"15mm scale question" Topic

Hello. I'm new to 15mm miniatures. From what I gather 15mm seems to come in all different sizes. My only concern is that I might end up buying miniatures from different manufacturers and the scales are drastically different from company to company. At the moment I am looking to order from Essex, Splintered Light (fantasy range), and Alternative Armies (Hordes of Things). If I mix miniatures from these companies will they in proportion with each other?

Thanks!

No. AA tends to be toward 18mm and SL toward 15mm but not universally.

It would be best to ask specifically which ones you are thinking of.

Welcome to the wonderful world of wargaming.

It is all about standards and why everyone adopts different ones.

Also 15mm is a size not a scale. 1/144 is a scale.

The only real answer to your question is to check specific figures against each other, buy a few of this and a few of that.

Go to the shows or conventions and fondle the goodies, stand them side by side, then choose.

I was planning to use Essex for my humans, Splintered Light for Elves and "monsters" (hobgoblins, lizardmen, undead, ogres, etc), and I Alternative Armies dwarves and goblins.

Are there other good lines close to 15mm?

Thanks Jim for correcting my terminology :)

Demonworld is a must from ral Praha Europe and Battlevalor games too…

Gotta check them out….

I would only worry about humans. It is fantasy after all and if you like the sculpts who is to say that *this* particular variety of elf or demon or dwarf is not just a little different in size.

Oh and Battle Valor offer some interesting riffs on the fantasy genre. battlevalorgames.com

Yeah, I think my only concern for size would be for humans, elves, and dwarves. As long as the other races are within reason to how tall they should be I'm happy. Wow, I love the Battle Valor orcs.

I have found that you can mitigate the "every scale for itself" problem by mixing races and manufacturers very carefully. Find a range of humans you're happy with, then buy halflings, goblins and dwarves only from that manufacturer or from those which tend to be smaller. Buy trolls and high elves from that manufacturer or those which tend to be larger. You're better off with exaggerated racial differentials than with them all pretty much the same--especially in 15mm.

I do the same thing in 28mm, by the way. My fairly recent Wookiees--28mm? 32?? The painted figures which pretty well match Imperial Assault, anyway--tower over my West End Games 25mm Imperial Storm Troopers, but that's not a problem. The other way around would be.

Hello,

Splintered light, Essex, Legio herorica, Baueda, and Demonworld (Ral partha Europe) all blend well together.

Battle Valor is on the bigger size.

I have several 15mm comparisons on the forums you can search under my name.

Thanks everyone. I placed order with Essex and Splintered Light tonight. I can't wait to put them into action.

Its fantasy. People are different sizes. Swords and spears are different sizes.

Its not like your M1 carbine on one figure is a big as a BAR on another.

"Older" 15mm minis tend toward 15mm to the top of the head. "Newer minis tend toward 15mm from foot to the eyes. Others are scaled to 1/100 which equates to about 18mm.

Having said all that, I recommend not worrying too much about it; you can always build up the bases to make the smaller minis taller.

The only range that flat out doesn't work for me is Black Raven Foundry's humans. They are much closer to 20mm in height and bulkier.

Regards,

Scott Chisholm

Some variation actually looks good. That being said, some of the Essex models will be dwarfed by Battle Valor, some of the Xyston and Ral Partha Demonworld sculpts. Essex, SL, and Alt Armies should mix fine. I use all 3 of these together. Indeed, even with the outliers (except BRF, as nukesnipe points out, those are pretty much 20mm), for fantasy they all mix okay, especially if individually based (use small washers that can then be put onto a magnetic DBA style base to maximize usefulness).