"Why Didn't 10mm Sci-Fi Take Off?" Topic

Reaper did CAV in 10mm and MechWarrior was in 10mm, though the latter was more a CMG than anything. Why has 6mm and 15mm done so well but 10mm has fallen on its face? 10mm WWII seems to do well alongside 6mm and 15mm. Your thoughts because I have no clue?

Market was already saturated with 6 and 15. There is Gropos and several of GZGs 15mm pieces are too small to fit their infantry…but fit my 10s fine. We aren't hurting per se…its just nice to have options. I've been kitbashing the 1/144 tank lines out there when I can get stuff cheaply.

Not that I follow 10mm WW2 a lot, but didn't it really take off with the release of Blitzkrieg Commander? Maybe Future War Commander might do the same.

People are using 6mm to play FWC primarily…based on what AARs are out there. There are a handful using 15s. The real problem is that this is no new 10mm on the market. Black Skull had some interesting stuff but was gone shortly after hitting the market with no explanation of what happened. Rudy over at Time Portal was working on some aliens. Force XXI is having logistical issues. CAV is pretty much dead. Gropos is long gone but you can find it in the 2nd hand market. You have to up-tech 10mm moderns and WW2. IMHO the problem with many of the Mechwarrior Clix is that they are based on the Battletech art. Enough Said. They are good for parts though. Some toys such as the Titanium line from Hasbro can be used. I've been having good luck with Japanese capsule toys as of late.

I would really like to see someone take on this niche. They would get a steady flow of my disposable income. Right now I regret not going for 6mm…its going through a bit of a Renaissance.

Right now I regret not going for 6mm…its going through a bit of a Renaissance.

Oh no, Captain has the itch for ANOTHER scale. :)

Jeff

It seems like 10mm competes more with 15mm than 6mm IMHO. There isnt a lot of 15mm out there but the GZG line is superb. Im heavily invested in 6mm and now regret not doing 15mm because I really like the GZG stuff and the Alien Squad Leader rules. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence no matter what scale you play. The biggest problem Ive seen with the 10mm lines is that they all seem tied to a specific ruleset and none of those rulesets have done well.

Right now I regret not going for 6mm…its going through a bit of a Renaissance.

It's not too late. We could always switch.

@JRacel New? Man I used to rep for both KR (Geohex) and Jon (GZG).

@Mckinstry

We have enough between all of us to get by. I will send you a PM.

Oh…and for 15s don't forget Combat Wombat and Brigade in the UK.

I think alot of the Brigade Models 15mm stuff would work well for 10mm. I like thier stuff and own a good deal of it too but it does seem to be on the smaller side of 15mm when put next to some of the other 15mm companies stuff.

Yeah…having seen that wheeled APC in comparison shots…I have to agree.

Only the most popular genres can support 6mm, 10mm and 15mm.
Looks to me like only Ancients and WW2, and maybe Nappies? , passes that hurdle.

There was 10mm Sci-Fi models? I never knew, actually.

"There isnt a lot of 15mm out there"…..

* Battlestations
* Brigade Models
* Combat Wombat
* DLD Productions
* Eureka Miniatures
* Force XXI Miniatures
* GZG (Ground Zero Games)
* HOF (15mm.co.uk)
* Irregular Miniatures
* Kremlin Miniatures
* Laserburn (15mm.co.uk)
* LKM Direct (QRF)
* Old Crow Models
* Peter Pig
* RAFM
* Rebel Miniatures
* Shieldwall Games
* Spriggan Miniatures
* Stan Johansen Miniatures
* Team Frog (Critter Commandoes)
* The Scene (ex-MJ Star Troopers & more)
* Zombiesmith (Aphids)

Cheers
Mark
link

My take is that between 6mm and 15mm there is not only a ton of Sci-Fi, but also a ton of historical stuff, from WWII through modern, which helps to facilitate kit-bashing and crossovers. 10mm would have a long way to go to catch up, and while I have nothing against it, per se, why would folks bother?

I am in the middle of totally switching to 15mm. I got some of the FOW minis, and I can paint 15mm faster than 28mm. So now all my terrain and etc will be 15mm, so in order to cross the lines from scifi, ancient, WWII, 10mm has no place!

Well…15mm Scifi is still a bit big to do a large rolling armor combined arms game on your average table. 6mm is great for that but you loose a lot of detail regardless of the sculpts. 10mm would be perfect if someone would leap in and pick up the torch. Its not like there's a lot of competition. A large part of the popularity is the responsibility of those who do play in the scale. I'll be working on getting AARs and such up as we get up to speed with FWC over the coming months.

We started last year, with some 10mm "Near Future" figures. Would we have sold more if we called them "Sci-Fi" ? We wanted to capture the "feel" of those "exo-suits"; not the bulky space suits.

The beauty for us was the ability to kit bash vehicles from WWII and modern lines and have enjoyed the exercise!

Best
Tom Dye
GFI

"There isnt a lot of 15mm out there"….

OK, There is a lot out there. Since Ive been so heavily committed to 6mm I didnt realize half of those companies made 15mm SF. Must resist the urge to change scales even though I just pre ordered Edition 2 Alien Squad Leader.

