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What size force of 15mm sci fi do you typically use?

1-10 figurines, no vehicles
8 (15.7%)
10-20 figurines, 1-2 vehicles
14 (27.5%)
21-40 figurines, 2-4 vehicles
16 (31.4%)
More than 40 figurines, individually based, and more than 4 vehicles
6 (11.8%)
More than 40 figurines, team or squad based, and more than 4 vehicles
7 (13.7%)

Total Members Voted: 51

Voting closed: March 21, 2020, 01:38:33 PM

Author Topic: How do you game 15mm sci fi?  (Read 3318 times)

Offline Khurasan Miniatures

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How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« on: February 20, 2020, 01:38:33 PM »
Just curious to see how big your games are and what you use in them. The choices might not cover every option but please choose the most representative one.

Choices are per side of course.
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Offline Ockman

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #1 on: February 20, 2020, 09:22:58 PM »
I'm mainly playing solo skirmish games with 5-10 minis/side, kind of semi-RPGs.

I mostly use vehicles as objectives or terrain, and while I play with a few minis/side, I like to populate the table with civilians and non-combatants.

Offline has.been

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #2 on: February 20, 2020, 09:38:43 PM »
I don't at the present. I used to, many years ago, & would like to take it up again.
I used to use singly based figures & played Laserburn.
Now I would like to use figures based in squads/clumps with a few vehicles.
Will probably go down the 'Fist full of Lead' route.
i will utilise the remnants of my previous 15mm gaming to do this.

Offline spacecowsmith

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #3 on: February 20, 2020, 09:48:48 PM »
A couple of squads of infantry backed up by a vehicle or two!
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Offline Brummie

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #4 on: February 20, 2020, 10:46:44 PM »
At present I don't game at all, partially resulting from lack of room atm but also a lot of the people I may have gamed with in the past are no longer nearby and I've made no effort to find others yet.

In the past though games went from a few squads to a Platoon level engagements (30-40 figs 4 IFVs, tanks and maybe some supporting units).

The intention is one day to pull off a sort of Sci Fi flames of war game, with emphasis on avoiding the parking lot theme. After all you don't end up with forces as big as this (see below, and that's only 50% of the force) and never intend to use it all in one go some day!

Offline TheDaR

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #5 on: February 20, 2020, 10:48:35 PM »
I voted for 21-40 figures and 3-4 vehicles, but that's because I tend to buy around a reinforced platoon (usually motorized) when I start a new force, to give me a nice variety of figures.  Very rarely will I buy more at first, though occasionally less (if, for instance, the figures lend themselves to a "Kill Team" sort of game, but not regular military).

The majority of games I actually play are much smaller (in the 1-10 no vehicles range, games like 5 Parsecs from Home, In the Emperor's Name, FUBAR, etc).

I do play platoon level games (No Stars in Sight, Fireteam Andromeda, etc) pretty regularly.

I do have a pair of forces (Space Orks and Helghast-inspired Space Nazis) that are large enough to nominally field as a full company, including some full platoons of armor, but I fairly rarely field them as a whole these days.

Nearly everything is individually based (weapon teams of 2-3, and a few command teams being the notable exception) on washers, but I will make appropriately sized sabot trays for games which treat fire teams as single things (Hammer's Slammer's comes to mind), or where the units are more abstract markers (like Alien Squad Leader, Laserstorm, or HoTT variants).

Offline Khurasan Miniatures

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2020, 04:24:23 AM »
This is fascinating stuff, guys, please keep it coming. It’s very interesting how diverse 15mm gameplay is. Think this dispenses with the notion that “15mm is for big unit mass battle only.”

Offline TheDaR

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2020, 08:16:19 AM »
For me, if I truly want mass battle, I'll go with 10mm (fantasy) or 6mm (sci-fi).   But that's only if I want to do company to battalion level games, or abstract games where a base might represent a whole regiment.  I'd probably go strictly 6mm, but fantasy stuff tends to be in 10/12mm, probably due to the legacy of GW's Warmaster.

My first reason for going from 28/32mm to 15mm was space.   I used to play both 40k and Warmachine/Hordes, and I'm the sort who always wants to try almost every faction.  Then I had to move into a very small apartment.  Even now, years after I stopped buying 28/32mm stuff and sold off the majority of it, what I have left still fills an entire 6 foot tall and 4 foot wide 6 shelf unit, plus a significant chunk of a rented storage unit.   My entire collection of 6, 10, and 15mm stuff fits on 2 shelves, 3 if you count boxed game sets like Joan of Arc and the newest editions of Titanicus/Aeronautica, and that also includes a large number of armies I know deep inside I'll probably never even get around to painting up.

