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There's currently a proposal to start a miniature gaming only stack exchange. A lot of the topics that could potentially be discussed there are on topic here, but there are some that wouldn't be. Rules, mechanics, and strategy would all fit in really well here.

This discussion makes it seam that hobby related questions may or may not be off topic for the site.

But, you can't really have a Q&A devoted to miniature gaming without allowing basic hobby related questions. For instance:

  • How do I fix casting defects with green stuff?
  • What's the historically accurate color to paint my British Late War Sherman tanks?
  • Whats's a good material to use to base my models for a winter effect?

Obviously you would need to constrain it to the realm of miniature gaming. These kind of questions would probably be out of bounds, and would be better served by a more art and hobby focused SE site

  • How can I get more use out my brushes?
  • How do you sculpt a complete model with green stuff?
  • What's better acrylic or oil based paints?

This site also doesn't have tags for many of the popular miniature games like Flames of War, Infinity, or Dystopian Wars.

I'm afraid that we won't be able to get an independent miniature gaming site going any time soon. While in the mean time those people waiting for a site, could be over here asking and answering questions. Miniature gaming has a very large online presence, and drawing in those number would help get this site out of beta and well established.

Would it be a good idea to allow the full range of mini-gaming topics on this site and abandon the independent proposal?

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  • I think it's totally reasonable to include questions about prepping minis on this site. We've had a few questions about the collecting of CCGs (Why is this worth so much? How do I identify which edition of a thing this is? &c.), for instance, and there's generally been no problem with those.
    – Alex P
    Apr 11, 2012 at 16:51
  • Regarding missing tags: tags for miniature games like Flames of War are only missing because no one's asked any questions about them! It's not reasonable or correct to conclude that the absence of a tag means it is not a welcome topic.
    – ire_and_curses
    Apr 11, 2012 at 17:32
  • @ire_and_curese True, but it requires 150 rep to create a tag. It's hard for a group of Flames or War players to come into boardgames as new users and start asking questions without a tag.
    – CaulynDarr
    Apr 11, 2012 at 17:37
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    @CaulynDarr Given the way the tag system works, tags without at least 2 questions on them end up getting auto-deleted anyway, so creating them "just in case" wouldn't really work. Arqade has a meta post about that particular topic. Pretty much it's a one-time problem that the community can quickly solve after the first question is asked by creating the tag for the new post.
    – Sterno
    Apr 11, 2012 at 17:40
  • @CaulynDarr - somehow we've solved that problem for every game asked so far, one more won't hurt. There is no requirement that every question be tagged with a game.
    – Pat Ludwig Mod
    Apr 11, 2012 at 21:32
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    @CaulynDarr: Just comment on the post or flag it saying that a certain tag should be added and someone will add the tag right away :)
    – mafu
    Apr 12, 2012 at 12:29

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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All questions about miniature games are welcome here.

From our FAQ

Minature wargames (including the preparation of miniatures/terrain/etc)

are all on topic.

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  • It may be beneficial to mark off how far down the rabbit hole you can go. There are advanced hobby concepts that can be used for miniature prep, but the link to the hobby may be tenuous enough to call them off topic.
    – CaulynDarr
    Apr 11, 2012 at 20:01
  • I'm with CaulynDarr here. Seems to be Miniature crafting questions would get kinda borderline.
    – Circeus
    Apr 11, 2012 at 22:54
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    @CaulynDarr - haven't seen the bottom yet. Trying to set a line on meta that hasn't been crossed on the main site yet is futile IMHO.
    – Pat Ludwig Mod
    Apr 12, 2012 at 0:46
  • @Circeus - Are you saying this as an avid user of B&CG who doesn't want to see questions that don't appeal to you or as a person interested in starting a separate miniatures site?
    – Pat Ludwig Mod
    Apr 12, 2012 at 0:47
  • @Pat Ludwig Mostly the former, plus exaggeratedly hobbyish questions (e.g. those of Caulyn's second list of exemples) would probably not find much answers.
    – Circeus
    Apr 12, 2012 at 1:16
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    @Circeus - there are always going to be questions/games that may not appeal to you personally. I'm willing to wager that it wouldn't take many hardcore mini's players to have quite a discussion on brushes and painting techniques. So far my questions on empires-in-arms have gone unanswered, but I have hope! I prefer not to give up on subjects that people haven't answered yet. Those are just more questions waiting for the right person to come along
    – Pat Ludwig Mod
    Apr 12, 2012 at 3:51
  • Could this be the same problem, as asking for a separate site for each language in SO? they are all related, questions that comes to one can goes to another (hey, if you teach one how to build a figure with green stuff, why no use it for replace my own game figures on a common board game?), so besides Pat answer, I think it's related
    – gbianchi
    Apr 16, 2012 at 17:46
  • How about non-gaming related miniature questions? There are plenty of miniatures that are only built, painted, and collecting. One may say that by trying to keep miniature building here, we preclude the development of a community that better serves hobbyists in general, including miniature gamers.
    – Kenji
    Jul 26, 2018 at 20:26

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