Choosing The Fantasy Project - 28mm v 20mm

[Mr. White]

I'd have thought that Dark Alliance's 'Tolkien through New Line with a bit extra' gives you huge potential for a coherent setting - especially if you add in historicals to flesh them out (camelry and cavalry for the nomads, etc.).

In any case, good luck!

Great points all around, Hobgoblin. And you are 100% correct...I _could_ do a complete retinue with many single boxes...but the hobbyist in me is gonna wanna see Nomad Set 1 in a retinue with Dark Alliance Mummies and Anubis warriors. All led by a liche or something. Yeah, this is on me.

Regarding the 'Tolkien through New Line with a bit extra' you are also correct, but I'm not wanting to do New Line LotR, so my eye is on the more generic looking fantasy units...Nomad Set 1 over 2 for example. But as I mentioned I think doing crazy fantasy is part of the charm of Dragon Rampant, and I need to be ok with it.

I do like the call out to Reaper models for warbeasts...good idea! One unit I seem to struggle with are....Ravenous Hordes. I mean besides zombies, what's out there in 1/72 that would be good for this? Are there even any single or reduced models to use for this horde? Any ideas?

[102-year-old-man]

I would definitely go for 1/72 (=20mm). For me it's the best of both worlds between 28mm and 15mm!

Also there have been numerous new releases, also fantasy stuff as Hobgoblin pointed out 

Special or unique units could also easily be printed in 1/72 scale (e.g. at https://www.speira.net )

Furthermore you could not only often use 28mm monsters in your army but also 15mm monsters. Only the middle scale (1/72) can poach in both of the other scales

[Hobgoblin]

Great points all around, Hobgoblin. And you are 100% correct...I _could_ do a complete retinue with many single boxes...but the hobbyist in me is gonna wanna see Nomad Set 1 in a retinue with Dark Alliance Mummies and Anubis warriors. All led by a liche or something. Yeah, this is on me.

I'm exactly the same - hence my warning as I survey sprue after sprue of unused (ahem, yet-to-be-used) 1/72 stuff!

Regarding the 'Tolkien through New Line with a bit extra' you are also correct, but I'm not wanting to do New Line LotR, so my eye is on the more generic looking fantasy units...Nomad Set 1 over 2 for example. But as I mentioned I think doing crazy fantasy is part of the charm of Dragon Rampant, and I need to be ok with it.

Ah - gotcha. Yes, I prefer Nomad 1 (it's the only one I have - great figures, and the back racks on the others are a bit much); I don't much like the New Line films, and I really wish the warg riders were on wargs, not hyena-beasts! I'd say that the Dark Alliance orcs and goblins are much more 'generic fantasy' than New Line, though, despite the box art (the half-orcs are pure New Line, though I use them as both grey-skinned orcs and red-skinned D&D-style hobgoblins).

Have you seen the new-ish Caesar orcs (the dynamic ones, not the older goofy ones)? They're on the right of the picture below. I reckon they're one of the best 1/72 fantasy sets out there; really dynamic and characterful, and with an obvious chieftain and a couple of shaman/wizard types as well as some archers, some armoured guys and some out-and-out Bellicose Foot. A great thing about them is the plastic they're made from. It takes paint and superglue really well, which makes these guys easy to convert. As they're quite big, you can easily add weapons from historical 28mm kits.

I do like the call out to Reaper models for warbeasts...good idea! One unit I seem to struggle with are....Ravenous Hordes. I mean besides zombies, what's out there in 1/72 that would be good for this? Are there even any single or reduced models to use for this horde? Any ideas?

Goblins are the obvious answer - the Dark Alliance 'goblins' are unarmoured and poorly equipped, for the most part, unlike their 'orcs'. There are also loads of wretched-looking 15mm orc types that would work well - these guys, for example, who would give you two Ravenous Hordes for $12.50. They're big, chunky 15mm figures, so bang on for small goblins in 1/72.

It's hard to think of reduced-model options; pathetic ghosts might be one idea (a mix of figures painted pale and glowing?). But one way to go would be something like Hordes of the Things lurker elements. After all, Ravenous Hordes are rubbish in DR except in rough terrain and woods - where they become the equal of troops that lack the Ranger ability: Elite Riders, for example, whose Wild Charging they can exploit to lure into trouble. So one option would be to model your Ravenous Hordes as fairies or fauns or will-o-the-wisps or woodland sprites of some other sort - no threat out in the open but dangerous in dark places. Modestly sized giant spiders might be another example.

[RSDean]

I really have a hard time building multi-part 28mm plastics, so that would be my personal last choice.  If I were budget limited, I’d rather build a really small project in metal than to drive myself crazy assembling plastics, but that’s definitely just me. 

So, with respect to your original question, I would definitely go for the 1/72 project.  In fact, I’ve mor-or-less already done this:

http://sharpbrush.blogspot.com/search/label/1%2F72%20scale%20plastic?updated-max=2020-09-19T16:11:00-04:00&max-results=20&start=7&by-date=false

My sons (at 31 and 28) are now out in the world and infrequently around for games, but both of them build 1/72 Hordes of the Things armies, most of which could reasonably be morphed into Dragon Rampant warbands.  Since this was a few years back, we used more Caesar fantasy and historicals than anything else.  Older son has been working recently on 1/72 historical Bronze Age DBA armies, so he’s been picking up some of the recent Dark Alliance stuff to give those armies a possible fantasy flex, but none of it has been painted yet.

