"Which scale to use: 6mm or 10mm" Topic

Hello,

Me and my game buddy – new to WWII miniature gaming – wanted to buy figures for Blitzkrieg Commander and/or Arc of Fire. We cannot choose between 6mm and 10mm figures, but regard this as a strategic decision. Once the choice has been made and the figures painted, we don't want to change.

What would be your choice? And why?

I find infantry in micro scale too small and fiddly… 10mm is just that little bit bigger for ease of handling. Of course with GHQs fine and extensive line of minis I don't think there is anything you wouldn't be able to field in 6mm, whereas the 10mm selection is still a bit limited on the more exotic kit (at least it was last time I looked).

But I tend to shy away from exotic kit and stick to the more common place AFVs. I also like lots of infantry.

It really boils down to what part of the war you want to do. I started in 10/12mm (and have most of a mid-war German battlegroup in that scale). However, when I started my Battle of France project, I found that I could only find everything I was looking for in 6mm (thanks mostly to some less common French kit), so I went that route for that project. I have 2 2,000 pt battleforces for BKC (about 80% painted).

That said, if I pursue another part of the war I would probably start again by looking at what's available in 10mm before I look again at 6mm simply because I prefer the larger 10mm.

In 10mm you can see the difference in infantry stands a lot easier.

I chose 10. Tanks are small enough that you get a good seperation between firing vehicles and can have decent numbers on the table. Infantry looks very nice, allowing a good level of detail. Available ranges are very good.

I would not make the same decisions for moderns, but WWII historically is about the infantry more than the tanks. If I were tinking about a very small scale, I would be more likely to look at 1/600 where multiple vehicles per stand are feasable.

I'm still finishing up a 15mm FOW US force but after that, I plan to do my next WW2 army in 10mm.

Anemaat, what front and period?

I went for 10mm after ordering 6mm and 10mm samples. I found the 6mm infantry a little too small. A couple of friends made the switch from 6mm to 10mm once they played with my armies. It's just easier to tell things apart on the gaming table.

It really depends on the level of detail you want and the how extensive and esoteric you intend to get. I personally am building 6mm for the following reasons:

The GHQ line of figures is extensive so I can pretty much build even the rare units such as Hungarians and Romanians. Unless you intend to just stay with the old standards US, Brits, Germans and Russians, you will be bothered by the lack of certain vehicles.

As to the level of detail, again GHQ's figures have greater detail than even some 15s. The 10mm/12mm stuff out there is a mixed bag. The Dragon and the Wargame South figures are great and fulfill the rivet counter's need in me.

So for the time being, I am building mainly 6mm GHQ armies, but I collect select 12mm items waiting for the lines to catch up.

Just my 2 cents,

Paul B

10mm. 6mm is just too darned hard to see!

I just primed some modern microarmor, but 10mm for the WWII rules you want to use. I love 10mm but went to 15mm to play Disposable Heroes with individually mounted figures. I'll also use them for Crossfire.

12mm or 20mm, the little -tiny stuff gets lost and is hard to handle.

I do 6mm(1/285, 1/300) for WWII, because it works mate. Even at that scale you have to distort the ground scale to have a decent sized battle. Also, as Nissei says, the detail on the Micro-Armour is incredible, better than most 10s.
Besides GHQ and CinC which have the best detail, there is Scotia(French, Japanese), Ross(Everything) and Irregular(SCW) for obscure vehicles. Finally for really nice, detailed 6mm mini infantry try Adler.

I have almost everything exclusively in 6mm but dumped my 6mm WW2 stuff and went to 10mm because I could never get 6mm infantry to look right. I'm really happy with my choice: pithead-miniatures.tk supplemented by a few minifigs.

I use 6mm for the reasons pointed out by Agesilaus and Nissei. That being said, I do find the early war stuff to be too small in 6mm. I like to keep my turrets unglued. The typical early war tank was much smaller than the typical late war tank, the turrets are way to small and the barrels bend too easily. As a result I have for some years now limited my new 6mm purchases to late war stuff. My plan is to wait until some later date to start a collection of early war in 10mm. In short, my advice would be to with 10mm for early war and/or 6mm for late war.

If you like any room to maneuver and like company or battalion tactics, go with 6mm. If you prefer skirmish and seeing the faces of your troops, then 10-12mm is the way to go. I use 6mm. And I think you can do both with them.

Here's an aerial view of a Stalingrad battlefield.
picture

And here's a close up of the action.
picture

Bill
freewebs.com/gupiao

They're both nice, but I go with 6mm primarily because I'm sort of locked into the scale – I use it for just about all eras and genres. I have some 28mm gladiators, and some who-knows-what-scale starships, but 6mm dominates. This is pretty nice when it comes to terrain and such.

