Historical Miniatures Gaming Society

The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society, commonly known as HMGS, is a United States registered nonprofit charitable and educational foundation devoted to historical miniature wargaming. Its activities center on building and supporting a community around tabletop games that use miniature figures, terrain, rules, and historical scenarios to recreate military conflicts and other periods of history. Rather than operating as a conventional commercial brand, HMGS functions as an umbrella organization for a loose network of regional chapters and affiliated event organizers. The society's public-facing role is primarily community, educational, and event-based. Regional chapters organize conventions, tournaments, demonstrations, seminars, flea markets, and regular local gaming sessions. These activities give players opportunities to meet, play games across different rules systems, trade equipment, learn about military history, and interact with historians and specialist hobbyists. The organization therefore occupies a position between a membership society, an event network, and an educational nonprofit within the historical gaming hobby. HMGS East is described as the largest regional chapter, with more than 2,000 members worldwide, most of them based in the eastern United States. It sponsors three major conventions: Historicon, Cold Wars, and Fall In!, as well as special events and seminars involving distinguished historians. The Great Lakes chapter manages historical gaming activities at the annual Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio, connecting HMGS programming with one of the broader tabletop gaming industry's major public conventions. The Midwest chapter was founded in 1984 and is associated with Little Wars, a four-day convention held near the end of April. Attendance for that event is described as varying between approximately 500 and 700 people. The chapter also organizes smaller events, including HMGS Night at Games Plus in Mount Prospect, Illinois; The War Chest swap meet; Wars in Woodstock; Autumn Wars; Naval Wars; and Tanksgiving, a charitable activity conducted with Battlefront and local hobby shops in support of Toys for Tots. It also presents games at conventions such as Origins, Gen Con, AdeptiCon, Gary Con, Gamehole Con, Nexus, Air Wars, and Rock-Con. The South chapter is the entity most directly associated with the supplied HMGS-South name. According to the society's chapter description, HMGS-South was founded in March 1996 and hosts two large gaming conventions in Orlando, Florida: Recon in April and Hurricon in September. These conventions form the chapter's principal public activities and reflect the broader HMGS model of using recurring regional events to sustain the hobby. Other regional organizations include HMGS Mid-South, which hosts the Siege of Augusta in Augusta, Georgia, and Nashcon in Nashville, Tennessee, and HMGS West, which was founded in March 1997 and assists large gaming conventions. Collectively, the chapters give HMGS a geographically distributed structure. The society's identity is consequently less about a single product line or proprietary game system than about advocacy, coordination, convention production, historical interest, and the social infrastructure of miniature wargaming. Because HMGS is a nonprofit hobby organization rather than a publicly traded company or consumer-goods manufacturer, conventional brand indicators such as revenue, stock-market performance, mass retail distribution, and commercial product portfolios are not central to its profile. Its principal offerings are memberships, conventions, educational programs, gaming opportunities, and chapter-based community services. HMGS-South should therefore be understood as a regional chapter within the wider Historical Miniatures Gaming Society, not as an unrelated commercial brand.

The Historical Miniatures Gaming Society developed as an organized nonprofit framework for the historical miniature wargaming hobby in the United States. Its purpose is to promote gaming activities based on historical periods and military conflicts while also supporting educational and charitable goals. The organization is structured as a loose-knit federation of regional chapters rather than as a centralized commercial company. This structure allows local groups to tailor their programming to the interests and convention calendars of their regions while remaining connected to the wider HMGS identity. The society's activities combine recreation with historical inquiry. Participants use painted miniature figures, terrain, rule systems, and scenario design to represent battles and campaigns. HMGS conventions provide settings for organized play, informal games, demonstrations, social exchange, trade, and talks on military history. The organization also supports seminars and special appearances by historians, reinforcing its educational orientation and distinguishing it from a purely competitive or commercial gaming operator. Regional development has been an important part of HMGS history. The Midwest chapter was founded in 1984 and built its public profile around Little Wars, a four-day convention held in late April. The chapter subsequently developed a broad schedule of smaller events and recurring activities, including local gaming nights, a large swap meet, naval gaming, seasonal conventions, and charitable programming. Its participation in other major gaming conventions further extended HMGS's visibility beyond its own events. The South chapter, identified with the supplied HMGS-South name, was founded in March 1996. Based on the chapter description, its central activities are Recon and Hurricon, two large conventions held in Orlando, Florida, in April and September respectively. These events represent the chapter's principal contribution to the national HMGS network and provide a recurring meeting point for historical miniature gamers in the southern United States. HMGS West was founded in March 1997 and assists large gaming conventions, while HMGS Mid-South operates events including the Siege of Augusta in Georgia and Nashcon in Tennessee. HMGS East became the largest chapter, with more than 2,000 members worldwide according to the available reference material, and sponsors Historicon, Cold Wars, and Fall In! together with seminars and special events. The Great Lakes chapter contributes historical gaming programming to the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. Over time, the society's practical role has remained centered on maintaining a national network of local gaming communities. Its chapters provide physical venues and recurring schedules for a hobby that depends heavily on face-to-face play, tabletop space, terrain, miniatures, and social interaction. HMGS does not appear in the supplied material as a manufacturer of a proprietary miniature range or rulebook. Instead, it supports a pluralistic hobby in which different historical periods, manufacturers, and game systems can be represented. The resulting organization is best understood as a nonprofit event and community institution. Its brand value comes from continuity of conventions, chapter affiliation, access to fellow hobbyists, and the legitimacy associated with promoting historical gaming for charitable and educational purposes. HMGS-South is a regional expression of that broader mission, with its identity most closely tied to the Orlando-based Recon and Hurricon conventions.

• 1997

  HMGS West founded

  [1]Historical Miniatures Gaming Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The West chapter was founded in March 1997 and began assisting large gaming conventions.

• 1996

  HMGS-South founded

  [1]Historical Miniatures Gaming Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The South chapter was founded in March 1996 and established Recon and Hurricon as its principal large conventions in Orlando, Florida.

• 1984

  HMGS Midwest founded

  [1]Historical Miniatures Gaming Societyen.wikipedia.org

  The Midwest chapter was founded and later became associated with the Little Wars convention and a broad program of regional gaming events.

A nonprofit, educational, and community-centered umbrella organization for historical miniature wargaming in the United States, with regional chapters serving hobbyists through conventions, seminars, gaming sessions, and related events.

• Gaming convention

  Recon

  A large HMGS-South historical miniature gaming convention held in Orlando, Florida, in April. It is one of the South chapter's two principal recurring conventions and provides organized games, social participation, and hobby programming.

• Gaming convention

  Hurricon

  A major HMGS-South convention held in Orlando, Florida, in September. It serves as the chapter's second principal annual event and supports historical miniature gaming through organized play and community activities.

• Gaming convention

  Historicon

  A major convention sponsored by HMGS East, featuring historical miniature gaming and related educational or seminar programming.

• Gaming convention

  Cold Wars

  One of HMGS East's major recurring conventions, focused on historical miniature gaming and the society's broader community and educational mission.

• Gaming convention

  Fall In!

  A major HMGS East convention that forms part of the chapter's recurring schedule of large historical gaming events.

• Gaming convention

  Little Wars

  A four-day HMGS Midwest convention held near the end of April. The event is described as attracting approximately 500 to 700 attendees, although attendance varies.

1. 1Historical Miniatures Gaming Societyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Historical Miniatures Gaming Society official websitehmgs.org