"10mm vs 15mm ?" Topic

I plan on playing original fire and fury and longstreet, and am considering 10mm range figures. I know for fire and fury, it's meerly the number of bases that matter , not the figures. I was thinking 10mm due to cheaper prices. I know there is more selection available in the 15mm range but is there any reason I would absolutely need to go with 15mm figs? Lastly , would it make sense to buy 10mm scenery , or should i still buy 15mm scenery because the bases don't change in size?

Try painting both and see which one you like the most. I struggle to paint anything smaller than 18mm but you may not.

Kyle, I use all the gaming and basing standards for 15mm, but I do so with my own 10mm figures. Fire & Fury uses a 1 X 3/4" base for infantry. I can get 6-8 figures on such a base. With 15-18mm, 4 or 5 is all that can fit max. Here are some pics. Judge for yourself. I also use 10mm structures from my Between the Lines models which I make and sell, some from other makers.

Details are available on my site.

crackerlineminis.com

Some people use 10mm buildings with 15mm figures to reduce the footprint occupied by the building, Comparing a 15mm figure against the doorway, or even the roof on a smaller structure, does look a bit odd.

I've never heard of using 15mm buildings with 10mm figures. IMHO the buildings would look oversized next to the figures and would have a footprint that would be greatly oversized unless you were gaming at a 1/1 ratio.

If you already have a large number of 15mm buildings, bridges and the like that might weigh in favor of 15mm figures. If you are starting from scratch with figures and buildings, 10mm buildings with 10mm or 15mm figures might be a good idea. Nowadays there are lots of good 10mm buildings specific to the period-see posts made below earlier today.

Dennis

My choice between these two scales would be 10mm. There are some brilliant ranges around. The Kallistra figures are nice:

kallistra.co.uk/?page=16

but if you prefer " true " 10mm then take a look at Madaxeman's reviews:

link

As for scenery, 6mm buildings are often used with 10mm, footprint is closer to the ground scale.

Way back in the 80s I painted up a division of Federals and Confederates in 15mm. I would recommend 10mm. The level of the modeling these days is incredable. If I did it again I would do it in 10mm.

I sell my own 15mm ACW as well as the 10mm range from Magister Militum. And don't discount the 6mm from Baccus either. I like both but I now keep all projects to either 15mm or 6mm just to save on terrain etc.

ScaleCreep.com

I started with 15mm ages ago but I've since built up armies in 10mm. I also based my for Fire & Fury, with 2 strips of Old Glory infantry per stand.

I have some 4000 or so 10mm figures. Basically, the difference between doing 15mm and 10mm is how many figures you get on the table. If you don't care about the look of mass troops go 15mm and save yourself the painting hassle. If you want it to look like you (and actually do) have thousands on the board, go 10mm or 6mm. I also find that 10mm is a little better for combined action games with a naval presence.

I went 10mm. For me 10mm are easier to paint than 15mm and have the degree of mass that I need.

For me 10mm have more detail and character than 6mm.

Scale is a matter of preference, so buy some of each paint them and see what you prefer.

i guess i'm a 15mm holdout. the scale creep, imho, is way worse in 10mm.

I'm also a 10mm ACW fan. I have about 1500 painted up. I don't do 10mm in many other periods. But 10mm ACW is well served by choice.

Thanks,

John

How about something completely different ?? Try 6mm ACW

Several manufacturers, ( Baccus, Adler,Irregular and Rapier, as well as paper figures from Paper Terrain. These give you a good selection of figures and there is a wide selection for terrain as well.

If you want to go for big battles then 6mm is the way to go

I can't help you. I won't paint or game with anything smaller than 25/28mm scale and am actually considering 40mm and perhaps 54mm for future use.

Regardless, best of luck in your choice.

I went with Pendraken 10mm for ACW and they are great and look very good painted.

They are quick and easy to paint and you can get good results.

I base mine 8 figures on a 30mmx30mm base, the density looks good!

There are pics on my blog

warrenswargamerantings@blogspot.com

I like both 10mm and 15mm for ACW. Some of the 10mm figures are very tempting. For instance, I really liked working on GHG's 10mm figures a few years ago; they have good anatomy and enough raised detail to make painting easier.

