"Best scale for DBx gaming?" Topic

What do you consider to be the best size/figure scale for BDA/DBN, etc. and why? Thanks.

Depends on table space. I have lots of 25s, but most shops have tables for 15s.

1/72 is cheap and plentiful but opponents seem harder to find than in 15mm and 28mm.

Plastic 28mm have really dropped the price of larger figures.

If you want maximum opponents, I think 15mm still dominants things.

My own preference is increasingly 1/72. But I'm pretty sure I'm an outlier.

I provide all of the forces, so what other people collect does not factor in. Table space is not a concern. I agree that 1/72 has a certain charm.

15s

I rather like 10mm figures massed on 15mm scale bases – but I think the current optimal is 15mm (I seldom see the quality and imagination of DBA's 'signature' camp vignettes achieved as well in other scales …) …

Phil

!/72 on the 60mm frontage is pretty sexy if it is entirely a DIY job. Some periods/armies may be limited, where as 15mm covers pretty much the whole shaboo.

6mm on 25mm frontage. To me DBA always looks like a bar fight. But when you have 12 bases of 36-48 figures each, it at least looks like a battle…

Anything from 6mm, 10mm, 12mm, 15mm, 18mm, and 1/72 20mm work great. 6mm to 18mm on 20x40mm bases, 1/72 on 30x60mm bases. Will also work with Warmaster and Hail Caesar. All depends on what scales you like to paint and if you provide both sides. If you want to play in tournaments, 15/18mm really is your only choice from what I see played.

Same as what xtra crispy said, 6mm figs on bases for 25mm, or even double sized 15mm bases (80mm wide).

If you are doing the whole thing yourself, then you should do what you enjoy most. I had always done 15mm because thats what everyone else was doing. After they all evaporated, I chose 28mm for my new projects, because they look nicer on the shelf.

Agree with Extra Crispy 6mm on 25 sized bases

I agree: 6mm on 25mm basing. I wish I had done that from the start. As it is, I have mostly 15mm, and one handmade, wooden 25mm army.

And given the current debates on the DBA forum, I cannot fit four wooden cataphracts on a 25mm base, only three, so I may be in trouble using that at another tournament!

If I was starting again, 6mm on 28mm sized bases. they look fantastic! But these days, I have so many 15mm figures, changing over isn't an option.

Maybe 15s on 28's bases… I may play with that and see what comes of it. Blu-Tac is our friend!

15mm or smaller. I've always thought the main appeal of DBA was the small, 2 foot x 2 foot, playing area.

I do it in 15mm & 1:72 – the advantage of teh later is it is so cheap and readily avaialble you can do both sides yourself – no need to find someone with a matching army !

Oh and we have done a lot of big battle DBA in 10mm which is OK but I do prefer 15 or 20mm…

The best scale is whatever you've already got.
DBx work fine in 28mm, 15mm and 6mm.

We play almost exclusively in 25+mm, taking advantage of the fantastic wave of 28mm plastic figures that are now pouring out.

We use 4X4 talbles (I'm not found of the tiny 2X2 for 15mm as I keep bumping my opponents head when we both lean in…)

The new DBA 3.0 will have more flexable figure basing to accomodate the newer 28mm figures.

People with "historical" looking Warhammer armies can tack a few figures down and give DBA a try (or Hordes of The Things).

20mm would be my second choice but you may want to do matched pairs of armies since the scale is not as popular as it deserves to be.

TomT

We have moved to rebasing 15mm on 25mm-sized bases (with 2x the figures) for DBA. We are also getting more into (or returning to) 25mm scale. Playing straight 15mm doesn't seem as enjoyable anymore.

Is it because the look of too few figures on a base/in the army? Just curious, because that is the whole impetus behind people putting 6mm figures on 25mm bases too.

We moved to 15mm on 25mm, first, because I could get no one else remotely interested in 6mm or 10mm (I liked 10mm but found the strips fiddly). We then experimented with it and found the look really cool, and it allows us to rebase 15mm figures that we were not using or had around unpainted. I think it is a great option for people who like 15mm figures, don't really want to move to 25mm, but desire a massed effect.

The one change we did NOT make, which we wish we would have, is to skip 60x20 bases for heavy infantry and instead base all infantry other than hordes on 60x30 bases.

I am currently reading up on the HotT rules and having a hand building an orc and a human medieval/bretonnian army and 1/72 seems good on the price so I've got myself a bunch of them.

But..there's not body to play with, so guess I can only try when I finished both armies and grab a friend or 2 to poison…lol

15mm. That's what most people play in. 6mm if you want visual appeal. Mine are all 15mm.

For me it's 28mm on bigger bases.
link
link

If we are discussing bigger, then I like 75mm figures on bases that are 120mm.
Carthaginians

Romans vs Ancient Britians

What about 10mms?

Those playmobile armies rock!

The Playmobil concept is great. It would make a brilliant participation game at a show.

DBA looks great in 10mm:-) Just my 2p's worth

Jason.

DBA looks terrific in 28mm if you use double size bases with 4 'normal' sized ones on a sabot base.

I also like 6mm, mounted very dense on 15mm scale bases. You get a really big battle look. 18-20 heavy inf per element, 12 Ps, 14-16 Wb and Ax, 3 Elephants and Chariot. My problem with basing on 60mm wide is that I cannot see the figures on the table which is 4 feet square and you must stand to play. Same problem in my pics, which are giant battles, but you get more elements on the table. Note that you can use these in Matched Pairs games, where players bring two armies and you take turns using yours and others.

For greatest utility, I still feel 15mm figures on 40-wide bases is the way to go.

I agree, however, that big basing schemes allow more spectacular effects …

I caught these 28mm Roman and Celtic armies on the LWA stand at Phalanx the other week …

IIRC the basing was 100mm frontage. Both armies are base the same way so the games works normally. This will be even more clear with V3 where the frontage is the measuring unit.

Phil
Ancients on the Move

I like the 28mm on 100mm stands. Another possibility is to use 4 stands (2x2) as a "DBA base", so the BW for 15mm would be 80 and the BW for 25mm would be 120. Otherwise it should play the same, except that everything is doubled.

The great thing about the bigger bases is that Elephants and Chariots have enough room, especially if you want to add elephant guards, chariot runners etc -as indeed we can see above.