Doug

6mm, as you can get every model imaginable (unlike in 10mm). An boy, do some of the reasons for not choosing 6mm make me laugh……Not being able to be painted right, gets lost easily…tss, all very personal opinions and not to "blame" on the figs but on the painter, these pop up every time 6mm is mentioned. Depending on the manufacturer the level of detail even surpasses that of most 10mm and 15mm models.

Just look around and see what the rest is using locally/nationally before you end up with a scale you like but no one else plays. WOuld be a shame to invest a lot of time and then find out you can't find opponents for it.

My 2 cents.

IMHO … 6mm is easier all around (better selection of products, better detail on vehicles, less costly, easier to store and transport, takes a smaller tabletop to play, can play larger battles, etc).

But 10mm is more practical. The gun barrels on tiny tanks are quite fragile. I bought samples of the same tank in 6mm, 10mm, 12mm and 15mm and one of my tests involved dfropping the tank from a height of 6" over a table. The 6mm was the only one to suffer extensive damage (barrel smashed beyond repair). One 15mm tank popped a track which was easily glued back on. I dropped another 6mm tank from a height of 2" right on it's barrel, and it was twisted like a paperclip (and broke off when I tried to straighten it). Plus, ground troops at 6mm are nearly impossible to make out (at least for my old eyes).

So while 6mm has plenty going for it, I tossed that idea out completely myself. I want to treat my gaming pieces as gaming pieces, not fragile bits of china. So between the two options you listed, I would go with 10mm.

Steve

I consider between 6 and 10mm a couple of years ago.

One of the things that pushed me toward 10mm was this comparison photo, by Pete at BKC.
picture

It was the size of the infantry more than anything that put me off 6mm

The 10mm manufacturers are busily expanding their ranges, Pithead have just added early war Poles and French.

6mm, I beleive there is greater choice of figures and terrin/scenery.

I imagine the scales for firing and movement are more playable in 6mm.
I would guess that at 10mm on a small table you may start with everybody in firing range, 6mm I would guess not.

For any other period I'd say 6mm, but for WW2/modern I prefer larger figures, so I say go for 10mm.

I actually use 15mm for BKC. With all the camouflage it helps to be clear about what each base of figures actually represents, withour resorting to markers.

10mm (and 15mm) offers you a good variety of vehicles and troops now and ranges are ever expanding.

Thanks for your comments everybody!

However I have the feeling that 10mm is a more modern scale and therefore a scale with more future. What is your opinion on this?

"What is your opinion on this?"

There are still 6mm offerings cominging out -- more slowly, but then there are fewer gaps to fill.

For 10mm, there are a constant stream of new offerings and competition (bless it) has been pushing quality up. Looking at the GHQ catalog, I'd say the only army there I could not put a comparable 10mm army together for without conversion is the Hungarian; and while none of the 10mm folks have Romanian TACAM T-60, neither do GHQ or Navwar/H&R.

You will have to make some decisions based on your preferences for vehicle size and detail, and infantry "style" but that's true in other scales as well.

And yes, there are dogs out there. Do post your planned orders here (or on the forom on the blitzkrieg commander site) so we can steer you toward the gems and away from the dross.

OK, I'm bias. But…….

I chose 6mm as my project was eastern front 43-44 and large. The other thing to consider is scenery, very very easy to do in 6mm and stores with much less hassle than larger scales. Another plus is those BKC ranges look even better.

The infantry thing dosn't matter really, and besides that 1/285 figures from GHQ & CinC are about 8mm in height and so detailed theres no problem telling what they are.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned CinC 1/285 yet.

"However I have the feeling that 10mm is a more modern scale and therefore a scale with more future."

Only in the sense that there an awful lot more gaps in the product lines to fill.

I wouldn't dream of playing Arc of Fire with either 6mm or 10mm though – it is a 1:1 skirmish game (well, you can play with individually based 6mm, I did it when my eyesight was better, but I wouldn't recommend it).

BKC, it doesn't really matter, although 6mm is cheaper, has a much bigger product range and (if you go for GHQ etc) is much better quality than 10mm stuff.

I've occasionally thought about 10mm for various periods, but always ended up plumping for either 6mm or 15mm instead. 10mm just seems an unhappy compromise.

one of my tests involved dfropping the tank from a height of 6" over a table.

Wow, you need to take better care of your models! Seriously, does anyone ever drop a model onto the table? And if it falls off the table, any model is a gonner. (I know that from model railroading!)

