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This is probably an overly broad question...

I have the urge to paint some Roman regiments, in a medium to small scale.

As someone not familiar with wargaming in that era, does anyone have any recommendations on what's a good place to start in terms of scale, how big should a regiment be, what rules are most common, etc? Are there favoured periods (are the Punic wars the most popular era? I do have a thing for the Imperial Roman aesthetic but wouldn't mind trying my hand at any of them and their foes).

I know there's tons of different rules, and people have said an advantage of the period is the same models can be used with different rules, but are there favoured scales, favoured dimensions for units, etc?

I'm thinking of grabbing a set off Cromarty Forge, either 10mm or 15mm as anything bigger seems excessive, and getting the 3D printer fired up. I know Warlord are bringing out there "Epic Battles" models, which are about 14mm scale if my understanding is correct, would that be a good scale to mimic or is it better to go with something like 15mm or 10mm?

Cheers!

I know this is about six weeks old, but if you're still interested, here's my take.

Scale: For me, go big or go home. I haven't painted 15mm since the late 80's when I painted a few DBA armies. 25mm is the standard for me. If you want to play a large Napoleonic game on a 4x6 table, 15mm is the way to go. I haven't played in a big game like that in many years. I mostly play medium to large skirmish for a lot of years now. Most of the popular rulesets can accommodate 25's no problem.

Unit size: The rules will let you know.

Rules: Hail Caesar is pretty popular. It's been around for some time, and still popular, so they must be doing something right. It is intended for large games, though they tell you how you can scale down. Published by Warlord Games. SPQR, also Warlord, is skirmish scale, and popular as well. I've played Clash of Spears a few times, and while it's not my cuppa, they are pretty decent rules.

Republican or Imperial: In my 40+ years in the hobby, I'd say I've seen more Rupublican period than Imperial. Totally unscientific observation. Punic war has always been popular, and always will be. Great period. Imperial period really simplifies troop types, due to the Marian Reforms. From three different types of Legionnaires down to one. If you like cavalry, this is where Rome starts to have a lot of cavalry. Great period, also.

You can certainly use your figures for multiple rulesets. Some rules have you base individually, some four to base, but they can be adapted either way.

Obviously, these are my preferences based on the type of game I like to play. Think about what size games you want to play, and base your decision on ruleset off of that. Hope this helped a bit.

Sorry I missed this..... Romans are a great place to start in Ancient wargaming.

Here is my follow-up questions for you:

1. Are you doing this purely as a painting project? If so, do whatever you like!

2. Does anyone play ancients around you? What do they play? If no one, and you go solo, then it doesn't matter too much. However you will want to paint Romans and an enemy.

Now, onto some of your questions:

Scale: If it were up to me I would go with 28mm so I could use some of the cool Victrix models, or 6mm because that scales looks like armies!

However, 15mm is the most popular Ancients scale.... no idea why, but it probably inertia from the first big ancients game DBA and all its imitators.

Period: There are three main periods for Romans- Republican, Imperial, and Late. Of course, you could also make very early Hoplite Romans, or Byzantines if you want to get really creative or off-the-wall.

This depends a lot on if you care about battles that are historically plausible or not. There is nothing stopping a Punic War Roman army facing Aztecs, but that is pretty historically implausible. If you are going solo, you would also want to paint their opponents as well.

Rules: There are literally hundreds of rules you could use these with for minimal basing changes. The biggest question is if you want model-vs-model, unit-vs-unit, are Mass battles. Your scale may also impact your rules choice to some degree.

For example- Strength and Honor is more for 6mm and smaller, SAGA or SPQR for 28mm, while DBA and the like are 15mm mostly. Many rules are scale and model agnostic.

If you are a beginner to the period, Osprey's Wars of the Republic maybe a good start rules wise as it is scale and model agnostic, has broad unit types, and works with about 5-12 units per side.

Models: Thankfully, almost all wargames makers have a line of Romans. They are also available in almost any material and scale you want to have. Plastic, resin, metal are all represented in various makers Roman lines. Do you have a material preference?

Sorry I missed this, not been on Dakka much recently.

For scales 15mm and 25/28mm are the most common. It's more common to see people stick to 25mm in historical, because (as you mentioned) once you have an army you can expect to use it for the rest of your life.
Personally, I am very fond of 15mm. Especially for historical.
15mm strikes a good balance between maximising the number of figures on the table, giving the look of army without huge tables, and still having some visible detail.
"Epic Scale" is making a bit of a splash, but I personally refuse to participate in Warlord Games' attempt to get people to buy armies that already have again.

Everyone has their own preference, go with the scale that makes sense to you, and/or find a group and use what they use.

Most historical rulsets will accommodate multiple scales and be compatible with DBx basing.
Wargames rules by Phil Barker (DBA, DBM, DBMM) were very popular for a time and the base sizes used there became the norm.

As for rulesets, the best ruleset is the one you can get games for. Find local players and get introduced to the period with their rules.
I like ADLG.

As for Romans, I would say that there are 4 types to choose from.
You can worry about the minor variations and details within those later, if you find it interesting. Or not, if you don't care for it.
1 - Though there is earlier Roman history, I would say that the manipular legion of the Republican Romans is where the Roman army became distinctly Roman.
This period would include the Punic Wars and Caesar's conquests.
2 - Cohort legions of the Early Empire.The Romans at their best, with the iconic rectangular shield legionaries with auxilia as back up and more "non-Roman" auxiliaries than you might think.
3 - Late Imperial. Back to oval shields and with much more cavalry and "barbarian" troops.
4 - Medieval Eastern Romans, a.k.a Byzantines.
This is a long period with a several distinct looks and army set ups.
Less good infantry, but more cavalry.