This miniatures survey could basically be broken down into 6 different sections of questions covering a number of different aspects of the miniature gaming and collecting hobbies. The following is the result of over 400 respondents to an automated survey posted online to a limited number of internet communities. Since this was the first time utilizing this survey software I did not want to attempt a larger target audience before it was tested, however 426 respondents is a substantial number of data points which I feel can be used with some level of accuracy.

The format of the survey was setup to allow for branching - both to make it easier for the respondents (they didn't have to answer questions which didn't apply to them) and also to help ensure an increased level of accuracy. For example if Respondent A doesn't collect miniatures for display, they would by pass all the related questions.

General Demographics

Are you Male or Female?

• Female 13.11%
• Male 86.89%

This was a somewhat expected response. At this point miniatures and wargaming still tend to be a largely male dominated hobby. Still it is important to note that within the recent years, more and more females have been coming into the fold. Often they tend to be attracted to the more artistic aspects of the hobby. 7% of the female respondents only collected miniatures for use as display whereas only a single male collected miniatures solely for display.

How old are you?

• 12-15 0.00%
• 16-18 0.00%
• 19-24 3.28%
• 25-35 34.43%
• 36-45 39.34%
• 46 and over. 22.95%

Here I was somewhat surprised that there were not younger hobbyists. Most likely it was due in large part to the target communities which tend to be a bit older on average, however there was not a single respondent under the age of 18.

What is your current marital status?

• Single, Never Married. 19.67%
• Married 72.13%
• Divorced 4.92%
• Prefer not to say 3.28%

This question was somewhat of a standard demographic question, which seems to lend itself to some interesting information (if you like that kind of stuff). Under 5% of respondents were divorced. In contrast the US Census Bureau places the divorcee rate at10% for currently divorced (as opposed to divorced and remarried) and 22% for ever divorced. Also interesting is that while there was a 20% Single, Never Married response to the survey, 27% Single, Never Married for the US population as a whole.

This is mainly of interest to me since wargamers, roleplayers and the like are more often than not portrayed as social misfits by mainstream media.

What is the highest level of education you have completed?

• Less than Highschool. 0.00%
• Highscholl/GED 6.56%
• Some College 27.87%
• Associates Degree 4.92%
• Bachelors Degree 40.98%
• Masters and Above 19.67%

Here again we find some interesting contrasts compared to society as a whole. While over 90% of the survey respondents have gone on to college and 65% have finished some form of degree program – 20% of the general population do not even finish high school. The population at large only sports 24% with Bachelors degrees or higher, were the hobbyists surveyed here almost triple that number with over 60%.

Now on with the stuff that is a little bit more specific with the miniatures hobby.

Do you currently collect miniatures for display purposes?

The first specific question dealt with collecting miniatures for display purposes. In this regards it was a pretty even split between collecting them for display or not - roughly 50% for both. When we break it down a little bit further, we find that 75% of females collect miniatures for display and only around 47% of males. The demographic group which is least likely to collect miniatures for display purposes is the 46 and over age group - with only 17% (less than 3% of all respondants).

The following questions were only asked to people who claimed to collect miniatures for display purposes (roughly 50%).

Of the miniatures that you collect do you paint them yourself?

• I paint all my own miniatures. 35.68%
• Most of the miniatures I have, I painted. 64.62%
• I prefer to buy prepainted miniatures. 0.00%
• I prefer to buy hand painted miniatures. 0.00%

With the massive increase in prepainted miniatures and very high quality custom painted miniatures available in recent years, I was somewhat surprised that not a single respondent preferred to purchase their miniatures already painted for display. That said, these are only the ones who collect miniatures for display purposes. Quite likely there may have been persons in the excluded group who have a higher regard for prepainted miniatures.

When you display your miniatures, do you tend to show them alone or in dioramas?

• Generally alone. 44.26%
• Generally in a diorama. 6.56%

Are you miniatures displayed proudly in common areas or are they hidden away?

• They are displayed proudly throughout our house. 52.46%
• I get to show them off in dark hallways and in back rooms. 9.84%
• I show them off to myself in my office/bedroom. 32.78%
• I get to show them off when I dig them out from storage but I have to put them back after admiring them. 3.28%

What is the main reason you do not display your miniatures in primary living spaces?

