Contemplating on how to go about a WWII project – scale, manufacturer, the usual

[TacticalPainter]

I'm really not sure which scale I prefer – if Mr. Barton sculpted at 28mm, I'd go with those in a heartbeat. There is certainly something to be said about the cheapness and availability of 20mm vehicles, but you don't gain too much table-area wise, while also being a bit harder to paint, I find, than 28mm – while 15mm (and below I assume) is easier, 20mm is big enough for detail, but small enough for said detail to be harder to paint (although it might just be the soft plastics that aren't the greatest, sculpting or detail sharpness-wise).

Not sure about your comment that ‘you don’t gain too much area wise’. In my experience there’s a significant difference. 28mm is as good as 50% bigger than 20mm. The buildings and vehicles have a much bigger footprint. Here is a comparison between two identical tables but one in each scale. There’s a huge difference between the playable areas. I find the 28mm table very crowded compared to 20mm.

[FriendlyNeighbourhoodNerd]

Damn, you're right! I like the look of both (haven't played in them, of course) but I totally get what you're saying. I'm not entirely sure as to why I said that, I didn't do the mental math and for some reason 20mm feels closer to 28mm to me than it actually is. Brain fart there but thanks.

[FriendlyNeighbourhoodNerd]

Not entirely sure if I should make a new topic entirely, but I have a new question related to this project so I'm just posting it here.

Five Men in Normandy/Kursk (the latter explicitly asks for this) require some sort of status markers, and I would like to model those with actual figures, Fire and Fury style. I think for Normandy I would need "knocked down", "hunkered down", and, optionally (I could just remove dead figures from the board) an "out of action" figure, while Kursk needs "nervous", "scared", and "down" markers.

How would you go about making markers for these? Which figures would you use? Recommendations from 15, 20 or 28mm miniatures are welcome, I haven't decided on scale yet (story of my life, I suppose).

Quite a few, manufacturers seem to offer dead figures, but what about nervous? Suppose I could use prone figures to denote "hunkered down" status, but I'm not sure. I also don't know of any other rulesets that ask for this, to get inspiration.

A problem with this approach is that some manufacturers, like Peter Pig for example, don't offer an option for mixing figures from different packs. So, for example, if I'm gonna buy a set of 8 GIs for Normandy, I have to also buy a pack of 8 casualty figures, and a pack of 8 prone figures, and so on, substantially raising costs (instead of just buying a pack of GIs and then a pack of 3 casualty, 3 prone, 2 surrendering, or something along these lines).
I'm not trying to hate on Peter Pig or anything, I love their figures, just an example.

Frankly, it's not all that important, just a dumb fixation of mine. I know it's not at all necessary for the game, I just think these sorts of miniatures are cool to be honest. Probably more trouble than it's worth too, in regards to how much having that sort of thing improves the game experience.

[Will Bailie]

I will echo what others have already said on this thread:  go with the models you like best, whether 28 mm, 1/72, 15 mm or something else!  You're going to be spending more time collecting and painting than actually gaming, so make sure that you're going to enjoy the time prepping them for the table.

Tactical Painter's comment is very apt, though.  Smaller scales will provide a better fit for the table, as ground scale won't be as stretched (or rather compressed) compared to figure size as it is for 28 mm, where a shot past the end of a nearby vehicle might end up being out of range for a pistol (depending on the game system).  Plus, as others have commented, the variety, cost and avaiilability of figures, vehicles and particularly terrain is better with the smaller scales.

Despite what I've written, though, all my collection is 28 mm

with regard to your latest question, I personally couldn't be bothered to change out figures when they change status.  I tend to use markers that fit in well with the board.  I haven't played 'Five Men...' but for Chain of Command or Bolt Action, I use the upright rifle with helmet for shock or pin markers.  In other games, I've used livestock, or explosion markers.