A funny thing happened along my intended path to follow up the collection size analysis (see: Collection Size and Age). The study began by aggregating the survey data on figure size (I may use the term "scale" interchangeably with "figure size"). Next step involved plotting the two-way interactions between figure size, collection size, age group, and primary interest. At that point I changed tack. To better understand the relationship between collection size and figure size, more study on figure size was needed.
Figure Size in the 2021 Survey
The 2021 survey saw a change in the way in which the question on figure size was asked. In the 2020 survey, respondents were asked to rank their preferred figure sizes in rank order. Well, this proved not so easy to do. After feedback and reflection, the 2021 survey changed the response to one of choosing the top three with no specific order ranking. While the 2021 survey can no longer distinguish a respondent's top figure size, the top three choices can be aggregated to form a view of each respondent's interests. This change made the question much easier to answer.
After aggregating the top three figure size choices for each respondent, what emerges? Note that the maximum number of selections was three but many participants selected only two or even one top choice.
Figure 1 shows the counts of the top three choices for all respondents.
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| Figure 1 |
From Figure 1, the three figure sizes of 25-28mm, 28-32mm Heroic, and 15-18mm claim 67% of survey respondents' top three choices. 06mm comes in a distant fourth. After those four, the popularity of the remaining categories falls away quickly. As an example, the 02-03mm or smaller category only had 1% of respondents having this scale in the top three.
Figure Size vs Age Group
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| Figure 2 |
As a broad generalization, Figure 2 suggests that younger wargamers prefer larger figures and older wargamers prefer smaller figures. The 20mm and 1/72 category is dominated by the 51+ age groups. The 51+ age groups also comprise about half of the total for 15-18mm, miniature airplanes, and ship-scale miniatures. What does the 51+ age group not favor? 28-32mm Heroics and space-ship miniatures. The 50 and under age-group dominates interest in the 28-32mm Heroics and space-ship miniatures.
Figure Size vs Primary Interest
Turning attention to figure size and primary interest, what does Figure 3 suggest?
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| Figure 3 |
For one, Figure 3 suggests that roughly half of all respondents are happy playing both sides of the net in "Mixed" company. As in Figure 2, scale is split convincingly between historical and fantasy/sci-fi wargamers. Historical wargamers tend to prefer the smaller scales while fantasy/sci-fi wargamers opt for the larger figures. Notice that historical gamers are no fans of 28-32mm Heroics. Fantasy/sci-fi gamers are not drawn to 2-3mm, 15-18mm, and 20mm figures but dabble in 6mm and 10-12mm figures.
Figure Size vs Collection Size
Finally, when comparing the relationship between figure size and collection size, what are the tendencies, if any? Figure 4 illustrates these relationships.
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| Figure 4 |
Broadly speaking, we see that there is an inverse relationship between the size of the figure and collection size. On average, this response group suggests smaller figure size leads to larger collections and larger figures (28-32mm Heroic and larger) lead to smaller sized collections. For respondents with preference for larger figures, almost half of the respondents hold collections of 500 figures or less. For those collecting smaller scale figures, roughly 20% have collections exceeding 5,000 figures.
Nature abhors a vacuum. If budget, gaming table size, and storage constraints remain fixed then do collections expand to consume those scarce resources? That is, does collecting smaller figures lead naturally to larger collections? Certainly, other factors could be at play. Does gaming style (skirmish, Big Battle, etc.) drive the final collection size? Of course, there are other exceptions and situations that may drive collection size.
When examining these charts and reflecting upon your own wargaming tendencies with respect to scale, age, interest, and collection size, do the results of the masses capture your own habits and patterns? How do these aggregated survey results differ from your own?
Very interesting. The age thing for scale concludes ‘As a broad generalization, Figure 2 suggests that younger wargamers prefer larger figures and older wargamers prefer smaller figures.’ I am wondering that rather than this being trend or specifically generational, whether it has more to do with the fact that ‘older’ games started their collections before the mass availability of plastic 28’s and were buying the core of their armies when money was tighter and 15mm was a good (and dare I say fashionable) alternative.
ReplyDeleteSo by the time we get to 2021, the older gamer already has big armies built around the smaller scales. In contrast, younger gamers have been able to start their collections from scratch against a background of diverse and cheaper choice (plastic) and many starter / skirmish sets have 28mm as a default scale ……. though Warlord Games EPIC may be a divergence on that, that will show up in figures over the next few years.
One thing that is interesting is the tendency to think of small scale as cheaper, easier to paint and easier to store etc, when perhaps the reality is as you say, you buy more of it, so it is no cheaper, easier to paint and only a bit easier to store.
