25/28mm.
Without bothering to Google them, I suggest Etsy. That's my go-to site for weird stuff. Who knows?
Or at Hobby Libby, the bags of garish soft plastic animals.

In my own collection, I have 1757 Spanish in Mexico. This includes Cuera lancers. However, at least 3 different manufacturers do them in 28mm.

I have seen rumors of Tlingit Alaskan miniatures. I might be interested in them, vs 1790 Russians.

I might point the Ancient and Medieval player to WRG, Warrior, DBM etc army lists for "armies" that even the gamer never heard of, until he decided he could make a killer tournament army from that list.

Dacian. Most people have never heard of ‘em, and the unique weapon they used makes them stand out from the typical Roman foes. Less obscure to Ancient gamers, but there you go. Plus we've got a pretty good idea of their battle appearance, so minis are viable.

Now, if by "best" you mean more likely to win… well, that and "obscure" don't tend to go together.

I have Canadian Colonial forces from the Riel Rebellion – which most non-Canadians and even a lot of Canadians have never heard of – plus a bunch of Chinese Warlord armies as well as the Mexican Grenadiers of the Supreme Power, which is I think a pretty obscure unit (although red coats, blue pants and a bearskin make an interesting blend for a regiment based in Mexico City)

IIRC Eureka Miniatures offer figures and rules for the Great Emu Wars!

I used to have a Chinese Warlord army.

Been researching the Songai (Songhay) Empire lately – had both army and navy pre-gunpowder

I started out converting a colonial era Greek contingent, which morphed into an 1897 Greek army. Since I wasn't up to converting evzones, I prevailed on Eureka to make them for me. Since then, another company has brought out evzones, and Irregular brought out a line of Greeks (also Turks and other Balkan armies) in 40 mm, I think. Actually, the 1897 war was about the time William Britain's and perhaps others, started manufacturing toy soldiers, and Britain's did some Greeks for people who were inspired by the war. As it turns out, the Greeks lost the war, so they aren't interested in gaming it, the Turks won, but Britain, France, and Russia bullied them into giving up almost all their spoils, so the Turks aren't interested in gaming it, and nobody else has heard about it. However, it is pretty much the first toy soldier era war.

I've got to agree with advocate that obscure armies are not for everybody.

Grelber

Also, one man's obscure army is another's main stream army.

I have a Dark Age Cornish army, is that obscure or are the two Force Publique armies obscure?

If you are into the periods, maybe not, but for others…

Maybe ancient Indians? Getting to have everything in a single army and be historically accurate is a major appeal. Elephants, chariots, cavalry, professional heavy infantry, levies, longbowmen, even the more historically suspect maiden guard type units.