I always think the "mishandling" rule is more realistic: knocking figures over, bumping them, and tapping them with fingers. MY GHQ tank barrels always fail that. So do all my figures, no matter the scale. Bent models is a way of life when gaming.

BTW I should have said BKC works well with microarmor, but AoF not as well. If you want to use the figs for both then 10mm is probably better. Your call really.

"Scale of the future" does not matter. I'm an old guy and I saw the original swing toward smaller scale that was a reaction to overcrowded game tables, and distorted ground scale. This goes in cycles. Also people used to play micro-armour sans infantry, just large Kursk-like armour battles which looked absurd on a 6 foot table with HO models.
Now people are realizing the importance of infantry and the elegance of small unit skirmish battles. So, if you want to do early war with a few AFVs, soft vehicles and lots of infantry, 10mm is for you. Don't worry, the gaps will fill in. If you want to do Kursk, or later with companies of tanks in 1:1, definitely micro-armour. If you try to do this in 10mm, megalomania will eventually drive you to the smaller scale.

There's a surprising amountof 10mm stuff out there – have a look on my website where I have a near-1000 picture dircetory with something from all the manufacturers. Including lots of infantry pics.

Be careful though – 10mm may or may not be "better", but it is more addictive than 6mm :-)

In my experience barrels are to flimsy and infantry too small with 6 mm.

10 mm is okay as long as you can see what you'll get before actually buying it (there's a lot of bad 10 mm stuff on the market).

I switched to BF 15 mm because BF have a website were you can actually look at some pictures of all their available miniatures, and also because their miniatures are available locally.

Imo, except for skirmish games, 15 mm only works on a big table though, if you don't have a lot of room available, or plan on doing really BIG battles, I wouldn't go beyond 10 mm.

Greetings, Frans.

The best advice I could give is this: Follow the example of the local club/group you intend to play with. No sense to invest in a scale that you won't get any games with…

If there is no local example to follow, and seen the relative inexpeniveness of the scales (compared to 28mm for example) I'd say:
Get a small batch of both scales(some infantry, at least 1 each of artillery piece, armoured vehicle and unarmoured vehicle)
Paint them all up, sit back and ask yourself in which scale you could see yourself actually finishing an army (or 2) without going mad or giving up halfway. That's the one you should go with…
If the answer turns out to be "neither", there are plenty of counters to be had online or at conventions.

Bye, Modhail

My two cents. Every scale has good and bad points so here are a few from my experience.
6MM Pros: Less expensive, wide range, excellent detail for size, accomodates large numbers on a gaming table.
Cons: Harder to see,not well suited to infantry heavy games.

10MM Pros: Larger size makes infantry recognizable. Larger than 6mm but does not look silly on a gaming table. More manageable than 15 and 20mm.
Cons: More expensive, AFV ranges are smaller, detail not on same level as good 6mm. Wide variance in scales between manufacturers that range from 10mm to almost 15mm. Hard to mix and match.

I have been gaming with micro armor for about 30years and have been quite satisfied with it. However, I started collecting some 10/12mm stuff to be able to do more infantry based games. My biggest disapointment was that the detail of the armored castings (while not bad mostly) was not up to the standards of good 6mm. (GHQ) If someone came out with really good castings in 10mm I would be hopelessly sucked in.
Good luck with your gaming!!

Interesting thread. I had the same issue about a year back and decided to go with 6mm for my limited WWII gaming. I will point out that I concentrate mostly on early war and infantry dominated battles. Although in 10mm the infantry are a bit bigger, and in some cases the models are comparable or even lower in price then some of the 6mm GHQ and Adler models the detail is just not as crisp. The Adler and GHQ infantry in specific are very nice and detailed. The GHQ armor is also much more sharp then the 10mm armor I have seen. So for larger scale WWII and modern stuff (lots of infantry and terrain) I use 6mm, for modern skirmish I go with 20mm figures. Take a look at the GHQ and Adler web pages and forum for some nice pictures. Also some 6mm pictures of WWII infantry on my blog:

myblog-lekw.blogspot.com

Hello everyone.I am the game buddy that the topic started was talking about. I am really amazed by all the answers, help and advice you guys are giving here! I just made an account here to say 'thank you'. Either 6 and 10mm is a hot topic or you are just a very friendly 'miniatures family' out here.