• No room to display them. 35.71%
• My significant other does not want them out in the open. 14.28%
• I haven't found a great way to display them. 28.57%
• I am worried about pets/children getting a hold of them. 14.28%
• Other (-oth-) 7.14%

This question was further narrowed down to exclude anyone who had miniatures openly displayed throughout there household or did not display miniatures at all (327 of the total respondents).

In addition to the given answer a small handful had write-ins. These included having dedicated studios or other areas as well as roommates who were not significant others.

If you had a better way of displaying your miniatures, would you?

• Yes 45%
• No 55%

Again, a further limited question, this time only being asked to people who were not overruled by their spouses (something which there is little to be done to get around).

Do you currently collect miniatures for use with table top war games?

• Yes 88.52%
• No 11.48%

Not surprisingly, the vast majority of people use miniatures for wargaming. Considering that that is really at the core of the hobby, I think this result is to be expected. Remember all questions in this category were only asked of those who do in fact use miniatures with wargames and it is not the whole of the surveyed population.

When you play wargames with your miniatures, how many do you normally bring?

• 10 or fewer 4.92%
• 11-20 3.28%
• 21-30 4.92%
• 31-50 14.75%
• 50 or more. 60.66%

Depending on the genre of game and system being used, the number of miniatures needed will vary greatly. By and large though it seems that the surveyed population is either bringing multiple armies with them or prefer to play larger scale games versus the skirmish level games.

Where do you most often play wargames?

• At home, in a game room. 31.15%
• At home on the dining table. 11.48%
• At home elsewhere. 4.92%
• At a game store. 21.31%
• At a friends house. 19.67%

It seems a pretty even split between playing at home and playing out of the home (either at a store or another gamers house). What was a bit surprising to me at least was the number of people who had a game room in which to play. In my own experience that has been somewhat rare, and most games took place on a dining room table or more often on makeshift tables in a garage or basement.

What wargames systems do you currently play?

This question was a bit of a nightmare to tabulate since I did not have multiple choices for respondents to select from. Over 100 different games were listed, with many gamers playing 5 or six different games. The top ten games are as follows (listed in order from first to last): Warhammer Fantasy, Flames of War, DBA, Warhammer 40K and Warlord (tied for fourth), Warmachine, Warhammer Historical, Warmaster, Fire & Fury, Warmaster Ancients and finally Hordes of the Things. It is interesting to note that a full 10% of the wargamers who responded also utilize homemade combat systems, with 3% using nothing but homemade rules.

One thing of note in the above list is that 5 out of 10 systems are all owned by the same company, Gamesworkshop. The next company which could come close to contending with them is Wargames Research Group. While 45% of the respondents indicated playing a Gamesworkshop product of one form or another, nearly 40% indicated a Wargames Research Group product.

Do you currently collect miniatures for use with role playing games?

• Yes 49.18%
• No 50.82%

Here again we see another even split within the respondents. Half use miniatures for roleplaying games, while the other half does not. This seems to be unrelated to any other data point as well (half of the females and roughly half in each of the age groups).

What things do you normally represent in miniature for RPGs?

• Player Characters 100%
• Primary Villians 85.24%
• NPC civilians 65.58%
• Random Monsters 78.68%
• Everything Else 59.02%

This question allowed for multiple selections. Not surprisingly, everyone who used miniatures for roleplaying games used them to represent player characters. What is somewhat surprising is that so many people use the miniatures to represent civilians given the somewhat paltry selection of normal civilian characters (with the exception of prostitutes which there seems to be little shortage of).

When you play RPGs with you miniatures, how many do you normally bring along?

• 1-5 19.61%
• 6-10 20.57%
• 11-20 19.61%
• 21-40 20.09%
• 40+ 20.09%

Here again we see a remarkably even split amongst the different answers. Each one had the same number of responses give or take one (41, 42 or 43).

What RPGs do you currently use miniatures with? Sorry, with as many different systems that exist right now, I couldn't list them all.

