"Looking to dive into Moderns" Topic

Ok so I have had an itch that needed scratching for along time, small scale Moderns. I had some 6mm H7R Russians back in the mid 70s but my mother lobbed them in the bin. There then followed a long hiatus until now. I've looked at rules, I don't really want to go large on this, just company sort of level with battalion being the largest unit if I did go a bit bigger so I've decided that 7 days is the rule set for me, although I'm tempted by NORTHAG but PSC stuff seems in short supply looking at their website.
Scale wise I'm thinking 10mm, I think FoW TY 15mm is too large and 6mm just a bit too small. Having said that I already game in 6mm in other periods so I have some terrain I could use.
So which manufacturer do you all recommend for vehicles and figures, which nations from the mid 1980s if any in particular to game with?

Red3 Miniatures. They are 10mm and do quite a good range of ‘moderns'. I've only got some of their WW2 stuff and it matches very well with Victrix and Pendraken.

The quality is excellent with beautiful, crisp, well-detailed castings.

red3miniatures.co.uk

If you like metal castings, may I suggest Minifigs? As a co-owner of the modern ranges in that N scale (1/160th/10mm) range, we covered most of the vehicles and figures for the 80's up thru early 21st century. I recently was introduced to the rules "7 Days to the Rhine River" and found them to cover that era wonderfully. If you can recall, in 1983, the closest we came to the Cold War going Hot was due to the NATO exercise Able Archer. That is chocked full of scenario possibilities!

I have some inside info on a US company working to release company sized starter boxes of 3D printed items including the attached support units. His timeframe is targeted for July 2024. I'm holding out for that release with use of these rules to use for Able Archer.

Most 3D printed companies print to order which usually adds a week to your delivery time. If you live in the USA receipt can take up to 3 weeks to see. A few have US fulfillment firms in the USA but again, print on demand.

Perhaps that has stated the obvious, but here in North America, there are too few retailer brick and mortar stores where one can get historical items in that period and scale. Hope that changes sooner rather than later. Pendraken comes closest to availability in the USA with Dark Horse Hobbies as he stocks them and gets them out quickly. Pendraken are metal castings and are quite detailed.

Just trying to be helpful to your post.

Thanks, I'd already studied red3miniatures stuff online and wondered how it compares with Pendraken. As it is Partizan this coming weekend and Pendraken are there I was thinking of purchasing some items and getting started. Where can I find a guide to British,US and Warsaw Pact/Russian units in the mid 80s? Units strengths, vehicle types etc.

The German publisher "Tankograd" has a lot for that period (in English).

link

Very interesting source of information, thanks.