Then 6 years ago.
Never ever loiter near Pete Berry, especially if his alter ego, my mate Trev is also there. They said nothing one merely took my money the other smiled. Mind you I say merely, the machine refused to accept my plastic, but I was foolishly determined and handed over cash instead and then paid extra for bases.
I'd always wanted to play big Roman armies, that's why some years ago I’d bought three 15 mm DBA Roman armies, Republic, Imperial and Italian Ostrogoth, the plan was to play DBM as well. I also think 15 mm and 6 mm are very much the scales for large battles. Although I've hesitated to go down the 6 mm route as I feared I wouldn't be able to see much to paint, but I've been sitting next to 6 mm players and listening to too much 6 mm prattle as well as reading similarly themed threads on my club’s forum.
That Friday game before Salute between Chris McGill and his friend again showed the advantage of a large 6 mm game, two games played in one evening and so little to pack away afterwards.
So Off to Salute 2011 to buy 20mm DAK, I should have known it was a mistake to loiter near Baccus, it had already been a day of 180 degree change arounds.
I'd never intended to go to Salute that year and hadn’t decided to buy a new army never mind a 6mm Roman one but a Roman army pack was now nestled next to my 20 mm DAK.
That Friday game before Salute between Chris McGill and his friend again showed the advantage of a large 6 mm game, two games played in one evening and so little to pack away afterwards.
So Off to Salute 2011 to buy 20mm DAK, I should have known it was a mistake to loiter near Baccus, it had already been a day of 180 degree change arounds.
I'd never intended to go to Salute that year and hadn’t decided to buy a new army never mind a 6mm Roman one but a Roman army pack was now nestled next to my 20 mm DAK.
Now
It was a decision I’ve never regretted. Sure it took a while to understand how to paint 6mm, but once I’d stopped trying to paint a 28 mm model and accepted I was painting a 6 mm unit it became easier. Yes I know some can do wonderful jobs, but to be honest I don’t care. I paint so I can play.
The advantages are real
Cost of an army circa £60-100, that’s for all the units you could ever really need, of course you will expand on that but the price of an extra unit is less than the price of a couple of extra 28 mm men, a true economy of scale.
Storage space, I can get three 500 point Hail Caesar armies plus variants in one 9 ltr Really useful box. Another box will carry all the scenery and terrain I need a third the dice cloth and rule books.
One trip to the car, less setup time, no movement trays, more play and beer/coffee time; I could go on.
However the overwhelming reason for me to play in 6mm is my desire to play big battles. I always preferred the skirmish of 40K or WHFB in 28mm but for that massive battle I would drop down to Epic or Warmaster.
My unit of 48 Roman legionnaires has a foot print of 80 mm by 40 mm, how big is yours?
In my 500 point army I field 10 of those plus 3 units of 6 skirmishers (40 x 40 mm) plus two units of 9 Medium cavalry (80 x 50 mm) and two units of 24 medium archers (80 x 40 mm).
These all line up outside of bow or indeed Light artillery range, with plenty of space to then manoeuvre and wheel on a 6’ x 4’ table.
Were you to field your 28 mm models 480 Legionaries, 48 archers, 18 skirmishers and 18 cavalry on that size table, all you could do is charge forwards and shoot. That’s not the sort of battle I want to play, in my opinion it is a large skirmish.
The picture above was taken in Feb 2012, at the time I was basing on 60x30mm or 30x30mm as this was my club's standard. More on why I changed in part 3
It was a decision I’ve never regretted. Sure it took a while to understand how to paint 6mm, but once I’d stopped trying to paint a 28 mm model and accepted I was painting a 6 mm unit it became easier. Yes I know some can do wonderful jobs, but to be honest I don’t care. I paint so I can play.
The advantages are real
Cost of an army circa £60-100, that’s for all the units you could ever really need, of course you will expand on that but the price of an extra unit is less than the price of a couple of extra 28 mm men, a true economy of scale.
Storage space, I can get three 500 point Hail Caesar armies plus variants in one 9 ltr Really useful box. Another box will carry all the scenery and terrain I need a third the dice cloth and rule books.
One trip to the car, less setup time, no movement trays, more play and beer/coffee time; I could go on.
However the overwhelming reason for me to play in 6mm is my desire to play big battles. I always preferred the skirmish of 40K or WHFB in 28mm but for that massive battle I would drop down to Epic or Warmaster.
My unit of 48 Roman legionnaires has a foot print of 80 mm by 40 mm, how big is yours?
In my 500 point army I field 10 of those plus 3 units of 6 skirmishers (40 x 40 mm) plus two units of 9 Medium cavalry (80 x 50 mm) and two units of 24 medium archers (80 x 40 mm).
These all line up outside of bow or indeed Light artillery range, with plenty of space to then manoeuvre and wheel on a 6’ x 4’ table.
Were you to field your 28 mm models 480 Legionaries, 48 archers, 18 skirmishers and 18 cavalry on that size table, all you could do is charge forwards and shoot. That’s not the sort of battle I want to play, in my opinion it is a large skirmish.
The picture above was taken in Feb 2012, at the time I was basing on 60x30mm or 30x30mm as this was my club's standard. More on why I changed in part 3
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