15mm Sci Fi - Task Force Weasel

I actually painted my first 15mm sci fi in years (I overdosed on playing/testing 15mm hard sci fi platoon games - of which there are 10 zillion rulesets) so I thought I'd share.


15mm is Love, 15mm is Life
It only took two hours to paint everything (probably less if my toddler didn't insist on "helping" me) and reminded me of why I like 15mm so much;

(a) infantry are still just big enough to matter
(b) vehicles look great and are very affordable
(c) super easy, fast to paint
(d) easy to store; terrain is easy to store; small space requirements (4x4' table max)

Whilst 28mm still is nicer overall, 15mm strikes a great balance between affordability, storage, and shiny.  If you have vehicles in any number, 15mm is definitely the way to go.  For example, Bolt Action would be very cheap in 15mm.  And if you are moving soldiers by squad (i.e. in groups, regardless of basing) then there is little point in spending all that extra effort painting every belt buckle on a 28mm model - they're just glorified hit markers, after all. 

28mm looks better. No dispute  But unless you have acres of gaming room, a generous budget and copious spare painting time - 15mm is just more practical on every level, especially if vehicles are involved. 
The beauty of 15mm is that you can use minis from all ranges without anyone caring.  The infantry are GZG, the APCs are Antenociti and the mecha are Rebel Minis. 

When painting vehicles, I tend to basecoat, wash, then paint any flat upper surfaces with the base again.  This is not the same as highlighting edges like you might do with infantry minis.  It looks a little dodgy up close (click on the photo to see what I'm talking about), but works well at tabletop ranges.  And it's really fast and easy.
While I cannot abide unpainted minis, I'm a member of the "tabletop standard is good enough" school of painting.  That said, I can make a few 15mm recommendations, thanks to stuff-ups I've made in the past....
#1 - Use light colours (much lighter than 28mm equivalents);
#2 - don't use too many colours/paint every detail (it makes the model look too "busy" and you can't make out fine detail anyway unless you are holding it six inches from your face);
#3  - make any detail colours very bold/contrasting so you can see them.


Due to family being sick, my Infinity project is on hold. I think next up is some of the awesome Perry plastics for my homebrew "Middleheim" rules....