Suggestions
Bill Armintrout

Sounds like what most people are saying is that a good newbie period:

• should involve few figures
• should be easily researchable (or even, such as WWII, common knowledge) - this aids painting, unit organization, battlefield tactics
• should be intuitive

Skirmish-level gaming obviously fits the bill, but in some cases, so does large-scale gaming (for instance, the Great Battles of WWII rules system involves very few figures, mostly infantry).

Familiar periods to most gamers would be American Civil War, certain Ancients periods (particularly Romans vs barbarians), WWII, and American West.

No one has mentioned naval or aviation gaming, but in some cases they would also seem ideal - Civil War ironclads (few figures, easy to paint), WWII naval (common knowledge, few figures, easy to paint), WWI aerial (few figures, colorful planes).

What about figure scale? Obviously, 2mm is the easiest scale to paint large quantities of figures, but the larger scales offer more eye appeal at greater cost in effort.

More Suggestions
Bob Beattie

Sorry if this was covered, I was away for a while. "Wild" West gunfight games seem to me the best place to start. I would say DBA if the rules were understandable by a newcomer as written. While the game is a good for beginner, the rules are not. If one were able to teach a newbie a game without reference to the actual text, DBA would be very nice.

Gunfight games need only 2 figures, at a minimum, but can be added to easily ( I have two battalions of such now and am looking for mass battle rules). A couple of buildings can be gotten from the train department of your hobby store or use one of the Dover cut-out books. A newbie can paint up a figure in a couple of days. It might be difficult to get just a couple of figs now that The Foundry has gone to bulk packs and Old Glory too.

The second best beginner set is The Sword and the Flame. These rules were written by Larry Brom so a complete newcomer can understand what is going on. A couple of Airfix/Eschi packs of British and Zulu or Arabs, not even painted —- just for starters — and you are on your way. These rules have historical background, easy explanation and a good example of a game.