Alternate Mini sizes for D&D and other games

[Ace]

Has anyone here ever expeimented with alternate miniature sizes in their D&D games?

I have noticed tons of support in 15mm Fanatsy and Historicals and 54mm (ie 1/32) Historicals

THe support for wierd stuff like Pyrates and that sort of things semes kind of Handy to me

Now I game at my local game shop 15mm figures seem like they would be more portable and cheaper

the 54mm (1/32) come in plastic and are cheap plus one of the players is legally blind (he can see a little up close enough to read a sheet or dice with effort) and the figures would be easier to see for him

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

I'm not a good enough painter to handle the 15 mm minis. I have enough trouble painting the smaller details on the 25 mm ones, I can't imagine how I'd ever make a halfway decent-looking 15 mm one.

54 mm sounds nice though.

 

[TeaBee]

In Star Wars d20, we've been using a 3 3/4 Inch scale. I don't know what that is in mm....

 

[Dark Helmet]

ACTION FIGURES BABY!!!

I'm gonna use He-Man for my Barbarian PC.

Cuz I HAVE THE POWER!!!

 

[kengar]

On a previous thread about the demise of chainmail, one poster mentioned that he heard that 25mm is basically on its way out in favor of 28mm. He was at a sculpting workshop with Sandra Garrity and she said the slightly larger scale is becoming the new standard. It's close enough to 25 you don't have to trash your old minis, but it is a slightly more "heroic" scale.

I agree with Meepo. 15mm is impossible for me to paint, too. I took one look some 15mm dwarves and said no way. I believe it's more intended for large scale wargames than RPG melee.

 

[mhensley]

I have done some experimenting with using 15mm figures for D&D. Some of the advantages are:

1. Inexpensive - You can usually get 3-4 times as many figures for the same price as for 28mm. This is a big saving for those hordes of humanoids that you need.

2. Easier to transport - They are small enough so that all you need will fit into a pencil box. I hate lugging around 20 lbs of lead.

3. Less table room needed - You can map out your whole dungeon on a small coffee table to scale. No need to keep erasing your battlemat to draw a new room.

4. Big monsters are really big - Use a 28mm dragon with 15mm PC minis to really show how big it should look.

5. Easier to paint - Yes, you will have to squint a lot, but because of fewer details on the figure its easier to paint. At this scale, mistakes are really hard to see. If you are a so-so painter like me, this is a plus.


Disadvantages are:

1. Not as cool looking as 28mm - figures have much less detail. No matter how good you can paint, a 15mm figure will not be very impressive.

2. Less variety - a lot of monsters are not available in this scale. The best 15mm figures (Ral Partha Battlesystem) are no longer made. And forget about getting the perfect figure to represent your character.

3. Maybe hard to see - If you play on a large table, you maybe too far away from the figures to be able to tell them apart.

4. Gaming aids aren't scaled for them - Battle mats and such are not scaled for 15mm. 1" squares would be 10' in 15mm. 1/2" squares would be better. On the other hand, you can use N scale buildings and terrain.

 

[BluWolf]

All the major and most of the up-and-coming mini makers have swithed to 28mm.

Reaper and Rackam make my favorites.

I have always liked the idea of using 15mm for massive army battles (as they are intended) but we do so little of that stuff it has never been attmepted.

The variety, as compared to the 25/28mm market, is terrible. Its just not the niche those minis are aiming to fill.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I played a Star Wars game once using Star Wars (& futuristic looking GI Joe) action figures. It was cheap since we already had most of the figures from when we were kids and it had plenty of vehicles available but it took up a lot of space if you wanted to do anything to scale.

I've also heard of people using Lego miniatures for D&D, etc. which seems like a good idea.

However, since I've got a lot of well painted 25-28mm figures, I doubt I'll be switching anytime soon.