Miniatures, miniatures, miniatures.....

My minis don't look this nice...

In the last six months or so I have taken up interest in miniature gaming.  I have not played many of these types games over the years with Rogue Trader being the exception (but even then I did not have enough money to collect and paint more than a handful of minis).  I have been scouring the internets for fun fast games that are in conflicts or time periods that I am interested in.  All of these games require small amounts of miniatures, I am not interested in games that need hundreds of minis to play. If anyone else has suggestions for fun, low count miniature games, please post in the comments section below!

Dux Bellorum: Arthurian Wargaming Rules AD 367 - 793, published by Osprey Wargames.  I'm sure many of my viewers are familiar with Osprey Publishing and their great many books on all kinds of historical conflicts and the troops and equipment that were involved in them.  Dux Bellorum is a quick, skirmish game that has a relatively low miniature count.  The basing rules are flexible and can be scaled up or down depending on what size miniatures you plan to use.  Each army consists of roughly ten units and each unit represents around fifty men.  Command and control is handled by Leadership Points you can allocate each turn and the rules seem sleek and polished.  There has been some complaint with how skirmishers are handled but I have not had a chance to play and encounter these complaints. I own no dark age miniatures as of yet as I am currently focused on another game listed below.

All Things Zombie: Final Fade Out by Two Hour Wargames. This is the latest version of their popular zombie miniature game.  The reason I became interested in this game is due to its robust campaign system AND its a game about ZOMBIES for pete's sake!  This game is a little more complex than the other games on this list and the manual is very utilitarian, no pictures other than the cover and it is a comb bound book.  The campaign systems looks awesome and has your ongoing characters worried about resources such as food, fuel, medical supplies and luxury items.  Not only do you have to worry about zombies but also other groups of survivors, called PEF's (possible enemy forces). The idea of creating a character and then trying to survive the zombie apocalypse was too irresistible to pass up.  I have no miniatures for this game yet but I have 60 of them on the way thanks to a recently completed Indiegogo campaign.  I can't wait to get started painting my undead horde!

Force on Force: Modern Wargaming Rules, also published in hardcover by Osprey Wargaming.  This game has me very excited, its a small unit skirmish ruleset for modern warfare.  The focus of this game is on irregular warfare, usually U.S. and allies versus guerilla style fighters, e.g. the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Viet Cong, etc.  There is a whole line of miniatures by Elhiem that support this game and a series of scenario books that focus on different conflicts like the battle of Fallujah, Afghanistan, Iraq War, African Bush Wars and Somalia to name a few.  The rules seem fast and simple and are not bogged down with the exact placement of where each individual miniature is placed, a squad is the unit of measurement, so if most of the unit is under cover then they are all considered under cover.  There is a nice interrupt mechanic that allows static units to shoot at moving units, it all seems pretty slick.  I also picked up the Enduring Freedom: Afghanistan 2001-2010 scenario book.  This is not a points driven game, you do not purchase your side and then battle it out, each game is based on real world encounters or generic mission profiles.  I am really looking forward to giving this a try.  Once again, I have no miniature for this game yet and I am currently painting minis for the game listed below.  You can see the wonderful Elhiem Miniatures here: http://www.elhiemfigures.com/

Habet, Hoc Habet! Rules for Gladiator Combat by Flagship Games.  This is the game I am currently most involved in.  I have around twenty five gladiator miniatures that I am painting and will be building a small arena soon after.  I picked this up after reading numerous reviews of all of the gladiator games out there (and there are a lot of them).  It was well reviewed and includes rules for horses, chariots, beasts and ongoing campaigns.  After watching the Spartacus series on Starz I was all amped up for some sword and sandal action!  Initiative each round is determined by a deck of playing cards, each gladiator has a certain amount of actions depending on their experience level. My only worry is that this game will end up being very static, gladiators run at each other then stop and swing until they are dead.  I need to read through the rules again to figure out what combat actions are available.  This is a common complaint I have heard of many of the available gladiator games out there but not one I have specifically heard in relation to Habet, Hoc Habet!  Has anyone out there played this game, any feedback on it?  I'll be posting some pictures in the next few weeks of my sad looking paint jobs on my Crusader Miniature gladiators so you all can get a good laugh.