Community Feedback on 28mm vs. 30mm scale

[mrinprophet]

The question is whether the FF community prefers 28mm or 30mm scale. Impact has worked in true 28mm scale since inception. However, there appears to be an increasing trend towards new FF minis done in 30mm scale. Currently, this is largely the Spanish FF studios (Willy and Franarcilla). To be clear, Impact has no issues with the scale and they both produce some amazing miniatures. The biggest issue we see is that most of the teams currently available (GW, Impact, Greebo, Gaspez, etc) are 28mm and integrating the 30mm minis with these may (or may not) be aesthetically unappealing. 30mm certainly offers the advantage of more details with the drawback of being a bit more expensive. Again, we’d appreciate some feedback from the community on the topic. Thanks!

[inkpwn]

Scale is an odd beast, even with a set scale in mind its really just up to the sculpters personal idea of the creature how a mini ends up. Impacts thunder hammer dwarfs and greebos volmarian dwarfs are both 28mm scale but the greebo dwarves are almost three times the size of the impact ones.
I think heroic scale is also an issue with all those GW conversions floating around.
Regardless of intended scale those 2mm have far less impact on the end result than sculptor intent in my opinion.

[bound for glory]

this is a very big problem in historical figures. i wargame in 15mm(acw) and between the 8 manufactorers i use, the figures range from 15mm to 18mm. its called scale creep, and its retarded.
i like my fantasy football at 28mm.

[Patchwork]

I prefer 28mm. I can appriciate the draw of more details on a 30mm miniature and I own some of Willy and Franarcilla's miniatures but for a lot of my teams I use a mix of miniature from different manufactures but I don't like to mix them with 28mm miniatures, which limits how much I'll use them, even though both make excellent miniatures. The difference in scales is enough to put me off using them as even star players.

[Spiky]

Having some scaling differences is only a problem for me if I'm looking at building a team from several different companies' products.

[Steam Ball]

Are we talking about true scale or heroic scale? Hehe. Even inside the same brand they use different scales (as in "mm" and "style").

Greebo Chaos Dwarfs are huge (35 heroic?) but the Silvanians are tiny (28 true?), for example. Willy miniatures vary from model to model. GW has changed as time passed too.

[spubbbba]

Having some scaling differences is only a problem for me if I'm looking at building a team from several different companies' products.

Well I got the impression that was a key consideration to help Impact maximise the appeal of their range.

I’ve seen quite a few people who want to make undead or necro teams from a variety of sources. As the positionals are all different “species” then it is less noticeable than if you were to try the same with Orcs, elves or humans.

Having 30mm scale mummies or golems and 28mm zombies and ghouls is less of an issue but I could see it being a problem the other way round.

Scale creap is a serious issue as well, you just have to look at the old GW minotaurs and ogres that are suitable conversions for Black Orcs or Flesh golems. Plus some of the 30mm big guys are really starting to tower over the pitch and are quite a problem to place prone.

I’d prefer things to stay 28mm, but I do confess to liking heroic scale over true scale for my fantasy and sci fi models.

[el Superbeasto]

I’m ridiculously conservative when it comes to my teams and stick almost exclusively to 2nd ed (Citadel/GW) BB minis – maybe in an unconscious effort to try and control my OCD miniature collecting... Even when it comes to star players and sideline figs, I try to find Citadel WHFB minis from the same time/range – maybe with a bit of conversion – to try and keep the overall look in line.

However, with some teams it’s just not possible to find good models from the old range of Citadel miniatures – such as norse. In that case I am willing to look for other alternatives and manufactures and I quite liked the norse team from Gaspez Arts – until I saw them in real life! They are just way too big for my taste!

So, long story short: Stop the size creep madness and stay with 28mm, please!!

[Chris]

Placing prone on the pitch is the ultimate consideration...

Unless we all move to 40mm board teh current crop of models are too big.

Really for me 2nd ed were just right. Saying that the 'new' GW ogres show big models can be scrunched up to be rolled around easily.

[lerchey]

I tend to like the minis on the smaller side. I played summer before last against an orc team that used fairly recent GW 40K minis (converted appropriately). The BoBs were frakkin' huge - easily the size of any Big Guy I field on any of my teams, and even the orcs towered over my smaller minis. The biggest problem though was that because the minis were so much bigger and had arms stuck out, legs stuck out, spikes stuck out... it was hard to position the models on the board without severe crowding problems. I really think that the minis (other than big guys, for which I accept more slack) should fit in the squares of a standard board and NOT interfere with adjacent models.

[neverworking]

When they're on a shelf I tend to like the look of the beefier models, but in practice if the figure doesn't fit on the pitch well its a nuisance when you play. So in the end, I'm more inclined to the 28mm. I also think the bulk of existing teams are more to the 28mm scale, which can create some odd appearances of which team is bigger than the other.

[Dr. Von Richten]

Plus some of the 30mm big guys are really starting to tower over the pitch and are quite a problem to place prone.

Placing prone on the pitch is the ultimate consideration...

Unless we all move to 40mm board teh current crop of models are too big.

Why don't you just use 'prone/stunned' markers? Impact has generic ones and some companies (like Greebo) have specialised markers for a number of races.

[Steam Ball]

Another thing: you can find very detailed models in all kind of scales. And sometimes detail is not what you want, miniatures can end looking very busy, hard to paint and too fragile. As examples of very detailed miniatures, look at McVey Studio or Infinity; for "I see your skulls and raise a full bag of tentacles" look at Avatars of War. As counter example, old 54mm toy soldiers were big blobs of metal.

[SBG]

Having some scaling differences is only a problem for me if I'm looking at building a team from several different companies' products.

+1 to that. I just ordered a Willy Human Blitzer (from Impact!) and it looks like he's ST4 around the other guys.

Now, if my opponents let me play him at ST4, I'll buy three more!

Fred

[Steam Ball]

+1 to that. I just ordered a Willy Human Blitzer (from Impact!) and it looks like he's ST4 around the other guys.

Because he is that (also MA7 AG4 AV8).

Now, if my opponents let me play him at ST4, I'll buy three more!

TV will skyrocket with 4 players, each for 320K gold coins... if the rules would allow for more than 2 per team (and repeating), of course.