"Your Favorite Scale? Why?" Topic

I am always fascinated by the plethora of scales used for WWII gaming. And each has its die hard fans. So what is your preferred scale and why??

15mm. plentiful, and the same scale for terrain for all my other periods

I like 28mm for the visual appeal and impact such a scale affords, but I have recently converted to 15mm for WWII due to it being a better and more suitable scale for tank-heavy games while not requiring too much table space.

1/72. The one true WW2 scale. Childhood, Airfix, plastic soldiers, AB, PSC, Zvezda, Caesar. Everything one could ever need

Right now I have 28mm, 15mm and 6mm

I like 28mm for skirmish and 15mm is fun, but I love grand tactical so 6mm is my fav

Like 28mm Fanatik I like 28mm for the visual umph and will use it for Saga and Fantasy gaming but have switched to 15mm for massed cavalry actions (By Fire and Sword), WW2 (Flames of War and What a Tanker) and Modern (Skirmish Sangin and Force on Force).

I have 28mm skirmish & 15mm platoon level WW2. Having said that if I started over it would be 10 & 20mm.

20mm is my favorite. When I started gaming WWII back in the early 90s, 20mm was all there was. I like it because there are a lot of 1/72 scale models available. The new 15mm buildings work with 20mm.

I have recently started 28mm because my local club uses that scale. I am just going to do the France 1940 campaign in 28mm. From then on I am only doing 20mm.

28's because I can see them well enough to paint them!

I started gaming WW2 in 15mm due to Flames of War, and made the decision to do almost all my historical gaming at 15mm to consolidate the terrain needed.

I kinda wish I had done that in 20mm instead (the infantry look much better and you can still play in about the same space as 15mm), but I'm too far invested in 15mm terrain now.

I'll be the 10mm odd man out.

Lots of space for on the table in the scale. Models from Arrowhead and others that are as detailed as some 28mm vehicles I've seen. 10mm is big enough to detail and have fun weathering, and easy to store.

I have 6mm and 15mm, and I'm mad about it. I'd prefer to have only one scale, but 15mm is the only scale complete enough for gaming the Pacific War, and too large for grand tactical gaming in other theaters. On the bright side, 15mm is my "main" scale for land gaming, for the reason others have noted: I already have a lot of the terrain for playing other periods.

I'd be perfectly happy to replace both with 10mm, but
A) I'm too old to start over now, and
B) that scale isn't complete enough anyway.

As an aside, 6mm WWII is one of those genres of miniatures gaming that I love just for the toys. There are _so_ _many_ nice GHQ and C-in-C vehicles.

- Ix

Started with 1/72 as that was what I grew up with and all I could get. Sold them off over 10 years ago and started again in 15mm. It was easy and relatively cheaper to buy unwanted 15mm armies. 15mm looks great and works for most rules.

Now, I also have 6mm armies to play large scale battles.

I like the look of 28mm models but don't really like skirmish games.

I am just going to do the France 1940 campaign in 28mm. From then on I am only doing 20mm.

Yeah right! That is what I said when I bought my first 15mm figures from Peter Pig. 5 years later had sold all my 20mm. Now I have 15mm and 28mm, both scales I game other periods in so there is a lot of crossover of terrain. Rural Russia has changed much for centuries and even Western Europe had a lot of older buildings around.
28mm is great for modelling and 15mm is compact without being tiny blobs.

I kinda wish I had done that in 20mm instead (the infantry look much better and you can still play in about the same space as 15mm),

Interesting I found the opposite. 20mm took up more space on the table and in storage. It is not just the footprint it is the bulk of the figures and vehicles too.

Historifigs 12mm for horse and musket because it is about all I can paint these days.

Although I may try 15mm Minifigs again for Napoleonics.

I kinda wish I had done that in 20mm instead (the infantry look much better and you can still play in about the same space as 15mm),

Interesting I found the opposite. 20mm took up more space on the table and in storage. It is not just the footprint it is the bulk of the figures and vehicles too.

True, 20mm vehicles and buildings are bigger.

