Recommend me a new hobby fix!

[sackofmonkeys]

OK, here's the deal: I've had a complete clear-out of my hobby cupboard. There is nothing left in the lead mountain, all my old figures, painted or unpainted are gone (or will be very soon). I have no wargames rules left, partly finished projects or half baked distractions, just some paint, brushes, very occasional free time and a will to paint.

I'm looking LAF readers and posters to recommend a period/setting, set of rules and line (or lines) of miniatures to invest my limited free time and elbow grease in for the next 12 to 24 months or so.

The criteria are as follows:

1) it must have a comparatively modest entry level cost (lets say no more than £100-200)
2) the figures can be of any scale, but I must be able to store them (and any associated terrain, etc.) in a comparatively small area and play in a comparatively small area also
3) the miniatures must be easily obtainable in the UK
4) as I'm primarily a painter rather than a player, I'd prefer miniatures that reward good painting
5) although primarily a painter, a rule set played by at least one or two other people in the cosmos would be a distinct advantage
6) the rules must not be overly complex, require the purchase of multiple volumes, be renewed every 6 months
7) I'll consider historical, fantastical or science fiction settings but I'd prefer a setting that will allow me to be creative and paint individual character figures rather than 200 identically equipped and uniformed soldiers

Those are all the criteria I can think of at the moment! I genuinely look forward to hearing your suggestions! 

[TheBlackCrane]

How about, for rules - Irregular Wars: Conflict at the Worlds End 1519-1641

2' by 2' playing area, skirmish sized actions (e.g. representing anything from 50-200 troops or so) 15mm based on 30mm square bases, don't need lots of figures or terrain to play. The rules come with army lists for forces from all over the globe, so you can easily put together forces for, say, Conquistadores, but if you then fancy doing, say, Cossacks on the Russian steppe, or Samurai Japan, it's quite easy to throw together a couple more forces.

Grumpy Miniatures (available in the UK from East Riding) do some nice Portuguese Colonials, Indian, various others, and there are plenty of options about for European-style forces, Aztecs and other South Americans, and so on (Essex, Tin Soldier etc)

http://www.vexillia.ltd.uk/common/shop_books.html

[obsidian3d]

Hm, let me think. I'd say the game that ticks all of your boxes might be Bushido. As an alternative (featuring less fiddly figures) I would suggest Empire of the Dead.

[Elprez]

I'd second "Empire of the Dead", and also, in a similar vein recommend a look at "In Her Majesty's Name"?

[v_lazy_dragon]

Dead man's hand or similar old west skirmish?

[Elprez]

Adventures In Jimland, which is 10 times better than the name would suggest, is a lot of fun

Free Quickstart Rules in pdf format:-
http://www.fudgerpg.com/nags/resources/Jimland/Jimland_Rules/Sample_Game.pdf

And the full rules are available here:-
http://minden_games.homestead.com/Jimland.html

[d phipps]

Check out our Pulp Alley adventure/skirmish game --

Normally about 3 to 12 figures per side.
Rules are easy to learn and fast to play.
And player creativity is encouraged.  


Here's a list of some battle reports, so you can see some actually gaming pics --- http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=54250.0


You can download a free version of Pulp Alley from Wargame Vault. It's not the full version, but it's enough to get started --- http://www.wargamevault.com/browse.php?manufacturers_id=5628


And my daughter and I designed the rules.




HAVE FUN

[janner]

Donnybrook...

[nic-e]

DEADZONE 2x2 play mat, no more than 1 minis per army.pretty figures.damn nice rules.

[Elk101]

I'd go for Pulp Alley; loads of options, character based, fluid rules, great price, fun!

[FramFramson]

Pulp Alley

You can play it as a sci-fi, western, Pulp, whatever you want - the rules are very flexible. Quick games, a standard table is 3'x3', and the rules are simple enough.

Pick out whatever figures you like and go from there. You can get by with as few as 3 miniatures per league (average league size is 5-6 and can get up to a dozen or so in some cases).

[soldieroftheline]

What about SAGA, very popular atm, only requires 24-72 figures per side, can use plastics to keep the cost down. You might think that Dark Ages isn't very interesting from a painters point of view but I think there's plenty of scope with shield patterns, decorated tunics etc and certainly no uniformity. The only thing that perhaps goes against it in your criteria is the several supplements but at least they aren't constantly revised.

[swiftnick]

How about HOTT? You can do it in any scale you fancy. The armies are small and so is the playing area. Quick fast game and a lot of fun if you approach it with the right frame of mind.

[sackofmonkeys]

Thanks for all the suggestions folks. Lots of interesting suggestions. Pulp Alley particularly looks fun, but I'm leaning towards Empire of the Dead and other wacky Victorian horror / sci fi settings such as In Her Majesty's Name and Chaos in Carpathia. 

[carlos13th]

Infinity?
Ronin ?
In her majestys name?
Deadzone?
Saga?
War machine/ hordes?

Kings of war? (may be too big, cheap though)