"When do you give up on a scale?" Topic

The title kinda says it all. I have a number of minis, but the 15mm's have languished for years for a number of factors despite a fair amount of gaming going on. I have close to a thousands minis just sitting around. I keep trying to garner interest but I just haven't had luck.

So, I suppose I have reached the point I have given up on 15mm. Have you guys been there?

So if anyone wants to work out a deal for all or any of the below before they get itemized and hit Ebay, let me know.

Ancient Greek/Macedonian (mostly painted)
Numidians (Painted)
Ancient Spanish (Painted)
Carthagian (Painted)
Medievel (lots of variety)
Orc/Goblin
Some Elves
Dwarves
Monsters of all variety

I gave up on 25mm about 20 years ago because it looked like even Ral Partha had abandoned it and I wouldn't be able to get the things I wanted to add to my collection anymore.

Then they kickstart Chaos Wars :D

25's just became unpopular. The 28s had more detail and the 25s were too close to 20mm.

15mm is popular in scifi, and gaining traction in fantasy. I just refurbished 1200 figures for my 15mm ACW armies.

28mm ancients look great but are expensive to build armies with. That said, I have 4 Dark Ages armies in 28mm!

Good luck on your sale @Agrippa

When it breaks?

Lots of locals here game with 15mm.

Perhaps try attending some conventions, and put on games with them, or advertise here to see if you can find some local players willing to give it a go.

Can't ever see abandoning a scale that I like, myself, even if I have to play solo.

What manufacturers of Goblin/dwarf/elf? That is the first question my war game associates will ask (well after one of them asks what size and I repeat 15mm…) because it matters more to some than others.

I never caught the 28mm bug – with 100s of 25mm Human/Goblin/Dwarf figures for years it seemed silly to have dwarf figures as tall or taller than the humans. Also classiocminiatures.net pretty much kept 25mm on "life support" until the Iron Wind Metals/RP kickstarter returned the size to "viable" for me.

I have some Reaper currently just because I need some if we ever get back into FRPG games and everybody I know uses them for adventure games but no armies (and no plans) in that size.

The move several years ago to 6mm for fantasy mass battle then 15mm for skirmish/small battle worked because we are emphasizing the space change for the move to an apartment post retirement. Add on 3mm for aerial games and I admit to having a fascination for the appropriate size figures for the eras/genres that attract me. It is not a "problem" but just a "feature" of my games.

I only game in 15mm or 6mm. Gave up on everything else….

Yep, 15 MM for me all the way (DBA, HotT, DBN and DBA-HX)including our cowboy skirmish game.

Terry

When the scale does nothing for you anymore, it's time to move on to either bigger or smaller scale, depending on what is attracting your interest. I wouldn't sell them unless your sure you won't return to that scale. I gave up 15mm, 20mm, 25mm, 28mm & 54mm for 40mm figures. Happy with them now and yes, easier to paint the details without squinting. 54's, for me, were just too big. But go with the scale or scales that you are comfortable and happy with. It's all in the eye of the beholder.

I have given up on a period or perhaps doing a period in a particular size, but never given up wholesale on a particular size/scale. Now I have never had an interest in some sizes/scales such as 6 mm Napoleonics. While I understand why folks collect 6 mm Napoleonics I just could not see doing so myself.

As my eyes get worse, I find 28mm or larger is the best for my painting. I still like 20mm for WW2 games and I do like the look of the new 15 and 18mm ranges. I just know that I would never paint them.

There is always hope – never give up!

Unless you have a very pressing need for cash or space put them in boxes and wait until you need them again.

I still haven't convinced myself to give up completely on 15mm, though I find them harder to paint and play with the older I get.

I'm following the "…put 'em in boxes and wait…" approach though.

A few years back I decided to give up on all 25mm with the exception of my 40K models. Then Reaper Bones came out and GW started doing the Hobbit. Now I am back but only in fantasy and sci-fi.

I admit to being all over the map.

WWII- 28, 15 and 10mm
Fantasy- 28mm and 10mm
Sci-Fi- 28mm mostly
Modern- 28mm and 6mm (with some 1/144)
Air- WWI- 1/144, WWII- 1/300, Modern 1/600
Naval- AOS- 1/1000, Ruso-Japanese 1/600, WWI- 1/6000, WWII 1/6000 and 1/1800, Modern- 1/2400
Space Fleets- All over the map
Ancients- 28mm

I need an intervention.