As suggested above, I’ve got some Reaper Bones in my forces as various monsters, with the Young Fire Dragon and the Saprolings being favorites.

[Hobgoblin]

Great blog - and your saprolings and Minifigs orcs look terrific! I've also acquired one of the Strelets Roman Transport sets to harvest adventurers and retainers: they're great for that job.

Jack Hooligan - there's lots of potential for reduced-model Ravenous Hordes here - especially if you go with the idea of 'lurkers'. Stick a handful of these in the woods, then have them tempt in those Elite Rider units - to their doom!

[M.P.]

I'd go with 20mm scale . I'm exclusively wargaming in this scale and with the amount of new sets coming the variety is ever increasing. For monsters I'm primarily using reaper bones minis. If you want I can take some pics of them with 20mm minis. Some of the bones that work especially well with 1/72 minis are:

- dark young,
- mi-gos,
- eldritch demon,
- gravewailer,
- bat swarm (after hiding the tombstone),
- spider swarms,
- giant scorpions,
- wyverns,
- giant toads,
- sea hags,
- manticores,
- gryphons,
- chimeras,
- basilisks,
- giant worms,
- saprolings,
- giant beetles.

[MaaX]

I'd go with 28mm.

This scales offers far better customization options for your miniatures. Its also easier to paint as the details are larger, and when you use creatures or monsters they will look the business 

As for the Cons you mentioned, maybe try starting with less armies or have your players help you assemble the minis? From my observation a lot of people struggle with painting their armies so maybe they will be happy to help you build the model and let you paint it?

Anyways, whatever way you decide to go - good luck and enjoy! 

[102-year-old-man]

I'd go with 20mm scale . I'm exclusively wargaming in this scale and with the amount of new sets coming the variety is ever increasing. For monsters I'm primarily using reaper bones minis. If you want I can take some pics of them with 20mm minis. Some of the bones that work especially well with 1/72 minis are:

- dark young,
- mi-gos,
- eldritch demon,
- gravewailer,
- bat swarm (after hiding the tombstone),
- spider swarms,
- giant scorpions,
- wyverns,
- giant toads,
- sea hags,
- manticores,
- gryphons,
- chimeras,
- basilisks,
- giant worms,
- saprolings,
- giant beetles.

Hey M.P.
a photo for size comparison with 1/72 minis would be nice!

thanks

[Hobgoblin]

Another option for Ravenous Hordes would be 28mm Reaper Bones kobolds. They do several varieties, but most would do fine in that role in 1/72.

Although most of the front rank here are old Ral Partha (and one Citadel) metals, the rest are Reaper Bones - of two different varieties. They're based on 20mm bases (though I'll be rebasing them on pennies at some point), but they'd be small enough next to 1/72 humans:

[Mr. White]

Good ideas.

I guess I was thinking dark alliance goblins and these reaper kobolds would be more light foot because they do have weapons and seem to be somewhat useful combatants. My understanding of Ravenous Hordes is that they’re pretty much just speed bumps. Maybe even mindless. But have lower level warriors be RH does give another level of foot options.

Thanks, all, for the recent comments. These lists of reaper creatures are great!

[Hobgoblin]

The Reaper Bones kobolds are significantly smaller than the Dark Alliance goblins and orcs, so they're visually already in speed-bump territory, I think (see below). You could also use 15mm lizardmen as kobolds (as here):

[Mr. White]

I'm exactly the same - hence my warning as I survey sprue after sprue of unused (ahem, yet-to-be-used) 1/72 stuff!

I mean, I can appreciate that these Dark Alliance boxes have ~40 or so figs, but like i really just want one sprue of Cimmerians Set 2 for a proper unit of Chaos Warrior-types. i don't need 40! ha. Oh well, still. 10 or so models for $10 isn't bad, so I shouldn't complain.

I'm going to have lots of leftovers. Maybe for conversions?

[Hobgoblin]

I'm going to have lots of leftovers. Maybe for conversions?

Or based for mass-battle games!

Have you ever played Hordes of the Things? For my money, it's the best fantasy wargame ever made (and it only needs half a dinner table to play). But its unit sizes are used across a whole swathe of games, so if you base up your spares on 60mm frontages, you've got an extremely versatile set of mass-battle armies. Make those multi-bases match your individually based ones, and you've got a great way of speeding up Dragon Rampant, making the 'wall of shields' manoeuvre clearer and reducing the 'footprint' further to give you more space.

The 25/28mm basing size for HotT and other games (60mm frontage) can look quite cramped with modern 28s. But it's perfect for 1/72s. And your spare Cimmerians would give you the core of a full army.

[swiftnick]

Agreed re Hott it really is a great game and building the armies becomes quite addictive.
I have wondered about a sprue exchange.

[johnl5555]

 I played HOTT for years and had fun. But the armies are just too vanilla for our group. Nobody locally plays any longer. Dragon Rampant and One Page Rules Fantasy has taken up that void for the most part. I have been buying 1/72 fantasy that fit with my older Ral Partha figs. The Centaurs will go well with my Partha Greeks that I may be using for Partha's Chaos Wars at Cincycon. There is a great seller on Ebay for Dark Alliance. $8.99 a pack. I have ordered from them multiple times. Great prices and fast shipping!
https://www.ebay.com/str/scottsmodelworkshop/Dark-Alliance-Figures/_i.html?_storecat=8037817012

Have fun with your new armies!