"Why I wargame in 10mm" Topic

My thoughts in a blog post. I wrote it after I got in after last night's game, so I was a little tired, which explains any incoherence.

link

28mm is fine for skirmish, 15/20 for 'actions', but if you want to game battles, it's 10mm all the way.

And I was thinking people just do it to be different. The worse of 6mm and 15mm. But to each his own. that is the great thing about this hobby we can cater to so many tastes.

The best of 6mm and 15mm

fixed it for you

To everyone his / her own tastes!

"The worse of 6mm and 15mm. But to each his own."

Agree on both points.

Pro's
Fast to paint – can paint a regiment of 10mm in the time I can paint 2 28mm figures, look great on the table, terrain quick to paint, cheap, easy to store and transport, massed troop effects

Con's
Almost no one play with them (but easy enough to paint both sides), limited ranges or figures and terrain (compared to other scales), getting bagged out by other gamers who wished they started in 10mm

Overall nice to be into it.

More 10mm goodness at 10mmnapoleonics.blogspot.com

"but if you want to game battles, it's 10mm all the way."

Or 6mm or 2mm…

Personally I have often considered taking the plunge into 10/12mm but in the end always ended up plumping for the smaller scales as they are cheaper and faster to paint. Each to their own.

I've thought about 10mm for Plains Wars but haven't committed yet. For pulp and skirmish I have gone 28mm due to the awesome sculpts available.

I went 1/72 plastic / 20mm for Vietnam, WW2, and F&IW / AWI and while I may buy a smaller scale for the AWI down the road I'm happy with my choice at the moment.

Jason
Stafford, VA

I tried 28s with one army and was sorry. If one wants to do really big battles, still have room to manuever,advance,etc and have units/armies that at least look a little bit like what they represent then 6mm – 15mm is the only way to go --my oponion anyway.
I remember the gentleman showing me his 24 figure French napoleonic unit and his question --"looks just like a real French Napoleonic unit"?
--My answer --"no -- 24 figures does not remotely look like 600 men". So many people have been conditioned to this concept I think they do really believe that?
All three of the little scales, 6mm, 19mm, 15mm have their own advantages and disadvantages --but if you want battles/units that look like battles/units then for me those three scales are the only option -- and I feel they are as good, or even more visually pleasing then the larger scales.
Regards
Russ Dunaway

I tried 28s with one army and was sorry. If one wants to do really big battles, still have room to manuever,advance,etc and have units/armies that at least look a little bit like what they represent then 6mm – 15mm is the only way to go --my oponion anyway.
I remember the gentleman showing me his 24 figure French napoleonic unit and his question --"looks just like a real French Napoleonic unit"?
--My answer --"no -- 24 figures does not remotely look like 600 men".

To each of us his own tastes!
While I agree that 48 infantry minis in two ranks is the minimum to have something looking like a 'fighting unit', and that M&R cavalry units of 1 officer, 1 standard-bearer, 1 trumpeter and a handful of troopers look like a color party, I also remember Charles Grant re-fought in a very enjoyable and eye-candy way some major 18th C. battles with his 'big battalions' of 30mm Suren, using 1 battalion to represent a whole brigade.

"but if you want to game battles, it's 10mm all the way."

Or 6mm or 2mm…

I concur

i have though of getting in 10mm some times, but i always find that scale too much close to 6mm and 15mm scales to show any clear advantage about them.
So when i think of the advantages of 10mm over 15mm, like cheap vehicles and lot of room to maneuver, i find that 6mm beats it.
And again, when i think about the advantages of 10mm over 6mm, like more detailed infantry miniatures, i find that 15mm scale beat it.
And as i own both scenics and miniatures in 6mm and 15mm, i dont find strong reasons to switch to 10mm.

