Robotech Miniatures?

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Snake Eyes
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Re: Robotech Miniatures?

Unread post by Snake Eyes »

Wow, cool painting there
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Re: Robotech Miniatures?

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

Dan wrote:With respect to scale, I think it depends what the point of the models are. If they are meant to be playing pieces first, then they should be close to the same size, rather than true to scale, as they will be easier to paint and play with that way. You can still make differences in size, even though they are not to scale and they will still have an impact on the battlefield. If pods are 3 inches tall, and cyclones are only 1.5", there are a lot more places those cyclones can get cover. The fact that they are half the size, instead of even smaller, is not that important as far as game dynamics go. If the goal is to just have miniatures for shelf display, go to scale, but keep in mind that the minis gamers may find them cumbersome. I wouldn't want a force of cyclones that are less than an inch in height, nor would I want to buy battlepods that are 6 inches tall. It's too cumbersome to play a big battle, and I would certainly be one of those looking forward to putting mecha on the field by the dozen if not more.

actually if they're created for an actual game system, scale is going to depend on the mechanics of that game.
if your playing on a hex grid or square grid or other abstract terrain system, having each figure in scale to each other is not as important.
but if your playing one of those systems, you don't need miniatures, you can play just as well with small square chits with the name of the unit printed on them.

most non-hexed miniatures games are played with some variation of "if the miniature can see it, it can shoot it" when determining line of sight. in this case you want the miniatures to all be to more or less the same scale. a cyclone that is half the size of a battlepod (over 10x bigger than it should be) is not going ot fair as well in such a system as an accurate scale cyclone, since that accurate scale cyclone can be hidden by a lot more terrain than the battlepod. a battlepod needs a skyscraper. a too-scale cyclone can hide behind a small rise in the ground!

the scale being discussed at the moment is apparently the 1/300 scale aka 6mm. the scale of such manufactuers as GHQ (makers of many high quality modermn and WW2 models), Scotia, CinC, Skytrex, battletech (which has 'heroic' proportions that make it closer to 8mm for some figures..), and so on.
here are a few sites you might want to check out to understand the scale in question..
Gamecraft miniatures blog
6mm models


if the game is large mecha oriented, cyclones might not be deployed individually, they might be deployed in units, which a fairly common thing for the 1/300 (6mm) scale. so instead of one ~ 8mm figure, you'd have 3-4 8mm tall figures on a round or square base, moving and fighting as a single entity. most miniatures games in this scale use such an approach for infantry sized figures.. you don't track each soldier or even each suit of battle armor, you track a squad of those working as a group.
in this scale, the smallest individual figure your likely to see used is the invid scouts, ASC powered armors and maybe the Silverback. the stuff that would be 10mm to 15mm's tall, or around half an inch.


now, if the game goes well, they might choose to expand and release a "skirmish scale" game focusing on individual infantry, probably in the popular ~1/56th (28mm) scale. 4warhammer 40K and Infinity scale. at that scale a cyclone rider would be about an inch and a half tall, but most of the robtech mecha would be huge, 6 inches and upwards of over a foot. at that scale you'd be using the old matchbox destroid action figures and various japanese model kits if you wanted the big mecha, and to use with decent scale ranges you'd need to rent a basketball court..
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Re: Robotech Miniatures?

Unread post by winterdyne »

I honestly think the 1/285 scale is perfect for this. The models were a pleasure to paint, and 6mm infantry is a LOT more forgiving than 28mm, so I can see it being popular with the less painty people.
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