| Gone Fishing | 21 Jan 2016 9:30 a.m. PST |
Moving on in my quest for items for a remake of Metagaming's 1979 microgame, Olympica, I'm now in search of suitable laser tanks. Here are the factors involved: 1.) I'm not sure what scale I want! Frankly, I could be convinced to use anything from 15mm to 28mm, as they will work as tokens representing a larger armoured force, not an actual vehicle--just as in a boardgame. The figures I will use as infantry counters will be 28mm, but I'm aware the price of tanks might be prohibitive in that size… 2.) Style: the illustrations in the game make them look like pretty standard battle tanks, like, well, souped-up Vietnam-era armour. Which makes a certain amount of sense, really. What I'm saying is that they don't have to look too outlandish. I don't care for the 40K armour I've seen. Don't like the price either. 3.) I will need 6 of them, so cost is an issue. Not spending a fortune on them would be ideal. This is a consideration that makes the smaller scales attractive, but if there is a good option in the larger I'd probably go for that, just for consistency. As always, thank you in advance for any help and guidance. Sci-Fi isn't my usual genre, so I'm batting a little blind! |
| MajorB | 21 Jan 2016 9:32 a.m. PST |
Please define what you mean by "affordable". How much is your budget for 6 tanks? |
nnascati  | 21 Jan 2016 9:37 a.m. PST |
The tanks that come with bags of "Army Men" are basically M48s, and scale nicely to 28mm figures. You can usually find bags in local markets and drug stores for around $5.00 USD which includes 2 tanks. |
| Gone Fishing | 21 Jan 2016 10:07 a.m. PST |
It is a relevant question, Major. I've not bought armour before, so didn't really have a number in mind, but why don't we say $10 USD-$20 each, max. Nick, to be honest I'd thought of going that route already. An excellent suggestion, thank you! |
| TNE2300 | 21 Jan 2016 10:11 a.m. PST |
matchbox vehicles are often rather inexpensive on ebay |
| John Treadaway | 21 Jan 2016 10:21 a.m. PST |
souped-up Vietnam-era armour Sounds like Hammer's Slammers to me! Try the 15mm stuff from Ainsty. John Treadaway
hammers-slammers.com |
| Zeelow | 21 Jan 2016 11:52 a.m. PST |
Maybe this could help. I've got a couple and IMHO they make great Scifi armored vehicles. link |
| 15mm and 28mm Fanatik | 21 Jan 2016 12:55 p.m. PST |
28mm tanks are not as prohibitive as you may think, thanks to the Russian company that produces the Robogear Tehnolog line: auction auction auction 15mm: auction |
| Gone Fishing | 21 Jan 2016 4:19 p.m. PST |
Thank you for the tips. Fanatik, I think the tank in the fist auction could work (though it looks like only four are available); Zeelow, I like yours a lot, too! Thank you! |
| Lion in the Stars | 21 Jan 2016 5:22 p.m. PST |
15mm scale M60A2 "Starships" from QRF ( link ):
It's about 1.5"x3" |
| Greylegion | 21 Jan 2016 8:26 p.m. PST |
I just bought these and got the in a couple of weeks. Nice options and no glue required. They just snap together. auction Fanatik has it right. Scroll down to the scale pictures. |
| GeoffQRF | 22 Jan 2016 2:34 a.m. PST |
We often have people ask us to supply mix-and-match vehicles, so turrets off other vehicles on different hulls. The M163 Vulcan is a popular turret, but the low profile BTR turrets look good too (especially if you slip a bit of plastic tubing over the gun or detail it with a bit of plastic sprue). Some of them require just a little work to get the turret spigot to fit the hull hole neatly, but it's generally not a massive operation. |
| Aotrs Commander | 22 Jan 2016 5:50 a.m. PST |
Just worth a mention (and shameless plug): depending on how fixed you are for scale, I produce a number of sci-fi vehicles at Aotrs Shipyards at 144th (10-12mm) which might be suitable. (Though they are designed at 144th scale to the size of real tanks and so might seem a bit small by the comparison to some sci-fi tanks, which are relatively larger than the real-world counterparts; but if you're using them as counters, that may not matter quite as much.) From the sound of it, what might fit the bill best is the T-150 is basically a sci-version of the T-90 (insp[iered by the Soviet Heavy tank from Red Alert) link The Cybertank resitor is a grav-tank, but functionally pretty modern tank-shaped (and, of note, as nominally a technological lfieform, lacks any obviously scaled hatches)
link The Magma's Ire Blistering Castigation MBT is rather more exotic looking (but as the Strayvians are 8' tall bulky aliens, the various hatches might be siutable size of 15mm.
link
There are larger tanks for the latter two armies as well:
link link but I think that might be pushing the envelope of "affordable" (they were designed principally as centre pieces for the 144th armies). |
| Tgunner | 22 Jan 2016 6:02 a.m. PST |
This is one of my favorites from Rebel Minis, it's 15mm: link It runs for $9.99 USD link Rebel also has plenty of infantry to go with it. I also second the M60A2. It's a seriously cool looking tank but had serious issues in the real world. But that isn't a 152mm gun in your game, it's a big laser/plasma cannon. You might also want to look into the Sheridan, the Starship's little brother: auction It's also 15mm and in this auction it's running about $13 USD per tank for the short platoon. QRF's is way cheaper even with postage from the UK: link link Yeah, a platoon of three would me $30.67 USD with shipping. That's a bit more than $10 USD per model. $61.34 USD for six. $66.91 USD gets you 6 M60A2s. That pretty decent- say $11 USD per tank. |
| Gone Fishing | 22 Jan 2016 7:39 p.m. PST |
These are all excellent leads. For right now I feel most drawn to 28mm options, but the temptation of the 15's is a strong one. I appreciate the suggestions and thank you all kindly! I'll report back if I make a decision. |
overcomes character flaws and fields a dozen starships.