Having said that, one of my main gaming buddies has inspired me to get back into ACW gaming. He owns some painted 15mm Federals. So by default, I'll soon be working on some 15mm Confederates.

Different scales for different periods. Personally always think with the big battalion horse and musket periods you want the smallest figure footprint you can get in order to give not only table width but also depth.
I know the tendency of 'if its not a 28mm its not a real figure' seems to be getting even stronger these days but when ever I see a table full of 28's I just think it looks weird. The whole scale perspective is out of kilter and it has a very 'toy soldier' look, which is of course terrific if that what you going for, certainly the look I go for with my 25mm Medieval types. Really depends how much you want to get close to the historicity and how much its the game that matters.
Its nice to have such a wealth of choices :o)
ACWBill lovely display, as is yours Toronto48, those boards look like a real battle.
L

If I had the opportunity to start over in wargaming, and could begin my multi-period collections anew, I'd try to do as much in the 10mm/12mm scale range as possible. For my thoughts, the figures offer enough detailing, paint easier, are cheaper, and allow for larger [looking] ground scale ratios, and with reasonably-priced terrain availability.

@LeonAdler – Thanks very much for the kind words. I also enjoy your WWII micro range. Great stuff.

@FlyXwire – Life is full of second chances! : )

ACWBill lovely display, as is yours Toronto48, those boards look like a real battle.

I agree, those look GREAT!

My question would be: what scale is the terrain you already have?

Personally, I'm largely sticking with 15mm, because that's the scale of most of my terrain.

But if you're starting from scratch, I'd go with 10mm or smaller. I would NOT use 15mm buildings with 10mm minis, since you're really distorting the scales that way.

I've been suckered in by the O8 3mm minis for Napoleonics ($20 a battalion instead of $60 USD+ for AB 15mm), but I'm still planning on using 40mm wide bases like a 15mm force. That should let me get close to a "real" headcount of ~450 men in the ranks, deployed in a proper formation.

I prefer 15mm over 10mm. 15mm is the perfect scale that provides detail on the uniforms yet is small enough to base multiples on a single 1x1 stand. When in regimental formation they look fantastic and realistic yet don't take up nearly the footprint of 28mm. I've seen many 28mm ACW games and unless it's a small engagement the stands are strung out from one end of the table to another, it tends to look like a jumbled mess. 15mm also has the added bonus of having been around for YEARS so there are tons and tons and tons of figure lines and makers to choose from, and a lot of them do work together well.

On the other hand 6mm is too small. I've had 6mm armies before and I certainly can appreciate the appeal and the fact that you can really game some large actions on smaller footprint, but I've rarely seen 6mm figs that didn't look like they were painted grains of rice with about as much character. At that scale I figure just use traditional standard board wargames, there are certainly enough of them.

I have about 6000 painted 15mm ACW so I suppose I am biased on that front, and honestly between 10mm and 15mm the difference isn't huge, but I really like the 15s for the reasons stated above.

Oh and as for terrain I collect both 15mm terrain and 10mm terrain that way I can use big pieces in smaller battles with figure ratios closer to 1 to 5, or the 10mm stuff for games with figure ratios that are higher or where there is a lot of stuff on the board (say for a Fredericksburg game or something).

Not a fan of the new 18mm stuff that is creeping it's way into the hobby, Blue Moon and all that. Nice sculpts but just not my interest.

For me, personally, scale is what dictates a game.. And as much as I truly enjoy seeing loads of 28's all beautifully painted, I just don't 'feel' the game as much when I see a string of figures representing a large force of men. Most especially when it comes to appreciating formations, etc..
My ultimate gaming goal has always been to have a table look more like an architectural scale model rather than the abstracted look that 28mm games, by definition, must give. I'm not a big-figure hater by any means, it's just that I prefer big-battalions more.

That said, certain periods do tend to lend themselves to certain scales. I'd say Napoleonic games are better represented by smaller sizes like 2-6mm, while ACW can get away with larger 10mm sizes, and certainly WWII skirmish type games are beautifully represented in 15-28mm.

All just my humble opinion, of course.

'rarely seen 6mm figs that didn't look like they were painted grains of rice with about as much character'

Picture of Mathew Streets ACW

Picture of Mathew Streets ACW

Gorgeous stuff Leon!