Armati is designed for 15 mm and 25 mm toy soldiers, but there is
another, small but perfectly formed alternative, 6 mm miniatures.
With these little jewels you can field dozens of micro-armies at a
laughable cost. You are also allowed huge looking armies with --
thousands
-- of miniatures. In both cases, 6 mm are quicker to paint - see
http://www.baccus6mm.com for the best 6 mm painting guide on the Net.
This wonderful scale is also
more practical to store and, if you break a spear, I assure you that
no one will notice. I consider 6 mm the best scale for
wargaming (10 mm is very good too) and I found over the years several
other gamers that think the same; and some are ex-25 mm converts!
There are two philosophies about 6 mm miniatures:
A. use the same basing and table size of 15 mm or 25
mm, glue a bunch
of 6 mm miniatures on the bases;
B. reduce bases and table size, use more or less the
same number of
miniatures.
I have only a little space and not too much time to paint, I
prefer option "B". My group is of the same opinion, so over the
years we've collected dozens of "half-scale" Armati armies and happily
play every Wednesday evening. Before you ask, I
own 15 mm armies too, so I know what I'm missing.
The idea is to use the reduced Intro 15 mm gaming area ( 32"x20") and
distances (1" = 1/3"), with all the Optimal rules for sections and
units in depth. This gives a much better game!
Intro size is 1/2 Optimal size, so we halved the 15 mm scale bases,
using the same number of 6 mm miniatures. We also found more practical
to base the figures directly in sections, rather than in single stands.
|
Unit Type |
Section size |
No. of 6 mm miniatures |
Unit Size (in line) |
|
Heavy Infantry |
20x15mm |
8 (2 ranks) |
40x15mm |
|
Warbands |
20x20mm |
6 (2 ranks) |
40x20mm |
|
--(option B) |
20x15mm |
8 (2 ranks) |
40x15mm |
|
Light Infantry |
20x20mm |
6 (2 ranks) | 20x20mm |
|
Skirmishers |
20x20mm |
4 (2 ranks) |
20x20mm |
|
Longbows |
20x15mm |
8 (2 ranks) |
20x15mm |
|
--(option B) |
20x20mm |
6 (2 ranks) |
20x20mm |
|
Light Cavalry |
20x15mm |
2 |
40x15mm |
|
Heavy Cavalry |
40x15mm |
6 |
40x15mm |
|
-- Or |
40x20mm |
5-6 |
40x20mm |
|
Camelry |
40x15mm |
6 |
40x15mm |
|
-- Or |
40x20mm |
5-6 |
40x20mm |
|
All Chariots |
20x20mm |
1 |
40x20mm |
|
Elephants |
20x20mm |
1 |
40x20mm |
The number of figures is my recommendation; it can vary if
you use different manufacturers. Your options in the Ancient and
Medieval ranges for 6 mm are Baccus (the best in
my humble opinion), Irregular (not very detailed but paint well, and
they have everything from Bronze Age to Late Medieval), and Heroic
&
Ros (tiny and even less detailed, but they have their fans). Note that
figures from different manufacturers do not match in the same unit nor
, for purists, in the same army. My advice is to get some samples
before buying; you may discover I'm completely wrong and that
Heroics & Ros are wonderful, Irregular are horrible and Baccus are
ridiculous. You know how wargamers think always agree!
There are at least 4
Yahoogroups. My favorite is:
http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/6mm_Miniatures/
Links to manufacturers:
http://www.baccus6mm.com/
http://www.irregularminiatures.co.uk/
http://www.navwar.freeserve.co.uk/
-- Daniele Varelli
Armati Second Edition copyright 2003 'The Strength Trainer'
Direct inquiries about this domain to the CampIdiot.