A Question Of Scale

[leutenantbrittan]

Hi!

Just wondering what peoples opinions are of the best scale for mass fantasy battles.

Im sorely tempted to go for 15mm as its cheaper, takes up less space and is quicker to paint but prefer the range and quality of 28mm.

What do you suggest!

[Conquistador]

Hi!

Just wondering what peoples opinions are of the best scale for mass fantasy battles.

Im sorely tempted to go for 15mm as its cheaper, takes up less space and is quicker to paint but prefer the range and quality of 28mm.

What do you suggest!

I guess it would depend on what you define "Mass... battles" (how many figures make it "Mass") as combined with your views on details painted?

If it means 6 units off 10 it seems that 28 mm works well but 6 units of 60 might suggest 15 mm as more appropriate.

Gracias,

Glenn

[leutenantbrittan]

Hi!

Im planning on using units of between 5 and 40 so there will be quite a large numbers of figures per side.

Thats why Im aiming more towards 15mm scale to be honest but like the look of large units in 28mm scale...

All the best!

[Red Orc]

Then it depends on how many units you're using. Two units of 5-40 each  (average size of army, 45 figures) is well do-able in 28mm, but 20 units of 5-40 (average army size, 450 figures) is obviously something you can only contemplate if you have a very large space and lots of time. For 6 units, that's about 135 figures. That's probably the size of most Warhammer armies I guess.

But doing it at 15mm will undoubtedly be cheaper, quicker to paint and easier to store. But then again, 6mm and 2mm gaming would further increase those variables.

What do you like? If you like painting tiny figures, go with a smaller size; likewise if you want to stage massive battles with hundreds of combatants per side. If you want smaller armies, go for a larger scale. Likewise, if you like taking longer with the painting. The 'best' scale is whatever you find most enjoyable...

For what it's worth, I don't like smaller scales as I'm getting old (can't see the tiny figures very well) and I'm not a very good painter anyway (can't do the details terribly well even on 28mm figures); and most of the things I've got over the last 30 years have been 25-28mm, so those are the scales I've stuck with. There are certainly lots of fantasy and sci-fi minis out there at that size - fewer historicals, which is a bit annoying sometimes (28mm plastic Incas would be nice for instance), but one can't have everything I suppose.

[VoodooInk]

I guess it would depend on what you define "Mass... battles" (how many figures make it "Mass") as combined with your views on details painted?

I'm going to agree with Glenn here.

However, that being said, I would not go above 15mm for what I would consider 'mass' battle wargaming- I might even use 10mm.

At 10mm, you would be able to use all the GW Warmaster minis, as well as miniatures from these companies:
1. Copplestone
2. Kallistra
3. Pendraken
4. Magister Militum
5. Eureka
6. TB Line
*I know I'm forgetting someone...

Examples:
10mm Kallistra Trolls



10mm TB line (yes... that's 10mm!)





Whatever scale you choose to go with, make sure that you post some pictures!!

Brent

[Argonor]

I agree with the above statements.

I've been sorely tempted to go into 10 mm to play both War of the Ring, and Kings of War - my main reasons for not doing so being that I own an awful lot of 28 mm minis, and that I really like 28 mm minis better than smaller ones.

That being said, I have been doing 1:72 Nap plastics for ages (about 20 mm scale), and I really like the look of a large table with loads of painted little men, even though I only block out the colours at that scale (have done battles with more than 500 figs per side, quite a view!).

If I were to start from scratch with massed battles, I'd probably go for 10 or 15 mm. Painting a 28 mm army is a huge endeavour, even if you go for 'only' a warhammer-sized force. At the moment I struggle, even with a 20-man High Elf unit (my situation is a bit extreme, as we just moved, but anyways - day to day life has a nasty tendency to get in the way of hobby time), and I wonder how long it would take me to paint 5-10 units for a smallish 'massed' battle game.

But, as has been stated - it is very important to choose the scale that you feel comfortable about, otherwise the project might lose it's appeal after some time.

[sukhe_bator]

A scale you are comfortable with for sure, but I think its still true to say that if you want the best selection then the 25-28mm has the edge. If you want pseudo historicals - say armoured knights, then I'd recommend 25-28mm. There's a truly vast range of Historicals out there which can be readily adapted to fantasy, and with the increase in the use of plastic multipart/pose figures allows for some incredible conversions. Try the old gamers tricks - a basic paint job for the grunts and spend time on the commanders, standard bearers etc. What I would term 'High Fantasy' that is creatures and personalities with outlandish features/armour can be pretty expensive, so do your homework and budget realistically - otherwise you'll end up with a mountain of plastic and lead and shattered dreams rather than shattered shields...!

[Gluteus Maximus]

Depends on the availablity of space, time, money and the iron self-discipline needed to get it all painted and the terrain built.

If you have all the above go for 28mm. If at least one from the list is missing choose 15mm or smaller 

[thebinmann]

I've got 28mm, 10mm and 6mm and love them all! But for mass, mass battles and loads of dice 6mm rocks!

[leutenantbrittan]

Hi!

Well Ive settled for 28mm scale as Ive just not been able to find the range of miniatures in 15mm scale that Im looking for!

Ive decided to try and collect an army for £10 a month so have started a blog to chronicle my attempts:

http://wargamingonthecheap.blogspot.com/

Theres not too much on it at present but I hope to add a load more over the coming few weeks.

All the best!

[Gluteus Maximus]

Hi!

Well Ive settled for 28mm scale as Ive just not been able to find the range of miniatures in 15mm scale that Im looking for!

Ive decided to try and collect an army for £10 a month so have started a blog to chronicle my attempts:

http://wargamingonthecheap.blogspot.com/

Theres not too much on it at present but I hope to add a load more over the coming few weeks.

All the best!

That's a very sensible approach 

If you're not careful, you'll actually get it all painted each month before the next batch is due to be bought 

Good luck and keep us posted!

[Red Orc]

That looks like a great project you're cataloguing on your blog- I've just signed on as your first follower because I'm always interested in how to do this on the cheap (being a cheap, but ultimately totally undisciplined, kind of guy myself). Good luckwith sticking to the rules, I'm really interested in seeing how this progresses.

[leutenantbrittan]

Hi!

Well I'm hoping to get a start to painting some miniatures this weekend so keep your eyes peeled! Alas my gaming budget is non existent this month but it means that I will be able to get on with painting what I've got at the mo!

All the best!

[Golan2072]

I'd go with 15mm. not only is this scale affordable, easy to store, fitting small tables and easy to paint, but currently there are LOADS of minis available in it in almost any genre you can imagine.

[leutenantbrittan]

What Ho!

Ive settled on 28mm and am trying to resist temptation!

Ive updated my blog a bit and theres some assorted bits and bobs up for auction too!

All the best!