Evildrsmith
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Miniatures

Sun 14 Jun 2020, 19:01

Way back for 1st Edition, there was a range of licensed miniatures by Grenadier ('20mm' scale in wargame parlance).

I was wondering, of those that have played earlier versions, how many used miniatures? And if so, what scale figures / ranges were used?

I used some of the Grenadier figures plus Platoon 20 and Liberation miniatures mostly (all 20mm) , if I recall, though nowadays would probably use Elheim for figures, with plastic kits, S+S resin and (the now defunct) BW models for vehicles (plus some cheap die-casts that in practice never saw the table top). However, I also used some micro armour occasionally (long range encounters / manoeuvring). (Also, I note Elheim have a couple of packs of modern Swedish, though none for the Cold War that I saw).

If you guys were using mini's would you use 20mm? Or move to 15mm, given the Flames of War / Team Yankee figures available? Or go to 28mm, which is more common in other RPGs for figures?

And does anyone think that Fria Ligan should investigate options for a new licensed range of figures?
 
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Severian
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Re: Miniatures

Sun 14 Jun 2020, 23:32

I never liked 20mm and smaller scale figures. I am looking for good cold war period 28mm figures these days, but there don't seem to be many out there. Most studios appear to skip straight from Vietnam to the Global War on Terror, and it seems hard to find anything from the 80's or 90's. I expect vehicles will also be tough to find (I generally use 1/56 scale models when I can find them).
Sev
 
Evildrsmith
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Re: Miniatures

Mon 15 Jun 2020, 11:21

Severian,
Try Mongol Miniatures (sold by Badger Games in the US; I'm in the UK and have bought without problems), the Assault Group, and Eureka Miniatures (they are Australian, but have a UK distributor/branch).
There is also Under Fire Miniatures, but these are 'realistically proportioned', so tend to be taller/slimmer than the Mongol miniatures/TAG figures, and to my mind, don't mix.
For vehicles in 1:56, try Blitzkrieg miniatures or Sloppy Jalopy (available from Sally 4th). The Sloppy Jalopy models seem to be a bit variable in the detailing, in my opinion, but are good enough. There's also Paint and Glue Miniatures, though I've not seen any of their products in the flesh, and Butler's Printed Models, which again, I've not seen in reality (but look to me to be quite coarsely printed - they are 3D print models).
Empress have a range which is expanding into the Cold War (1970s/1980s) period, but they are 1:50 or 1:48
 
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Severian
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Re: Miniatures

Mon 15 Jun 2020, 19:25

Thanks, Doc! I took a quick look at those and did some searching online. As for figures, I like both the Under Fire and Mongrel miniatures, but I think you're right about them not being compatible so I will have to look closer into their ranges (I tend to prefer the more realistic ones, so probably inclined to Under Fire). I'm thinking Empress Miniatures for the vehicles as well. I like the size of the 1:50 better than 1:56, although 1:48 often seems too big with 28mm. I'll look around for some new 28mm scenery as well (I got rid of mine and my GeoHex master system and such 10 years ago when I stopped most of my miniatures gaming).
Sev
 
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aramis
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Re: Miniatures

Tue 16 Jun 2020, 06:23

my minis preference is 10mm... but 15's good.
I dislike 28/30mm for tabletop use.

I never used minis for the original.
—————————————————————————
Smith & Wesson: the original point and click interface...
 
andoreth
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Re: Miniatures

Wed 17 Jun 2020, 16:38

We gamed in 20mm mostly using Platoon 20 figures, we had sets of the original figures but as they had been designed to go with 1:87 Minitanks they were generally too small. The cavalry got an outing sometimes though since the only 20mm modern cavalry we could find were Rhodesian.
 
cypher226
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Re: Miniatures

Wed 17 Jun 2020, 21:43

I started collecting 20mm from a number of companies several years ago but have never gotten anywhere with them.

I've got a lot more useful kit in 28mm, The Assault Group british infantry, Tiny Terrain Miniatures Russians and Chechens (aka marauders and civilians), and loads of assorted Copplestone, Spectre and Hasslefree for characters/marauders/civilians etc.

I'm planning on updating the kit to mid 90's, so British troops with Soldier 95 kit, the Russians are Chechen War era etc. The biggest headache I'm having is finding Americans in kit of the right period, but I suspect the Radio Dish Dash Operation Gothic Serpent figures will do with the right paint scheme.
I've got a few packs of the Under Fire rhodesian SAS I'm slowly head swapping to make a dozen better equipped marauders or other parties of survivors, but heads are hard to come by in the right scale, certainly with specific items of head gear.

For larger scale and armour actions I'm going to use my 15mm Team Yankee kit. I've got Americans and Brits and working on a Soviet army at the moment (3d printing the T-72s from free files), but sourcing some of the more unusual vehicles is taking time. If I didn't already have TY stuff I'd have jumped on the new Plastic Soldier company 10mm line.

28mm rhodesian cavalry can be found at Eureka. I'm going to get some soon(ish) and do some chopping to convert them into US or Soviets, not decided yet. Also need to find some suitable donor bodies... :)

Moderator Action: Changed the oversized emoji to a smiley of a more moderate size.
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andoreth
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Re: Miniatures

Wed 17 Jun 2020, 22:31

For Russian cavalry you could do worse that Copplestone's back of beyond range with the rifles filed off of and replaced with The Assault Group AKs.
 
andoreth
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Re: Miniatures

Wed 17 Jun 2020, 23:05

however, to answer Evildrsmith's specific questions.

in the early days we used miniatures in combat situations where it was essential to see where all the players were relative to the threats and removed arguments about who could see whom with the use of a laser marker/table periscope. Also at the start of each game I got players to lay their figures out in line of march, which made it easier to decide who was going to be the first to interact during an encounter.

Today our club is divided on the issue of scale, most prefer 28mm and our Salute game in 2019 was an Afghanistan game using Skirmish Sangin in 28mm, However the practice games running up to the show were fought in 15mm since the club met in a pub in central London and carting in all the scenery and setting up a six foot by twelve table was not practical.

Moving back in gaming time we are now equally split, a number of club members have invested in the new PSC Northag rules and figures (set in 1983) which are .12mm or 1/144. I however, having already accumulated a lot of 15mm equipment and perhaps more importantly scenery, am hoping that we might merge major battles,, a rare event in Twilight but still possible, with a series of RPG style scenarios using.

My main reason for liking 15mm is its easy transportability, however to this could be added the range of equipment available at a reasonable price, 3d printed models (I would recommend Syborg Printing here) tend to out of my price range above 20mm but cover most of the vehicles I would need, the new (and older) Team Yankee vehicles include a number of the prototypes which never made it to full production, they are relatively easily modifiable especially using Peter Pig heads, and finally with my increasing years there are fewer complaints about my attempts at camouflage in 15mm.

I am relaxed about whether the new Twilight has a line of figures, I know most members of our group will be more comfortable playing encounters in 3D and we will have the facilities available and choice to match the scale to the encounter be it 12mm, 15mm or 28mm.
 
andoreth
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Re: Miniatures

Wed 17 Jun 2020, 23:07

Sorry, the third paragraph of my earlier entry should have read "using 15mm."

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