"How much does "compatibility" concern you?" Topic

I am notoriously lax or round-heeled on the issue.
I once put on a FIW game that had 25 different manufacturers represented.
Admittedly, some were represented by only one figure, like Wall (remember them?) had a single Indian.
I had RAFM Indians, tinier than "true 25mm" on the table, along with Redoubt behemoths. In a concession to the "compatibility" issue, I had them on opposite ends of the table, but no one would have cared all that much had they come closer.

There are some manufacturers I would not mix in a unit, but that is far as I am willing to go. To me, if a figure looks nice, and I did a good job painting it, it goes on my table. YMMV.

For the sake of this discussion, define "compatibility" any way you want. It's all subjective, so your definition may as well be too.

I might add that I did NOT see the topic immediately under me when I started writing this up. Pure coincidence!

John, donīt pick on me, you will make me cry!

IMHO, if I'm going to mix figures in an army, they should be roughly compatable in size as well as style. FREX, if the figures are the same height (approx), but one is fat & chunky and the other is skinny and "realistic," probably wouldn't mix. Guess I'm more picky, thanks to my model building background…

Damon.

I am admittedly CDO* on the subject. My units have to rank up just so, and I want everything in one army to be from the same manufacturer.

I am not looking forward to adding more units to my Napoleonic armies, 'cause Minifigs are apparently kind of a pain to get in the States now.

*You don't really have OCD if you don't alphabetize everything.

Maybe a little but not enough to scrap an army or stop a project.

I kinda want my toy soldiers to look kinda like they go with each other. I used to not care about scale – or the fact that my blue plastic Continental soldiers were side by side with my green Vietnam-era infantry as they fought the Germans and Indians – but now I kinda do.

I have no real issues with mixing different size figures. My main concern centers on whether the equipment and weapons are close in size, especially in later periods.

I like picking a brand and making an entire formation all of the one manufacturer. So my SYW Prussians are almost all 25mm MiniFig, but my SYW Russians are all 28mm Foundry.

So yeah, it matters to me.

I try to stay close.
If not, tall figs get based on thin washers with their integral base ground off.
And the short figs, I leave the integral base on and mount on a slotta.
This makes up for a LOT of height differences.

I won't mix 15mms with 28mms though…

I'm fairly lax. I've even got some RAFM 25mm ACW figs (in their own units) in my army collection.

I have no problem. I have scrawny McEwens right next to Parthas amongst Heritage! (My 25mm Crusaders) My Byzantines (Partha and Citadel) are kept in separate units for uniformity.

Height doesn't concern me, but diffrent style (realistic/chunky) does. I would not mix them not even in one army…

I am a little compulsive about mixing sizes. I love to get as much variety as possible, so mix manufacturers all the time on my medieval stuff. However, if they are 28mm vs. 25mm I won't put them in the same unit or may not use the smaller ones at all. I am currently building a Scots Common army and have 46 of the old Hotspur Scots already painted, but can't bring myself to use them even by building up their bases.

Allen

I won't mix 15mms with 28mms though…

I used Martian Metals 15mm Humans as Hobbits, and a friend used their Trolls and Ogres as Goblins.

With people I don't like to mix, but I don't mind a bit of variety. With vehicles, I mix like a mad man, putting 1/56 and 1/48 together with 25mm with no qualms. I put 12mm with 10mm together all the time. I don't see a real issue there.

I do have limits- I won't mix 10mm and 6mm, or 10mm and 15mm, but generally, if they look close, I don't really mind.

I mix different manufacturers of similar scales (or editions) with no issues.

Although I prefer to stay with one maker for each project, sometimes it isnīt possible. To that end, I donīt mind different sizes within the so-called scale, but I keep the different manufacturers segregated.

The problem I am having now is that I will have Pithead Lt vz 35s next to Pendraken infantry and other Pendraken vehicles. Of course as it appears Pithead is the only maker of Lt vz 35s, I really donīt have much choice!

I have divisions of 15mm third generation Minifigs French Napoleonics. They are about 17mm really. I also have divisions of AB in the same army, some AB are smaller than the MF, some are larger but all the ABs are all stunning figures.

I have Minifigs 25mm ECW and am going to start new ECW units using Perry. I'm not sure how it'll look – I guess I'll find out. Odd perhaps. The Minifigs are in about three different painting styles but a single basing style pulls them together as a collection.

I don't think I am obsessive about it but visuals are important nonetheless. For me the ideal wargame combines the right historical feel (in my opinion, of course), an enjoyable game element and the best look I can achieve given constraints (time, money and space, not necessarily in that order).

