"If you were starting from scratch in 7YW , what scale?" Topic

Lets say you were starting from scratch. What size/scale figures would you go with?

FM

40mm

6 or 10mm. The smaller scale can offer more space to maneuver and units can be made to look really good. They remain less expensive or standard sized units. but the idea is that your units can look more like units than in the larger scales.

Just my opinion based upon my experience and yes, I have SYW figures in 6, 10, 15, 20, 28mm and 40mm. It's a period I really enjoy.

1/72…. yes, I know. Hear me out.

Plastic figures are readily available for Prussian & Austrian forces.British are very possible too.
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There are also metals.
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My French infantry are nearly all Wodensfield.

Lobositz:
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Reichenberg:
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Campaign battles:
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1/72. The goldilocks of scales (not too big, not too small).

BTW I've now switched to a modified version of SHAKO that works VERY well.

So many options, where do you start? With questions…
How big is your table?
Are you on a tight budget?
What inspired you with SYW?
What scale do you like to paint?
Aesthetic minsiatures or sweeping battles?

It's all a personal choice really but if you do end up settling for 15mm, I have an abandoned pro-painted Old Glory project (Prussians and Austrians) that would get you pretty much started in oner.

While I agree with Ochoin to a certain extent, the 20mm/1/72 figures are rather restricted in range. Some of the metals available, particularly the European makers.

While 18mm are slightly smaller, they don't have nearly the detail that 1/72 have. But they make a table 1/3 bigger than it would be for larger scales. For example, the Charles Grant scenario for Mollwitz was palayed with 28mm figures on a 9' X 7' table. With 18mm I can play the same scenario on a table 6' X 4'10". Also the range available from Eureka covers the major nations very well- Austro-Hungarians, British, French, Prussians and Russians. The figures can cover most of the minor nations as well- eg Austrian infantry work well for Hanoverians. More importantly, they do look good on a table.

Lovely pics Ochoin and Dal.

"What inspired you with SYW?"

I probably won't get too much opposition on the SYW boards but IMHO, the SYW is the premium wargaming period.

It has firearms with limited ranges, uses all 3 classical Arms (infantry, cavalry & artillery), and the uniforms have a restrained glamour that I feel visually appealing.

The historic battles are more modest than some of the Napoleonic ones, &, hence, more do-able.

And BTW, Dal's stuff is just great & also has more accurate flags!

The eyes, to represent the splendor of the period, require the Heroic 28mm or 40mm scale.

I would choose 15mm. This is mainly because I have a very normal wargames table size. Using 15mm would allow me to sit down ,play and still reach my troops for movement.

15mm is also easy to store as I only have a modest sized house.
Also 15mm allows me to travel all over the place for games as the scenery and figures are transportable.

An interesting period which might attract me to it at some point.

martin

I totally agree with everything ochoin says (and shows) about 1/72 scale because it has a special place in my heart, but I would still choose 15mm. I already have the terrain, there's a wider variety of uniforms/nations/poses available, and best of all: I can buy them painted and ready to play with in flea markets.

- Ix

I was originally interested in SYW many years ago but the local clubs played Napoleonics so that's what ended up playing. 25 years later I am still enjoying Napoleinics but I really want to do some WAS or SYW. Might and reason are the rules or else warfare in the age of reason. At my normal club I will have to build both sides. Thanks for the suggestions thus far

6-10. Larger scales can and do look beautiful, but most of the battles are fair size, so it tends to be a choice between very small castings on moderate tables or very nice-looking castings but humongous tables, very small units or "bathtubbed" battles. (There is of course the Peter Young approach of SYW figures but more Napoleonic rules.)

Cold truth is, I'm too old to start over in a large scale: it would take me time and money I might not have to finish.

@Ochoin: Wow, pretty pictures and they take me back to the Peter Grant "Wargame" book and his pictures that inspired me when a kid to get into this hobby.

I have a huge 15mm collection, but I might consider 10mm Pendraken if I did start over. They are beautiful little figures, and the extra figure density would be nice.I am not a uniform junkie quite the way some people are, though if I were, I would probably stick with 15/18mm because the uniforms are still very distinguishable at this scale.

If you are using Might and Reason (a good idea), I would definitely go with 15/18mm. There are some very good choices for figures. If table space is an issue, you can always reduce the size of the bases. Our bases are 4/5ths of the standard size, so a scenario that requires a 5' wide table can be played on a 4' wide table.

Horses for courses.There is, of course, no definitive answer.

One negative for 1/72 is A Russian army is, as yet, impossible (but I have my hopes on Strelets….you ought to see their WSS range).
One positive (for me at least) is conversions are a genuine possibility. I'm currently converting HaT Austrians into Hungarian infantry. Time consuming but fun.

I'm doing WSS in 3mm and the same range can be used for 7YW. You can either use 15mm basing and have realistic looking units or half scale and loads of table space. My 1.6x1.2m table effectively becomes 3.2x2.4m.