I have only seen small scale as having two advantages, either you want the mass battle look and application or you are space strapped and will be collecting on a 1:1 basis compared to the bigger scales with a view purely to shrinking play space i.e. a 68 man 10mm army in DBA will be smaller, cheaper and easier to paint than the SAME head count in 28mm, once you increase a 10mm army to 5 x 68 men just because you can, then the above statement is no longer true.
I wonder if you asked the same question of a gamers purchases in 2021 alone rather than asking of their entire collection built up over years, whether the scale / age ratio would become a bit more blurred?
Norm, thanks for your insightful commentary which expands the discussion.
DeleteWith most of these analyses, I tend to paint a broad picture highlighting some of the attributes and making some, non-exhaustive conclusions. Some of these conclusions are speculative in nature hoping to elicit further hypotheses by the reader.
I appreciate you taking that next step.
I agree that when a gamer enters the hobby a number of factors may guide the path traveled. In my own situation, I entered the hobby in the early '70s when Airfix was all I could find. Therefore, 1/72, HO, and 20mm were my tools of choice. In the early '90s, I dove into 15mm figures to create large Napoleonic and AWI armies. The step into large 25mm figures only occurred later. My introduction into gaming in 6mm and 10mm came along later. I am still building new armies and collections in 10mm and 15mm in addition to 25mm armies.
When you look at my collection development, I am all over the board with respect to figure size/scale! For me, there is not much rhyme or reason to my collecting trends other than as my eyes age, I find painting the larger figures more enjoyable.
There is one question on the survey asking about duration in the hobby. Exploring that question may offer more insight.
Interesting analysis. I love the smaller ranges especially 15mm, however as I get older I find myself being drawn back to 28mm as I move to more skirmish orientated games
ReplyDeleteHi Neil! Your approach makes sense to me. My tendency is to move to more 25mm collecting as my eyes age and the 25s are easier to see and paint. I am still a Big Battle gamer.
DeleteMore great stuff Jon and I think a lot of what I thought has already been said by Norm and Scotty.
ReplyDeleteI would choose as my top three scales, the three that reached 67%, so in that respect, I must be a typical respondent . I am also over fifty!
I agree with many of Norms views on scale...15mm were fashionable in the mid to late 80's...at the time, I was having a hiatus from the hobby, so have never had very many figures in this scale, with the exception of the FoW collections.
20mm is not very popular and those who persist with it would be, at a guess, gamers who cut their teeth on Airfix figures supported by Hasegawa, Esci and Fujimi 1/72 kits, like I did. I have small WWII and War on Terror collections in this scale
When I got back into collecting and painting in the early 90's, fashions had changed, it was the era of the deification of Wargames Foundry, and everything was 25/28mm. I plonked for Front Rank for the simple reason they were available to buy locally over the counter of a real bricks and mortar store.
I am sure their is a link between the age of gamers and scale preference. Newer, younger gamers tend to be either doing fantasy/ sci fi in the 28 to heroic scale OR skirmish level WWII using the likes of Bolt Action, so, they have smaller collections of larger figures.
Personally I doubt the new 13mm or whatever it is that Warlord have come up with will catch on in the way they hope...there are already too many scales and artificially creating yet another is risky for them I think. In my estimation, it will be a fad that burns bright for a year or two then dies back to a small percentage...maybe 4 or 5% in future surveys, taking a point here and there from other scale choices. We will see ...I may be proved wrong!
In summary, as with previous data from this and other years, the general conclusion is, older gamers have larger armies of historical figures, younger ones have smaller collections of fantasy and sci fi. The scales weld onto this quite nicely ...small armies of skirmish level can accomodate the larger, highly detailed and more expensive figures, whereas the large scale engagements loved by historical gamers actually work best with smaller scaled figures, hence the older gamers with large 15mm collections.
Thank you, Keith! I appreciate your detailed response and a glimpse at your wargaming journey.
DeletePlease go back and read my comments to Norm above. Much of what you state and question are addressed in my reply to Norm. I agree with both of you!
I wonder about the viability of the Epic 13.5mm figures too. Will they catch on? Will only relative newcomers to the hobby be tempted? Will those with large 10mm or 15mm ACW/Napoleonic armies switch to this new scale?
When Perry's Travel Battles was released, Norm commented that he expected this to present a new wave forward with expansions expected. After Norm's review, I have seen nary a mention of this product. I wonder how sales have been for Travel Battles? With no expansions, one wonders.
The general conclusions we pick up from the survey seem to hold from year to year. Seeing that consistency gives me encouragement that the sampling may not be as biased as some suggest.
