Starship Miniature Scale?
- Thread starter infojunky
- Start date
How big would the ACS vessels be in different scales? 1:1200? 1:2400? 1:3000? 1:5000? Are you talking just the Type S, Free/Far/Fat Traders, Gazelles, Fierys, Patrol Cruisers, SDBs and Corsairs? Were you going to include Kinunirs, Chrysanthemums, and other vessels of that size?
A Gazelle at 48m would be 40mm at 1:1200, 30mm long at 1:1800, and so on.
A Type R at 46m at the above scales would be 38mm & 26mm
A Type A at 35m again would be 29mm & 19mm.
I have some vague idea of the Chrysanthemum being about 35m long, just with quite a few decks. So that'd be something like a Type A above, just a lot chunkier and wider.
It would also depend on how many vessels were going to in use. If it was a standard PC's one-on-one then two or three is not an issue. If it was for escort-level actions involving a division of Gazelles, fighters, and a corsair flotilla then big miniatures made of white metal starts to become prohibitive.
A Gazelle at 48m would be 40mm at 1:1200, 30mm long at 1:1800, and so on.
A Type R at 46m at the above scales would be 38mm & 26mm
A Type A at 35m again would be 29mm & 19mm.
I have some vague idea of the Chrysanthemum being about 35m long, just with quite a few decks. So that'd be something like a Type A above, just a lot chunkier and wider.
It would also depend on how many vessels were going to in use. If it was a standard PC's one-on-one then two or three is not an issue. If it was for escort-level actions involving a division of Gazelles, fighters, and a corsair flotilla then big miniatures made of white metal starts to become prohibitive.
To answer the last question 1st, in my mind I am looking for a handful to play something like Mayday with.
With that in mind I was considering 1/2500th but that puts the Type S and the rest of the 30 t0 40 meter long ships at around 15mm-ish...
The picture in my head really places a 5000 dton limit as the largest ship I could need.
But then again there is the Big Ship guys out there with fleet action in their heads, which an even smaller scale is probably required (AdAstra's fleet boxes come to mind).
With that in mind I was considering 1/2500th but that puts the Type S and the rest of the 30 t0 40 meter long ships at around 15mm-ish...
The picture in my head really places a 5000 dton limit as the largest ship I could need.
But then again there is the Big Ship guys out there with fleet action in their heads, which an even smaller scale is probably required (AdAstra's fleet boxes come to mind).
I can live with that scale even for what i am doing in that it allows for a smaller hex size, which allows for more room on the table.
I ended up getting a mat with 2 inch hexes. That allowed me to put a few miniatures on the one hex if necessary, but still allowed for enough hexes on a 6-4 foot mat to make a decent sized game possible.
A couple of guys and I at the wargames club I go to talked about bigger hexes (Canvas Eagles uses 5 inches, but it also uses 1:72 scale aircraft kits...) but that'd play havoc with movement. 1 inch hexes just seemed a bit small at the time. I suppose if comes down to your preferred scale and what you're used to.
A couple of guys and I at the wargames club I go to talked about bigger hexes (Canvas Eagles uses 5 inches, but it also uses 1:72 scale aircraft kits...) but that'd play havoc with movement. 1 inch hexes just seemed a bit small at the time. I suppose if comes down to your preferred scale and what you're used to.
In my projects box I have several sheets of Magnetically Attractive film. Add in a 1000 or so 6mm rare earth magnets, earring stud backs, small ships from Ground Zero Games and the like plus several 24 inch sheets of 6mm hex paper. The idea is to mount the hex sheet and film on a board, the ships on the magnets. But all of this is for a Mayday/book 2 sorta Vector movement game.
So with that small is good.
Then there are all the other games that use inertialess movement (which I have considered for Traveller more than once) where larger hex sizes are much less problematic.
So with that small is good.
Then there are all the other games that use inertialess movement (which I have considered for Traveller more than once) where larger hex sizes are much less problematic.
Patron Zero
SOC-13
Should it be of any assistance, here's a link to an online graph-hex paper generator I've found very helpful for preparing large format sheets for table top-miniatures play.
http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/hexagonal/
I generally print a large format (36"x60") at a local office supply-quick print center, using a reasonably heavy paper-stock (60# min.) which allows good registration of an image. A consideration is to laminate any sheets used for 'campaign' play or frequent use, such allows for use of grease-dry pencils and markers and protects the paper from scuffs when using miniatures.
Last bit: Some maps can be 'enhanced' before lamination by using UV inks to detail hidden features, outline political boundaries or display other bits pertinent to the game such is connected to.
http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/hexagonal/
I generally print a large format (36"x60") at a local office supply-quick print center, using a reasonably heavy paper-stock (60# min.) which allows good registration of an image. A consideration is to laminate any sheets used for 'campaign' play or frequent use, such allows for use of grease-dry pencils and markers and protects the paper from scuffs when using miniatures.
Last bit: Some maps can be 'enhanced' before lamination by using UV inks to detail hidden features, outline political boundaries or display other bits pertinent to the game such is connected to.
Similar threads
