You can choose more than one answer for this one! :-\
I went for the first two.
A personal interest ie dinosaur hunting games etc. plus a colonial order sometime in the future :D
Then what others are playing. My 15mm WWII was because we were playing a wierd wars campaign so I bought some figs to complement that.
Probably a mix of inspiration from movies or nice pictures (eg Angus McBride) and liking more off the beaten path stuff. I have to keep reining myself in from more outlandish projects; last weeks notions of doing Qing-vs-Tiapings have worn off for now. Not that I don't like familiar things with slight twists; Naps, no thanks, French Revolutionary wars ...hmmmm maybe. Imperial Rome, meh... Late Rome, now you're talking.
This can be frustrating too; I am really set on doing the Imjin War, but its hard to get material on. It won't stop me, but it makes it harder. There's the added consideration of anything I start I can't drop later, which is hard for someone suffering from butterfly syndrome!
Plus anything 18th Century will always hold a fascination.
You should have included new book or magazine article. I tend to find myself drawn to the more obscure periods which can often prove difficult to find suitable figure ranges. Either that or i get seduced by the eye candy in magazines or on line.
But films and TV can also have an effect for instance the documentary about the Korean War by Max Hastings got me really intrested in that war. So Leon were are those dammed Pershings???
A personal interest in a period or theme is what often gets me started but sometimes it's just a shot in the dark for something new :-\
My current projects are WW1 French, this is a logical progression from my British and German armies and was given a kick by visiting Verdun in the summer.
But now I'm getting into 7YW as a compleyely new period, I think it's a result of playing Black Powder, enjoying the games but having not the slightest interest in ACW (very popular in the club) and becoming borred with Naps. So something new for BP, not ACW or Naps = Seven Years War
I love the fiction and making up historical fictions, i.e. Seven Years War imaginations, my "Sudan" campaign with fun fictional characters. Little wars are nice because I can play with fictional troops. I also have found local interest, many battles have been fought near where I live, Battle of Point Pleasant, the Kanawha Valley Campaign (ACW) etc. and finally if I see someone has painted up something really nice looking I have to have it as well. :D
Quote from: YORSTONS on 17 August 2010, 08:16:48 AM
You should have included new book or magazine article.
I've added that option for you!
Cheers Leon.
Ive gone from WW2 15mm to 10mm WW2. (German and French Armoured Divs in 1:3 scale)
Previously dabbled with 15mm 7YW/marlburian wars.
Napoleonics, Russian 3rd Army of the West in 15mm
15mm Thracian army for WRG 7th Edition.
6mm Moderns and WW2.
20mm WW2 skirmish
15mm samurai, now looking at 10mm Samurai.
The other key factor must be the availability of figures for the period/conflict in question.
I'm quite often led by the discovery of a set of rules that I like.
Greetings
I went for personal interest, nice figures and book/magazine. Usually the book/magazine sparks the personal interest and then I'll get something with nice figures.
Recent example: Reading Savary on the SYW Western Theatre, did some more research on the Allied and French armies, looked at Pendraken range, bought some - now I've got to move the Hanoverians/Hessians from undercoated to painted :-)
Regards
Edward
So once we've got the nice figures, all we need to do is spark an interest in the era...
:D 8)
Right, Leon. Which is why I am uncomfortable with so many ECW or Japanese ranges by various 10mm makers (I game both, don't get me wrong, and I like your ranges), while other periods are still untouched. There are plenty of 15mm early gunpowder Chinese or conquest of Mexico ranges; why doesn't anybody try making them in 10mm? (Kallistra doesn't count. Their Chinese are 12mm, not 10mm)
Quote from: FierceKitty on 25 August 2010, 05:43:46 AM
why doesn't anybody try making them in 10mm?
Just lack of demand really. Until we launched the Forum, they weren't something I can recall being mentioned by anyone. The usual requests at shows or in emails were the Naps, the WWII Japanese, the Soviet T-26, things like that.
Often a nice new range of figures will spark an interest in a period, which happened recently when I saw some of the lovely examples of AWI figures posted by other members of this forum. The same has happened with the recent addition of the Pacific theatre Marines and Japanese.
An article in a magazine or reading of something interesting or obscure in a book will do the same thing.
But people might be seduced by a really alluring range of new figures and a bit of a marketing push. It's happened to me, I know that.
What like the new immenant range of Aztecs :'( :D?
Quote from: republic of tolworth on 26 August 2010, 07:01:23 AM
What like the new immenant range of Aztecs :'( :D?
I'm sure there's a feature on the Forum somewhere which allows me to change a word whenever it appears. I think I'll tell it to change 'Aztecs' to 'aubergine'...
:P
Quote from: Leon on 26 August 2010, 05:46:14 PM
I'm sure there's a feature on the Forum somewhere which allows me to change a word whenever it appears. I think I'll tell it to change 'Aztecs' to 'aubergine'...
:P
Surely you meant change 'Aztecs' to medieval/renaissance middle eastern ;)
Quote from: Sandinista on 26 August 2010, 06:02:22 PM
Surely you meant change 'Aztecs' to medieval/renaissance middle eastern ;)
Ahh, I forgot about those! Right then, 'Renaissance Middle Eastern' will now be 'caterpillar'...
8)
Well, there are a lot of us who'd buy an aubergine army.... (actually could be a lively HoTT army).