Top 5 Gifts for a Wargamer
Buying for a miniature hobby enthusiast can feel overwhelming — there are paints, brushes, rulebooks, terrain, and enough plastic sprues to fill a small workshop. But if you want to give something genuinely useful (and something they won't already have three of), here's a ranked guide to the best gifts for any wargamer.
1. A Miniature Display Stand
Every serious hobbyist spends hours painting their models — and then they end up in a box, wrapped in tissue paper, never to be admired. A quality display stand changes that. Tiered, hexagonal podium-style stands let collectors arrange their painted miniatures in a proper diorama-style display, by warband, faction, or era.
Look for UK-made options that are sized correctly for standard 25mm, 32mm, and 40mm bases. Modular systems are especially popular because they can grow with a collection over time — and collections do grow: the 2023 Great Wargaming Survey found almost 41% of hobbyists have between 100 and 500 unpainted miniatures and around 18% have more than 1,000, so a stand that expands is the gift that keeps fitting.
Why it's a great gift: It's the one thing most hobbyists never buy for themselves, but immediately love once they have it.
2. A Quality Starter Paint Set
Paints are the consumable of the hobby — they always run out, and there's always a colour missing from the rack. A well-chosen set of base paints, washes, and a dry brush gives any painter exactly what they need to get productive.
Paint brands such as Citadel®, Vallejo®, and Army Painter® all produce sets aimed at different skill levels. For beginners, a "getting started" paint set with a wash and contrast paint is ideal. For experienced painters, a set of high-contrast or specialist technical paints is a more interesting choice.
Why it's a great gift: Practical, always needed, and it shows you understand the hobby.
3. A Wet Palette
Ask any intermediate-level miniature painter what single tool changed their painting most and a wet palette will be near the top of the list. It keeps paints workable for far longer, enables smoother blending, and dramatically reduces waste.
Budget options work perfectly well, but brands like Redgrass Games produce dedicated hobby wet palettes with tight-fitting lids that keep paints fresh for days at a time.
Why it's a great gift: It's a genuine upgrade for anyone still painting straight from a regular palette.
4. A Daylight Lamp
Painting tiny details under poor lighting is the fastest route to eye strain and sloppy brushwork. A good daylight-spectrum lamp is one of those quality-of-life upgrades that hobbyists often delay buying for themselves because it feels like an indulgence.
Look for an adjustable desk lamp with a colour temperature around 5,500–6,500K. Many versions include a magnifying lens, which is a bonus for anyone working on fine details or ageing eyes.
Why it's a great gift: Immediately practical, visibly improves results, and feels premium without costing a fortune.
5. A Scenery or Terrain Kit
Most hobbyists are excellent at painting their figures but perpetually short on proper terrain to play or photograph on. A good scenery kit — whether that's ruined buildings, dungeon tiles, or scatter terrain like barrels and crates — adds atmosphere to both games and display photographs.
Printed or laser-cut MDF terrain kits are widely available and cover every genre from sci-fi to fantasy to historical. If you know what era or setting the person plays in, a themed terrain set is a truly thoughtful gift.
Why it's a great gift: It's specific to their hobby, expandable over time, and something they'll use in every game.
The Bottom Line
The best gifts for wargamers are the ones that enhance the hobby they already love — whether that's better tools, more materials, or finally giving their painted miniatures the display they deserve. You don't need to know the rules of a single game to choose well. You just need to know what stage of the hobby they're at.
Not sure which display stand is right for their collection? Browse the WarSplay range — UK-made, modular, and designed to grow with any collection.