How did I get into this? (My history with 15mm Sci Fi)

As I was finishing up another lot of vehicles this weekend, I took a look around my basement and all the cases with figures and asked myself, "How did this happen?"

Pre-History 

Well, as it turns out, my foray into 15mm Sci Fi was quite by accident.  Prior to 2010 I was an avid 28mm gamer, mainly with Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40K, totally ignorant of anything beyond these two games (largely).  During one of my rare searches for non-GW figures to use in my Imperial Guard Steel Legion army I came across a company called Pig Iron.  This was the catalyst for my 15mm experience.

Now Pig Iron only sold 28mm figures, but at the top of their web page was an ad for a book called "Tomorrow's War".  I had never heard of this title before, but I was becoming dissatisfied with the rules for 40K and I was looking for alternatives.  The title sounded interesting, so I purchased it along with some System Troopers to form the core of my Imperial Guard Storm Trooper force.  

Big Mistake.

Book: This is all your fault!

The First Age (2010-2013) - The Dawn of 15mm

When this book arrived I marveled at the photos inside: I had never heard of 15mm Sci Fi before, much less saw figures/vehicles for it.  Everything about the book captivated me: the background, rules and miniatures not tied to any particular gaming line.  Plus the models were small and I could actually play with vehicles without the table feeling like we were battling in a parking lot. 

Thankfully, each photo had the manufacturers name listed, so it was easy to track down suppliers.  My first stop was Ground Zero Games.  Another huge mistake.  From that point on, I was a 15mm POW.  I very quickly amassed two armies (NAC and NI, using vehicles from both Old Crow and Khurasan) and had them painted up.  

Sadly, I could find no way to garner interest in 1:100 scale gaming.  There was simply no interest locally as 40k dominated.  Miniature war-gaming has always been about the social interaction for me.  Great pleasure was gleaned from seeing what new models my opponent had created to oppose me.  This in turn spurred me on to create new things as well.  Without this dynamic to draw on, the desire to paint more 15mm evaporated.  

So, eventually, after prolonged disuse, my two armies went on Ebay on Feb 2013 and were disposed of.  That was that I thought.  Sadly, none of this is recorded, although my armies are on the Worth Point web site somewhere.  The models themselves are likely in a forgotten box in some unnamed home/landfill.

The Second Age (2014 - 2019) - The Rise and Fall of Creativity

In 2014, as fate would have it, boredom set in and I decided to dabble again in 1:100 scale Sci Fi.  Over the next three years I amassed a massive amount of vehicles and models, painting them all up in roughly 18 months time.  

The main catalyst for the Second Age was the book Alien Squad Leader.  Why I purchased this I do not know or remember.  However, this tome finally broke me free of model-specific games (looking at you 40K).  ASQL allowed my creativity to blossom like never before.  Although the rules require the use of "army lists", units are broken down by "type", leaving the player to decide for himself how best to represent said type.  The game is also well written and excellent for pickup/tournament play.  

Get this book.  Today

Ground Zero Games was of course my first stop for models: NI Panzergrenadiers and their foes, the DRPG.  The hardest choice was deciding on ranges to paint.  There is no real bad choice.

My initial prototypes.  The NI were eventually done in a German Field Grey since I felt a multi color camo scheme on hard carapace armor was inappropriate.  

GZG NI Panzergrenadiers, circa April 2014

GZG DPRG, circa April 2014

Eventually I went with this, a "proper" German scheme.

GZG NI Panzergrenadiers, the final color scheme

Eventually I had armies for most of the lists in this book.  It was quite addictive.  The game Gruntz also played a large part during this time, as did the blog run by Spacejacker.  His painting spurred me on and taught me how to improve beyond my meager skills. 

Battletech was also a side project during this time. This interest flourished for roughly one year, expanding to a massive level, including specialized terrain and maps, only to end up on Ebay once I had everything painted.  Battletech, like Star Fleet Battles, is almost a lifestyle choice vs a game.  This I wanted to avoid.  This journey was recorded here, for posterity.  Hopefully the Davoin and Kurita mechs are battling somewhere, in the endless wars of the 31st Century.  

However, despite all my painting successes, the lack of players still haunted me, for all games, not just 15mm.  So, I put down the paint brush and did not paint in almost 2 years.  My 15mm armies languished in foam cases in the garage, a dark and lonely place.

Time passes.  During 2018-19, in a fit of pragmatism, I sold off much of my 15mm model collection, keeping only a small amount due to a lack of interested buyers (my two largest forces, GZG NI and my Space Communists made of GZG DPRG & Khurasan Red Faction, which was fortuitous).  

In retrospect, what I sold was very much under-priced (my mistake).  I still had an enormous Warhammer Fantasy collection which I kept on display in my living room (I had long since sold off my 40K Collection).  I considered selling these, but found no buyers of interest for the price I wanted.  Eventually I reached a point where even the sight of models, painted and unused enraged me.  

The Third Age (2020-Present) - A Phoenix Arises 

Then, in early 2020 I made a huge mistake: I picked up a paint brush.  I foolishly decided fix up some models which I had in my display cases, and to finish 24 Hobgoblin figures that I had lying around (to sell I told myself).  This act rekindled the painting spirit within me. After completing these two dozen I decided in April of that year to rebuild my 1:100 scale Sci Fi collection for a third and final time.  Indeed I was insane.  

One of the main drivers for this final wave was this book: Clash on the Fringe.  Clash is very much akin to the old Rogue Trader and Laserburn rules.  It is what the author calls, "Space Adventure Combat".  I immediately began thinking of my old Traveller RPG days and, well more seeds were planted in my mind of things to paint and forces to assemble.  

Get this book....right now.

The rest of the story is recorded here, on this disordered blog.  Since April of 2020 I have painted thousands upon thousands of figures (of all scales) and more 1:100 scale vehicles than I care to admit, rebuilding much of my collection from scratch and expanding it far beyond my original expectations.  My skill level has also increased, far beyond what I thought possible a decade ago.  Practice makes perfect I guess.  One important lesson I learned over all these years is: 

"Never sell anything...you will regret it later."  

2021 also saw my fantasy collection expand massively, much to my surprise.  I manged to acquire the collection of one of my friends who has ceased gaming.  His Dark Elves, Chaos Nurgle and Ogres joined my hordes of Undead and my own two Chaos armies (Khorne & Slaanesh).   Mr. Visser is a fabulous painter and a miniature conversion wizard.  I am very fortunate to have his models on display in my home.  

For all everything there is a cost however.  I hope to never see the tally of coin that has been spent on this craziness.  Thankfully I have reached a level of sanity and now only paint what can be displayed.  This has created a hard cap on what I am willing to collect.  The running joke at home was that I painted things up, only to lock them away in cases and never look at them again.  

Luckily (for my bank account and wife), I am almost at this display limit.  Soon my brushes and paints, will retire, at least on a full time basis, coming out for special events only.  I will have reached "Miniature Nirvana": everything I ever wanted to have painted will actually be painted.  However, due to the way the universe works, when this lofty goal is actually completed I will likely expire (probably due to cancer from paint or some other solvent that I should not be breathing).  

That final act will be the punch line to the story of my foray into 15mm Sci Fi.