In the current environment, Epic should not be judged only as a new scale but rather as a combination of useful scale and plastic and no gluing figure parts together, it is that whole package that makes them attractive AND at the moment, other manufacturers are not tooled up to compete …… however, 3D printing over the next 2-3 years will no doubt erode that competitive edge and bring a new dynamic to the landscape of dominance.
DeleteHi Norm. Are you suggesting that Epic is a revolutionary step in both production and generating new demand? If so, and 3D printing offers a relatively low barrier to entry into this market, Warlord's competitive advantage may not hold long, indeed.
DeleteYep, if 3D printing was out of the equation, then I think epic would be the same type of pivotal moment that we saw in 2008 when Perry’s first brought out their first plastic 28’s for ACW and the world said it would never catch on (too expensive to produce back then). Whether it would be new demand or simply divert demand from other manufacturers or scale is hard to say, probably a bit of both. Plenty of people have always wanted to see ‘15mm in plastic’ and frankly that is never going to happen without the muscle of the big plastic producers behind it, due to the need of producing multiple sprues as the lessons learned from the Epic ACW release work their way into Napoleonic Epic release.
DeleteOne of Warlord’s strengths is producing a good value starter package that includes rules and flags etc and the 3D printer outfits probably can’t match that level of production range or output, but they will probably be very good at providing cheap accessories or covering the more obscure units / nations that are not cost effective to Warlords hard plastic solution.
I agree with both of you re 3D printing. The machines are already relatively affordable and will only continue to drop in price and improve in quality of print. I think in a few years, they may be quite a common source of figure production although I expect in our lifetimes, the traditional manufacturers will survive as many exiting gamers will continue to buy their products.
DeleteIt does of course go back to your survey of categories as to whether the same people who are interested in Epic are the same audience who are willing to paint them in huge volume? Or do both those requirements make a much more select group. Perhaps we are back to your 3%
DeleteNorm, well, I remember thinking exactly that about the Perry 28mm ACW plastics! I still have not been tempted mainly because I have HUGE 10mm ACW armies.
DeleteNow back to Epic, I popped out to Warlord's website and see that bundles are offered. When I looked at the contents, I see that it contains 1,000 figures! I think only a few would not be overwhelmed at the prospect of painting 1,000 13.5mm figures.
Keith, if 3D printing is scalable with low barriers to entry and others see a market opportunity, you can bet others will enter the field.
DeleteI'm agnostic on scale--my primary interest is in the game system, the history, and the effects. Thus, my collections range from 28mm to 6mm. You might make the same point about gridded vs open table, but that's a different study... Regarding the findings that younger gamers gravitate towards larger scales, I tend to agree with the suggestions made by others that the influence/dominance of Warhammer 40k and similar fantasy/sci fi systems, all of which are 28mm, among that demographic makes it hard to parse the scale preference from the genre preference.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ed. My interests are all over the board and I am generally scale agnostic too with collections from 6mm to 28mm and everything in between.
DeleteIf you recall the 2020 analysis, scale, genre, and age were studied together. The results suggested that younger gamers gravitated toward fantasy/Sci-Fi and larger scales.
I have both 28mm and 15mm which is typical for those of us over 50, but I do find myself painting almost exclusively 28mm these days regardless if it's skirmish or big battle armies as eyesight plays more of a factor and generally I've just usually preferred the 28mm scale.
ReplyDeleteChristopher
Christopher
Christopher, from your work, no one would think your eyesight was waning. Your units are astonishing.
DeleteThank you very much Jonathan I appreciate the kind words, but I do need to use reading glasses to paint and that works very well for the 28mm without any strain so I'm able to produce figures that I'm happy with.
DeleteChristopher
An interesting breakdown once again Jon. I certainly fit into my age group and collections size category based on the data shown. Say 20 years ago I would have been a solely 28mm skirmish gamer with maybe 20-30 figures tops. Then I moved into 15mm FoW and the collection grew due to the nature of the game played. These were all ditched for 10mm say 15 years ago and as a result, by collection has grown rather large, but sadly mainly unpainted.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your feedback, Steve. Good to see a gamer fitting the profile! As for your Lead Pile, it is patient and consumes not many resources once purchased.
DeleteMainly 28mm and 15mm for me, the former because I prefer the look and feel of 28mm figures and the latter because that is all my two gaming groups play.
ReplyDeleteIt has been interesting to watch the release of the Epic range, and also their other ranges such as Black Seas which are all in slightly unusual scales presumably so they can form their own niche scale. I haven't found it interesting enough to tempt me into pursuing another scale though.
Thanks, Lawrence.
DeleteIf your gaming groups play only with 15mm, what do you do with your 28s?
