It was interesting to read Peter's musings on the changing 6mm scene. I have long been a collector and player of 6mm. My first figures were FPW from Heroics and Ros back in the early 80s. They were the right size for the sweeping battles of that period, although some of the sculpts were extremely fragile. I still have many tucked away, but moved on to Irregular and finally Baccus. They are quick and easy to paint and can provide a vision of the sweeping combat of the time, with the figures laid out on a largish base in the formations they adopted in battle. I have dabbled in a number of 6mm periods over the decades, but my favourite has always been the German wars of Unification. Other 6mm projects I am currently working on or planning include the Wars of the Sun King, the clashes between Republican Rome and the Hellenistic kingdoms, the Peninsular War and the Wild West.

The other aspect I really like about 6mm gaming, which Peter didn't mention, is the amount of scenic items currently available for 6mm players.  Believable hills, rivers, areas of farmland, towns and villages can dot the landscape for a reasonable price. Railways and roads can snake through that landscape occupied by wagon trains approaching campsites, etc. Even the animals that are there can be represented. In larger scales there is often no room to show these features, and even if you can, the extra cost is often prohibitive. It is these features of cost, space and visual appeal which make 6mm an ideal scale for battles.

Much of the musings of Peter published in Facebook in different groups (in fact 3) are not very relevant or "new"... who cares about Games Workshop?... you pay your money and you get what you want (as everybody in the hobby)... Going 6mm?... why not? I absolutely agree with your last sentence: "It is these features of cost, space and visual appeal which make 6mm an ideal scale for battles".... lets break it down:

1.- COST.- It is financially sound to go 6mm (very effective cost/quality... )

2.- SPACE.- No more secure flanks or rear (borders of a BIG table I mean...) You can show line of communications, the tail of an Army, Reserves... you mention it... IT IS POSSIBLE.

3.- VISUAL APPEAL.- For me (I can be wrong mind!) the limit (in reduction of size) is 6mm because a Brigade stand with Flags (A very important thing flags!) is still recognizable and has esthetic appeal... (no eyeballs or buttons but quite to the point if you know what I mean).

4.- IDEAL SCALE FOR BATTLES.- I would rectify a bit that... .../:.. BIG BATTLES .../... I tried Gettysburg in 25/28mm (back then) and it was not satisfying even with a quite big table. Have done in 6mm to my ultimate satisfaction!... same with Antietam.

BTW: Those woke enough to be offended by the use of capital letters just remember they were in use before you were born... it is called emphasis (NOT SHOUTING AT ALL).

Probably Turner Miniatures have more detail (this is the rule of creativity and competition I am afraid... in the short/mid term that have to be a concern for Peter I guess...) but I personally do not need a cast with so much detail... (You will need the skills of a Dallimore to paint those!... one of the other reasons that put me out of 25/28mm was the tendency to paint them like Military Models!... eyeballs and lace you know!).

BUT (yes it is a big but!) As per GW, 54mm Old Scholl, Fantasy, Blucher, Wood Blocks, Paper Soldiers, 2 or 3mm, and or whatever other "things" I AM NOT AGAINST THEM AT ALL!... just be tolerant with other aficionados whims and objectives... we all have tried different scales... been there... done that... and got the T-shirt! (or trying to).

I do not use POLEMOS rules at all (neither Altar of Freedom) but I saw the "LIGHT" just perusing the colour pics in them!... and if you want my sincere opinion the great step forward with Baccus 6mm was the concept of BRIGADE STANDS... a damn great idea!... did not realize at all back in the seventies when I tried 1/300 Heroic-Ros... still have some Life Guards and Blues&Royals based in "twos" in very tiny bases... such a waste of time!,,, but I painted a whole brigade of Cuirassiers (Napoleonic) in no time at all... sold them on ebay to an Italian many decades ago! (I abandoned 1/30 for the lack of a right approach!)

That's it!... dourpuritan is right!... just added a pinch of salt...

Peter must muse on Turner Miniatures and the like... me I am done collecting (meaning I got my Baccus 6mm completed but for Camel and Horse Egyptinas Omdurman times... no satisfactory proxies so far.

I think dourpuritan makes an important point- the increased availability of varied and period/theatre specific scenery really improves the look of the games.

I would agree that there are less (but not zero) downright rude and ignorant remarks about 6mm games and models. Although typically these are obviously ignorant even on their own terms: there are too many great 6mm games to seriously hold the view that they generically look bad. This seems wholeheartedly a good thing.

