Who doesn't like a good game of chess?

"Who doesn't like a good game of chess? "

I do!

- Too much analysis paralysis.
- Too much everything has been precalculated and analysed (ex: opening books)
- Too little variety and replay value. (I would like to customize my army).
- Too much there is a solution to the problem that you did not see(you should have move this piece instead of this one)

What you seem to be willing to do is to theme the game of chess rather than making a new game. This has been done thousands of time. In the end, it is still a chess game.

i was definitely one of the people who said to rock the tabletop war game.

I love chess too, but to be honest, most people will want a finished painted product if they are looking for a chess set. In this case, your business model turns into that of a fine artist rather than a game designer....if you chose to sell them this way. Gallery style website rather than a blog.
***That isnt necessarily a bad thing though.***
again..that is if you were looking at selling chess sets; if not and you just wanted one for yourself, ignore this part.

I personally like your "gorrilaz-esque" style of line art in your drawings, and laughed at the "hey look, a land mine!" image, as well as the "they have dogs!". Its a style that is increasingly more popular over the years. i also think your style is well reflected through your painted sculptures.

i think that if you took a wargame route, you would need to include wood pieces that you cant just get other places (like the "half-spool" breathing regulator on the knight).
Wood by itself is not inherently expensive, especially in bits that you can get by the boatload.
And go minimalistic on the packaging, like those "bag-o-green-army-men" bags they hang on hooks...only using finished painted peg-o images on the the printing.

If you did go the wargame route though, your majority of your revenue MIGHT not come from the models themselves. you'd have to price things out and figure out margin on toys.
i might suggest something that hasnt really been done before:
A rulebook/codex for playing rules and army building (doesnt have to be a BIG army either.) and a series of COMIC BOOKS for the missions, with set-up rules at the end of the book....utilize subscriptions to your advantage.

This will allow your illustrations, combined with your sculptures (that other people buy as a set of pieces, build and paint themselves), to combine into a really slick product.

this would be alot of work, but i bet it'd be worth it.

P.s. i wanted to build a copy of that walker when i saw it!