Scale Considerations, or 'It's not how big it it is, it's where you can stick it.'

 

 

 

Hi hoh!

I have been considering scale, both in terms of the size of the individual models and indeed the sizes of units used on the table.

When I began, it was 

1/300 for WW2 and later except when skirmishing, in which case 20mm (intergangeably using plastic figures and Platoon 20 metals).

Generally, anything else apart from Naval (1/3000 and 1/1200) was done in 25mm

Then there came 15mm. Now 15mm was a cheaper option at sub-10p per figure,and allowed games to be played on a smaller table, a boon in competitions and for one on one club games. Of course it also meant that you could field truly enormous games on a standard 6x4 or 8x4 table, where Napoleonics, horse and musket and 19th century warfare came into their own. Essex and Jacobite produced generally well thought out army packs for under £20 and you could try a new period or buy several packs for larger armies.

25mm was still popular and for the most part you could play a pretty large game set in the pre-gunpowder or renaissance era on an 8x4 table.

As I recall, most gamers actually had a bit of everything in their collection, and the advent of Irregular Miniatures' pre based 6mm stuff added to the mix. At home, I hade a pine dining table that my parents had discarded, fully landscaped and played large games on it because it could be left 'set up' in my bedroom, which at the time was 10x24 feet.

I also used 6mm to test out army lists for the competitions I played in, it being a cheap way to see what an army could do on the firld and to do so in a more aesthetically pleasing way than cardboard counters could achieve.

Sometime in the mid 80s as the 'Yuppie' era forced itself upon every facet of society, there began the rise of the aforementioned 'Chequebook Wargamer' phenomenon, not in itself something I am or indeed ever was against, but it did herald a sort of 'dick measuring' culture whereby if you did not have particular brands of figures (and they were always 25mm) and use 'big battalions', you were looked down upon in the heady upper floors of the hobby's ivory towers.

In many cases, collections were too large to be used in their entirety, unless staging a massive public demonstration game, and so, whilst many people did indeed have metaphorically immense dicks, they similarly became pretty much unuseable, and just something to display in private. This did not, however, stop the metaphorical 'penis envy'...

Just about every gamer I knew started to think this way - myself included - and whilst it felt good to display large collections, I actually think that the quality and fun of games, ebbed.

Now, I'll put my hand up here and confes, that I could comfortably continue like this, with every army being 28mm and unwieldy, with standardised unit sizes, but I confess that now I have a dedicated room and decently sized table, I am starting to actually take a more 'old school' approach.

I confess that I am less inclined to construct 15mm armies as the painting cost and metal price actually favours 20mm scale armies which have a lot more visual impact and cost about the same to buy and have painted. That said, if I see a fully table ready 15mm collection at the right price, I'll buy it.

What I am now considering are the following criteria:

1. The size of battles of the period in question, and the 'sweet spot' force sizes to get a feel of that given era.

2. Weapon and movement distances. It may be that whilst I can use 28mm movement rates, 20mm figures will be more visually appealling.

3. Relative unit sizes. Consider the compositon of a regiment at a given era. Generally speaking, a Napoleonic French unit will have 6 companies and so, any wargames unit will really need to be a number divisable by 6. Twelve figure units look way too small, 18s are the minimum, 24s make sense, and 36s are the 'high end' ideal. The 36s however will be a bastard to wheel on a reasonably sized tabletop. 24s would appear to be a reasonable compromise. Remember that in a period where units formed squares, if you use element basing, you'll want 4 elements at least to allow this to be depicted in a reasonably aesthetic manner.

I like 18-24 figure units for 18th century and post-Napoleonic units, based in 3 elements, enabling a symetrical deployment in line, or the representation of a column, whilst having a substantial and maneuverable unit, thus allowing generously sized armies, deployed in such a manner that 'period feel' is achieved. Many popular rules systems are less proscriptive when it comes to fixed unit sizes, these days, one of the more positive changes in the hobby.

4. Numbers of players. After all, you may want to play a game with just two players or at times, have a few ganming friends over for a weekend of blood letting. It's no fun if you can't provide each player with a varied force and a useable frontage for deployment.

My ECW collection is 28mm and always will be, likewise my 2nd Afghan War, because I've already paid for it and the Perrys have shown that you get a decent sized game on even an average sized table, but were I to perhaps want to play a Plains War game or two, or deploy a full Imperial Roman legion against the hordes of Gaul, I may do so in 20mm, using the largest units conventinally adopted, to hit a visual sweet spot coupled with the ability to actually field them all and accomodate the numbers of players whom I'd like to have around the table from 2 to 6, each with a nicely sized command.

 I've worked out that I can build an army in 20mm metal miniatures, which is twice the size per £1 spent as 28mm. This is a gtreat way to portray armies where large numbers are the norm, for example ancient barbarian or African tribal hordes. 

I'll not spend any less on a project undertaken like this, but the 'bang for the buck' achievable, coupled with visual impact will be optimized.

I hope that like me, this has given you food for thought, about your future gaming plans. You don't have to everything in the same way. Be flexible, and remember that if it improves the fun you can have with your toys, then that's always a good thing.