Of course, actual gaming is pretty hard to do right now in any case. I've heard of folks having some success playing games through the Tabletop Simulator module in Steam, but I haven't explored it yet.
Options I'm thinking about:
New Zealand Wars: I ordered some Empress Miniatures figures to see what they're like. From reading about the campaigns, these seem like they would be largely small battles with troops firing dispersed in the dense NZ terrain or British/colonist forces trying to capture Maori pa's (forts). Eureka also do some nice Maori and European figures.
Indian Mutiny: I got a few of Iron Duke's figures too. I wrote to them and pointed out that they have only one mounted leader for the Indian forces (the maharaj' on his elephant). They wrote back right away and said yes, sorry, they hadn't got around to it and probably won't for a while because of all the new lines they're starting. *gloomy face* Who *are* these people who can't stick to one thing and finish it properly before moving on? ROFLOL.
Wargames Foundry does have a good line with pretty of options, as does a company called (appropriately enough) Mutineer Miniatures; it will be interesting to see how they scale to each other.
I do have some of the Dixon 15mm Mutiny figures, some of which I had painted up. They are handsome figures; the only problem IMO is that like many older UK ranges they have only one pose for a good many of their figures. Sikh, Highlander, Gurkha, mutineer in uniform, mutineer in civvies--all a single figure pose. Some of the Wargames Foundry packs are like that, but most have at least three poses. Whereas Iron Duke had 14 different sepoy packs, each of which has four different poses in it.
Earlier (or later) Indian Wars: I find that from somewhere I acquired a small collection of Redoubt figures for their Wellington in India range--British troops, sepoys, and Maratha and other local opponents. I could probably field enough for a small battle, but more would be needed to really put on a game. Redoubt are still available, and they're not bad figures, but they are huge compared to other 28mm (they're probably 32mm) so one would have to make do with whatever is in that line. Perry and Wargames Foundry and Artizan Design also have figures for the Afghan wars, the Sikh wars, and various other Victorian entanglements.
Nine Years War/War of the League of Augsburg/Great Northern War: A string of late 17th/early 18th century wars that Warfare Miniatures sell some nice 28mms for and which Khurasson does nice figures in 15mm. The NYW and the WLA have some appeal for me because they're the last time the Dutch were a big power on the battlefield. :-) The NYW is the Irish and Scottish elements of the Glorious Revolution, which was very quick in England but not so quick in the other three kingdoms. Barry Hilton and the LoA folks have always done a good job of making this seem very appealing to do in 28mm. I have a collection of siege equipment in 15mm I bought to use as props for a semi-board/semi-miniature game I planned for a convention once but never carried out. I have some field army troops in 15/18mm but sadly only a small number and from a maker (Venexia) whose 17th century line has sunk without a trace.
Tudor/Valois/Hapsburg warfare: I'm a great fan of a series of books set in the mid-16th century, part of which touch on the warfare among England, France, Scotland, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. Khurasan make a couple of nice lines for this period in 15mm, and The Assault Group has some lovely figures in 28mm. Wargames Foundry has some appropriate bits too and Artizan.
Sub-Roman Britain: I re-read a set of novels recently that got me thinking again about this period. Both Gripping Beast and Footsore Miniatures make nice figures for this period, as do Artizan Design.
Roman urban conflict? While looking at the Footsore site, I was introduced to their Gangs of Rome line. While I'm not all that fascinated by gang-fighting games, I'm a sucker for diverse civilian figures and scenery bits, and the range of buildings they have for this game is just stunning. Again, Foundry has plenty of figures that would supplement those Footsore offers.
Things I'm just not going to look at: The Perry lines of Carlist Wars, samurai, or Korean figures. Footsore's Barons War line. Eureka's 28mm French Revolution line. Steel Fist's Italian Wars and samurai lines. Just not looking, nope, nope, nope.
Currently neglected projects: Things I could get my head back into, if my head would cooperate, include 6mm, 15mm, and 28mm Napoleonics; 15mm and 28mm American Revolution; 6mm WSS and SYW; 28mm SYW small actions; 6mm and 28mm WWI; 28mm Anglo-Scottish war; various Triumph! armies; various 6mm late 19th century European armies; 15mm wars of the French Revolution; and 15mm WWII. 28mm French and Indian War. Wars of the Roses and other late 15th century European fighting. 28mm Scottish border reivers.
Rules
I'm quite happy, for larger battles of almost any of these periods, with the Carnage and Glory rules
Of course, at the end of the day, what one lacks most is a good set of rules for playing smaller actions, the sort that one instinctively wants to play with larger figures that take up a lot of table space and budget and so prevent you from acquiring them in gigantic heaps. I have yet to find a good set of rules for recreating what *I* would call skirmishes. Most that are available these days are simple and easy to learn but don't give the sense of recreating an actual battle any more than the average Hollywood movie does. They consist mostly of moving unformed mobs of figures back and forth and are won mostly by rolling dice better than your opponent, not by employing actual military tactics.
In my opinion, the best of a bad lot, ironically, are Black Powder, the latest in the long line of products from the brain of Warhammer designers Rick Priestly and Jervis Johnson. They're generic horse and musket rules, and they have their silly side, but they are simple to learn and to mod, they don't involve figure removal (a game mechanism I find wildly unrealistic), and they have broad distribution. They have earlier period cousins in Pike & Shotte and Hail Caesar. Pike & Shotte, ironically, do least well at handling the pike & shot period, as they had to be retrofitted for units that consisted of both pike and shot!
