Top 5 Gift Ideas for Miniature Wargamers

Today’s post is a top 5 Gift Ideas for Miniature Wargamers guide for all of the family members and friends of miniature gamers out there.

To be honest, if you are a gamer looking for something to buy to improve your miniatures hobby experience, this post is for you too.

So, what do you get your miniature wargaming friend?

If you know of a specific game or a unit they want for the game, get them that. If you are looking for something budget friendly, look into Wargames Atlantic or North Star Military Figures. They make great figures at fantastic prices.

But, if you are uncertain of what they want, or they already have a lot of miniatures and you want to get them something else that they would like, this list is for you.

So, what do you get a miniature gamer that already has enough miniatures (from a spouse’s or family member’s perspective)? Accessories.

In today’s list I will be giving you my top 5 gift ideas for miniature wargamers. In this article, we go straight to miniature accessories that your wargaming friend is sure to love!

Number Five – A Gaming Mat

Gaming mats really make a gaming table pop with minimal effort. For a gamer that already has miniatures, this is a next logical step. There are so many different manufacturers that you can try. Cigar Box Battle make my favourite mats and Cardboard Dungeon Games makes some extraordinary mats for a very affordable price. They ship within North America and for those looking into Cardboard Dungeon Games, their prices are in Canadian Dollars.

Monster Fight Club also makes a great (and very thin) neoprene gaming mat. Other popular companies that I know of include Front Line Gaming Mats and Mats by Mars.

Number Four – Terrain

Every Wargamer needs terrain to play their games. Having your very own collection beats using books and other objects with imagination. It also beats having to go to your closest wargaming club during these COVID times. I am not sure about you, but my city is one level away from a full lockdown.

If you are looking into terrain, there are plenty of companies that you can choose from. Below is just a short list of them.

GameCraft Miniatures comes immediately to mind as a terrain company along with Sarissa-Precision, TTCombat and Black Site Studios.

A company named XOLK also makes great terrain at a very fair price. For those interested in them, they are priced in Canadian Dollars.

Looking for pre-painted terrain? Monster Fight Club has some awesome stuff. 4Ground also makes incredible buildings! Black Site Studios (which I mentioned earlier) also makes pre-painted terrain.

If I missed a company that you wished I listed, please leave their name and link in the comments section below.

Number Three – Paint

To a miniature painter, there is no such thing as too many miniatures. There is also no such thing as too many paints. This is actually what I bought for myself for Christmas. Mrs. Must Contain Minis will be giving them to me as my gift for this year.

You can pick these paints up from Vallejo, The Army Painter, Citadel and other companies. If you have a Friendly Local Gaming Store, I am going to suggest that you pick them up there to support local businesses.

Next up, how do you organize your collection of paints?

Number Two – An Organization System

With all those paints, it is great to have an organization system on a dedicated painting desk. Your loved one would love to have this. I am sure!

HobbyZone makes some really amazing stuff. Their organization system is wife approved and looks amazing on any hobby desk.

For someone that has everything else, this is the logical next step!

As an interesting mention, I live in Canada and I could not believe how fast HobbyZone got this stuff from Poland to my home. It was literally here in under three days.

Number One – Better Lighting

My number one pick is something that I didn’t know I would want so bad until I had it. Upgraded lighting to paint (and build) miniatures under.

When I started, I used just a kitchen lamp above a kitchen table. It was dark and I would strain my eyes to paint. I later upgraded to two 100W desk lamps and a 100W light reflecting off the ceiling.

This worked great, but I would always move the lights closer to my work and my hands would get in the way sometimes casting shadows on my work. I also lost temporarily lost my painting space due to needing the space to work from home during the COVID pandemic.

As such, I needed something more portable and that would take less space. There are a number of solutions out there, but recently I upgraded my lighting to a product by GameCraft Miniatures. They sent me their LED Lamp for review. So far, I am really impressed.

The GameCraft Miniatures LED Workbench Light (Double Wide, Extra Tall)

My first impressions of this lamp is that it is wonderful! I really didn’t think I would like it as much as I do when I got it. It is not as bright as the three lamp solution I used earlier, but it casts even light across the miniatures and my hands don’t seem to get in the way.

This lamp also takes the place of the three bulbs / lamps that I had in the earlier picture. When you lose your painting space due to COVID and have to start moving around the house, this is more convenient than a multi-lamp solution.

Right now, it appears that GameCraft Miniatures has low stock on this lamp, but keep your eyes on the company for when more goes online. That said, it looks like they have some left of their LED Light that attaches to their paint stations. They also have a taller double wide one that fits too. I recommend the double wide if you can get it.

Oh, just as important to me as being good for building miniatures, this lamp is also great for photography.

Here are some Wargames Atlantic Skeletons under the lamp. All that I have on in addition to this lamp is my normal LED ceiling lights. There are no desk lamps or reflective lights in use for this photograph. That’s pretty good.

For me, the fact that these are great for building and photographing miniatures makes me really want to share news about this lamp to you.

I still have to paint under the light and do a final review of the product. That said, I can tell from the test pictures that it is going to be very good for painting too!

The only drawback that I have found about this lamp at this point is that it does not have an on or off switch. Solving this issue is as simple as adding a power-bar or plugging and unplugging the unit.

Otherwise this is a very good product and I am really looking forward to reviewing it for you.

Wrapping it up…

If you are looking for a Christmas gift, or gift ideas in general, for your wargaming friend, I hope that you found this guide useful. If you are the miniature games lover on your list this year, I also hope that this top 5 gift ideas for miniature wargamers inspires you to get something that you enjoy.

I took the angle of looking at accessories because these items are handy no matter what game you play. Fans of Warhammer 40K, Historical Wargames and Generic Fantasy Games alike can all benefit from these products.

So, what do you think of my top 5 gift ideas for miniature wargamers guide? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Until next time, Happy Gaming Everyone!!!