But 15mm infantry and 20mm infantry can both be single-based on pennies. All my single-based 15s are on pennies or steel washers the same size as pennies, and Piers (etc) base 20s on Eurocents.

I have WW2 in 6mm, 15mm, 20mm and 54mm.

If starting from scratch, I'd do 15mm all the way. A nice compromise of looks and ease of handling, storage and transportation. The bulk of my purchases in the last 10 years have been 15s, but I still do the odd 6mm project for something niche.

I don't have a favourite scale, Every scale has its own qualities .Smaller scales for larger battles,larger scales for more detail when it comes to the painting and modelling side of the hobby .

Well it depends what you are doing and where- I have 10mm, 15mm, 20mm, 42mm & 54mm. They are all for different 'games' but my favourite is 20mm (1/72) and I do the bulk of my gaming and modelling in that scale…

My favoured scale is 1/144 (approximately 12mm). I do have a 1/72mm (not sure there is any ratinal to figure height somwhere between "20 mm" that arn't and "25 mm" that may not be 25mm tall. I have done bigger and smaller.

To decide we purchased all rangers of 6,10,12 and 15mm, we had 25mm and had already dumped our 28mm, to big to use in our sort of games plus the scenary is far to large to store.

Our criteria may bring horror to some who may need to look away. We wanted to be able to turn the turrets on smaller AFV's with ease. This is a massive gain in simulation and IT'S FUN to boot. 1/300 (6mm) was way to small for this. Real 1/172 (10mm) a bit small and the figures were daft about 12mm scale) so looked stupid to me next to the vehicles. 1/144 matched better with 10mm figures and that bit bigger and compatable with pre-painted platic that were available cheaply then.

15mmwas bigger than needed this being considered a significant disadvantage and at least then some 15mm was not 15mm being bigger than it should be so making it worse. Some platic 15mm is now more like real 15mm.

So 1/144 hit the sweet spot. Later work with based 1/144 buildings meant that fighting in 10 to 15 building villages worked well and obviated the need really for 1/72. Further down the line it became obvious that 1/144 is ideal for 3D printing wargame models (not interested in model models thats a diffrent hobby I hate painting wastes valuable wargaing time). Much of my kit is now 3D printed, lighter more damage prone and with by design of locking turrets its a world beater as far as I an concerned no falling of turrets!

So to me there is only on true scale 1/144. I only keep a bit of 1/72 to play folk who are model enthusiasts.

Well you did ask!

20mm and mostly 1/72.
Huge choice of models and figures available.
Big enough to look nice.
Small enough it works on a practical table size.
A long used standard scale for ww2 skirmish gaming for people I know.

1/144 scale. I just purchased 2,000 of them. I'm willing to share.

Wolfhag

10mm is my favorite but I own many other scales including 1/2400, 1/600, 1/285 and 28mm. All have their own qualities.

Mostly 28mm; N. Europe, N. Africa Italy, Burma/Malaya, but we also have rather large amounts of 54mm for N/ Europe.
No particular rationale beyond 'that's what we like'.

But 15mm infantry and 20mm infantry can both be single-based on pennies.

True, but I don't single base 15mm and I can get 3 15mm on a smaller base that 3 20mm without it looking crowded. Tank footprints are bigger though. Because the area increases by the square of the linear increase it has a greater impact. If my maths is correct a 1/72 tank is 1.39 x bigger in linear dimensions making it 1.93 x larger in area or almost twice the area occupied by a 1/100 scale tank.

"1/72. The one true WW2 scale. Childhood, Airfix, plastic soldiers, AB, PSC, Zvezda, Caesar. Everything one could ever need"

Ditto!

28mm for small units, 6mm for large armour action.

All of my British NWF and my Dark Ages stuff is in 20mm or 1/72. I really like thr proportions of them.

20mm.

Everything else is just a toy.

Real men use 15mm

I chuckle with all these "one true scale" and similar comments (like mine).

It's like we have to justify the bucket loads of money we've spent on our toys :)

6mm I standardized on this size for all historical periods that way I only need one set of scenery. Also easier to transport to conventions and club meetings.