On balance, I think that the GW "Evil Empire" thing was a very online phenomenon; it just didn't seem to reflect actual play or behaviour that much. I think GW has only two behaviours that I have really disliked: 1 - Our goblins only in our competitions and 2 - Space Marines belong to us. I understand #1 perfectly well, but I don't think that makes it good (and I feel that way about other analagous behaviour from other companies also).

I think Peter worries too much about the painting thing: to my mind, it is a symptom of success (people are at least interested) rather than an issue, whilst admitting that I don't have to do all that explaining myself!! It might be that although there is lots of 'painting 6mm well' info out there, it may not be quite as accessible at first as how to paint 28mm figures well.

I liken wargaming to beer, I have my preferred choices which are to my taste but recognise others will have different tastes be they miniatures, scale, period etc. 

Having returned to the hobby after a few decades away, I wanted to explore new periods and unfortunately didn't come across the Baccus website or dare I say it consider 6mm (took some gunpowder rum to put the latter).  However, having read some blogs and discovered Baccus I took the plunge into the world of 6mm and I haven't looked back since.

While I did recently pick up some 15mm miniatures  (I needed an army to go up against my Swedes) anything I buy now will be 6mm except for Naval and Aircraft.

I’ve found that I much prefer the entire process and final look of painting 6mm figures over larger scales, and that’s not just due to my eyesight. As a solo player, Baccus’s matching armies make it easy to dive into new periods. Plus, storing them is a breeze but when put on the table they don't look like a small skirmish outside a pub on a Friday night. 

Those older and wiser living in Sheffield will know of at least one of the following beers, I preferred a pint of Bass Draught over a pint of Stones but drank a lot of Stones!

I am not a FB user, but I did a quick search and didn't find the post in question. Can someone repost here or provide a link? Thank you.

v/r  Jeff

Baccus 6mm Miniatures

5d  · 

Grab a cuppa, it's time for some wargamery musings...

22nd Feb 2025

In the absence of any new releases or previews this week, instead you get subjected to one my occasional long-ish rambles about wargaming. Do have a look and I’d welcome feedback either via the Baccus forum or on a Facebook platform, as I’d be interested to hear your feedback. But first, this week’s magic number, which stands at #31232.

I was having a chat with my eldest son recently. Chris was a frequent helper on the Baccus stand in the noughties and early 2010s and was present during the formative years of Baccus. Sadly, he never took to Gods Own Scale and instead went down the Games Workshop route in the hobby. During the course of the conversation, three topics came up which I think are worth exploring.

The first was an interesting one. In those early years at wargames shows, we were really the only company selling 6mm. During this time, we met an awful lot of scale prejudice at shows. This ranged from ‘smart’ comments, through to direct ridicule of the products, to downright aggression. I’ll never forget the chap who told me to my face that I was taking up the trade space that someone selling ‘decent 28mm’ figures could be occupying. So, the first question he asked was, is this the case nowadays?

And, I would have to say that it isn’t. There remains an awful amount of ignorance about painting and wargaming in 6mm, (‘Do you need special rules for 6mm’, or ‘How do you manage figure removal?’), but on the whole, from my perspective, it is a much more ‘accepting’ hobby. In the ‘old days’, small scale figures were literally looked down on, and it was open season on chaps wanting to have a go on forums, newsgroups or even directly, face to face.

However, the wargaming world is a different place. On the whole, the hobby is comfortable with different scales, and these are mostly seen as just different options, rather than an opportunity to ridicule and belittle those who don’t follow the mainstream gaming options. I have certainly noticed this change of culture at wargames shows, and the wargames internet is a very different place.

The next question was pretty perceptive. Is there the same animosity towards Games Workshop in the historical gaming side of the hobby? As I mentioned, Chris was a Warhammer player and enjoyed playing GW products. He noticed that amongst a lot of the people I talked to at shows, GW was regarded as being the Great Evil and elicited some very strong negative reactions. They were too expensive and they committed the Massive Sin in those days of being, ‘commercial’. My personal view at the time was that GW was a force for good in our hobby as a whole. They reached potential gamers that the traditional wargamers could not. They improved standards of professionalism and service that were starting to filter down into the more traditional marketplace. Above all, they were effectively training a new generation of games designers and sculptors who plied their acquired skills back into the historical scene. The many, many alumni of GW include the late Duncan McFarlane, the Perry Twins, the management of Warlord Games and, of course, me. The hobby would be a very different place without their overwhelmingly positive input.

