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Author Topic: Starting WW2  (Read 8989 times)

Offline abhorsen950

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Starting WW2
« on: December 25, 2009, 05:58:00 PM »
After deciding on a game setting ide like to play some WW2
But theres a model shop close by that sells all form of Airfix, Tamiya and Dragon kits.

Now i cant decide what to go for.
Airfix 1/32 with some tamiya and dragon.

Or just game with Airfix at 1/72

IMO Airfix 1/32 would be much more appealing but hmmmmm

Any thourghts

Steve

Offline Michi

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #1 on: December 25, 2009, 06:51:06 PM »
The WW2 community usually games in 20mm. Have a look at the Guild: http://www.guildwargamers.com

Offline traveller

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #2 on: December 25, 2009, 09:00:00 PM »
no, no there is only one scale... 28mm. Do not stray from the righteous path  ;)

Offline Gunbird

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #3 on: December 26, 2009, 07:37:47 AM »
The most important question would be, what do your friends play? No real point in starting when you are alone in that.

Every scale has its + and -, it depends on what you want, and what kind of funds you have. Skirmish, big engagements, Kursk?

1/35 will give you a decent skirmish, 20mm will give you a skirmish right up to a nice engagement anf if you have more mates and plenty of room you could go up to the insanity called Kursk.

But then again, if you look outside the shop you can find anything from 1/600 to 54 mm and everything in between to game with. But if you are stuck between 1/72 and 1/35, 1/72 would be more sensible in terms of storage room, playing field and cost.
« Last Edit: December 26, 2009, 08:07:22 PM by wayswatcher »
Who is Gunbird? Johan van Ooij, Dutch, Mercenary Gamer, no longer mobile and happy to live life while it lasts >> http://20mmandthensome.blogspot.com/

Offline abhorsen950

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #4 on: December 26, 2009, 08:02:05 PM »
Ill use some 1/72 plastics then

Offline pbeccas

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #5 on: December 26, 2009, 10:38:16 PM »
Don't limit yourself.  Do what most of us do and game WWII in multiple scales  lol

I'm 28mm Skirmish
15mm Company/Battalion level games
1/600 airwar
1/3000 Naval
There will be no Dunkirk here. If we have to get out we will fight our way out. There will be no surrender and no retreat"
Australian General Les Morshead. Hero of Tobruk.

Offline WillieB

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #6 on: December 27, 2009, 01:02:44 PM »
Ill use some 1/72 plastics then

Actually any scale will do.
Grew up with 20mm (1/76-1/72) models and to be honest there's a bewildering choice in that scale. However for wargaming I'd take another look at either 15, or as you already stated yourself, 1/35th scale. The latter only suitable for skirmishes.
Most 20 mm models, at least if you want to stay with plastic kits, are no longer suitable for gaming. Way too fragile, they are aimed at modelers and not wargamers. You could of course get some beautiful metal models like MMS  for example, but that would cost you much more.

Same applies to some degree for 1/35th scale models. Nothing so heartbreaking as to find out that you've lost two grab rails, an antennae and a machine gun mount after your first game. But since most 54mm scale wargaming will be infantry skirmishes with perhaps a single AFV this problem might not be so serious.

Panic, Chaos and Disorder. My job here is done

Offline Gunbird

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #7 on: December 27, 2009, 01:26:21 PM »

Most 20 mm models, at least if you want to stay with plastic kits, are no longer suitable for gaming. Way too fragile, they are aimed at modelers and not wargamers. You could of course get some beautiful metal models like MMS  for example, but that would cost you much more.

I guess you are out of the loop then, but 1/72 wargamesfriendly models have been hitting the stores for several years now. And quite a few resin vehicle manufacturers are actually a lot cheaper then the same plastic kits. So both points of cost and fragility don't hold up. 15mm scale vehicles of the popular FoW type are even more expensive then 20mm here!

Offline Darkoath

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #8 on: December 27, 2009, 02:16:12 PM »
I went 28mm since all of my existing terrain was already for that scale...

The miniatures and vehicles available for the period in that scale have excellent detail.

Darkoath

Offline dadlamassu

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #9 on: December 27, 2009, 02:29:05 PM »
I've wargamed ww2 for wll over 40 years and have tried all sorts of scales and sizes.  I have always returned to 1/76 Airfix/Matchbox/Fujimi with a few 1/72 Italeri/Esci and 20mm Frontline resins to fill gaps.  Many of my vehicles are coversions.  Almost all my soldiers are Airfix or Almark plastics witha very few metal figures for difficult to convert figures. 