Anyway, I ordered the Arc of Fire rules and I will try one or a few games with 6mm stuff. A few tanks and a set of soldiers will do I guess to get the idea. If things get too small, I am certainly going to try some 10mm stuff. Though, I must agree I haven't found nice 10mm models like GHQ.
Recently we saw a game of Flames of War in 15mm and for me that was definately to big with soldiers and tanks standing side by side, only a few unit lenghts from the enemies. I thought it was way too crowded on 120x180cm tables. That is why I am leaning towards 6mm at the moment. The other thing is costs…

Thanks again, Patrick

"detail not on same level as good 6mm. Wide variance in scales between manufacturers that range from 10mm to almost 15mm. Hard to mix and match."

That's exactly what drove me to BF's 15 mm range; if you can only acquire 10 mm minis by ordering them through the Internet ensuring you'll get both quality and compatibility is as good as impossible.

"My biggest disapointment was that the detail of the armored castings (while not bad mostly) was not up to the standards of good 6mm. (GHQ) If someone came out with really good castings in 10mm I would be hopelessly sucked in."

Same here.

Before getting into 15 mm BF I contacted GHQ and asked them if they had any future plans for 10~15 mm, they answered that they didn't because there wasn't enough customer interest.
Maybe we should organise a petition :o)

"Recently we saw a game of Flames of War in 15mm and for me that was definately to big with soldiers and tanks standing side by side, only a few unit lenghts from the enemies. I thought it was way too crowded on 120x180cm tables."

Witnessing a few FoW games I got the same impression, can be different with other rules and a bigger table of course ;o)

If you are mainly interested in armour go 6 mm.
If you want to also have nice infantry go 10 mm, but be careful with what you buy.
If you have the room and the money 15 mm also becomes an option.

Greetings, Frans.

The Blitzkrieg Commander Forums have a lot of discussion on which are the better 10mm ranges, and which ones are compatable:
link

Armour Heavy rules- 6mm
Infantry Heavy Rules- 10mm

reason- 10mm tanks are 3-4 times the cost of 6mm, and for a armour based game take up too much room. However the infantry are just too small- you might as well use counters, so 10 or 15mm for games like PBI of Crossfire, with 50-80 figures a side

I'm set for 1/285th(6mm). Don't like the parking lot motorpools of the larger scales especially on the battlefiled…
Now, what I think would be ideal would be that GHQ make 8mm vehicles to match their infantry! Man, I bet that would make everyone here agree…

I looked at 6mm, but after seeing them in person they were just to small. I had been in 15mm, but am going to 10/12mm now. Seems to give the best of both on the table.

Cheers 2nd BB

For Crossfire and IABSM I play with 15mm.

As I want to play Panzer Korps I´m thinking of doing it in 10mm. I would prefer 15mm. This to try to stick to one scale, but that would be a bit too expensive with all the guns and trucks that is needed. To buy Battlefront trucks for 10 USD a piece is a bit too expensive. Especially when I need quite alot of them after scanning the ORBATS and ToE.

Another thing to think about which hasnt come up, is what are the guys you plan to game with using?? If they are playing 6mm, no point you building 10mm. If its solo play then fine, but always good to find out before you buy.

I use 6mm for Napoleonics/WSS and 10mm for WW2. One of my main reasons for choosing these scales is that I could afford (and have space to store) both (or more) sides so the problem regarding opponents having different scales/sizes doesn,t matter as I can supply both. Ivan.

…another great point about 1/285th (6mm). You can afford more than one "army" or 2 or 3 etc…

I got hooked on 6mm and haven't strayed for many of the reasons given by the 6mm enthusiasts here but mainly the reason I collected 6mm is that is what all my friends had. It was also much easier on the wallet and once I started collecting 6mm buildings, the deal was done. Now I am a 6mm enthusiast.

I was talking to my friend who wrote a game called PanzerKorps and he really summed it up when he said what's great about 6mm is once the game gets going you pretty much don't notice that the minis are small. You get embroiled in
the game and totally lose track of the scale.

Adler infantry is the best for 6mm hands down. They also have other historical periods which I'm sure also carry their level of detail.

My curiosity is piqued by 10mm but I have about 15 different armies I can run with all my 6mm, and I can store in a pretty small area.

I use:

Adler and some GHQ for infantry
CinC and GHQ and some Ross/Heroics for vehicles.
JR Miniatures and Monday Knight Production for buildings
Michael's Hobbies for terrain and wooden bases.

Regards,
James

Thanks for the answers everybody! I opt for 6mm, since this better scale out on a 1m60 by 1m60 playing table. A couple of 4cm long 10mm Pendraken T-34s will look too large just as FoW. Besides we like manoeuvreing.

Congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of microarmor. I think you'll be rather satisfied with your choice.

Regards,
James

Hurrah, the victorious 6mm army marches on! ;-)