Once I made the jump, I found a lot of other benefits.  Skirmish games can easily be played on a small table or desk.  I have an 18 inch square terrain mat that's just fine for quick 5-10 model per side games.  Terrain also takes up way less space, and is usually sturdier.  Everything paints up faster, of course, and I worry much less about trying to paint to some imaginary competition level.   And finally, I can afford to take more speculative projects.  A lot of what I got rid of in my 28mm collections were armies I had a brilliant idea for, got a dozen models into, and then abandoned when the next idea came along.  That gets really expensive at GW or PP prices.  Buying a whole new 15mm army, even at large platoon size is probably less than a really nice night out on the town, or a box or two of the latest Warhammer releases.

So far, the only real downside is that some genres are a bit under-represented (pulp especially, but also certain forms of fantasy), and if you're after very specific aesthetics (like GW's or Privateer Press's), it can be hard to find exactly what you want.   As a minor quibble, the current generation of consumer level 3d printers struggle with enough resolution to do 15mm really well, though I expect in a few more years that'll stop being a problem.

Offline Brummie

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2020, 09:14:31 AM »
I'd also echo that for mass battles I'd use 6-10mm.

15mm rarely ever goes beyond platoon level or having multiple platoon level units. One thing I think 15mm is good for is infantry-vehicle tactical gameplay, theoretically though you can include a lot of other factors. You can have RPG elements, involve civilians, and use special forces much better. Also some enemies (zombies for example) play better in 15mm.

6mm though has its perks because you can easily and cheaply field multiple Companies (I usually have a tank company, scout comp, mechanised). There are also some units that work much better; in 15mm I might have 1-2 air units on a side but in 6mm I could increase that to 5-10! So you can do large air infils. Similarly I think 6mm is better for using other air assets like jets and multiple dropships as well as artillery, large drones, big Mechs and repair vehicles (I have repair vehicles and arty in 15mm but it's hard to envisage them being used outside of being an objective).

But both are a favourite scale for sci fi. The amount of variety in 15mm is such you can do almost anything, although I think there are still some unique designs and alien types yet to be explored. 6mm is definitely the Command scale, although it's not quite fleshed out and is mostly 'human' factions atm.

Offline Maniac

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2020, 06:58:46 PM »
I use mine for Galactic Heroes.  I have not used vehicles/non-infantry as of yet, but someday I would like to incorporate them.
On time, on target, or the next one's free

Offline dddd99

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #10 on: February 22, 2020, 05:06:21 PM »
Like some other posters above I normally used in the past 6mm for mass sci fi battles. I just recently placed an order thru Khurasan for 15 mm minis (btw they look good I am excited to get them). My first purchase of 15mm sci fi. I wanted to do a quick project for a sci fi bug hunt type thing.

If I am into it I will prolly add to it as I go. I was going to use Alien RPG rules, but while I was waiting I found Aliens Adventure Game; this is the one from Leading Edge Games. Maybe I am weird, but I am still slogging thru those rules. We will see how it goes.

I guess since I was looking to do a small squad type thing I thought 6 mm to be too small. Therefore I considered 15mm to be the minimum scale plus the price point is just about right. I have use 15-18mm old west figures for small skirmishes in the past so I knew 15mm sci fi would be right up my alley.

Offline Nellkyn

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #11 on: February 23, 2020, 12:54:16 PM »
I do platoon-level, upto about 40 figures. Most are indivdually based. A few are are doubled up. A handful of vehicles.

For company-level I drop down to 6mm.

Offline Glasvandrare

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #12 on: February 23, 2020, 07:49:18 PM »
I'm just getting started (the War Force Reserve infantry made me do it...), but I'm aiming to do one or two platoons per side, with some vehicles for support. Infantry being based 3 pretty base, unless size prohibites, like with the WFR.

I've been playing 10mm (Firestorm Invasion/Planetfall) and 6mm (EA), so larger than company sized would probably go that route, but I'm quite enjoying having a detailed orbat to figuring out the various options.

For rules I'm looking at Victory Decision or a home brew mix of our local F28 ruleset with parts from Halo Ground Command.

Offline Metternich

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #13 on: February 23, 2020, 09:57:28 PM »
I have two scales:  25mm for RPG and skirmishing ala Traveller; 15mm for company/platoon actions ala Stargrunt (but in a Traveller Universe).  (So why do I have enough Grenadier and GZG miniatures to make up full/reinforced platoons ???!!!)

Offline blacksmith

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Re: How do you game 15mm sci fi?
« Reply #14 on: February 24, 2020, 09:49:22 AM »
I come from the old Tabletop ruleset "Laserburn" in which I used between 10-20 figures and 1-2 vehicles, and I'm still under that range. Also, I think rules writers like Nordic Weasel come from that sort of rulesets and that it is reflected in their rulesets.
Basically, skirmishes are now played in 15mm instead of 28mm as there are many and varied ranges in that scale and it is easier, faster and cheaper to do it in 15mm than in 28mm. I also think distances feel more right in 15mm than in bigger scales.
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