"WWII & Figure Scale" Topic

What is your preferred figure scale/size for WWII miniature wargaming (land battles)?

20mm or 28mm for me, but then again I mostly do skirmish type games.

Prefer 15mm but 10/12mm is interesting.
Sales are in the 28mm

I'll go with 1/72 since that's what I own.

6mm. But I also have 1/72 and 2mm.

15mm coupled with the slightly wrong 1/100th scale.

martin

20mm now and always.

20mm for me too.

20mm

For me 6mm. But others in our group have 15mm and 25/28mm.

Jim

15mm 1:100

20mm

1/72

Was 28mm but now I think 40mm. I have been getting into Chris Parkers 3d printed Pacific War and early war German vs Polish. I play skirmish pretty much exclusively now.

I am hoping they expand. I really love the larger size miniatures.

10mm

54mm figures with 1/32 vehicles, when I can find them, although 1/35 plastic models will work in a pinch.

20mm

20mm

Been 1/72 or 20mm since the 1970's. Doubtful I will ever change with collections at 18k plus miniatures painted. Currently based for FOW Ver 3.0 with larger basing for infantry teams.

20mm

15mm

28mm

1/144th- 10/12mm In the USA, 6mm used to be all around locally. Now, only 1/72nd seems readily available. Big-Box game stores carry the 28mm boxed sets. I have run out of room to display my 1/72nd collection let along game on my 4x8 space- maybe 2 platoons and down to squads for 28's.

1/144th/10/12mm fits my available gaming space and available space to store/display my collection.
I like the size so well I brought out my range of WWII, linked up with an e-tailer that that can sell to local shops if asked to. So I put my money where my scale support is for. Bottom line , what scale people use is very much dependent upon what they can get locally it seems.

HO 1/87 scale.

I prefer 6mm – 1/285th. It makes a decent game in a smaller area or a really large battle on a larger table area.

If forced to pick just one, 15mm, a good compromise of looks, cost and ease of storage and transportation.

I still have masses of 6mm though, but I've sold all my 20mm and 54mm WW2 stuff over the last few years.

Depends on the level you want to engage at. Personally I do 20mm (1/72) as I do not game at above company level. This scale offers all sorts of quality models of figures and vehicles and you can even co-opt model railway stuff. Also the models are small enough to populate the average table without looking unrealistically crowded.

20mm and a bit of 6mm. I do have a 20 x 8 table!

Tally Ho!

28mm for skirmish, 15mm for larger battles

+1 Zulupaul.
My two preferred scales/sizes, and for the same reasons

6mm for the same reason as Captain Pete, and also I live in a one bedroom flat so not much space.

Artilleryman for the win. Scale is not a function of period. It's a function of level of engagement and table size, with visibility perhaps a distant third. You could about plot it on a graph: X Axis is command level high to low, Y axis is table space desktop to gym. The 2mm cluster is lower left and 54mm upper right in every period.

It's nice that we actually do have choices!

1/144.small enough to get decent sized forces on a 6x4, figure scale closer to ground scale for most rules but big enough to see some details. Increasing range of figures and vehicles available, really benefitting from the 3D printing revolution, although it was sad to see the superb Arrowhead range of white metal models go out of production.
I do have "20mm" and " 6mm" forces for this period, but it's only the 1/144 that I am continuing to build up; just started on the Soviet's, thanks to Victrix.

6mm for me. Been at it since the mid-1970s. Many others talk about going to larger scales as eyes decline. Not me – got too much invested (not just money, but time, effort, emotional bonding if you will) into my collection. Too many favorite units from battles past, too many units that I put in the effort to source, paint, and base that have not yet seen a game table, etc.

Did try some 20mm stuff about 30 years ago. Played a fun game at a local club game day. As I had done 1/72 – 1/76 stuff in middle school it seemed like a good move. So I managed to get a bit of stuff together, and GM'd a single game with my kit. But it never really clicked for me.

I like fully formed units. Understanding the organization and dynamics of platoons, companies, battalion resources, etc. is part of why I play. Also understanding the importance of maneuver, and allocation of scarce combat resources. I don't want a platoon to get support because of a die role or a scenario instruction, I want it to get support because I allocated the support there, in full concern of the risk I face taking that support away from some other side of the battlefield.

To do that I need to have a battelfield that is larger than the range of the direct-fire weapons in the game. That mitigates to smaller scales. Some day I might try even smaller 2-3mm scales. But I doubt it. Too invested in my 6mm, and don't have another 30 years to put into something else.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

1/72 and 20mm and 1/285 Microarmour.

I started many, many years ago (mid-late 60's) with Airfix but found WW2 rules at that time fairly unrealistic.

By early 70's I moved into the Western Desert & 6mm but the lack of infantry figures at the time made that a bit of a dead end. Tried going back to them in the late 80's but couldn't get enthused.

Tried 2mm next but the WW2 stuff wasn't that great and, yet again, my enthusiasm passed onto other periods.

Finally got going on 3mm (1/600th) and built division/corps sized armies for 1940 but still haven't managed to get a game with them, largely very dissatisfied with available rules.

I've also done VBCW in 20mm to fit in with others playing that in our local group.

Still keep wondering why I keep banging my head against the inevitable and give up on WW2.

54mm in the Pacific Islands.

I do 28mm for squad and platoon. 15mm for Company.

1/144

1/144 I have some 1/72 but it was always too big and 6mm was too small for the type of games we play. Just 6mm oK for tanks but small vehicels and low figure cont infantry just are to fiddley for me.

I/144 is also the perfect scale for 3D printing meaning any model you want is available at a price that is afforable.

20mm

Honestly, I have a truckload of 6mm WWII too, but I haven't gamed with it in 20 years. By now it's hard to count it as anything but a potential source of flea market sales.

I game at company scale so I prefer 15mm. I spent two years of wasted time in 28mm. I would advise against 28mm because you can't even get tanks onto a normal size table without it feeling silly.

Tom Dye I was talking to a client who is looking for. 10/12mm. Do you not own AIM or is it another company under GFI.

I spent two years of wasted time in 28mm. I would advise against 28mm because you can't even get tanks onto a normal size table without it feeling silly.

You don't have to have tanks. WW2 was far more about infantry action where no tanks were present at all. One of the most fun games I ever took part in was with 54mm figures, 6 per side on a table representing a building and surrounding area.

Had the pleasure to talk to Rudy Scott Nelson this afternoon and answered his inquiry. Good to chat with Rudy once again. While I am currently for 1/144 scale (12mm is a size); I still have my WWII in 1/285th, 1:160th, 15, 20 (1/72-1/87th here) and 28mm and like them all but for different reasons. It remains up to me which ones I use for the scope of the game I want to do. Lots of Infantry at Platoon level- 28mm; Company size- 15-20mm; Battalion- 1/144th; Brigade- 1/285th. I sure would not want to use 1/285th for a squad level game- conversely not use 28mm for a brigade level game. Guess not everyone cares or plays along those lines (scale/size= utility) but I am glad I have them all collecting over the years.

Yes it was good to catch up with Tom Dye again.
I decided last week to pull remaining 15mm out of store stock and start a 15mm skirmish forces.

Plenty of left over 28mm but I prefer 15mm to skirmish.
10/12mm will be used for my Fire! Ogon! Fryer! WW2 tank rules.

Preferably 1/76 but sometimes 1/72.

It depends upon whether I am playing a large battle (6mm), or a more skirmish level game (15mm – 54mm). Cheers!