I've tried skirmishing in 54mm 1/32 and 1/35 and found it disappointing for the effort in getting a game going.  Tried 6mm or 1/300 and found that interesting but lacking visual appeal.  My brother has 15mm anf those look ok.  I also have 1/200 ships made from balsa. 

Because my mediaevals, ancients, WW1, ACW and AWI are all 1/72 plastics I've stuck with a common scale to economise on terrain pieces.  In other periods I have different scales/sizes and try to ensure that as much terrain as possible is common with what I already have.

The best advice I was ever given was to collect both sides of whatever period you choose. That way you can always set up a game or even play solo.

Alan
'He could have lived a risk-free, moneyed life, but he preferred to whittle away his fortune on warfare.'
-- Xenophon, The Anabasis

Offline Arlequín

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #10 on: December 27, 2009, 08:27:57 PM »
I started out, like most people, in 20mm with Airfix and Esci vehicles and figures. There aren't many vehicles you can't get, likewise aircraft. My only downer on 20mm is the figures available. Some are excellent, but others are awful. I'm not up to the painting standard of some guys on here, so having detailed figures makes up for poor painting.  ;) Drawbacks are that most vehicles come in kit form, but if you like making kits, that's extra enjoyment.

15mm is becoming amazing with the standard and variety of figures and vehicles available. Aircraft are a little harder to source and quite expensive unless you can lay your hands on the few 1/100th plastic kits about. The added smaller groundscale looks slightly more realistic to me.. but that's in the eye of the beholder. The scale is more forgiving of lack of painting skill, but some of the stuff out there is amazing, so the 'lack of detail' criticism often raised is null imo.

28mm is the scale I'd do if I wasn't hampered by cost. The most common vehicles are available and over time, more and more obscurer ones are entering the marketplace. The figures are on the whole excellent, but some ranges really suck compared to others. Table ranges have to be telescoped a bit, bearing in mind that even a 300 metre enagement range for small arms is a large chunk of most tables. My only misgiving is the cost of vehicles. They are good value for what you get and I'm not calling 'rip off' here by any means, but at £20-ish a throw they are costly. Obviously you won't need many before your table looks crowded anyway, but a variety of vehicle types requires deep pockets.

I've never considered 54mm as a gaming scale. After spending hours on a kit and then risking damage by gaming is a no go for me. Again table ranges are going to be problematic, but the games themselves will look pretty awesome. A platoon level game with some in depth rules would really work for me.

I wouldn't really try to convince anyone on which scale is best, it's down to so many factors. I would pretty much guarantee that for the 3 smaller scales you shouldn't struggle to find someone who also plays it. Dadlamassu's advice is spot on though; if you collect two forces you only have to find someone to play.

Offline Col.Stone

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    • The compound
Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #11 on: December 28, 2009, 11:29:01 AM »
Quote
if you collect two forces you only have to find someone to play.

which can turn out to be the hardest bit :/

just to make your day worse, have you considered 12mm or smaller?
I've seen some really nice games using the minifigs-stuff :)

Offline fastolfrus

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #12 on: December 28, 2009, 04:29:21 PM »
15mm is becoming amazing with the standard and variety of figures and vehicles available. Aircraft are a little harder to source and quite expensive unless you can lay your hands on the few 1/100th plastic kits about.

There was a really good range of 1/100 aircraft with magazines ("aircraft of the aces" or similar) a few years ago - a Deagostini or Delprado collection, but the aircraft crop up fairly frequently on ebay etc. if you search for "Ge Fabri 1/100".

Gary, Glynis, and Alasdair (there are three of us, but we are too mean to have more than one login)

Offline Arlequín

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #13 on: December 28, 2009, 06:51:13 PM »
Fastolfrus... nice one, I'd forgotten about them (Italeri?), they are quite common on e-bay and usually only £3-5.  I've got some Mig 17 of theirs and they look perfect. Old Glory are doing a few WW2 in their Lil' Flying Fokkers range, but £9-20+ depending on the size.

Offline WillieB

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Re: Starting WW2
« Reply #14 on: December 28, 2009, 08:48:04 PM »
I bought handfuls of 1/100th scale Fabri planes at Bovington last year: BF109, Fw190, Me262, JU87,P51, Hurricane, Spitfire,Meteor, Tempest,Wildcat, P80, P47,P40 for £1 each.
Of course then I bought an old Faller JU52 for just a little bit more lol

 

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