Tiny Metal Chariots of the Twilight: 6mm possibilities for Twilight: 2000

I promised I would discuss this as well, there's a lot of 6mm fans who read this blog, and Fistful of TOWs is a popular rules set around here. Surprisingly, while there isn't a lot to be found on some of the more unique Twilight: 2000 designs, what you can find will surprise you. (Someone makes a LAV-75 under the guise of "RDF Light Tank"). Happily, 90% of kitbashing at this scale is pretty much a matter of hull and turret swaps, and perhaps a little putty work.

I personally think, and this is my own opinion, for what it is worth, you're better off gaming the conventional phase of the war in 6mm and the post nuke phase in a larger scale such as 15 or 20mm, but I can be wrong sometimes. I base this opinion mainly due to the paucity of vehicles once the nukes fly. I am sure some enterprising modeler or wargamer is itching to prove me wrong now...

So, who's out there and what do they make?

I owe a big thanks to Micro Armor Mayhem for some of the links to this report, it's a very useful website of it's own and I encourage 6mm fans to pay it a visit as he covers micro armor VERY well indeed.

Photo taken from GHQ Website

GHQ: They are the granddady of micro armor. Their models for the most part are detailed and well built, (even if the barrels on some of their earlier sculpts are a bit...fiddly). They have a lot of what the average Twilight: 2000 player needs, but they are to be honest, kinda pricy at $11.95 for 5 vehicles on average. Yes, you do pay for their level of detail, and they are prolific. They also have awesome customer service and are good eggs to deal with, having done so at quite a few conventions. Plus, their discounted unit packs are a great start for building that Fistful of TOWs army.

Photo taken from CinC website

CinC:  While there isn't as much detail as on the average GHQ model, you cannot say anything bad about the fidelity of the CinC's offerings. The barrels on average, are a bit more fragile, but I also like the "plug" turrets instead of the "pin" turrets you find offered from most companies. I don't own any of their infantry, but I have heard some complaints about it. Their prices are a bit lower than GHQ, averaging between $5-6 for a platoon of three or four vehicles. Of interest to Twilight: 2000 fans is that their HMMWV range is simply the largest in the industry. Hell, they even make a Sgt. York, if you're really that oldschool! Oh and did I mention, their stuff comes in these nifty plastic cases that are instant storage! Yep, you cannot beat that.

Photo taken from Scotia Grendel Website

Scotia Grendel: Scotia Grendel is one of the most prolific manufacturers out there, they make so much it's not funny. But, the detail is a bit lacking, as seen here, but the fact is, they make stuff GHQ or CinC do not, such as this Brazilian EE-9 above. And, they do paint up nicely, with a bit of care and patience, as seen on this T-64BV:

Not bad if you ask me! Photo taken from the 6mm Wargaming Website

Prices are pretty easy, even with the shipping from England, at 0.50 GBP per vehicle. (which works out these days to about $0.69 a vehicle. Not too bad if you ask me.) But, as I said, you do get what you pay for. But, with a little work and patience, you can really do a nice job, plus they have some really interesting stuff, such as the HMMWV with the 25mm, or the RDF Light Tank, which makes a decent stand in for the LAV-75, or an entire range of FAVs, And that's just the Americans. For the Russians, they make the IT-130s! Yep, that assault gun seen in the pages of the 1st Edition of the Soviet Vehicle Guide. They also make a Neutral Equipment Range, that is full of mortars, recoilless rifles, trailers, motorcycles, and the like. It's very useful as at 6mm, you're going to be hard pressed to tell a 81mm Mortar from an 82mm Mortar.

In short, if you're looking for the more esoteric stuff, look at Scotia, chances are, they have it.

A H&R M60, proves they can paint up nice with some care, taken from the Here's No Great Matter Blog

Heroics and Ros: Heroics and Ros, aka H&R are another British manufacturer with a measure of prolific production, their quality is slightly better than Scotia, but where they shine is the number and breath of nations they cover. Want North Koreans? They got 'em. They got Toyota pickups, irregulars, Soviet VDV with RPO (thermobaric) rockets, they have a lot of stuff. At almost $1 a tank, it's a bit pricer than Scotia, but the detail is a bit better. For my money, I tend to prefer H&R when possible if I can, but that is a preference thing. Again, you're ordering from the UK, so shipping for some of you guys might be an issue.

But, if you want a cheaper option than CinC and GHQ, take a look at these guys.

Again, they paint up pretty nicely, take a little care, and you can do wonders with 6mm. Taken from The Miniatures Page

Main Force Miniatures: Main Force Miniatures is to me, the best producer of micro armor scale infantry out there. Other than the MANPADS figures, all of the figures are cast-prone. I know not everyone likes this, but it does make some pretty indestructible infantry for wargaming (6mm infantry is remarkably brittle for the most part.) The current producers of the line, Magister Militum, are selling the line by the individual base, or by the old company groups it used to come in, considering I play FFT 3 for all of my micro armor needs, I like the groups because a 1:1 company-sized group can become a battalion of infantry in 1:5 scale. In short, I rather like these figures, they paint up nice, and as I said, damn near indestructible. There's also a lot to choose from, Israelis, Americans, Brits, US, Iranians, just to name a few.

Well, that's it for my review of 6mm choices for the Twilight: 2000-themed wargamer. I'll be working on getting a user submission up by the end of the month. It's something I wanted to do for a while now, but had some other stuff (like this article), to get out of the way first. Please feel free to comment if I missed anything, or if your experiences have been different from mine. I love feedback as you know. 

TTFN!