Weapons ready!"

Lieutenant Josef Brodsky stands behind the tree line with his platoon at ready. They have been pinned down by the barrage of Tau weapons fire for at least ten minutes now. With virtually no cover between them and the enemy horde, it would seem a quick death to advance.

"We must act boldly. Otherwise, we shall only be remembered as cowards. And the history does not easily forgive cowardice."

There is a long, grim silence. The men know what they must do.

"Let the day be ours, and for the Emperor CHAAAAAARGE!!"

The lightly armored men emerge from the sanctity of the woods like determined predators, hoping that perhaps their actions will be remembered for all of eternity.

There are hundreds of wargame publishers out there, but only a few rules systems enjoy widespread popularity.

For many years, tabletop wargames have been overlooked by much of the gaming world. Many gamers considered it to be inaccessible, due to all the elements involved. After all, you have to collect the miniatures, paint them, design army lists and even create terrain. All that, in addition to actually playing the game itself made it look quite exhausting.

Of course, the tabletop wargames hobby isn't that exhausting at all. It can be as involved or as casual as you want it to be. If you're only interested in playing the game, then there are plenty of shortcuts you can take.

In a nutshell, tabletop wargame's offer an altogether different enjoyment than other forms of gaming. There's nothing like seeing two well-painted armies battling it out on a detailed "battlefield". Especially when you're commanding one of them.

So, get your boltguns and halberds ready, kids. 'Cuz we're going to take a look at the exciting world of tabletop wargame's!

CHOOSING THE RIGHT GAME
Up until recently, the selection of miniatures games was...umm....modest. Fortunately, the gaming industry has been pumping them out by the butt-load lately. This is great news for the gamer looking to delve into miniatures, since it's now easier than ever to find a tabletop wargame that perfectly suits your interests.

Let's take a look at some of the different games available. This is definitely not an exhaustive list (far from it), but it should be enough to give you a shove in the right direction.

Science Fiction
Warhammer 40,000 (Games Workshop): The grand-daddy of sci-fi tabletop wargames, 40K is a very dark and gothic view of the far future, where humanity struggles to survive in a galaxy filled with hostile alien races, from the high-tech Eldar to the savagely humorous Orks (and everything in between).

Epic 40,000 (Games Workshop): An off-shoot game to WH40K, Epic lets you field truly vast armies in 6mm scale. Perfect for those who enjoy grand tactics as opposed to small-scale skirmish tactics.

Gorkamorka (Games Workshop): Another spin-off game that pits Orks against Orks in a knock-down drag out for survival. Very quirky.

Necromunda (Games Workshop): The most popular of the WH40K subsidiary games. This one is centered around gang warfare in the dark future. Necromunda encourages campaign play, where you slowly build up your gang's skill and equipment throughout the course of a series of games. The rules for this game are available for free at http://specialist-games.com

Battlefleet Gothic (Games Workshop): Warhammer 40k in space! Space craft, asteroid fields, space stations----it's all here. BFG features phenominal miniatures and a sleek game system making this a real gem. In my opinion, it is the best space combat game on the market. The rules for this game are available for free at http://specialist-games.com

Warzone (Heartbreaker/Tatget): The biggest competition to WH40K in years. Warzone is also a dark, gothic game, but is quite different than it's predecessor. The basis of the universe is that mankind has finally expanded to the stars...but came across the Dark Legion, a force of indomitable evil. To make things worse, the humans fight each other as much as they do the Dark Legion.

Battleground (White Wolf): Based on the Trinity rpg, Battleground depicts the conflict between the humans and the super-powered Aberrants.

Warmachine (Privateer Press): Steampunk war machines and magical forces struggle for supremacy in an Iron Fantasy world.

OGRE (Steve Jackson Games): Artificially Intelligent cybertanks, armored hovercraft and powersuit infantry clash in the Third World War. Epic scale (6mm) figures represent the North American Combine and PanEuropean Federation as they struggle to determine the fate of mankind for the next hundred years.

Star Fleet Battles (Amarillo Design Bureau): Starship combat set in an alternate Star Trek universe. The great grand-daddy of all space combat wargames.

Starship Troopers (Mongoose Publishing): Man versus Arachnid in the future world of Robert A. Heinlein, fight for the future of the human race. Designed by Andy Chambers, formerly of Games Workshop, who designed Warhammer 40k as well.

