"15mm sci-fi buildings" Topic

We are in the process of designing some buildings and accessories for 15mm sci-fi gaming.

We would like feedback as to whether it is needed for building to have accessible interiors or whether the majority of buildings are used for a combination of looks and breaking LOS/LOF.

Making buildings interiors accessible may shift the price as much as 20-50% upwards, so there is a distinct cost associated with them; if having accessible interiors is of negligible value then it would be better to put the time and cost into different/more buildings rather than fewer accessible buildings.

In a similar vein Jed wonders if having all the 30mm interior scenery converted to 15mm is worth the effort, and that may clearly be linked to the issue of buildings having accessible interiors: no interior = no need for interior scenery!

The Creation of buildings will necessitate the making of individual building components such as doors and windows, shutters and similar so those elements would also be made available so that people can BTO out of suitable containers and just add windows/doors/features as needed.

In terms of size, but again linked to the need for accessible interiors, we think that 150mmx100mm is about the biggest footprint needed, larger structures could be made by joining parts, adding walls and so forth but truly large buildings, without accessible interiors, seem counter-productive.
Truly large buildings with accessible interiors make more sense, but then we question their use or attraction given likely costs. Also: why upsize scenery and terrain when one of the biggest advantages in going down to 15mm is so you can get more onto the battlefield? Why then fill it with large structures?

Thoughts and comments appreciated.

DD.

Accesible interiors would be necessary for a 15mm building for Sci-fi. In 6mm, not necessary, in 15mm I probably wouldn't buy it without it being able to put a base of troops in it somehow.

would much appreciate a line of 15mm stuff with interiors for starship/underground base/research complex crawls.
as far as buildings…I like Critical mass games stuff with removeable roofs and detailed interiors.
but I think the money to be made will be initially with walls/floors and accessories for building starship interiors
good luck, rabidly waiting your entrance into 15mm
steve

I would >love< a 15mm terrain set with accessible interiors.

In particular the ability to do a Colony Complex to do a "Bug Hunt" scenario in 15mm would be beyond awesome.

Why fill a table with large structures? Well, my urban wars would look absurd without buildings. If the building interior is accessible then its a useful part of the battlefield. If the building is of any size then the lack of an interior would make it just a rather large dead space on the table.

If you're concerned about the footprint of a structure, one thing you could consider is building up rather than across. Making a building with stackable floors would fill a gap in the market. If you make a basic ground floor and roof, then an upper floor as a separate item, people can buy as many upper floor parts as they need to get a multi-storey building at the height they prefer.

One last thing: please, no more 'off-world colony' buildings. Everybody's doing them and I haven't purchased a single one because I can make them myself. I'd much rather see some modern/near future urban buildings – apartment blocks, offices, and the like.

If you make 15mm buildings with accessible interiors won't they have to be over-scale just to be able to get models in – they'd end up 1/87 or worse with today's large 15mm models.

A cheaper and faster way for manufacturing would be to make non-accessible buildings (like Old Crow) and an equivalent (but over-scaled) floor plan/layout of the same building. This way you sell twice for the same building, and you please those who don't need accessible interiors and those who do.

Just an idea…

"One last thing: please, no more 'off-world colony' buildings"

I agree that is pretty well covered. Interior fittings are always welcome for my Litko 15mm Space Hulk provided they are something new. I have plenty of crates and barrels… Khurasan is making furniture for the Sepulvedan huts that is a welcome addition and eagerly awaited. Interior objective markers are needed (i.e. science lab, command bunker, factory, data terminals etc…)

Something I would find useful is 15mm ruin accesories I could add to foam core buildings (i.e. shotup hanging doors, shattered windows with some glass still left in them, fire escapes, exterior ladders.) I doubt I could afford the large buildings cast in resin and I would dearly love to build an urban table. The truth is I struggle to keep up with all the 15mm releases that keep hitting the market.

I have no real use for building interiors.

I don't really need interiors that fit inside exteriors. Even in 15mm buildings are often ginormous. The tiny industrial office suite I work in is still 200 feet long or so, and to represent it on a table at miniature scale instead of groundscale would be prohibitive unless the interior action is the point of the scenario.

If I want interior scenery, it is because I'm planning an interior game.

I second that, Dragon Gunner; 15mm scale windows, vents, grills and the like would be great.

I think buildings with interiors sound splendid, until you actually game with them. I found that the interiors were all the rage for the first game or two, then the fact they slowed down game play caused them to be largely ignored. Players still want to see the interiors though…it adds to the "Wow Factor" of the terrain.

While I love interiors I find two problems with them- one is as stated above in thatthey tend to slow down play; the second is that they are ALWAYS the same interior so its kind of hard surprising your players after you use the same building for the umpteenth time.

What I would like to see is something I actually made up- for some of my buildings with "blank" interiors I cut up a dry-wipe board and fitted them into the floor (they are not glued in so I just tip them out).