It will be interesting to see how many jump into these two Epic ranges.
They are sitting in boxes, waiting for their next (and in several cases, their first) game. They are still my first love however, and 25/28mm constituted the majority of my gaming for the ten years I lived in New Zealand during the 80's. I also enjoy collecting and painting them as an end in itself.
DeleteI have talked my Napoleonic group into a game in the New Year however, so we'll see how that goes.
You are making progress! Perhaps your game in the New Year will be a watershed moment?
DeleteLots of interesting discussion generated. I guess that we are not a randomly selected group rather a small self selecting group so we are likely to have similar views. For my part there are a number of factors controlling scale but I do not believe length of collecting or gaming is one of them. Primary choices for scale/size are in my view (not in any order) cost, painting time/effort, period and rule set /game system. There are of course people who skirmish WW2 in 6 mm and those at the other end of the spectrum people with vast 54 mm ranked Napoleonics. Really it is kind of self evident that given limitless money, time, enthusiasm we would all end up collecting several different scales. I have three scales of WW2 because it lends itself to that, my ACW is 28mm but given the freedom I would definitely have 10mm or 15mm. However in the real world most of us are constrained (Jon you might be a rare exception) and we have to pick carefully to utilise money and effort to achieve our desired goal. Having just started 28 mm Naps I have every intention of doing it in a different smaller scale one day ðĪŠ
ReplyDeleteThanks, Matt. No, we certainly are not a randomly selected group. While self-selecting, there are a myriad of views and preferences found among the survey respondents. It is interesting to see that there is a large number of new respondents each year, so we are not getting the same group year after year.
DeleteLike everyone, I have constraints too. I am no rare exception. I look forward to your Napoleonic journey in multiple scales. While we await the New Year of 1777 in the AWI campaign, my next remote game I host for you will have a Napoleonic theme.
Looking forward to it ð
DeleteUnfortunately, my game will not match the visual appeal of your games but, perhaps offer an interesting challenge.
DeleteAn extremely interesting analysis Jon! I agree with what has been already written and would maybe add that players’ gaming tastes evolve with age. I am mainly a Napoleonics/ACW gamer and look at the issue from that perspective. As a younger player one may be satisfied with smaller size actions using the larger scales. And let’s face it, 28mm is very eye-catching, making it an attractive ‘magnet’ to the gaming newcomer. With time the visual aspect might start to take a secondary role and the gamer might seek a higher level of tactical gaming. Hence the shift to the smaller scales which give that ‘battlefield sense’ that the large scales cannot give unless you have a mega table (and even then it would be too unwieldy). So it may also have to do with gaming preferences over time and the desire to play larger actions.
ReplyDeleteFor the record, I have 6mm Napoleonics, 15mm ACW, and 28mm Medievals. The latter are ideal for skirmish games and the former two for large scale actions. As for painting smaller scales I can’t stress enough the use of aids. I am now 60 and have no difficulty at all painting 6mm and doing detailed work but only thanks to magnification. I could never do it just by using the naked eye or a simple pair of spectacles.
Excellent, Mike! Thank you for your contribution to the topic! I have never been comfortable painting wearing either glasses or magnification lenses. What do you use?
DeleteI use Optivisor which has an adjustable headband and ‘drop down’ lenses. Lenses are interchangeable so one can choose whatever magnification factor they are most comfortable with. The downside is the higher the magnification, the shorter the focal length so it is not always advisable to go for very high magnification. I was honestly not too keen myself but once I put one on I never looked back.
DeleteThanks for the tip! I may give it a try one day...
DeleteAnother vote for optivisor.
DeleteI am a simple soul and paint and collect purely 28mm, probably from my fantasy/sci-fi roots but also now because I can still see it! It's also probably because I'm probably primarily a painter who occasionally games,nephew 1 is a gamer who paints and has space constraints, a myriad of scales and like Norm playing in a 2'x 2' area, nephew 2 likes converting and building, but will paint and games more than me, pretty sure he is exclusively a 28mm gamer too,broad church and all that!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Thank you, Iain! The hobby is a broad church, indeed.
DeleteI started out as a diorama builder, in 1/72, then 1/32, 1/35,wouldn't have considered myself a wargamer, then got into fantasy 25mm games.
DeleteBest Iain
DeleteThanks. You answered my question on diorama builders as Wargamers.
Odd that they broke 40mm from 41mm and larger given that the majority of what are usually called 40mm are actually 42mm or larger. (not that this is a significant matter)
ReplyDeleteAlso interesting that 20mm, once "THE" scale for wargaming (late 60's & early 70's) has faded away despite there obviously being a strong enough market to keep manufacturers continue to introduce new figures and ranges in both metal and plastic. I wonder how much of that demand is from diorama builders which is popular in some areas.
