Miniatures I'd Like To See

Soooo...

My blog is slow these days, I know. I just haven't found enough to blog about and haven't been doing much in the way of gaming stuff that wasn't purely physical (painting, models, etc). That said, I figured a nice editorial piece wouldn't be without it's audience.

I'd like to talk about miniatures I would like to see.

I know, I know. I'm suppose to be a sculptor these days, but I'm only one man and there are still many limits to my abilities. So, in the interest of throwing ideas out into the cosmos, I present my own wish list of oddball miniatures ideas.

1) 15mm Space Opera. There is so much room for new additions here. As much as Space Opera themes are popular in movies, TV and comics, we really do seem to lack a proportionate abundance of such figures in 15mm miniatures. Sure, we have some of the oldies but goodies (Laserburn, Traveller) and  ranges expanding with new figures on the old but solid ranges (Ion Age), but we haven't seen a mighty push in that direction from anyone.

2) 15mm High Concept Scifi Troops. As much as I love them, I really would love to see something besides near future humans. Yes, there are some such as GZGs UNSC, but you would think that some of these sleeker designs that are growing in popularity in movies and video games would have filtered into 15mm scifi by now.

3) 15mm Anime. Darkest Star is the only company I know that has done a specific push in the direction of anime styled miniatures in 15mm. Why is that? I have heard that anime doesn't always translate so well to miniatures. I get that, but I think 15mm would be infinitely more forgiving than larger scales as you are really shooting for the sillouette of anime rather than the detail. Mecha, robots, cyborgs, and some of the above mentioned high concept troops fit into this category along with distinct vehicle styling.

4) 15mm Distopian Street Figs. Again, a theme that has only really seen so toe-dipping. Style gangs, corporate security, urban defense and law enforcement miniatures along side some strategic street personalities would make this work. Can we say Akira style bikers.

5) 15mm Superheroes. Why is it that everyone looks at me like I'm crazy when I mention this? I get it, superheroes are all about personality and character, but I think it has been well established that 15mm can delivery on that front. Think about how epic mixing 15mm and supers can be. Super System recognizes this in its scale conversion to 15mm and talks about how the battlefield really becomes super when you can fight for blocks.

One aspect of 15mm supers that I have not seen mentioned, however, is what you can do when you reduce your base scale size. Giant things can be giant. Factions like HYDRA or AIM can really make a showing on the tables with more than just  single super tank. Come on, who doesn't want to replay the landing at Normandy with Captain America leading the charge? Cosmic villains anyone?

6) 15mm Fantasy. This is an area that is seeing some growth, but mostly along the tried and true styles and themes that have been covered in 28mm. I wouldn't mind seeing some out of the box ideas here but like Really Alien Aliens in 15mm sci fi this is a tough call. I know I have thought  lot about fantasy elements to drop into historical armies.

"Enough with the 15mm, Eli!"

I hear you, but for the most part 28mm does a damned good job of addressing nearly every subject out there. Face it, nobody is hurting in that scale. 15mm has received a giant push in the last few years, but that push has really been concentrated in direction of science fiction. It's a scale that presents a lot of opportunities that are just too damned impractical for 28mm. Considering a single tank in 28mm can run you $40 to $50, the math is pretty damned easy to do.

So, universe, have at!

-Eli