My first attempt at the F&IW used RAFM's "Flint & Feather" range and I well remember the Indians the OFM refers to. The models were great but the range was limited to one pose for most figure types. The Indians had more poses but were so different from each other (hairstyle, dress etc) that I couldn't imagine them as a war party from the same tribe. When I tried to mix in Redoubt and Dixon I painted a few and then gave up in despair as the size difference was vast. That was the end of that project. Now Blue Moon's excellent F&IW range has come along, I am having another go.

Do I feel superior to other gamers who don't see "the look" as a big deal? Of course not, but I would rather have figures on the table with the same proportions and sculpting style if I possibly can.

My RalPartha Zulu War British (true 25mm) will never be seen on the same table as my Old Glory Spanish American War Americans (28mm).

That said, I do have some London War Room (now Jungle Rot) VC armed with SKS rifles that freely mix with Baker Company, West Wind, and TAG). The SKS matches between those ranges fairly well.

Vince

I know someone who quite happily uses 20mm figures with 1/100 vehicles.

I have metal 15mm WWII figs from a 1/2 dozen manufacturers and they all look fine together but I am leary of getting the excellent PSC figs. They look so slight compared to the metal I'm afraid they won't mix.

In 6mm I mix H@R, Baccus, and GHQ while in 15mm I mix in whatever I can get, so not very worried about it.

I try to keep things close to the same size but don't care to much about variation. I mix 1/285 and 1/300 scale figures and I mix 25mm to 30mm figures. No big thing.

I need to have minis from the same scale, but variations between manufacturers are okay.

15vs18 is okay. 25vs28 is okay. 10vs12 is okay.

Others, not okay.

Right height, right "look," reasonably quality/art match, and it's compatible with the rules/lists (or easy to generate my own). Manufacturer really doesn't matter.

I wouldn't go as far as mixing 15s with 25s or even 20s with 25s, but mixing 25s with 28s (except in the same formed unit) is ok by me. Why? Walk outside and look at people. They are not all within 1" height of one another, nor are they all of the same build, proportions etc. I never understood the want for absolutely identical figures in wargaming.

I tend to mix manufacturers with 28s. When painted up and on the table the differences are not so noticable. Particularly if you are using a lot of models

Quite a bit, but I would hate to have to quantify "compatible".

For me, it depends a good deal on availability. I'll mix size varied minis only if I can't get what I need from a single brand, or brands that are very comparable.

I try to keep them relatively the same size. I have a Front Rank Burgundian army I'm working on. I bought some Foundry Figures and they are noticeably smaller, so I will be selling them to get more Front Rank.

Close enough is good enough for me, but quantifying that it is almost impossible.

It goes back to the actual size difference of the equipment. As an example, an AK-47 will remain mostly the same size between actual models. In the Vietnam ranges I have seen there are a wide variety of sizes.

Battle Honors AK-47 is incredibly small.

London War Room (Jungle Rot) AK-47s is very small.

Baker Company and West Wind look about right (and is what I use).

The Assault Group model is oversized.

On the other hand all the above figures have SKS rifles that come close to matching in size.

Vince

Not a bit.

I don't mean using 15mm with 25mm, but I have armies in the 18th century which are primarily Surens (33mm) Staddens (31mm) DPC (28mm) Greenwood and Ball (26 mm) SAE (30mm) and even some latter minifigs (25mm). Stand them up against each other and it looks like Mickey Mouse next to Charles DeGaulle, but put them in homogenous units with their fellows and once you get them on the table top you never notice the difference.

However!!!

I do something quite different. My whole regiment is mounted on a single stand so you don't really get to see them in comparison one to another. All 36 to 40 infantry fiugures on a 3.5 by 8" wide stand (14 cavalry on a 6" buy 4" stand) with privates, NCO's musicians, and officers with two colors (one standard for cavlary). The eye is therefore drawn to the stnad and you don't notice the difference between units.

Not a bit

However!!!

I do something quite different. My whole regiment is mounted on a single stand so you don't really get to see them in comparison one to another. All 36 to 40 infantry fiugures on a 3.5 by 8" wide stand (14 cavalry on a 6" buy 4" stand) with privates, NCO's musicians, and officers with two colors (one standard for cavlary). The eye is therefore drawn to the stnad and you don't notice the difference between units.

None of my figures are compatible. They keep fighting among themselves.

That was a joke, and a dam' fine one.

I tend to mix 'em up in armies but not in individual units

There are a few exceptions – almost all my SYW Prussians, for example, are Foundry

A lot of my figures are 25mm – I mix with true 28mm but not heroic usually

I was thinking of starting a post on this. If I could I would have as an example a different maker for every Russian Artillery Btry I have or need. The diversity of figures would outweigh any sculpting irregularities.

within an army, not so much. within a unit, they better be darn close.

I like them to be the same size and style.

I'm doing 25/20 colonials from Jacklex, S Range, Scruby, Rose, etc. Fortunately they are close in style and size. I've got some Les Higgins that are close enough too.