Hi Ross. I agree that singly out 40mm is curious. Especially curious when 40mm only comprised about 1.5% of total responses across three places.
Delete1/72 and 20mm was what I saw in the magazines when I first started out. Do you think diorama builders consider themselves wargamers and would submit survey responses?
A very interesting read along with the comments. I have always favoured 25mm and now 28mm, I have one period in 15mm (ACW) which I chose to get more troops on my table. My only possible regret is not doing WW2 in 20mm.
ReplyDeleteMuch appreciated, George! I enjoy the commentary too. Always fascinating insights from the readers. There is still time to tackle a WW2 in 20mm project. One of my first wargaming projects and interests when a middle teenager focused on North Afrika in 20mm. I still remember buying all of those great Hasegawa armor kits for $1 each at a local drug store. Of course, that was about 50 years ago!
DeleteI used to look with envy at those model soldier ads on the back of American comics, two Roman armies in a box for instance with a camp and siege towers etc. They did several sets.
DeleteI had several of those sets!
DeleteOnce again I am late to the party but at least I get to read the post and all the replies at once. Vey fun discussion that usually pops up after one of these analysis posts, thanks JF for taking the time to write it out and highlight this cool stuff. ð
ReplyDeletemy hot take: the scale of the miniature collection for a genre is decided by the primary method of combat. If up close and personal in your FACE with pointy things then I like 28mm. If mainly shooting then I like 15mm. This is mainly due to the weapon ranges in most rules. I just think it's silly when 28mm soldiers can only shoot around 12". Some rules more, some less, but it's usually around 12-18" rifle range and that just knocks my sense of scale and immersion out of whack. but 15mm troops shooting around that distance looks more believable to me. 28mm bows range of 12" also looks good. Therefore my Dark Ages and Fantasy stuff are 28mm, while my ACW and WWII stuff is 15/18mm.
The gray area in the middle are of course black powder muskets, which had pretty sucky range. So even 28mm AWI troops shooting 12" looks about right. ð
DeleteStew, you are never late to the party and the door is always open!
I agree with most of your "hot takes" and your points are well taken. To me, the ground scale, unit footprint, and figure ratio are my determinants as to whether weapon ranges look silly. Let's say a 28mm battalion of Napoleonic infantry in line occupies 6" frontage. An effective musket range of 6" is perfectly suitable for me. In fact, my rule of thumb is that a horse and musket battalion ought to have an effective range equal to its frontage.
Did you remember YOUR Top 3 figure sizes from the survey?
DeleteAll my stuff is either 25/28 or 15/18mm. Oh wait, except for my Napoleonic ships which are 1/1200 (an actual scale).
Of course! Can’t forget your Napoleonic fleets.
DeleteInteresting analysis again. I had reduced my collection and sold off all the 15mm as I was finding it too small to paint and I preferred bigger figures. Most of my newer collections are in 54mm or 40mm.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have over the last year started to collect 20mm for some periods as it is small enough to allow larger games on a smaller table (for my Sudan collection) or rovides all the troop types you ned quite cheaply (very large 20mm ACW setup).
I did take the plunge back into 15mm recently for Pony Wars as I was talked into it by a fellow club member and a complete unpainted collection came up for sale that seemed too good an opportunity to miss.
I am back to using an optivisor to paint them though and doing a fairly basic paint job in order to get 100s of mounted indians done!
I only came back into wargaming in 1995 after starting in 1974with 54mm, then 5mm and then 25mm minigs before selling everything off when I discovered Role playing games.
I have managed to accumulate 6,000+ painted figures from 54mm down to 18mm in that time though! And probably have another 2-3k to paint to finish the Pony Wars, Sudan and a 40mm AWI project. It is lucky that I have recently (almost) retired.
Thank you, Mike!
DeleteI enjoy reading the evolution of other gamers' journeys through collecting and amassing armies, and their motivation. Looks like you field collections of many figure sizes. I like that!
Another recommendation for using Optivisor. Hmm. I ought to consider this option seriously.
I have a cheap version of the Optivisor which kets you change the lenses - useful for when you manage to get paint on them!
DeleteI am finding 15mm a challenge to paint after mostly painting 54mm for the last year (both my own and for customers) but have decided to approach them as units (like with 6mm) as it is the mass effect of lots of Plains Indians I want for Pony Wars, not individual works of art...
Mike, I find shifting scales at the painting table requires a readjustment period for my eyes to refocus. Sometimes, this period takes longer than others as I retrain my eyes and brain.
Delete