Fantasy
Warhammer (Games Workshop): WH is the fantasy game that set the standards in the industry. This game takes the classic fantasy races and delivers it's own take on them.

Chronopia (Heartbreaker/Target): This is simply the darkest, grittiest fantasy setting I've ever seen. And it makes for an unusual game world. The familiar fantasy races are suddenly not familiar at all (Turkish-like Orcs??).

Mordheim (Games Workshop): Mordheim brings mood and atmosphere to the twg genre. You create a warband of treasure hunters and send them on expeditions into the dangerous city of Mordheim, which was reduced to ruins after getting nailed by a meteor. Like Necromunda, this game is best suited for campaign play.It is also worth mentioning that this is a relatively inexpensive game to get into. The rules for this game are available for free at http://specialist-games.com

Demonworld (Hobby Products): This 15-mm scale game is a new addition to the tabletop wargames community and it's quite impressive. The miniatures are nice and the game system is detailed (yet streamlined and easy to learn). One nice aspect of Demonworld is it's tremendous setting. The history is intriguing and, best of all, it's a constantly developing story line that will unfold as time goes on.

Warmaster (Games Workshop): GW's newest venture is done on an all-new "epic" scale, where the emphasis is on large scale tactics. It's a nice, easy game with a lot going for it. I'm especially fond of the fact that it's possibly the most strategy oriented game in the GW line. The rules for this game are available for free at http://specialist-games.com

Mighty Armies (Mongoose Publishing): 15mm fantasy mass combat.

Historical

Flames of War (Battlefront Ltd.): WWII in 15mm scale. Covers the entire European Theater of Operations (including North Africa).

Battlefield Evolution (Mongoose Publishing): 28mm combat in the near future. Figures come pre-painted (always a plus). Factions include the USA, UK, PRC and the Middle East Alliance (an Al Quaida stand-in).

Remember, these are not the only tabletop wargames in existence. Actually, I've only scratched the surface. If fantasy and science fiction aren't exactly what you had in mind, then perhaps historical miniatures games such as "Fire & Fury" or "Normandy" will get you interested. Whatever your tastes are, you should have no problems finding the right tabletop wargame to accommodate them.

Let's talk about the workhorses of any tabletop wargame.....the miniatures.

First off, there's the little matter of collecting them. For those of us on a budget, the best way to collect miniatures is to select one particular army that interests you and acquire only miniatures of that army. Since most tabletop wargames have quite a wide variety of armies to choose from, this can be a bit tricky. It's highly important at this point to examine the army in detail, to make sure it's the one you want to invest your money in. Trust me...it's no fun to blow cash on an army only to discover you don't like it as much as you thought you would.

To avoid this sort of thing, play a few games using the army before committing to it. Just use any miniatures you own to represent the army. Or if you don't have enough miniatures, borrow a friend's miniatures or create some tokens out of cardboard or something. It doesn't really matter what you use.

Here's a few questions to ask yourself when selecting an army.

• Does this army mesh well with my style of play? There's no point in plunking down your hard-earned bucks for an army that's best at charging into close combat if you prefer the idea of picking off enemies from a distance.
   
• Do I like the look of the miniatures available for this army? It may sound like nit-picking (and in a way it is), but a tabletop wargame is a very visual game...and if you don't like the way the miniatures look, then you're sacrificing a crucial aspect by "settling" for the army.
   
• Is the concept and backstory for the army cool? While this is only icing on the cake, you should make sure you connect with the army in a story sense. Tabletop wargames are very story-oriented so this could affect your enjoyment of the army immensely. For example, if you generally root for the bad guys when watching movies or reading books, you may want to avoid taking one of the "good guy" armies.

Now that you've decided on an army to collect, you should plan out an "army list". This will give you a structure for purchasing the models. It's extremely easy to fall into the trap of buying miniatures in an unplanned manner. Fight the impulse tooth and nail. This kind of irrational purchasing can empty your piggy bank in a big hurry. By coming up with a small army list, you'll have a blueprint to work from. Stick to it religiously.

Off To The Battlefield!
The world of miniatures gaming is certainly a vast place, filled with brave knights, honorable samurai, insidious aliens, and unflinching space marines. It's an experience unlike anything else you've ever seen. The level of involvement is unparalleled by any other type of gaming. There are so many facets of the hobby, that it's nearly unbelievable.

This is your chance to take command of a mighty army...to destroy the enemy forces at any cost...to stand alone on the battlefield in overwhelming triumph.

Do you have what it takes?