This page is being posted to take a look at how game with Classical Hack in the new smaller scales of 6 and 10 mm. Pretty much I am simply posting what Kevin has recently sent in to our Yahoo Group. The ideas are completely his and I think they deserve taking a look at. Dave has also posted some comments and I posted his ideas here. Your comment will certainly be welcome.

These are the two approaches to small scale(2mm, 6mm, and 10mm) figures. Broadly speaking most gamers will have one of these two as their initial reaction when small scale figures are mentioned. Either they love the little guys and think they "taste great". Or they make snide comments about grains of rice and maintain that such tiny figures might as well be cardboard chits for all the satisfaction they give and deem them "less filling". However "tastes great" and "less filling" can also be used to describe the two major approaches to gaming with the little fellows and that is what I wish to explore here. First a bit about the presentation of figures in these scales for those who are not used to them.

2mm figures are cast in blocks, usually a formation of 30 or more "men". The details of individual figures are lost, but a striking effect of massed troops can be achieved. Because 2mm are so tiny a good bit of creative mixing and matching of types even across eras can be required to achieve the desired look for table top units. Several types of block may even be combined on a base, giving say a skirmish line in front of a phalanx.

6mm figures may be cast in strips or singly depending on the manufacturer. Strip castings may have a set frontage with a varying number of troops or a fixed number of troops with the frontage and spacing varying depending on the "order" of the troops. In this scale conversions are possible if fiddly. Many are what I call "paintbrush conversions" That is to say using the small scale of the figures to my advantage by painting in the details that give visual identity.

10mm figures are also available in strips or single castings. Their chief advantage in my opinion is that they are nominally N-scale making a host of model railroad buildings and accessories available for table top use.

Now a word from our sponsor. The slogans "tastes great" and "less filling" will be well known to American gamers of a certain age, coming as they do from a popular series of beer commercials. How do they relate to table top miniature wargaming though? "Tastes great" is my term for using lots of smaller scale figures in place of fewer larger scale figures on the same base. This gives an army an amazing visual impact. The units look like large masses of troops because they are (relatively) large masses of troops. "Less filling" derives from the smaller size of the figures and the consequent reduction in space required.

2mm is often thought of as a "less filling" scale. A block of 2mm troops can in most cases be easily substituted for a base of larger scale figures and will require as little as _ the space as a standard 15mm base. This allows for travel sets to be easily made. I have a large set of Renaissance armies, terrain and playing cloth that I carry in a standard bank cheque box. Due to the generic nature of the figures I can pull any pair of about 40 different armies out of this small container. They are painted as the "red" and "blur" armies, so designated from the primary colours of flags and uniforms.

2mm can also work surprisingly well as a "tastes great" scale. In this option many 2mm blocks are assembled on the bases used in larger scale games. This works especially well for games in which a base of troops represents a formation of several troop types or multiple bodies of troops. It is difficult to seamlessly blend 2mm block together to produce larger formations.

6mm also works well for both options, most strip figures can easily be cut apart and rebased as desired. I even have some 6mm based as individuals and small groups for skirmish gaming.

If basing 6mm for "less filling" style games I highly recommend using thick bases, 6mm figures are not as robust as 2mm or their larger cousins and the thick bases although less aesthetically appealing will provide a good handle. A 20mm by 10mm base is also very tiny and annoying to have to move and measure from precisely. It can be done, but I think it is really often more trouble than it is worth.

For "tastes great" gaming 6mm is perhaps the ideal scale. Bases can be made into small scenes or dioramas, troop formations are easy to show, and the massed effect can be truly awe inspiring. A few caveats though. First, expect to spend a lot of time at the painting table, 6mm do paint much faster, but you will be painting a lot more of them. Second, even though the price per figure is lower this can easily be offset by the numbers required, especially for 25mm groundscale armies.

10mm is in many ways a compromise scale. I find it large enough that smaller "less filling" basing is not worth the effort of rescaling bases, ranges, movement etc. It is also large enough that in may cases only a couple more figures can be added to a 15mm groundscale base, for 25mm groundscale bases though it is worth exploring the option. So what does all this mean for Hack gamers? Hack is an interesting rules system in that it uses element basing but single figure casualty removal. For "less filling" games in other than 2mm all that is required is to rescale the game while keeping the same number of figures to a base. Do your self a favour and use easy fractions such as _, not 3/8.

For 2mm "less filling" games some sort of roster or casualty tracking system will be essential. For "tastes great" games there are two options. The first is declare a ratio of smaller figures to larger, thus every strip counts as one figure, or count two for one or similar. A variant of this is to count "hits" on bases instead of figures. The other option is to use the full number of figures on the base and scale up the combat charts. My own personal preference is to use 15mm groundscale basing and rules and count each base as one 15mm base of the appropriate type tracking "hits" instead of "figures" for casualties.

Resources: Active Yahoo groups exist for 2mm, 6mm and 10mm gaming. Gildas Facit has a web page with excellent photos of 2mm and 6mm figures: Gildas

Recommended 6mm basing: see attached pdf, thanks to Kevin from the Classical Hack group.