Lately I've been interesting in playing a skirmish game or two either in the Napoleonic Wars, or the American Civil War.
I have a very small table, 2x2' (60x60cm) so I'm thinking of going with 15mm. Not that it matters that much since I'm not gonna be putting huge armies on the table, only up to about 10 figures a side, but still, the terrain is cheaper and easier to make.
Also the figures are far cheaper (yes, plastic 28mm figures are a thing, but then I end up buying boxes of 40 to only use 8-10 dudes, which ends up more expensive). And finally, 15mm figures look cute :D
Having said that, there is also a good possibility that I only play once or twice, and then the figures will sit on my shelf/desk for me to lovingly stare at them. So, to me, what really matters is that the figures are nicely sculpted and look good when painted and sitting on a shelf (and most importantly are fun to paint!)
My experience with 15mm so far is, I have some Peter Pig Wars of the Roses figures and they are really nicely sculpted, fun to paint, and I like looking at them on my shelf (they've turned out a bit dull but I suspect that's also my own fault). Also, I have one AB Napoleonic French fella that I haven't painted yet, but the sculpt looks gorgeous (more 18mm, but still).
I would probably just go with AB based off everyone raving about them online, and my own Mk.1 Eyeball, however I live in the EU and ordering from the UK sucks. Eureka Miniatures, the UK retailer for AB Figures, is registered for IOSS so no import taxes, however last time I ordered from them Royal Mail screwed up and I ended up getting my figures after 3 months, which frankly sucked (Eureka were very helpful throughout this, props to them! nothing against them, only RM). And most other manufacturers of figures aren't registered so I'll have fun paying twice the value of my order in charges to the postal service/government.
The Peter Pig figures I ordered from Minairons in Spain who ordered them from PP for me (they only stock the Spanish Civil War range and some WW2), the guy who runs the store Lluis was very helpful, however I don't wanna inconvenience the guy for an order of two or three packs from PP.
Really, from what I've found the only 15mm ACW or Napoleonic figures I can easily order are Essex, from a store in France (philibert.net) or Campaign Game Miniatures in Spain, I think. Everyone else is either US (Old Glory 15s, Battle Honours for instance) or UK (AB*, PP*, Old Glory, Blue Moon, Minifigs, etc etc).
So, essentially what I'm asking is, are Essex figures good (or rather, are PP or AB so much better to justify the inconvenience, expensive shipping in the case of AB, and waiting time)? Honestly from pictures I can't tell, the paintjobs on the Essex website are a bit meh. But they seem decent and people seem to like them.
The thing is, I can much more easily order a pack of Essex, paint them, decide "oh I don't like the look of these/don't like painting Napoleonic uniforms/ACW look boring" than a "test" pack of PP figures, for example. I hope that makes sense :(
Rant about ordering from the UK and figures aside, what are some good skirmish rulesets in this scale (8-10 dudes) for the period? Bonus points if they're fun to play solo. I know of Fistful of Lead (even has a horse and musket supplement) but, as silly as it may be, I much prefer dice over playing cards.
As for the period. Of course, for someone who is more into the painting side than anything, Napoleonic uniforms are more interesting to paint. However, I really like the look of the armies in the ACW, and I just have a more clear image/vision in my head – the little white wooden houses, the snake rail fences, the fields, in my head it's more interesting and evocative? than the dry landscapes of the Peninsular War, for instance. Perhaps I should visit Waterloo first though, since I live half an hour away and all :P and we'll see.
Feel free to convince me in favour of either Napoleonics or the ACW, tell me 15mm are
and that I should get 28mm figures instead, I should stop whining and just get AB Figures because they're worth their weight in gold, or maybe even tell me I should skirmish in 6 mm! etc :D
Thanks in advance! and sorry about the rambling and the wall of text.