I then use ye olde dry erase markers or grease pencils to draw my walls, doors, etc- if the players blow a hole in wall I erase or squigglein some destruction. I toss in some interior scenery such as barrels, beds, equipments, etc and it looks just fine.

I approached a manufacturer once about doing something like this and was politely rebuffed- I'm not sure if its a cost thing or that they couldnot make the imaginative leap to the versatility of a dry-wipe floor.

WOuld Antenociti potentially consider making "hollow buildings" with a dry wipe floor option?

Also- as an aside the fort Jed built me a few years ago still continues to wow people at cons and I give your name out all the time (I was the one who ordered that massive complex with the gate, walls, and the mini-funs! :D )

Interiors would be nice, but not a deal breaker. I really wish at some point someone does 15mm SF city type buildings (which are not "Gothic") that would be useful for building up a large urban table.

Some examples:

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They don't have to be skyscrapers, even buildings 2-5 stories high that have a "hard" SF look would be great for anything from near-future onwards.

I was just looking at the interior details/accessories on your website yesterday, wishing you did them in 15mm. This is the one thing that has kept me undecided on which scale to do sci-fi in, as my figures/terrain etc will be used for both wargaming and RPGs.

You have just decided for me; I'm off the the GZG Xmas sale in the hope you will follow through on this …

15mm interiors are not something I need, I'll have to confess, but then I don't do single figure skirmish in that scale (more of a 28mm man for that).

For me, 15mm buildings are there for me to say "there's some figures inside that big building over there" and mark it on a map. the games we play tend to have this sort of scenery in 15mm link a little of which has lift off bits but we don't bother putting figures in them and the rest of the custom built stuff has no interiors at all.

So – for me – keep the price and complexity (and even size) down and make solid buildings in this scale.

Doors, windows and aircon units – like the very nice one's I've bought from you in 28mm – would be a welcome thing to have when scratch building.

John T

I was just looking at the interior details/accessories on your website yesterday, wishing you did them in 15mm.

Indeed. Amazing 28mm stuff.

Put me in the category of "hard sci-fi but not ramshackle colony" look.

Floors that are stackable are nice for those who want to make really tall buildings but still allow others to customize as desired.

I dont NEED building interiors. Removable roofs are a nice addition but I'd be happy with just some solid one-piece near-future buildings.

I wouldnt mind some furniture though, to throw around rubbled buildings.

As for specific buildings, large apartment blocks, factories, and government (Police, Interior Ministry, Parliament, etc…) would work for me.

Cheers.

If you were doing a range of WW2 buildings, the FoWer in me would say accessible interiors, and make sure that the interiors can take at least a medium base for FoW. For example I stopped buying MBA terrain as a lot of the pieces can't fit a FoW medium base in it.

With my SF gaming I'm not so sure but having a removable roof, but without a detailed interior, would be appreciated for when troops occupy buildings etc. I would hesitate to purchase a building that I couldn't put figures in, but have no desire for the interior to be detailed.

One thing that is missing in all the ranges out there – a 15mm starport or landing pad. I'm happily working out how to build one using hexagon pieces, but I'd quickly purchase anyone who made a landing pad for 15mm.

Have you thought about doing walls and fronts that fit together? I've seen this style in Wild West buildings where a mix of basic parts create more buildings that I could count.

I have never seen this done in metal, only resin (stops warp I assume) and is a lot simpler to stick together

I have used floor plans that match buildings and find it a pain – I prefer just to use the plans and not put up walls e.g. link

Andrew
Main blog: blog.kings-sleep.me.uk

I'm in the "I'd like to remove the roof and put a medium sized FoW base inside, but don't need/want a detailed interior" camp.

Actually, if the building isn't large enough to put two or more medium sized FoW bases inside, then I wouldn't care if the interior was accessible.

To be honest the detail bits would attract me more than whole buildings.

But in general removable tops are nice.

But in general removable tops are nice.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thats wot i've been tellin the missus for years

I only by buildings I can put models in, but the interiors do not have to be detailed at all. Just accessible.

Having just bought some of your 28mm for 15mm use I'd be delighted to see some in 15mm! I prefer removable roofs but that wouldn't stop me buying a solid model. Some degree of interior detail would be nice, but again not essential. What would be nice are accessories & equipment to fit out buildings etc, such as you already do in 28mm.

'Urban' type models would be my preferred choice, as there are plenty of ramshackle & frontier buildings already out there.

All very interesting, thank you.

Jed has said that the main focus to start off with will be add-on components and await further feedback on final buildings.

Ironically one of the types that he is doing is a Habitat complex, similar to the modular research labs from the UFO games, exo-atmosphere types, rather than mars-adobe types.

DD

Blackhawk1 – jeds wonders if you could send him some photos of that sci-fi build as we have no photos of it at all!

Also he says he "fondly" remembers DHL driving a forklift spike through the package when it was sent to you! (?)

One last thing: please, no more 'off-world colony' buildings. Everybody's doing them and I haven't purchased a single one because I can make them myself. I'd much rather see some modern/near future urban buildings – apartment blocks, offices, and the like.

