In the early 1960s, I was looking for something, hoping that it existed somewhere. That something was wargaming.I had an intense interest in military history, and like most students of military history, I had pondered many “what ifs.” Things like what if Hitler had bypassed Stalingrad? What if Pickett hadn’t charged on day 3 of Gettysburg?  What if the Japanese weren’t caught refueling during Midway? At that time, wargaming was an undefined hobby. It existed only on mimeographed sheets that were passed between the few people who were lucky enough to find each other. Then, to make things even more difficult, the smallest vehicles were 1/87th scale, and often times, gymnasiums floors were the only places large enough to accommodate playing a game. There were no gaming stores, and you couldn’t just hop on the Internet and do a search for wargaming miniatures and rules. After a short time, I decided that I wanted to take things a step further.

I pioneered microscale gaming by experimenting with smaller vehicles that I initially made out of wood. In 1967, I made my first 1/285th scale pewter miniatures and trademarked the term Micro Armour®.  To this day, GHQ is the only company that makes Micro Armour®.  Gaming with Micro Armour® continues to allow wargamers to make the most of their available space. A Micro Armour® game takes only 1/9th of the space that the same 1/87th scale game would. Storage and transport are another major advantage of using Micro Armour®.  An entire Micro Armour® tank company can be stored in a small box, such as our Bunker Box, which will then fit into a coat pocket. By using our new individual infantry, you can now game everything from a skirmish to a full divisional game in your home using the same GHQ miniatures.

My Micro Armour® miniatures quickly became very popular and set the standard scale for which armour games were played. Shortly after releasing Micro Armour®, I did the same thing for naval gaming that I did for armour. I released the first 1/1200th scale sailing ships, and trademarked the term Micronauts®.  Later, GHQ released 1/2400th scale WWI, WWII, and Modern ships. Like Micro Armour®, Micronauts® soon set the standard for naval gaming.

Over the years, GHQ has continued to take wargaming further, step by step. In the 1980s, we released our Terrain Maker® gaming terrain system. To this day, it remains the only terrain making system that allows the modeler to create any type of terrain that they choose. Everything from the shores of Tarawa to the fields of Normandy or the oases of Iraq is possible with Terrain Maker®. In 1999, we took the terrain possibilities a step further by introducing our own line of buildings—one that is growing all the time.

Now GHQ has its own set of WWII armour rules—Micro Armour®: The Game. This is a rule system that has been play tested for years at gaming shows across the country to the delight of all who participated. It is a set of rules that was designed with both the beginner and the experienced gamer in mind. These will be followed with a Modern set of rules that is based on the same fundamentals of play. We also have some ship rules in the works. Another of our goals has been to have our own GHQ line of paints. This will allow us to refer to a specific paint color in Tac News (our bi-monthly newsletter which is included free with every mail order) articles, and not have to have to worry about the regional availability of model paints, and inconsistent colors from paint company to paint company.

When websites burst on to the scene in the mid 1990s, GHQ responded. Since 1995, our website has had two major overhauls in an attempt to stay current and add as much information as we could. Our website is currently going through the third major overhaul. When it is completed, we will have online ordering, an archive of our Tac News newsletter, painting guides, terrain making guides, and more. The website is an ongoing work in progress that will continue to evolve with the times.

GHQ has been into wargaming since its inception. From the mimeographed sheets that were passed amongst the lucky few to the online purchases of today, GHQ has been there.We are the oldest Miniature Wargaming Company in the world, and we have learned a lot. We pass that knowledge on to you in the form of our products.

When I started GHQ in 1967, I wanted to create a line of miniature that was “sans pareil” (without equal). I now welcome you into the world that I have created, along with valuable help from our staff, and most importantly our customers—a miniature wargaming world that is sans pareil.

—Gregory Dean Scott, GHQ Founder