The temptation of changing scale after seeing all the 15mm eyecandy online over the last few years has been great. After much research the appeal of 15mm as a scale is really speaking to me than the last time I looked at it (about 10 years ago). There is as nearly as many lines and nice figures as 28's these days.
For me the main attraction is space saving and cost (a gang in 15mm is the same price as a single 28mm miniature). My current 28mm terrain collection is huge and takes up so much space. My current 28mm skirmish table of 3 x 4 feet would happily support Platoon to Company sized battles in 15mm. A 2 x 2 foot board will be ample for skirmish gaming.
Another attraction is a new scale to build terrain and models in. New challenges.
The down side for me is vehicles. There are loads of Sci-Fi out there but very little in the way of toy cars in the scale to chop up to make ganger and post apoc fighting machines. It is very tempting to try to scratch build my own.
When I looked at this scale back in the mists of time I scored a Laserburn vehicle and about 40 figures for £1.99. I found these and I am working my way through them. It has taken me the same amount of time to paint 18 x 15mm figures as it would to paint 2 to 3 28mm figures. So a time savings there.
When painted I will be running a few games to see if I like it before I start collecting. Watch this space.....
For me the main attraction is space saving and cost (a gang in 15mm is the same price as a single 28mm miniature). My current 28mm terrain collection is huge and takes up so much space. My current 28mm skirmish table of 3 x 4 feet would happily support Platoon to Company sized battles in 15mm. A 2 x 2 foot board will be ample for skirmish gaming.
Another attraction is a new scale to build terrain and models in. New challenges.
The down side for me is vehicles. There are loads of Sci-Fi out there but very little in the way of toy cars in the scale to chop up to make ganger and post apoc fighting machines. It is very tempting to try to scratch build my own.
When I looked at this scale back in the mists of time I scored a Laserburn vehicle and about 40 figures for £1.99. I found these and I am working my way through them. It has taken me the same amount of time to paint 18 x 15mm figures as it would to paint 2 to 3 28mm figures. So a time savings there.
When painted I will be running a few games to see if I like it before I start collecting. Watch this space.....
I'd say to go for it mate - certainly I have enjoyed my forray into 20mm for much the same reasons as you are describing. Certainly the speed of painting is a big draw for me, as is scenery storage (and lets face it cost - you know how useless I am actually building scenery, so if I can buy it cheaply so much the better!)
ReplyDeleteIn terms of vehicles and the like, I know most people swear by 1:100th as '15mm scale' but doing the math a 15mm figure works out to be 1:118th whilst an 18mm figure in 1:99th. Once the figures re based tye will be higher still - so it might be worht looking at HO scale model railway stuff (1:87th). I know lots of kits are 'OO/HO' which is to say somewhere between 1:76th and 1:87th, so will probably be too big, but lots of the continental and American stuff is 'true' HO...
I look forward to hearing your decision, and hopefully seeing some battle reps/photo reps of games!
I have seen some 1/72 tank conversions as Sci_ Fi vehicles out there and it seems some OO stuff fits okay. Oddly when I scale a vehicle to 1:100 it seems too small against the GZG figures I already have. I have some matchbox vehicles while too large are good as colonialist trucks.
ReplyDeleteSo far the Tengun Empire has been painted and needs basing. Red Lance of the Krom Corporation is next (This reminds me, I need to check out my sci-fi setting fluff too!).
I know the HO/OO railway shed models make good scale factories. Hell they even work with 28mm with a tweak or two.
Yes, it's really a great time for 15's! There is even enough wasteland themed stuff. With your skills, I bet even some slightly too large matchbox cars will look great.
ReplyDelete15mm is the way to go. I put the change off for years and regret it now. Your terrain is excellent but imagine having four or five times as much and imagine painting a dozen times more minis. Then imagine getting that in three or four large boxes rather than half a small room.
ReplyDeleteThree things changed my mind. First I always wanted some old citadel miniatures but didn't want to pay £60 on ebay for a box of twenty minis. Then as well as GZG, rebel and khurasan RAFM gor the old citadel molds. Then I was pricing up what I wanted from max mini. I figured that I was about to order £200 and would probably not get more than half a dozen minis and a lot of bits. Then I was doing an rpg game in 28mm which involved a sniper. The sniper could have been fifty feet away and still be in (scale) range of the target.
I am not saying that 15mm is a cure for all gaming ills. I manage to do some nice minis (it has taken some practice). I you are running a game you can have a mini for almost every occasion rather than having to use things as proxies. The ranges are pretty good and are getting better. I agree with the vehicles issues. This is getting better. There are a dozen or so usable modern and a fair few more sci fi vehicles that will do for civilians and lots of military stuff in either era. Admittedly this isn't a patch on what you can buy at tescos that will do for 28mm.
You will probably be able to use a lot of the terrain you already have. There are probably some minis that can be used too.
Bite the bullet.