"looking to start 6mm cold war" Topic

hey all

im looking to start out in 6mm moderns. im thinking cold war around the 70-85 period give or take??

what i want to know is what is a decent set of rules. i want a reasonable number of tanks ifvs infantry and the like

next what is a decent mini manufacturer?? and what would be a an approx cost for 2 small armys(enough to get me started and learning the rules).

cheers
Bryan

I rather like Cold War Commander for rules. For minis, the mainstays are GHQ and CinC.

Doug

What size forces? Individual tanks or platoons?

Platoon scale I recommend Fistful of Tows.

Minis, GHQ microarmor. Or Heroics and Ros.

GHQ – $2 USD per tank. Can get on sale for $1.85 USD
H&R – Roughly $1 USD per tank, shipped to US. (less in UK)

I would start trawling ebay as you can get some pretty good deals sometimes. FFOTows is good.
I would go with GHQ for infantry and CinC for tanks they are much cheaper than GHQ and in some cases depending on the model as good a sculpt.
Cost: $150 USD-$200 for miniatures
$160 USD for terrain
$20 USD-30 for rules
PM me if you are interested I overbought on my project, and could help jump start you with some vehicles and planes.

I too like Fistful of TOWs. For a small game, say a squadron of British tanks and some infantry on one side (I play as the UK) and maybe a battalion of Soviet tanks and a battalion of mech infantry, (all of this is FFT3 scale, which is 1 mini=roughly 5 units) you could do it for $100 USD, maybe less.

I'm not sure whose minis are the cheapest in Australia, where you appear to be located, though.

Ebay for purchases, for some reason Cold War stuff sells cheap. My favourite rules "Tankwreck", good fast game with no superfluous detail.

The Cold War fan updates for FOW look good.

Also there is a new version from Strike Legion to cover the Cold War. I prefer 1 model tank=1 tank and I base of infantry a squd but that's just me.

And it has to be GHQ, no question

For rules we have played FFoTows 3 and The Game: Modern from GHQ. We have had only one play woth FFoT3 but I liked it quite well. The GHQ set of rules is pretty good as well but are in need af a serious re-write.

May I suggest taking a look at the 3mm Oddzial Osmy (O8) Modern armies available in the US from Pico Armor and UK at fighting 15's? Lots of guys are switching to these from 6mm. I have a lot of 6mm Micro Armor but love the 3mm stuff.

US link:
link

UK Link:
link

You get 15 tanks for $4.25 USD a pack. You can make a stand of 3 tanks and still be under a buck a stand. The detail is amazing.

There is a solid following for the modern rules used in the boardgame World at War. Check here at TMP and you will see more info. The rules are a free download. I have created a file which has the unit stats in it. One stand is a platoon. The rules are quite good while readily playable.

link

I can email you the rules and stat sheet if you want them.

Hth,

John

johnleahy55atyahoodotcom

My main complain about C-in-C lies with their scale-sized gun barrels, which bend easily and never seem to be straight. However, they make many excellent vehicles and mobile artillery that do not suffer from these problems one bit. They also make some models that GHQ does not, though GHQ has been catching up.

I hope they can find a new location for their shop and remain in business with the same prices. I realize his sales have been slower than he'd like and age is catching up, but I'd hate to see the product go OOP or bought up by a new caster and then sold at higher prices.

BTW look to converting board games as well. The series from Lock N Load make for great miniature games, especially since the combat system uses many miniature game mechanics.

C-in-C, tanks are good, just avoid their helicopters like the plague. Soft Metal and rotor blades are NOT a good combination. Their Blackhawks had seperately molded landing gear too, nearly went mad attaching that (no you didn't, yes I did, no you didn't, precious…)

Anyway, their helicopters are a nightmare to assemble – the GHQ etched brass is much better (and pricey too)

I'd recommend taking a look at the World-at-War 'Blood and Bridges' game as well. I'm using that but with FFOT3 for the combat, as FFOT3 is spot on for tank combat.

For figures I use GHQ tanks and Heroics infantry. CinC make good models but the metal is softer, hence more barrels bend.

You need to decide whether you want to do 1:1 or something where each miniature represents more than one real-life item. After that the choice of rules becomes much clearer.

Platoon level, go with Cold War Commander.

1 to 1, consider the Flames of War Cold War variant, if you are familiar with FOW that might make for an easy transition. Look at the Cardiff Wargames Club website.

Probably the most authoritative rules out there is 'Contact', the Canadian Army development of the WRG modern set, but you need to bring a fair amount with you for those.

Lots of great reading material out at the moment, look at Harvey Black's 'The Red Effect' and the all time classic 'Chieftains' has just been rereleased.

Scale wise, lots of exciting developments afoot too, Zvesda are releasing cheap hard plastic 15mm T72s, M1a1s etc, and Khurusan miniatures do a lovely M1a1 with a T90 on the stocks. S models are doing 1/72nd scale BRDMs and BMPs.

Exciting times for this once languishing area!

I'd get 2 – 3 companies of BMPs, and at least 1 company of Soviet, or WP tanks (10 each, for most orgs.). If you've got the money, buy more Soviet tanks, since modern combat is deadly.

For the NATO troops, you'll need to decide which force you want to represent, e.g. primarily West German, British, and American. You'll need a company, or two of the NATO armor, e.g. perhaps a mix of APCs/IFVs (one company), and a similar amount of tanks.

I'd aim for a balance of about 3:1 in favor of the Soviets/W.P., which will let you adjust TO&Es accordingly.

Do a little research on that subject, here on TMP, or on the net.

Add in some specialist vehicles, helos, aircraft, etc., as funds permit.

For troops, you can purchase those to match your APC/IFV levels, or just use cardboard counters instead, depending upon your budget, wishes, etc.

GHQ and CinC (now PFC.) make the best looking minis, but Scotia and Heroics & Rose have some decent stuff too. I like the H&R infantry, since they match up nicely with the vehicle sizes (GHQ's are about 1/220th scale, so too large to go with their armor, in my opinion). I haven't seen the Scotia infantry.

Enjoy!

Modern spearhead is a good set.
If you can afford them then GHQ for your vehicles.

For rules, I like A Fistful of TOWs. Of course, I'm biased since I'm the designer. Free starter versions here: fft3.com

For minis, GHQ is the gold standard. However, C-in-C is very good (and cheaper). Some of their stuff is equal or even better than GHQ:

M-60 (all variants including the M60A2)
M-48 (all)
T-64
T-72
T-80

My site has plenty of (mostly) GHQ stuff -- texaswargamer.com
Micro Armor Mayhem is a superb resource -- microarmormayhem.com -- it has a ton of photos of GHQ, C-in-C and other stuff.

A few samples from my site (www.texaswargamer.com):

GHQ Israeli M-48

GHQ Israeli Centurion

GHQ AMX-13

GHQ T-72

C-in-C M60

GHQ Chieftain