So, once again, I would have to say that things have changed. GW are seen by some as a separate form of the hobby, or increasingly, just as part of the tabletop gaming mix. Their paints are applied to Napoleonic figures as well as Space Marines, and there is many a father introduced their kids to figure gaming by starting off with a GW game.

The final question, and one dear to my heart, was, ‘Do you still get people telling you that they couldn’t paint anything so small?’ The poor lad was forced to listen to me patiently explain how to paint 6mm figures ad nauseam at pretty much every show we attended. He can still remember the lines to this day! I wrote countless articles for the glossies, I gave tips and instructions on line. Surely this had an overall effect?

Predictably enough, all my efforts were to no avail. I still have to tell people that they won’t go blind, and that it’s not difficult, and no, you don’t need to paint buttons and eyeballs on 6mm figures. It is a seemingly never-ending task. My youngest son, Ben, who has started helping me at shows is now fluent in, ‘This is how you paint 6mm figures’, just by listening to repeated explanations to bemused visitors to the Baccus stand. To be honest, I don’t think we’ll ever win this particular debate!

So, there you have it. I am sure that some you will know someone who still hates 6mm figures or regards GW as the work of Satan and all of his minions or thinks that it is impossible to paint small scale figures without their optic nerves turning to jelly and melting. However, from my point of view, we have a more tolerant, diverse and better supplied hobby scene than at any time in the past.

Of course, there are still way too many folk out there who are scared stiff of actually painting 6mm figures, but you can’t have everything.

Thank you ironass.

Nothing written there that I disagree with. Miniatures are like wine and beer, drink what you like and say no thank you for the ones you don't. 

I started with 30mm Jack Scruby's then jumped immediately to 15 Heritage Napoleonics. Later a group I gamed with did 25mm, so a brief fling with those. I flirted with 6mm a bit before I left miniatures for a time out. It was the availability of 6mm that got me to come back. I like big battles and campaigns and 6mm makes al that possible. I certainly wouldn't try to fight the battles I currently do fight in a larger scale. My recent Ta-shih-chiao RJW battle with two Russian corps and four Japanese divisions. 

I look at anyone asking about painting as a generic question regardless of scale. Playing with 30s, how do you paint 15s? New to the hobby, etc?

I never saw GW as evil, but never was interested in Warhammer and the ilk. I certainly agree that GW did get more individuals interesting miniature gaming and fantasy gaming is keeping many miniatures stores afloat. 

Again thank you for posting Peter’s comments.

I'm new to 6mm. Just got my first 6mm army (colonials and Mahdists) from Baccus a month ago, with an American Civil War pack in the mail and a 10mm army from Pendraken about the same time (WW2 USMC and Japanese). I absolutely love the smaller scales. My biggest complaint for army clashes at 28mm is how crowded the table gets. Very few flanking opportunities, at that scale on a 6'4' table the games most often are simply marching your units forward until contact and then rolling dice. Flanking gets crowded out, cavalry gets crowded out, etc... The smaller scales are so much more interesting from a gameplay standpoint. 

I also find the painting to be a breath of fresh air after painting hundreds of 28mm. Very simple and fast, but the effect they have when done is simply fantastic. Four 28mm figures on a 50mm or 60mm square base looks nice, but it doesn't compare to having 30+ 6mm figures on the same base. I also appreciate the opportunity to get creative with the bases, which usually at 28mm there isn't enough room left over. And no eyes to paint, thank god! 

28mm is a wonderful scale for skirmish games or any game where one model is one soldier, but for anything requriing abstraction the smaller scales are really the way to go. 

Whenever somebody - usually a non-wargamer - asks me how I paint 6mms, I normally reply "badly", but that is one of the advantages. At a distance and in the right numbers, they look fine, well OK (see photographs on the Little Battles with Ancients thread) but certainly good enough for me.

As others have pointed out, there are great advantages (and not just low cost) to the 6mm size. For me it is the ability to fight reasonably large battles at a decent abstraction level enabling tactical unit representation whilst still having room for some grand manouevres without figures balancing on the edge of the battlefield as seen with larger scales.

I am glad I down sized!