Agreed. More like Old Crow's 6mm stuff like apartment blocks and so on. In the meantime, aircon units and other doodads to upgrade foamcore /MDF buildings would be much appreciated.

Building without access to the interior are a deal breaker to me ever since I found Field Works range. Having accessible interiors means that you can fight through the town with your infantry and ambush vehicles. I wouldn't go back to solids for all the tea in China.

Two things:

For a really unusual 15mm building that's modular, please build this and I promis I'll buy one.

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Secondly:

"One thing that is missing in all the ranges out there – a 15mm starport or landing pad. I'm happily working out how to build one using hexagon pieces, but I'd quickly purchase anyone who made a landing pad for 15mm."

Old Crow do one made (originally) by Ainsty. I can't find it on their website but here's a couple of shots in use.

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Now i fully accept that the model appears to be used with 28mm figures but it is utterly non size specific and about 200mm across.

John T

I agree with the couple comments above. I hate "mars" or lunar buildings. I need apartment/office buidings please.

I like office buildings too but one of those lunar bases on a Hotz crater sheet… wow.

John T

Let me second/third/fourth the request for rooftop details like HVAC units for home-built terrain.

I'm also in the "at least big enough inside for a pair of FoW medium bases" camp.

I don't want a highly detailed interior in 15mm… Save that for the 28mm buildings.

Nice landing pad, thanks for that. Not quite what I'm after, looking fomr something that was raised – but that's still a good piece.

GZG already makes lots of external greeblies for conversion, Antenociti's own 28mm stuff works for air cons etc even on 15mm, my Q: why go down the route of replicating effort?

If a company are going to make something then there are many gaps in the 15mm sci-fi market that are not just Star Wars/frontier town derivations.

Old Crow makes a couple of nice urban buildings but these are the only ones…

…How about making some of your GOT buildings in 15mm for future cities?

"GZG already makes lots of external greeblies for conversion…."

Thanks for mentioning that, Stuuuh – I was going to chip in myself about our range, but didn't want to look like I was thread-jacking Jed's announcement!

Jon (GZG)

Interiors are my kinda bag, baby.

I would love 15mm detail pieces you suggest.

In 15mm, a lot of useful details comes from HO train kits/bits/accesories.

For my sci fi "Aliens/Space Hulk" colony (28mm, 8 @ 14" x 14" rooms intersected by coridors) I used all sorts of scrap (I have a large box full of 1/35 model armor,aircraft, cars and spaceship parts) and plastic. You can make sci fi interiors easily enough.

Paper is a way to go as well. No problem with a foamboard/wood or plastic building, with cardstock 3d interiors(WorldWorks First Light/Mars Station is a treasure trove)

One trick is to make a removeable floor (granny meash and other interesting material) with the accessories and fixtures glued to it, that can be pulled out, so you can always change the interior.

I think you can do multiple flavors of buildings dependent on the building type. First all buildings should be accessable to place 15mm figs inside. Not all of those buildings need interior esthetics. The ones which would are for either role playing (example would be a bar)and ones that would be objectives like a command or com center or Lab of some type. Removable roofs are good and could be done to make second etc floors for multi-level buildings. If you do a solid building,I agree it is so much wasted space unless kept small. Accessories like windows, doors, com antenna sets,com dishes,generators,misc space ship engine parts for a scrap yard etc are always good. I'm tired of trying to make 25mm stuff work with my 15's. I am looking for 15 mm sci-fi buildings and I do like frontier or low tech as well as higher tech ones.

From my POV, I'd like the buildings to have accessible interiors (removable roofs), but not internal walls or furniture. Some external furniture and fittings would be good, but as others have said there are companies such as GZG already producing these.

Regarding footprint, up to 150 x 200 is reasonable. If the buildings are modular, that would allow larger buildings/complexes to be made up as needed. Garages/parking buildings would be a welcome addition – internal sizes needed could be determined from typical 15mm vehicles.

If you were to do a building with interior details, it would have to be a fairly large piece, preferably fairly generic, which could be furnished to represent a saloon, spaceport lounge, lab, control room, jail etc with appropriate ranges of internal fittings.

I prefer no interiors ,as with my own streetfight rules its all about the uncertainty and loss of command control when clearing a building.

I only use buildings with accessible interiors for 15mm. Specifically, I just need a removable roof, but prefer to add my own interior props like walls and objects.

Hm…. I'd prefer accessible, but I'm not sure if I want built in interior details or separately sold details so you can make your own….

hi,
I have just finished building a gaming table that consist of 4 4'x8' sections.I have made the serface more of a Martian Desert. I broke it down into 3 diferent aeras a modern city,A mining colony and a military proving grond.After thinking about this for awhile I decided to add a spaceport.
Question could anyone here suggest the kinds of buildings I could use in 15 mm and where to get them Thank you.
Kaara Kristine

Combat Wombat has some very nice, very reasonable buildings.

Also Critical Mass Games who have a lot of suitable buildings.