Thanks for setting me straight Mark.

Last year I went through agony trying to decide whether to go 6mm or 10/12mm for sci-fi. I ended up choosing 6mm for a few reasons. One, there are tons of minis on the market, including buildings. Two, the stuff is cheap. I can get several tanks for what I would pay for one in a larger scale.

I considered 10mm because I really like the Reaper Cav and Heavy Gear minis(made by Dream Pod 9, why has no one mentioned them?) 10/12mm also has the benefit of nice looking infantry. There is also alot of premade N scale buildings available thanks to the RR hobby. Spaceman Spiff's work really had me teetering towards the larger scale.

But in the end, I chose the steadfast 6mm. The good news is much of the 10mm stuff can be used with 6mm.

"Thanks for setting me straight Mark"

Not deliberately setting you straight Allen, making sure the thread was informed. I think it's a common misconception. Completely understandable if it's a period/scale outside of your radar. Happens to be my principal interest.

Tom, I was actually intersted in the GFI 10mm "Near Future" figures for FWC but a) never appeared on Minifigs UK website and b) was expecting a few more packs of infantry at least.

The Modern Germans look great as Near Future infantry, as are the Special Forces figs – would like to see some updated Russians to use as Neo-Soviets.

The attraction for me in 10mm is that the ground scales are better and I don't have to spend bloody ages painting individual miniatures. 6mm no matter how well sculpted are just blobs to my ageing eyes.

Cheers
Mark

@thecabal

Sorry…I don't really consider them an option due to the price. Jracel's been having a fair amount of luck on Ebay and you can get them for 30% off at ccgarmory.com. They are still more expensive than the other lines at that price.

Hi Guys,

First of all, if you're interested in 100mm sci-fi, this is the Yahoo E-group for you:

link

There are lots of 10mm sci-fi or 1/144 fans there and the community has been really supportive of gamers wanting to enter the scale.

And I'll do my "second of all" in another post.

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

Hi Guys,

I think in order to begin understanding the 10mm sci-fi miniatures market, one has to know some of the history of sci-fi minis.

25mm or 28mm will always dominate the skirmish (single- based) market… partially because they established… and partuially because 28mm is the default scale for folks who enjoy painting figures. Lots of detail, but small enough to put a quad or two out.

40mm, 54mm, and larger scales will always be prohibitively expensive. Inquisitor and like games are great… but building 54mm scenery can be quite a chore… and storing it! Ack!

2mm has simply never caught on. Thanks to 1/600 models, WWII and Modern 2mm are starting to gain in popularity… But 2mm of other genres are still pretty miniscule.

6mm is very well established and increasingly gaining in popularity. Lots of successful rule sets and lots of conversion opportunities from microarmor lines make this a popular scale. However, 6mm doesn't do indidvually based figures very well… you better like infantry stands because trying to move indidvually based 6mm figures could be tortuous.

Now, 15mm was one of the first sci-fi scales… Traveller used it… Laserburn did… and quite a few other games from the late 1970s and early 1980s. Even Dirtside always accounted for 15mm collections. It is still popular largely on those old games and is a great scale for either individually based minis or group based minis. Games like ASQL use it as a default scale.

And 10mm sci-fi pretty much came after eveyone else so it bumps heads with the others. Thanks to the 1/144 model market, there will always be plenty of conversio0n opportunities. 10mm is the smallest scale at which I'd base figures individually (3/8" washers work fine)… And, unfortunatley, none of thw 10mm sci-fi rulesets have been terribly successful. CAV did will in select markets, but never took the gaming community as a whole, only selct areas. Other sets haven't done so well. However, the 10mm MWDA Clickie-tech figures did very well until recently when their market finally fell through.

So, basically 10mm has just yet to find its niche. It will happen, but it might take a while.

I'm primarily a 6mm gamer, but I got into 10mm because there is no better scale to do large-scale Star Wars or GROPOS (Babylon-5) or many other franchise sci-fi settings in. I could easily find 10mm Star Wars Battle of Hoth minis, while I couldn't do the same in 6mm or 15mm. And I didn't want to have to store 28mm AT-ATs!

Great scale, not appreciated quite as much as it should… yet!

Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.

I guess for my piece, I prefer 6mm for large-scale armor battles, with ground scales measured in hundreds of meters per inch, and 15mm for squad-level combat, and 28mm for skirmish. 10mm just was too awkward to fit in the middle -- too large for those grand sweeping "Kursk 2200"-style armor battles, but too small for the more intimate feel of squad-based actions.

I swore I'd only do 28mm and 6mm until I saw some Heavy Gear miniatures. Expensive, but nice.

Although just over 15mm high, our carnivorous plants should work quite well with 10mm:
link

Geoff
quickreactionforce.co.uk

"IMHO the problem with many of the Mechwarrior Clix is that they are based on the Battletech art. Enough Said."

Based on Battletech art? Most of the so-called Dark Age units that are being introduced to Battletech from MechwarriorClix are some of the ugliest designs ever. MW:DA's art style is not battletech, it has big robots, it has battle armour, etcetera but the ugly designs they got in there are nothing like the metal figs people use for Battletech.