I've always liked small scales (to me 15mm is a large scale) and large battles and I'm very pleased with the way these are coming out. Takes a bit of practice to find the best way of getting the effect you want but you soon speed up.

Definitely 15mm. There is enough variety of figures to cover pretty much all the troop types, the figures have enough detail to be recognisable but can be painted easily and quickly, 15mm is pretty cheap, easy to store and is portable, and figure bases will be small enough to allow manouevres on the tabletop.

I have 6mm miniatures and I am very happy with them. Uniforms are still dinguisable but without having top Paint every button or have. Huge armies in moderate sized tables. Baccus has nice castings but Henry Turner is currently designing superb 6mm stls for a kickstarter.

Those 1/72 look great, but castings seem to be not very crisp.

1/72nd has come a long way since the 60-70s. There are some highly detailed figures available from folks like Hagen in Germany. For me, 1/72nd is perfect for diorama work. Conversions are much easier and companies like HaT, Caesar and Streetlets are very prolific for choice. In Germany, later this month, Dioarmica will be held where people from all over converge at a museum for dios (1/72nd the prime permanent displays) show off what has to be the world's premier works! While I have been collecting for wargame armies, I have made the decision to stick with 6-15mm armies and keep my 1/72nd for dio work. Until folks close to me start doing wargaming in 1/72nd, I will stick with scales I can get into games with. With SYW, you have a winning (IMHO) period! "Anything with a tricorn" has been my motto for recent years. Enjoy the eras.

I have Austrian and Prussian armies in 28mm and they have the wow factor at games.

But if I was to start all over again I would do 15mm.

28mm is heavy and bulky to carry around, and I don't do games at home.

1/72 is ideal, but there is very little out there. Also, with RedBox, Strelets, and Zvezda coming from the Ukraine or Russia, I don't expect new sets soon. On the Strelets site at least they note design personnel are in the army, so I would not expect anything soon.

Good 15mm figures are available in the US from Blue Moon and Old Glory 15mm. Little or no gaps, and everything is local for me. I have to order from England for most SYW in 28mm…

I'm spoilt, I'm using 40mm. Also helps with my aging eye sight!

Billy NM asks a lot of the right questions. I have (eventually) learned to begin with "What size battle do I wish to fight?" and "What size table will I be fighting it on?" Once you've answered those two, many other questions are resolved--or at least the options are narrowed.

My SYW is 15mm and 25/28mm.

@ Dal are you still in the southern highlands of NSW. I remember probably 20+ years ago coming out for a game at your place.

@ BillyNM

What inspired you with SYW?

Grant's The War Game was my first wargaming book, back in the early 70's. I've gone back to his rules after diversions into Napoleonics and other periods, and I still get as much fun out of them as I did then.

@ Ochoin,

And BTW, Dal's stuff is just great & also has more accurate flags!

I hope they're accurate, mate. But with painting you and Willz do a much better job.

@ Field Marshal,

Dal are you still in the southern highlands of NSW.

No, mate, not for 10 years. The ex is still there but my gaming shed is now full of junk and my horse is at agistment in Goulburn. I'm down on the south coast, now, but we've got a good little group up at Batemans. Trying to convince them to try a SYW battle, and we're ramping up a Kingmaker-based WOTR campaign.

I was inspired by Christopher Duffy's books on the SYW (in particular the Army of Frederick the Great) and the Blandford book on Uniforms of the Seven years War.

I have five large SYW armies in 28mm and they are tough to beat for detail

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That being said, I have the luxury of a very large dining room with a very very large table (winter) and a large shed with four big tables (summer) for gaming – I think it depends on what you like to game; for skirmish 28 mm or 15mm but if like most SYW gamers I know you like Grand Tactical 15mm or 1/72 or 6mm; for my Napoleonics I have gone full bore 6mm

I have a host of 28mm Prussians, and some French and British too. I'm not opposed to this size, although might choose 40mm, but there is only so much time and energy and money in life. Although, I have some minimal F&IW figures in 40mm, couldn't resist.

I love big figures, but I think 10 or 15mm is best if you want to fight large battles.

Good timing on this discussion. I am getting back into the hobby after a 10 year absence. I always wanted to build up a collection of SYW for Lobositz or some of the larger battles and decided on going with 6mm or 10mm. I have played 25mm battles before and dislike marching forward and rolling better than the opponent with little room to move about as the field is quite crowded. I want a little room to move around the battlefield and spread out the forces a little. I also love the look of the mass of troops. Still undecided between 6 and 10mm. It will likely come down to cost.

I have an extensive 15mm collection, but if I had to start again I would go 6mm or 10mm. I want large linear formations and you have to go small scale to get that. To me 24 figure units just do not look right. If I was more interested in the uniforms than the tactics I might think otherwise of course

I actually am considering getting into this period, if I like Twilight of the Soldier Kings. But that's the rub – I don't have a single SYW figure, so I have to wait for someone else to run my test games before I find out.

- Ix

Hi

I'd go for 10mm:

Cheers Paul