More WWII Skirmish

I've been looking at miniatures online trying to decide on a scale for my WWII games. My original plan was to do Micro Armor skirmish, but recently I've been looking at 15mm.

I took the army rosters from one of the Skirmish Campaigns scenarios and priced out the forces for it in 6mm and 15mm. I was surprised at how much the forces came out to be. I guess I've always assumed that skirmish-level historicals would be cheaper than Warhammer (the Dwarf army I just planned out would cost $384.00 retail, so I'll probably end up paying around $330.00 with the local discounts), and they are, but not by as much as I figured. The 15mm miniature list came out to $267.50, which exactly covered the German and Soviet lists. Due to the fact that most of the 6mm miniatures only come in packs of five, I would have to order more than I would really need, but the list came out to $148.15.

15mm would be nice because you can actually see the figures on the table and you can paint more details on the figures. It's also a more popular scale and the vehicles could at least be used for a mainstream game like Flames of War. I could even base the infantry individually on washers for skirmish games and make larger magnetized bases to stick them on for Flames of War.

6mm would be advantageous as far as price and space issues. Terrain would be easier to make as it would only have to be half the size. Painting 6mm also seems to be a lot quicker as there isn't as much detail to paint, although I've seen some GHQ Micro Armour painted in amazing detail on the forums. The scenario I priced armies for was meant to be played on a 4' x 6' table, but I could play the Micro Armor game on a 2' x 3' table. Space is an important issue when you live in a trailer, especially when you share it with a wife and two large dogs.

I'll probably go back and forth a little over the next little while, but I'm leaning heavily toward the 6mm because of the space and budget issues. I also have a bit of nostalgia for Micro Armor. When I was in third grade I checked a book on miniature wargames out from the school library. In the back of the catalog was the address for GHQ miniatures. I wrote to the company and requested a catalog. After I got it I spent days going through it, looking at the pictures and highlighting all of the miniatures I was going to buy when I got some money. I would even sneak and stay up at night with a flashlight to listen to the radio and look at the miniatures catalog. Every couple of years I would write in and get another catalog. I never actually ordered anything, but those little catalogs kept me interested in miniatures through a lot of years until I found other outlets like The Miniatures Page and http://zeitcom.com/majgen/.

Once my camera battery charges up, I'll post a 15mm/6mm comparison photo of some Shermans and some infantry.