Twenty fives cost too much! Hogwash! I used to be one of the brainwashed masses that believed that only 15mm figures made any financial sense. Just look: a 15mm figure only costs me 30-40 cents while a 25mm figure costs a dollar or more. It has taken me a while to come to my senses and look at some cold hard numbers to prove that 25mm figures are not just for rich wargamers. Let me explain. When you buy 15mm figures for a new period, do you buy just a couple of packs for skirmish gaming? Think carefully now. I would be willing to bet that all 15mm gamers (that will admit it) do the same as I used to do. I'd look at all the lines available, and begin a buying frenzy. I would do what many a 15mm gamer will do: Let me think -- I have a 5 x 9 table so how many 15mm figures can I jam onto it? Before I realized it, I often had bought more figures than it was even possible to paint and put into a reasonable sized game. How many 15mm games have you seen that have the table top crammed with figures from edge to edge? In many of these cases, it seems that the scenario designer felt that quantity made up for quality judging by the poor paint job on the hundreds (if not thousands) 15mm midgets that blanket the table. I made Historicon '94, and came away with one conclusion: You cannot beat 25mm games for visual appearance. I did not see games using l5mm figures surrounded by interested observers. but the 25mm battles ALWAYS had a ring of spectators. My point is this: IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO GAME IN 15mm, YOU CAN AFFORD TO GAME IN 25mm INSTEAD. Now before I make all the 15mm gamers that are still reading this article angry, let me quickly say that I am not a snob. I have been down the 15mm path, but luckily have come to my senses while I'm still young. So far I have just made some observations -- now I will crunch some numbers. We will now look at some typical units and their cost in 15mm compared to 25mm. My experience has been that the typical gamer will only actually paint (paint not collect) 12 or so foot units for one side in a particular period. This is about the maximum command that a player can play with using most rule systems today. For the sake of brevity, I will only look at foot units -- the same comparisons hold true for horse and guns. For our example -we will examine the cost of units in the Seven Years War period. Most commercial rule sets of this period uses 12 figure units. (This varies with nationality. ) Using Front Rank 25mm figures as our stock, a 12 figure unit of these would cost $13.20. If we use Essex 15mm figures as our other manufacturer, the same unit of 12 figures would cost $4.50. The total cost for the aforementioned 12 unit army is $158.40 in 25mm, and $54.00 if 15mm. The net difference is the 25mm units would cost a total of $104.40. Where am I going with this? It is my contention that there is probably not a 15mm gamer alive that will buy exactly enough figures for 12 units. What really happens is the cost of the army meets the disposable income. i.e., "I have $150.00 dollars to spend, so how many figures can I get?" I have been guilty of this, (I have box upon box of unused 15mm that will NEVER see the top of a table and I will never get back the expenditure given, if I resell them), and I am sure that you have too. (Chuck Duggie, knows about this phenomena, Ed.) But if you were to take this $150.00 and spend it on 25mm figures you would have a manageable sized army, that would look good as well. Granted you can buy more 15mm units with the money, but most of this lead/pewter ends sitting waiting for you to get around to painting it, tying up your investment in disposable cash. (Here is a novel idea, only buy what you can paint in a reasonable time.--Ed.) I would to summarize a few, points about collecting 25mm figures instead of 15mm: 1. Plan your army and its units carefully Do not fall into the trap of trying to collect every unit in A.P. Hill's Corps 'at Gettysburg, when you just have the room for Heath's division on the table top. 2. Focus. I have found that my interests do not wander now that I am using 25mm, I now work, with a single period at a time. The 25mm figures are a joy to paint, and units have personality. I use to find that it was so easy to purchase more 15mm than I could paint that I would feel overwhelmed and not get anything done in any period. 3. Maybe the biggest argument against 25mm besides the price. is the size. After all 15mm takes up less space. leaving more room on the table top battlefield for flanking maneuvers. But when was the last time that you saw a 15mm game that was not wall to wall figures? By keeping the collection size within reason, a reasonable size game results. Be truthful now how many epic recreations of Waterloo have you been in, where the game is never finished, two scale hours are completed out of the 12 hours allowed and it's a mind numbing all day event, using 2000 15mm solders? When you lose a unit to rout, you shrug and say "Oh well, I still have 10 more left." This does not happen in a 25mm game. You will play more quickly, your units take on an identity and losing a unit to rout can be devastating, I know this will be a very unpopular article with the 15mm gamers. All I'm asking is before you plunge into your next period, stop and consider 25mm. Reprinted from Vol. XIII #4 '95 issue of MWAN (Midwest Wargamers Association Newsletter) Brent makes some very good points, but he left out one very important one. Twentyfives are easier to see to paint, for the greybeards of this hobby. Ed Back to Table of Contents The Messenger April 1996 Back to The Messenger List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1996 by HMGS/PSW. 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