The only reason i could find is that, in the same way that an increasing quality has make 15mm a cheapest alternative to 25/28/30mm, even for skirmishes, high quality 10mm minis could become a cheap alternative to 15mm, which the last years i found a bit overpriced

My thoughts tend to follow ghostdog. There are some lovely 10mm figures out there but I know I would just paint them the same standard as my 15mm and so the benefits of time/speed of painting would be lost – I use 6mm for that advantage. And if I'm going to paint to that standard I will stick to 15mm (well often 18mm now!). Same with terrain. All I have is 6mm and 15mm. Now I know a lot of people use 6mm terrain with 10mm or even 15mm but that is not for me.

I'm a bit stressed as I've just got drawn into 20mm Force on Force for which I have NO scenery! :)

My AWI collection is 15mm but I have to admit if I started AWI new then I would go with Pendraken 10mm!

And if I ever do WW2 I will likely go 10mm for that.

So there you go. I hope I've made position perfectly clear! :)

Andy

I have made the switch to 10 mm for WW2 and moderns. I have done both in 6 and 15 mm. I wanted to expand into other theaters besides NW Europe, but couldn't justify $10-15 per unpainted vehicle. For me, 10 mm strikes the right balance between the 2 scales. Figures are large enough you can tell what they are without squinting, but I can get all the troops and vehicles for a game into a single tackle box.

I haven't tried 10 mm for horse and musket yet, but plan on picking up some test figures at Hcon.

I have used 6mm for Napoleonics. I intend to get rid of them and do 10mm. I have some very nicely painted 6mm french – up close you can see the uniform is perfect. However at 3 feet across a table it is just a mass of coloured spots

The worse of 6mm and 15mm

Or the best, as others have said.

6mm is OK, and there's some nice stuff on the market, but when you get down to this size, you're essentially dealing with tokens.

15mm gets you more detail, but is around 35p per figure now, 3x the price of a 10. Is there 3x more detail? Not when you look at some of the 10's on offer, Pendraken's AWI anyone?

The only negative left is getting everything you need, but the ranges on offer seem to be growing all the time.

I like 10mm but have only done it in the one period as I have loads of stuff in 15mm. After painting my armies (3 for 1866)I was convinced I would go over to that scale. It has yet to happen but I do look at some of the periods I have in 15mm and rather wish I had done them in 10 instead. Itreat 10mm as 15,s that can be painted very fast and get all the benefits of 15's without feeling the need to paint excessive amounts of detail. 10mm today is almost at the point that 15mm's were when they wre first introduced.

I saw rather good-looking 6mm armies made of matchsticks, and interesting articles on how to use rice for model soldiers….

To each their own, but to me, we're a lot more detailed than 6's, and a lot cheaper than 15's.

Our longterm aim is to expand all the ranges to cover as much as possible, so that people can get everything they need in this scale. We've got around 3000 codes at the moment, and we've released another 250 new items so far this year, so we're well on the way!

I like 10mm and think it has a nice feel to it. Small enough to be useful, large enough to have some presence.

10mm and 6mm both good, 10 for ealier periods, you can at least paint the mustaches on faces, which I cant in 6. 6 is better for maseed armour periods.

IanS

My Italians and Austrians for 1859 are 10mm and so are my Medieval armies. I think they look great for that massed effect and paint up quickly. I use to have some 6mm stuff but the guys in my group were starting to complain they couldn't see them any longer.

If yo doubt 10mm's worth see my latest blog post at:

ryderscalm0508.blogspot.com

sky

Pendraken 10mm AWI from my collection

Iroquois Indians

5th Maryland Regiment

3rd New Jersey Regiment

More found here : link

WW2 10mm Pendraken : ukstrike.co.uk

10mm Pendraken AWI Cavalry

1st Bn, 71st Foot

10/12mm is big enough to recognise uniforms (at least as much as any opponent saw), but small enough for the grandeur and sweep of the battlefield.

I have to say that going to 10mm was the best decision I've made.

I do 28mm for skirmish

Have 15mm for awi and ww1 but might sell the ww1 off when done

But I sold my 15mm ancients, napoleonic and 20mm ww2.

I've started doing ww2 and what I can fit in one box, would of have taken 3 in 20mm.

For napoleonic I'm looking at a range of figures and the same for the 7yw.

Still not convinced for ancients as I think 15mm has a large range that 10mm is no near approaching as of yet.