Finally becoming a real miniatures wargamer ('bout time, right?)

[josta59]

Been doing loads of research, but I don't find many people selling N-scale/10mm buildings that are ready for play. People who make that stuff tend to hang onto it, apparently.

I also don't find many people doing 10mm wargaming in interior settings, aside from dungeon crawls. The thought of being able to move my figures through buildings and ascertain line of sight, eschewing abstract building rules, is kind of thrilling to me.

Today's thought is to buy some N-scale model building sets (lots of sellers out there) and assemble them without gluing the roofs on. That's assuming the roofs are separate, which is hard to tell from distributors' websites, but YouTube videos from Woodland Scenics clearly show that this can be done. If they don't have interior walls, I can try and construct some out of cardboard so my guys can move from room to room.

That's right. I might actually make something.

[josta59]

New thought this morning: Instead of model buildings, buy prefurbished buildings without floors. Draw the building outline on the game mat. Build interior cardboard walls inside the outline and place the building over them. When figures enter the building, remove the building and just use the interior walls.

Boom! I've never seen anyone do this, but it's so simple. Not very modular, since I'll have to do it over again with each new game, but it could be worth it. Also can only be done for ground-level floors...but maybe upper floors could be built separately, off-table.

[josta59]

Actually, it could be modular if I build the interior walls as one piece that would be permanent for each building. I can find a way to temporarily attach the walls to the game mat so they can be used over and over. Rather than affixing a building to the mat, I'll just set it over the pinned walls so it stays in place.

[Frank]

There are lots of great 15mm buildings out there

http://www.sarissa-precision.com

and

http://www.4ground.co.uk

[josta59]

Thanks. I found some 15mm houses I really loved, with removable roofs for easy interior play. I was pretty excited.

But then I went to the model railroad store and learned more about scale. I realized then that it'll be way easier to get cheap buildings for 10mm figures. So I decided to go that route instead. I think I'll save a lot of money that way.

[josta59]

This week, if I'm not working, I'm probably drooling over pictures of model railroad layouts. I don't even care about the railroad tracks. But I see a picture like this and I just see squads of 10-mm tall guys ducking behind walls and advancing while technicals approach from one end and troop carriers with reinforcements from the other. If only I could just buy these tables somehow!

37-N-scale-modular-layout.jpg (19.04 KiB) Viewed 159 times

[Frank]

Some of the rail layouts are real works of art.

Are you planning on a permanent layout or a modular one you can change round a bit?

[josta59]

Definitely modular. Some of you guys might have noticed that I jump around between types of games a lot. I don't think I've ever finished a campaign that I started.

[Frizzenspark]

Another purveyor of 10mm buildings: http://gcmini.mybigcommerce.com/10mm/

[josta59]

Progress! We have a really cool hobby shop in our town, but I never noticed it has a whole aisle of model train stuff because I never cared. Until now! I bought this tiny house, fully painted and assembled and ready to go! And I bought locally and didn't need to pay shipping. I consider this a success.

I just love the little aerial!

It even has its own lawn, which is close to the same shade as the grass mat I bought a few weeks ago. It's beyond what I thought I could find. I didn't even know Plasticville USA exists, despite all my research. They're definitely on my radar now.

And now I have a much better feel for what N scale (10mm) is like. And I realize for sure now that trying to play in interior settings would be really difficult at this scale. Even if I find the smallest object possible to mount my figures on (I'm thinking maybe doll buttons?), they probably wouldn't fit in the tiny rooms very well. It would really only work in very large rooms.

Look at me, talking about tiny rooms and doll buttons! This is so weird!

Items purchased so far
1 grass mat: $8.50 + tax
1 ready-made house: $17 + tax

I don't think anyone on this site does 10mm much, but have any of you used products from Plasticville USA for gaming?