Not 3mm, even smaller.

For naval games I like to use 1/2400 scale, which is 0.127 mm scale. I like these models but naval games  are not as interesting to me (though I still enjoy them) so I have not painted many models.

Here is my first attempt at World War II era infantry. I think they turned out well. I put on a Matilda tank just to see the tanks and infantry together. I like the Matilda tank quiet a bit too but I am wondering if it is too dark. But the coloring is a close approximation of 1940 BEF camo but is also passable for late war and the Asia theater. 

 

3mm T-55s

The first 3mm models I picked up were of T-55s because I had some 6mm T-55s I wanted to compare them too. I think the detail on 3mm is surprisingly good for their size. The 6mm is clearly more detailed but even at a distance you can tell that the 3mm model is a T-55.

I am looking forward to seeing what a battalion of tanks looks like in 3mm on the table. That would be about 9 bases or 27 tanks.

The 3mm model is from Pico Armor and the 6mm is from GHQ.

3mm and 2mm Romans Legionaries

To get a sense of scale with 3mm miniatures here is a picture of (from left to right) 2mm Roman Legionaries from Irregular Miniatures, 3mm Roman Legionaries from Pico Armor/Oddzial Osmy, 6mm  Roman Legionaries from Baccus Miniatures and a good old fashion green army man for scale.

Here are a few pictures of a completed 3mm Roman Legionaries unit on a 40x20mm base

I am looking forward to getting a whole Legion painted up. I plan to use a each unit to represent a Cohort or 480 men (there are 48 individual figures on the base so I would need 10 to make an actual Cohort).      

 

Why 3mm?

I have been doing miniature wargaming on and off for about 15 years. I started with 28mm scale, but I was not a strong painter and it took me a long time to get even so-so results. About 5 years ago I started messing around with small scales, 10mm and 6mm. I found that I liked 6mm but most rule sets I played were based around 1 model representing a unit, not an individual person or vehicle. I also found that even the relatively simple painting of 6mm was hard to do to my satisfaction with my relatively limited time I had to invest into miniatures . For years I was interested in 2mm and 3mm scale but never actually got any because they seemed so small, I did not know if they would be fun to paint or play with. But after years of thinking about it I just though that I would just give it a go because these models are so cheap, I could buy a handful of of them and if I did not like them what was the harm?

I have collected miniatures of all sorts of themes over the years, but my favorites have been ancient and 20^th century so I decided to order some T-55 tanks in 3mm and some Roman Legionnaires in 2mm and 3mm.  

I got the 3mm models form Pico Armor (manufactured by Oddzial Osmy) and the 2mm from Irregular miniatures. I was not that taken with 2mm, but I was very impressed with the Pico Armor models.

 There level of detail for their size was impressive. The quality of the casting and metal was great. They were fun and quick to paint and I thought they looked good based and on the tabletop. I really felt like I had found something I had been looking for and wanted to settle in my miniature collecting at the 3mm scale for the next little while. So, I wanted to start up a blog on 3mm miniatures because I felt like there was not a lot of information out there about it and I think that if people give it a try that they will be impressed.

This is why I would recommend 3mm miniatures for wargames:

 First, it gives the feel of commanding a whole army when on the table.

Second it is quick to paint and looks impressive in mass. Once you get the hang of it you can paint up whole armies over the course of a week, or even a weekend if you have more free time.

Third it is very inexpensive compared to other miniature collecting. Miniature wargaming is a niche hobby and unless you are part of a club it can be hard to find people to play with, let alone please who play with miniatures in the era or theme that you collect. With 3mm you can collect two armies (so you can provide you opponent with an army) of about 20 units each (40 units total) for around 60 USD. Give or take 20 dollars depending on how densely you want to base them.

All together I was sold. The real downside to 3mm is that there are not a lot of manufacturers and some other miniature collectors seem to be dismissive of the scale, but I think that will change as more people give it a thy and people can see how impressive an army you can make with it.  

My goal is that over the course of a few years I would like to collect at least two armies in 3mm in the settings of ancient history, the Great War, World War II, Cold War, Science Fiction and Fantasy. By my calculation that will cost me about 350 to 400 USD. As a person who used to collect 40K miniatures 400 dollars for 10 armies is a bargain!

I am starting this blog to document the collection. I hope you find it interesting or helpful.

 

Welcome! This blog is meant to be a record of my 3mm miniature collection and wargaming. Also, I may provide some painting tutorials, game tutorials and reviews of miniatures and rule sets.