"15mm Ancients in Plastic?" Topic

I'm miles fom being up to speed here so forgive me if this ahs been beaten to death, hut I've heard that Wargames Factory is doing a line of plastic figs.

What scale are these going to be?

Other than the Wargames Factory connection has there been any buzz on the improving plastic casting technology being applied to the beloved (by me) 15mm scale?

25mm, and no news of 15mm plastics. Based on how it's taken to get none-GW 25mm plastics, don't hold your breath.

At around £0.20 GBP each for metal 15mms I don't think I'd be tempted by plastics.

If you could fit, say, 40+ on a sprue the same size as the Perrys can knock out for £4, and metal prices continue to rise, you may see it. But not yet.

Wargames factory are doing 28mm plastics to start with but there have been vague comments that they might do 15s, I am not sure how viable 15mm in plastic would be but there is a possibility.

I doubt any manufacturer will do 15mm figs in plastic. Most of the tooling costs will be the same but the buyers will expect a cheaper price than the bigger figures, and not only that the market will be smaller so the chances of it being successful are smaller.
Bigger figures are more appealing to the casual buyer too, who wants to strain their eyes peering at something in that scale when the established 25/28mm scale will look so much more satisfying aesthetically.
The main reason for the rise in 15mm scale was cost, plastic figures in the larger scale largely overcome this.

The main reason for the rise in 15mm scale was cost, plastic figures in the larger scale largely overcome this.

I game in 15mm because they're quicker to paint, take less room both painted, unpainted, and in use, and look better in many cases. I'd certainly plastics in 15mm – but I doubt it will happen soon or in a period I like.

I'd love 15mm plastics, but don't expect it anytime soon either. I'd pay the same price or more for 15mm figs in plastic.

Besides, is there really a huge difference between 15mm and 1/72? With most 15s being closer to 18mm and 1/72 considered 20mm I'd guess you'd have a hard time going against the established companies like HaT and such.

Why wouldn't someone try 15mm figures in plastic? Didn't GW do their Epic stuff in plastic and it was 6mm??? I could see Baccus doing their stuff in plastic. The issue would be the quality of the casting and how difficult it would be to get the detail levels to the right level. I doubt any of us would want multipart 15mm figures to snip and assemble. It would be akin to painting eyes on 6mm figures over and over and over. I've done it once and would not do that again!

is there really a huge difference between 15mm and 1/72?

Well, one's a scale, and one's a size…

Sorry! It would be different if it was hard plastic, frankly. Soft plastic and the cleaning up puts many people off.

I agree with Mark, 1:72/20mm Plastics already have a huge market. Anyone producing 15mm plastics would have to convince consumers they had a better product. As a 15mm gamer, I would not buy 15mm figures with the detail level of current 20mm plastics, and I know that the plastics fans probably would not want smaller plastics or plastics with the detail level of many 15mm.

I find 15mm easier to paint than 20mm because the fine detail on 20mm plastics is a bear to paint.

I've said this before, so I am repeating myself, but I just don't see how it works from the manufacturer's viewpoint.

Small manufacturers can't afford the tooling to make plasic figures. Large ones can't see where the profits might be. After all, someone who wants a 28mm army might well see 60 cent figures as an attractive option compared to $2-3 figures. An army of 300 figures that costs $200 USD is much easier to justify than one that costs closer to $1,000. USD

15mm metals are much, much cheaper than their larger counterparts. People expect plastics to be cheaper than metals anyway, so 15mm plastics would have to be offered at a very low price indeed.

Unless one believes that there ia a huge, vast body of long term unemployed gamers, homeless men and penniless grad students all desperate for a 15mm army but unable to afford the current, what, 50 cents a figure, it would seem to be an immediate money-loser for the manufacturer.

I wonder if anyone has broached the subject of charging the same amount for 15mm's in plastics as for 28mm's?

I mean, if Wargames Factory can put out plastic 28's at $0.63/figure then could they not also put out plastic 15's for the same price? Only if the demand was there, of course.

I have to say that if someone does 6mm plastic ancients figures it may well convert me to 6mm.

James, 6mm is quite cheap as it is, so in my opinion you don't have an excuse not to go 6mm. =D

I would buy 15mm plastics even if priced like equivalent 28mm plastics-- less space, less painting time, etc. Also ground to figure scale distortion is less than 28mm in most rules.

In my area most players are hugely invested in 15mm and they buy new armies regularly, they would buy plastics especially for bigger armies.

Now, who's gonna do prepainted 15mm plastics? ( ducks for cover )

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Those thin swords, bows and and spears would always be breaking in hard plastic. Whereas they would never be straight in soft plastic.

So it would have to be done with empty hands to take weapons -- which would kill the "save time" aspect.

Well, GW did Battle of the Five Armies in 10mm plastic, so it can be done…

With most 15s being closer to 18mm and 1/72 considered 20mm

But the thing is 1/72 has just as much scale creep as 15mm so they aren't 20mm any longer, the industry has long ago standardised on 23.5mm to the eyes, thats approx. 25mm to top of head.

Approx 25mm to top of head *is* 1/72 scale for approx. 6 feet to top of head. ;-)

Granted most historical populations weren't that tall, but still that is not unreasonable.

Why 1/72 should ever have been 20mm is a mystery to me. I have often seen them called 25mm in older references.

>>I wonder if anyone has broached the subject of charging the same amount for 15mm's in plastics as for 28mm's?

>>I mean, if Wargames Factory can put out plastic 28's at $0.63/figure then could they not also put out plastic 15's for the same price? Only if the demand was there, of course.

People would expect 15mm to be cheaper.

The advantages of 28mm plastic over 28mm metal are

1. Price
2. Weight
3. Poseability

None of these advantages are nearly as compelling if you compare 15mm plastic and metal. Also there is already a wide range of 1/72 scale palstic figures.

"Also there is already a wide range of 1/72 scale plastic figures."

Yes KK but most of those are soft and not very good.

People only expect 15mm to be cheaper because that's their experience. It doesn't have to be so. If the advantages of less space and easier to paint out-weigh the cost factor, why not charge the same? Hell, the majority of your cost on plastics is the mould. The materials cost difference is negligible so it makes sense to charge the same amount to cover the start-up production costs.

The Lord of the Rings Risk figures sure look like good matches for 15mm. Where'd the molds go?