Like the wargames systems question, I left this question open ended - luckily for me it didn't have nearly as many different selections. Again though we do see a clear winner in terms of popularity - Wizards of the Coast's d20 system. 43% of the total role players named a d20 system as one which they often play. The next most popular system is actually AD&D, something which I was somewhat surprised by. Following those and tied for third place with 11% each are White Wolf Games and Pinnacle Entertainment Group. Not far behind them is Palladium Books with 9%. Traveler and Champions round out the popular choices with 3% each.

Wizards of the Coast can be broken down further into 75% playing D&D 3.x, 4% playing d20 Modern and another 4% playing d20 Future/Sci-Fi. The remainder of the d20 group play a d20 variant either published by Wizards of the Coast or by an independent group.

White Wolf had a pretty even split between its games Vampire, Mage, Werewolf and Exalted. Pinnacle's Savage Worlds game was it's best getting it 75% of the total votes. Palladium Books best placer was the Rifts system which netted it 45% of it's votes.

Do you use terrain or scenery with your miniatures (either for display or gaming).

• Yes 90.16%
• No 9.84%

Do you build all your own scenery or do you purchase it?

• I build all my own scenery and terrain. 13.11%
• I build some of my scenery but purchase some as well. 73.77%
• I couldn't build a hill. Everything I use is purchased. 3.28%

What type of terrain items do you tend to purchase most often?

This question allowed for direct entry of an answer, and with few exceptions the answers were trees and buildings (82% and 86% respectively). Following those two answers the next were fortifications and detail items.

Do you buy building materials to make terrain/scenery crafting easier? Example: Pillars, Molds, Tree Armatures.

• Yes 63.93%
• No 22.95%

What types of materials do you find to be most useful?

• Architectural Details (Windows, Doors...). 31.15%
• Basing materials (Flock, Static Grass, Sand). 62.30%
• Kits (Prefabricated buildings that need assembly). 29.51%
• Molds (Hirst Art's molds for example). 26.23%
• Premade scenic bases 11.48%
• Raw materials (Foam core, wood, plaster). 59.02%

How much space do you have dedicated to miniatures?

• I have an entire room dedicated to miniatures and games. 45.90%
• I share space in another room for my miniatures (permanent area in an office or bedroom). 39.34%
• I have to put all my miniatures away when I am not using them (painting on a dining room table for example). 14.75%

How much time per week do you spend playing with or painting miniatures?

• Less than 1 hour a week 6.56%
• Between 1 and 2 hours a week. 13.11%
• Between 2 and 4 hours a week. 29.51%
• Between 4 and 8 hours a week. 34.43%
• More than 8 hours a week. 16.39%

How much do you spend in the average month on miniatures?

• Less than $10 per month. 8.20%
• Between $10 and $20 per month. 14.75%
• Between $20 and $30 per month. 16.39%
• Between $30 and $40 per month. 11 18.03%
• Between $40 and $50 per month. 11.48%
• More than $50 per month. 26.23%
• Other (-oth-) 4.92%

Do you ever travel to paint your mini's? Game Store Paint Nights for example.

• Yes 37.70%
• No 62.30%

Continuing with a common trend, over 75% of female respondents travel to Paint and Take type events, while less than 50% of males do.

What paints do you currently use?

• Reaper Pro Paints. 32.79%
• Reaper Master Paints. 40.98%
• Vallejo Paints. 59.02%
• Citadel Paints. 39.34%
• Foundry Paints. 4.92%
• P3 Paints. 9.84%
• Other 49.18%

Notable mentions within the others group on this question Poly Scale, Partha Paints, Coat D'arms and Testors. Normal craft style paints were also fairly popular with almost 10% of respondents using them in addition to paints marketed specifically to miniatures or models.

What scale miniatures are you most interested in?

• Large Scale (54mm for example) 8.20%
• 25-32mm (to include all the heroic versions therein). 86.89%
• 15-18mm 44.26%
• 10mm 13.11%
• 6mm 14.75%
• Other 9.84%

In addition to the above scales, 1/2400 was a very popular scale for the write in votes.

What genre of miniatures are you most interested in?

• Fantasy 62.30%
• Science Fiction 47.54%
• Historical 70.49%
• Modern/Near Future 22.95%