Don't do it. The 25/28mm Republican Roman/Latin Ally army I started over 30 years ago, languished for years. Recently, I've been gaming with it regularly. The pendulum will swing back.

pjm

I agree with mckrok, even if no one had interest in them before, another GRUNTZ might come along and you'll have a ton of people making 15mm armies and you'll just be all smug and ready. That being said, once you've decided what YOU want, it can be liberating to trade off a couple armies worth in one scale to fuel the fires for another. I had the same problem in a 10mm to 6mm scale, not as many people I knew played 6mm (or any D:) but I just built em and played solo games. Worth it.

I've never given up on true 25s. But large (28mm) 25s are what I use most in my games. Smaller figures are of no interest to me, never have been, and therefore I have never painted a single one….

I wouldn't sell up. You probably won't get much for your miniatures and if you ever meet someone who plays 15mm then you're going to be kicking yourself.

If you have that much stuff, why don't you just supply both sides for any game?
Put games on for a couple of players and you can often stir up some interest.
15mil is much cheaper than 28mm meaning there's a way lower financial entry point.

I've mostly given up on 15mm. Still have a few things, a lot of DBA armies I haven't converted over to 3.0. Some unpainted fantasy stuff. I parted out most of my historicals years ago and can't see going back. My vision is lousy enough that painting them is hard.

I've fully embraced 28mm, and am quite content. Can't see scaling up to 40mm though.

Gave up on 25mm 30 year back,for what I wanted to do it was too costly and difficult. Tried 15mm & 10mm but had the same result so went for 6mm.

Sold all the 6mm for 2mm after 400+ light horse per side started looking like a few scouting parties having a dust up. Figures vs terrain was a big problem,not with 2mm.

I aim for either 1:1 or 1:2 figure ratios and the 6' table is now nearly 2 mile wide.

The new box sets of plastic 28mm figures from various companies have greatly increased availability and reduced cost. And much easier to paint.

Good time to jump into 28mm.

TomT

Sold off my 1/285/6mm collections of Ancients and WW2. They look great while being painted and held up close but when placed on the table three feet away…too small. Sticking with my 15mm figures for those same periods.

Just a good idea that didn't pan out.

15mm. Can't take them anymore. When I was a child in the 60s my mother used to take me downtown to 'Shillitos dept store in Cincinnati and I would stare and drool over the elastolin 40mil ancient medieval soldiers. At the most I have 35 or so (that's all I ever had) I would dream about getting a castle and siege gizmos and about 100 more models. The son of an air force Sgt and second Gen German immigrant mother, they were beyond our means. They were still .50 cents each (in 1966!). In 2013 I retired. Plastic 28mil kits started popping up for medieval dark ages. Then came SAGA. Oh boy. Now lion Rampant too, I spend a lot of time paint and modeling them, so I don't have a lot. Maybe 150 now after 15 months off and on between saga and black powder AWI. But I prefer the pre gunpowder. So 15mil no more for me, tho I have 1300 painted Crimean war finished (thank god). The 28 mil plastics are really enjoyable to work with and I do my own shield work for the "holy trinity" Norman Saxon Viking. Saracen shields and Russ are absolutely going to be transfers. So to answer the question? I'm thru with 15mil due to age, due to scale and the two game systems I enjoy playing. I like Saga, it's very rewarding to 'call someone out' and whip his a$$ in a seven point , wine infused, ballet of gratuitous bloody foolishness.

Cost, practicality and storage. I always wanted to have a 25mm army when I started gaming, but could never afford it. By the time I left school, 15mm were on the up (the original Minifigs castings!!), and I started in that scale. Most of my armies since have been 15mm, but at uiversity I started to get into 6mm Ancients. Since moving to Japan, I've found that 6mm score on storage space, speed of painting, resistance to damage (when shaken by earthquakes…) and transport. and they're cheap, thanks to UK VAT laws.

I grew up in the 30mm era and never left. The 25mm fit right in, and soon grew to be almost as large my majestic Surens and Staddens. Had a brief go at 15mm for WWI but never painted a figure. After that anything smaller had no interest whatsoever. Now, if you do anything less than 15mm you might as well go all the way and play boardgames. Thousands of minis, not anything smaller than large 25mm among them.

When I got back into miniatures maybe 10 years ago, I had difficulty seeing when painting 15mm's. However I thought my figures looked fairly good. But then, I attempted a 10mm army. Impossible. So I bought one of those Hobby Lobby binocular magnifier head visors for 15-20 dollars. Suddenly, I could paint anything. And looking back at those 15mm, now I could see just how badly I had painted them. They looked horrible but I couldn't see well enough to realize it. So if you are having any sort of difficulty painting due to vision, I strongly recommend buying one of those binocular magnifier head visors. You will be able to paint 2mm's if you want.