1/144th is my favorite all-rounder scale – this scale fits most boards, and infantry looks fairly discernible at game-eye-levels (mounted as squads or as fire teams), and vehicles are perfectly sized.

Having said that, I've got WWII in 20 & 28mm too, and these used for skirmish-level gaming. There's times when one has to be able to determine a figure's weapon being carried, and 20mm (with aging eyes) is about as small as I've found we can discern at tabletop w/o having to sift through a unit to find a particular model or firearm.

Sold my 6mm M-A collection and terrain, and now kinda regret not having some of that now for Cruel Seas amphib. or coastal ops scenarios.

For 20th & 21st Century on … 6mm. The ranges are slightly closer to actual. And you can have a good size board with lots of maneuver space.

20mm, because I've been building up a collection in that scale since the '70s.

Another vote for 1/144. I started buying the Japanese ready painted tanks ( Takara, Cando, Dragon etc) and suplemented them with Arrowhead and Minifigs. The figures look OK with the ranges used in most wargames rules, there are now an excellent variety of models available and detail on these models is just right for wargaming.
I also have 1/285 ( GHQ vehicles are just amazing) and "20mm", but, If I ever run out of storage space, the 1/144 will be the last to go.

25/28mm with 1/56 vehicles.

It just looks the coolest.

20mm for WW2.
Great selection of figures and vehicles. 28mm has a lot of catching up to do.

For World War Two, it's usually 28mm or 20 for skirmish, 3mm or 6mm for platoon- battalion level and cardboard counters for everything else. I never buy ww2 figs I just play with everyone else's.. for my dioramas it's 1/35.

28mm skirmish for the visual spectacle and 12mm for bigger engagements. Also now getting into 6mm for even larger battles, i.e. 1 stand equals a platoon

3mm

In the 60's & 70's it was 20mm, that shrank to 15mm. Then a 20 year hiatus as worked overseas far too much. My return was to 6mm and I've got thousands of'em… But there are the 3mm's which are so tempting…

AS I age and my eyesight worsens, I'm opting for smaller and small figures. It worries me.

Another dyed in the wool 1/72 guy. I started with it as a child and still adore it.

A few years ago, for larger battles, I flirted with 10mm but found the infantry were too small for my aging eyes to recognize (the tanks were great though!).

Only 28mm will work for me

Happy to play with whatever anyone wants to bring to the table. But in my group, I'm the only one who buys WWII, and I tried and failed to paint anything smaller. I just HATE it. I mean get the hammer and smash the still wet piece of plastic or metal, then hurl it into the waste can.

But I have always enjoyed painting 28mm (fantasy, sci-fi, historical). So any minis game I get into, it becomes a 28mm minis game, or I don't buy anything for it.

Actually, I use 2 scales, depending on the kind of game I want to play.

6mm is a great scale for large battles,with more room for envelopping manoeuvers. I's perfect to run a divisional level game.

I like 20mm just as much, it's perfect to see what happens in a portion of the space covered in the 6mm scale. Ypu can have a comùpany vs company game quite convincingly in that scale. The broader range of models, which are also most often of better quality, makes me choose it over 28mm.

1/76

20mm for variety and getting more figs on table. Platoon+ level games like IABSM, CoC, etc.

28mm for old eye sight and being about to better appreciate the paint jobs, and 1:1 games.

Depends on the era and level of troop combat.

For WW1, WW2 and modern 1/72 primarily because of nostalgia and the huuuuuge range of vehicles, aircraft and buildings available.

20+ plastic manufacturers, 80 plus resin and metal manufacturers, availability of model railway kits, accessory for terrain bits.

You can stage quite big games and paint lots of detail on the figures and vehicles.

Have a lot of 28mm for Ancients to Napoleonics.

Cheers
Matt
Hercé Salon de Guerre
Mayenne, France
"Walk the battlefield in the morning, Wargame it in the afternoon"

Ive played fantastic WWII games in 6mm, 10mm, 15mm, 20mm and 28mm, oh, and 1/35th…
Some could have been interchangeable but most weren't. Horses for courses, different rules with different scales. It's not rocket surgery