Are we living in a "Golden Age" for miniatures and miniature gainers? Webster's defines a Golden Age as "a period of great happiness, prosperity and achievement". Obviously I can not comment on garners' happiness or state of their income, but our current period could indeed qualify for "Golden Age" status based on achievement.

By way of background, I came to miniatures in 1990 because of Avalon Hill's Napoleon's Battles. My previous 25 years of gaming were entirely in boardgames. I had played miniatures at numerous conventions but had never owned any apart from a few D&D figures in the mid 70's. However, for a variety of reasons which I will explain later, I hardly ever play boardgames today. Which is too bad as there are many enjoyable aspects in a board game that can not be duplicated in miniatures.

How can achievement be used to justify a "Golden Age"? First, the variety and quality of figures on the market is simply astonishing. Every era has figures whether WWI colonials or the MexicanAmerican War. The more popular periods (Napoleonic, ACW, Ancients) have a large variety of manufacturers. Details on figures have improved markedly in the past few years. One need only look at 10 year old Millings to see the differences. Additionally, with the advent of Old Glory's "bag-o-troops", there is a great variety in poses, a popular concept among gainers.

Second is the explosion in supporting items. Every year seems to bring a new set of rules with a new twist on the central issues of movement, firepower, morale, melee and command/control, In the early 1990s Napoleon's Battles brought in many board garners like myself with its simple, playable and relatively straight forward rules. Later DBA swept in and spawned a whole new Ancients tournament system. Ditto for its younger brother DBM. There was Fire & Fury with its unique base casualty system that eliminated casualty caps. These rules were all aimed at the payability crowd. The recent release of Chef du Battalion along with such old standbys's as Entire and WRG continue to satisfy those looking for "historically correct" rules. Each year seems to bring more sets of Home Rules at HISTORICON. One of my regular gaming groups modified F&F into a 6mm regimental game. Another is remaking Konigskrieg into a more player friendly game system. GEO HEX revolutionized terrain boards. Woodland Scenics introduced a wide variety of trees, grass and other ground coverings for model rail- roads that garners have appropriated for the* use. Players and clubs now use impressive interchangeable terrain boards or build them for a specific battle. There is a plethora of cast resin buildings in all scales and periods. No more to garners get by with left over doll house models. Conventions have grown in size and variety of games offered.

What is fueling this "Golden Age" and why is in occurring now? In two words: Baby Boomers. Baby Boomers are individuals born between 1946 and 1964. Like a pig in a python, this cohort has changed society as it has aged. In the 1950s it cause the construction of thousands of new schools. In the 1960s, this group changed higher education. In the 1970s and 80s, their demand for homes drove up prices by 15% a year. Today their increased rate of savings is the driving force behind the continuing rise in the stock market.

How do Baby Boomers influence the miniature market? First they provide a larger that normal cohort of garners. Second these garners are now reaching middle age and have more disposable income. Many think nothing of spending $100 or more at a convention for figures.

However these garners reach their middle years, their gaming time is constrained by the demands of work and family. Studies show people are working longer hours than years ago with less leisure time. There are few middle aged garners I know, who could spare 12 hours, even one Saturday per month to play Drang Noch Osten. However miniatures are an other matter. With the arrival of fast, playable rules a game can be played to completion in an evening, usually Friday. Why Fridays? Because often there is no school, soccer or PTA meetings that night so Dad can get away for a few hours with the guys.

Miniature games are excellent multi-player simulations. They are elastic enough to accommodate last minute additional players and are not ruined if someone cannot attend because of an unexpected sick child. A four player game of Samurai Swords plays much differently than a five player game. Likewise Britannia can accommodate five but only by stretching its playability. Other board games such as Empires in Arms are great games, but take too long to play. EinA requires seven people commit for an extended period of play since most garners only complete 34 turns (out of 150) in one evening.

So give all of the above, I feel comfortable saying this is an "Golden Age" for miniatures. How long will it last?. That is unknown. Baby Boomers will get old and possibly drift off to other things. Even for a serious gainers, there is an upper limit on the number of figures needed.

I see two potential problem. First a drop off in the number of garners buying figures as the Baby Boomers age and their armies are completed. The next generation, known as Generation X, or the Baby Bust Generation, is much smaller. I see few of this cohort at conventions. They did not cut their teeth of Avalon Hill or SPI board games as the Boomers did. Beyond them are the children of the Baby Boomers known as the "echo" who are again swelling school populations. Given the growing popularity of children's events at conventions, perhaps in a few years there will be 14 year olds who know the difference between voltiguers and grenadiers. Although, give the spectacular popularity of the Magic card game, maybe not.

The second potential blip is the growing popularity of computer games. This affects both Baby Boomers and their children. Constrained for time Boomers may elect to play more games against the machine. Although modems provide for a human vs human contest without being face to face, a great boon to those who have to baby sit. Secondly will kids raised on Mortal Combat want to move lead soldiers and roll die? No one knows.

Finally, I believe technology has the power to improve miniature gaming tremendously. The Achilles Heel of miniatures in the lack of good, playable campaign systems. Games are usually set up with little or no relationship to a campaign. Or they are historical games in which both sides know the others strengths, arrival times for reinforcements etc. Computers could be used to run a campaign game system in which the resulting battles are fought using miniatures. Computers could take care of logistics, enemy intelligence, forced march losses, sickness, weather etc. details players do not like to deal with. However if players were cormected via modem from their homes, they could manoeuver their units across a campaign map until they stumbled onto their opponents and a battle resulted. Far fetched? Given the speed of technology today I doubt it.

Given all of the above, I feel confident stating that is truly a "Golden Age" for miniatures.