GWS 2020: Favorite Game Period and Figure Size
In the last installment, the analysis focused upon the relationship between favorite game period and game type (see Favorite Game Period by Type). Today's installment retains focus upon favorite game period, but substitutes figure size for game type in the analysis. Assumptions present in the earlier Game Period by Type analysis hold for this analysis as well.
Figure size
The 2020 survey includes a dozen choices for figure size (or scale). The units of measure vary with most choices presented in millimeters. Some are presented as a model classification such Ships, Space, or Aircraft.
Favorite period by figure size and period
Given the first choice of gaming period for each respondent, the counts of scale and favorite period were tabulated. The chart below illustrates the cross-tabulation of Game Period by Figure Scale.
What do these tabulations show?
By now, it should be no surprise to see that 25-28mm figure size dominates the first choice. 28mm Heroic comes in a distant second. After these two figure sizes, popularity drops off precipitously with 15-18mm coming in at a very distant third.
For the first place 25-28mm size, WWII is decisively the most popular game period with Fantasy and Napoleonics rounding out the top three. For 28mm Heroics, Warhammer40k leads this category decisively with WWII and Fantasy trailing in second and third. In third place, the 15-18mm figure size is led by WWII. Napoleonics and Ancients round out the top three. 15-18mm appears to be the domain of historical miniatures wargaming. After the top three figure classifications, first choice of figure size diminishes rapidly. The market dominance of the top three figure sizes is striking.
Favorite period by period by figure size
Transposing the data by putting Era (Favorite period) on the y-axis and Scale as a stacked bar within Era, provides a different perspective. As expected, WWII takes top honors with Warhammer40k, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Napoleonics, and Ancients making up the top five favorite periods.
In the favorite gaming period of WWII, 25-28mm figure size dwarfs the other categories with 28mm Heroic and 15-18mm coming in at second and third places. Notice that 20mm or 1/76 takes up the fourth place. Are the older generations of wargamers, who came of age in the 1970s, continuing with 1/72 or 1/76 WWII wargaming, or is a new age cohort picking up the reins? A question for another time, I suppose.
For the second most popular period, Warhammer40k, 28mm Heroics crushes the competition. 25-28mm comes in at a very distant second. Sci-fi and Fantasy are about evenly split between 28mm Heroics and 25-28mm. Rounding out the top five gaming periods, Napoleonics and Ancients hold 25-28mm and 15-18mm as the two most popular choices in figure sizes.
Are there surprises in these results? One observation is that while 25-28mm is popular among all of the top gaming periods, 28mm Heroics is really the realm of the Fantasy/Sci-fi gamer. Any other observations of note?
Having laid the groundwork showing the relationship between game period and game type in the previous analysis and the relationship between game period and figure size in this analysis, next time, I combine these two analyses to present a three-attribute assessment of the relationships between game period, game type, and figure size. Perhaps, age group will be added into the mix as well?
As always, comments welcome.
