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There are a lot of problems with miniature wargaming if you are to get most of your news from the internet. (Which, it should be said, I think we all do.) Games Workshop has a horrible website. Angry Tweets accuse people of being hobby tourists. Paints don’t work right. Models cost too much. Prints fail. Kickstarters delayed. Fascists fascists fascists.

It can all get to be a little too much. And for those of us who have to pay close attention to our mental health, that’s important. I can’t be like the people on Twitter who poke the hornet’s nest. I can’t engage with the trolls. There’s a reason that there’s no comment section on this website. I love my readers; I can’t deal with the hate.

But today I want to talk about the 5 reasons that I am optimistic about miniature wargaming, the good stuff that makes the bad stuff seem to fade away–at least momentarily. Hopefully for good.

1. Models Have Never Been Better

Whether you’re talking about the latest and greatest from behemoths like Games Workshop or the latest and greatest from 3D printable models, we are in a miniature quality renaissance. It has never been better. Say what you want about the glory of Oldhammer (I know some people love the nostalgia), 2nd edition Space Marines–and the Firstborn generally–simply don’t look as good as Primaris. They just don’t. The new Terminators look better than the old Terminators. The new Sternguard look better than the old Sternguard.

And while there may be cases of models that are languishing in a miniature purgatory (like still a lot of the Eldar, or the whole Skaven range), new models are popping up all the time. Whole ranges of models are popping up all the time. Whoever thought that Cities of Sigmar would be the faction to get the glorious and delicious glow up its received this year. New models are popping.

Need we say anything about Fulgrim? Resin, yes, but magnificent? Definitely.

And this is to say nothing about the best 3D printable miniatures, like the stuff coming from Archvillian Games. It is truly amazing that you can get an entire range of models for a Patreon pledge of $13.99. Of course, you’re going to need a 3D resin printer, but–as I’m going to talk about in a minute–those are becoming better and cheaper all the time.

And, and, this says nothing of the smaller miniature manufacturers who are putting out terrific models. I love almost everything that comes out of Wargames Atlantic. Bad Squiddo Games turns out delightfully inventive miniatures all the time. And even miniature artists who work in green stuff, like the Perry Brothers, are at the top of their game.

Models have truly never been better.

2. Accessibility to Miniatures Has Never Been Better

Now I know that this one is controversial, because we have a big issue right off the bat: miniatures cost too much. And inflation is too high. But when adjusted for inflation, Games Workshop’s miniature (the only data I have to work off of) haven’t really gotten more expensive since the 1980s. It’s a wash. It seems expensive, but it’s always been expensive. So what am I talking about when I say that access to miniatures is better than ever before?

Well, for starters, 3D printers are a thing, and they’re becoming better in every way every year. The fidelity of the prints is improving, as is the print speed, as is the sound of the machine, as is the features of the machine (like auto-leveling, something that is a godsend). 3D printers make it so that anyone with an internet connection and a few dollars can print out masses of miniatures. Yes, it’s not free, but it is cheap, and it is ACCESSIBLE. People who live far from games stores suddenly now have a games store in their house.

I recently began planning for a miniature wargaming retreat (details forthcoming) and needed a LOT of terrain. And having an FDM printer that WORKS (as opposed to my old FDM printer–just three years old but it seems ancient–didn’t do) is amazing. For the cost of a six Games Workshop terrain kits, I have enough STL files to print unlimited terrain pieces. (I need about 80, but seriously: $200 on Printable Scenery gets you a LONG way.)

And for that matter, friendly local games stores are becoming more and more common. More products are being carried by more stores. Games that I have never been able to get in my city are suddenly appearing on shelves. Stores that once only carried Warhammer now also carry Bolt Action and Star Wars Legion and Kings of War and Marvel Crisis Protocol. And that’s phenomenal.

3. The Community is Really Quite Good

Now, I am well aware that there is a large contingent of the hobby that insist on being trolls and edgelords. But, in my 15 years on Twitter, it really seems like these people are a vocal tiny minority. Yes, they are vocal, but you can block them.

The places where I have found the most friendly wargaming communities are on Instagram and Threads, of all places–as well as Discord. Instagram is great for miniature wargaming because it’s basically just people showing their models, and to be honest one of the biggest problems with those Twitter edgelords is that they NEVER PAINT. So if you’re on Instagram posting pictures of your models, and interacting with other people who are posting pictures of their models, at least you know that you’re all in the same boat.

Discord is great, especially when you’re opting into an exclusive community. My favorite Discord servers are those that come as Patreon perks for wargaming YouTubers I follow. And you really get the sense from these peoples’ videos whether or not their Discords are going to be good or bad. And if you pick right, for the low price of, very often, a dollar a month, you get a terrific community of likeminded individuals.

And this is to say nothing of the friendly local game stores, which, you know, are great. And while there are some stores that are better than others, some are truly terrific. I will admit that I have no love for Warhammer stores, because they always seem to be trying to hustle you, but of the many FLGSs in my city (I know the employees by name at three of them) they all seem to be genuinely good people who love the hobby. Some of them are better at some things (one store gives discounts the others don’t, and one is filled with active players at a huge playing space, and one has a coffee shop inside the store) but all of them are good enough that I go to them regularly.

4. Diversity, Diversity, Diversity

I have been in the hobby for 35 years, because I both got into wargaming at a young age and because I am getting too old. And for a long time, it was rare to see a woman in a game store, let alone person of color or a member of the LGBT community. But now it’s common! At one of those FLGSs I mentioned, the owner is a woman who is the biggest nerd of the bunch. At another, there’s a wonderful staff of people of color. And are LGBT people playing? You bet they are.

All of this is helped by the fact that we are seeing these diverse faces on YouTube. There are so many YouTubers with hundreds of thousands of followers from all around the globe, and it has really evened the playing field in a lot of ways. (This is not to say that there isn’t room to grow, but it’s growing!)

I mentioned Bad Squiddo Games earlier, but they’re not the only company that is making terrific sculpts of women who do not depend on being pinups to sell. Games Workshop made their famous commitment to diversity a few years ago and they’ve been backing it up with some great female and BIPOC sculpts.

When wargamers are getting their painting tips from Dana Howl and Orion’s Belt Minis instead of just yet another white guy, that’s PRETTY GREAT. (I say this well aware of the fact that I am yet another white guy.)

5. More Games Everywhere

The tides have shifted. There’s has always been Drive Thru RPG and Wargame Vault and their ilk on the internet, and that’s great, but there really seems to be a resurgence of the independent wargame. Maybe it’s the fact that Snarling Badger is driving a TON of traffic to third party sites. Or maybe it’s the barnstorming that One Page Rules has done to the community. There are so many games to be had, so easily, and they’re generally pretty great.

I have lofty aspirations of having my own game out in the relatively near future (and some supplements in the nearer future) and it has never felt so accessible as it is now. Uncle Atom of Tabletop Minions said just this last week that if you’re going to sell a game you need to have a platform to publicize it–and that’s true–but a little Adobe Creative Suite and Wargame Vault together, and it is WITHIN REACH.

The Bottom Line

There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about the state of miniature wargaming, and these are just a few. Are there others? There are definitely intriguing possibilities. We never thought for thirty years that we would ever see Squats again–and yet we have Squats again! We never thought The Old World was coming back–and yet it is! What’s next to happen to the lore that we have always believed was impossible?

Female space marines, right? Come on…