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Wednesday 7 April 2021

15mm or 20mm ... that is the question!

I really cannot make my mind up whether to persist with using 15mm-scale figures for my FUNNY LITTLE WAR/PORTABLE WARGAME project, or to switch over to 20mm-scale figures, of which I have a large number of suitable ones available.

To help me make up my mind, I have decided to renovate, varnish, and base one unit of 20mm-scale infantry (i.e. two bases, each with three figures) so that I can compare them with one of my 15mm-scale units. This should take me a few days, but once it is done, I should be in a much better position to make my final decision.

28 comments:

  1. A sensible trial to compare the two sizes Bob. Ultimately I'd go with what you like the most, even though the 15mm would probably look better for me, whilst 20mm would have an 'Old School' feel about it, which is equally nice.

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    1. Steve J.,

      I’ve begun renovating six of the 20mm-scale figures by taking them off the individual bases they are fixed to. Once that is done, I’ll touch up any of the paint that needs it, then varnish and base them. I’ll then be able to compare the 15mm-scale figures with the 20mm-scale ones.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  2. I look forward to seeing the renovations and hearing your choice.

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    1. Tradgardmastare,

      Hopefully I’ll finish renovating these example figures within a week.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  3. Nowadays I'm pretty much set on using 1/72 or 20mm if the figures are available unless there's a really good reason to use anything else.

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    1. Trebian,

      I thought that you were a confirmed user of 15mm-scale figures! How wrong I was!

      All the best,

      Bob

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    2. Bob,

      Well, I do love my 15mm figures and use them for most of the periods of interest we share due to availability, but I've been banging the drum for the 20mm plastic brigade for a long while now.

      Trebian

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    3. Trebian,

      I knew that most of your Ancients were 20mm-scale plastics, but thought that the rest of your collections were 15mm-scale metal figures.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    4. Bob,

      I'm currently doing as count and compiling a database. I'm about 2/3rds through, and I have c5,500 1/72 and 6,500 15mm. I have mostly 15mm and my 25/8mm to count (including my SCW!), I think, so 15mm will end up being the biggest by several thousand. My War of Spanish Succession and Jacobite figures are all plastic.

      Trebian

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    5. Trebian,

      That is a very impressive total! I'm not sure how many figures I have in my various collections, but it is probably between five and six thousand in total.

      All the best,

      Bob

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    6. I'm up around 14,500 (including tanks and guns) overall. Before I started I thought I had 2,500 - 4,000. Tops.

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    7. Trebian,

      I have a feeling that I might have under estimated the size of my collection as well ...

      All the best,

      Bob

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  4. I would go 20mm, as I get older it's nice to be able to at least partially see the figures without my glasses!

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    1. Stryker,

      Working on that assumption, I should be opting for 54mm figures!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  5. I had to chuckle when I read this. I love the look of miniature soldiers in arrays marching on a battlefield covered with beautiful terrain. But I am not patient enough nor artistic enough to be able to create those miniature armies. Instead, I use wooden blocks and cardboard markers to represent army units. But I never have to fret about 15mm or 20mm or any other size. A block is a block and a square marker is a square. Oh the simple life.

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    1. Dalethewarganer,

      David Crook has several block armies that he uses from time to time, and I’ve used blocks and counters in the past ... but I still prefer to use painted figures. Just as long as we are enjoying our wargaming, it doesn’t really matter whether we use blocks, counters, or figures.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  6. Well, if you go with 20mm you'll get all that detail and photography for game reports will look great but you'll also start leaning away from the 'portable' aspect.

    I'm sticking with 15mm so I can fit everything in one box and tuck it away when I'm not playing.

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    1. Mr. Pavone,

      You make a very valid point about portability. I’ll still carry on with this experiment, but I’ll be bearing your comment in mind when I get to the point where I am comparing the two different figure scales.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  7. I have recently moved on from the one true scale (1/72 or 20mm)and have put together some 25mm weird war figures and some 15mm Team Yankee modern tanks, it's a struggle to choose one over the other but I'm looking at my wargaming space thinking smaller scale = more tanks... Best of luck with your decision-making 👍

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    1. Cdh,

      I started out using plastic Airfix 20mm figures, then moved on to 20mm and 25mm metal figures, and by the mid 1970s I was buying and painting 15mm Peter Laing figures. When the latter went out of production, I moved on to Essex Miniatures and Irregular Miniatures 15mm figures, before going back to 20mm! I then started collecting 25/28mm pre-painted Del Prado Napoleonic figures. Along the way, I acquired a largish number of Britains 54mm figures.

      As I am getting older, I know that I am going to have to (very reluctantly) downsize and rationalise my collections, and this experiment may well help me to decide the course that this will take.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  8. I state, with horror and full culpability that I have 6's, 10's, 12's, 13.5's, 15's, 20's, 25's, 28's, 30's and 54's in my collection never mind 1/56, 1/48, 1/32, 1/600, 1/1200 and 1/2400. I dare say that if I had another look I might find another size/scale.

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    1. Jim Duncan,

      You’ve got an even more diverse range of scales in your collections than I have! Reading your comment reminded me that I also have quite a number of 1/1200th and 1/3000th-scale ships ... as well as my cartoon-style ships!

      All the best,

      Bob

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  9. Much as I love my 20mm plastics, I do find the cavalry and vehicles take up disproportionate amounts of storage space compared to 15s. One slightly worrying trend though is that I keep looking at my 6mm Napoleonic figures and thinking how much nicer they'd look in 20mm!Well, maybe one day.

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    1. Martin Rapier,

      Storage for the future does have a bearing on my final decision. Sue and I plan to move at some point in the future, and it is likely that whatever room I have available for wargaming after the move will be less than I have now. As you state, storing 15mm-scale stuff takes up less room that 20mm ... and that will be an important factor for me to consider.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  10. Interesting, like you I have mostly done 15mm multi figure bases, but have also just been experimenting with 20mm plastics on multi bases. Tried various sizes ans shapes, and number of figures,but have settled on 3 figs on a 40mm x 25mm base. Works well, but still not sure I dont prefer my 15mm versions!

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    1. Eggs,

      The bases I intend to use with my 20mm-scale figures are 40mm x 20mm, and they are the same size as those that I use for my 15mm-scale infantry. I mount 3 figures on them, and hope to do the same with my 20mm-scale figures.

      Every time I think about this problem, I seem to change my mind BUT I do have a large number of 15mm-scale figures that I could use with very little work other than rebasing them, and they take up a lot les storage space.

      All the best,

      Bob

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  11. I am in a similar quandary. In my case I am tempted by Raventhorpe miniatures 20mm seperate head figures which are allowing me to make obscure and imagi-nation figures not possible in 15mm. Inspired as always by your thoughts and ideas I am making some small ground area but high buildings to see how they look on a grid based board.If I can work out how to do it I will post some pictures.

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    1. Eggs,

      I did not know that Raventhorpe Miniatures were still in production! Quite a few of my 20mm-scale German WW2 figures were made by Raventhorpe, and feature in some of my battle reports.

      Your buildings sound interesting, and I’d be interested to see them when they are finished.

      All the best,

      Bob

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