Ten 15mm miniature ranges nobody makes! (Possibly with good reason)

Scooby-Doo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These days the humble 15mm miniature has seen something of a revival within the gaming world, I myself have always been a fan since I was a kid (My dad bought me my first mini at about the  age of 7 or so) What stopped me from getting the 15mm bug full on, was the fact that the 15’s I could easily get were of the historical kind, and soon enough, I was converted to the whole 25mm scale (Because of all the monsters I think!)

For years I played through the various incarnations of Warhammer Fantasy Battle (2nd edition and up), 40K, and countless spawned GW classics, as well as a plethora of TSR games and other varied RPGs and strategy games, utilising my growing collection of 25/28mm figures. Then came a time that I just stopped playing and collecting all together, my heart wasn’t in it and times were a changing!

After I had my first kid, my interest was sparked again to the hobby, but this was where my real love affair started with 15mm, I found a new form of entertainment in ancient and medieval wargaming, and sure enough I got the bug again, but this time the 15mm scale became my fave scale, it’s smaller size was quicker to paint, cheaper on my pocket, and easier to store compared with 28mm.

My love of all things fantastical and horrific would lead me to look for more strange and unusual figures in the scale, and remains with me today. However, this love of the strange has accelerated more and more as I have grown older, and with the internet, the great 15mm revival seems to grow each day in syc with my love of this great scale.

The event of mass world wide communications and such things like Kickstarter, are allowing the 15mm gamer to have more choice and creative vision to expand upon days gone by, and start to bring 15’s up to the diversity found up till now in the 25/28mm ranges.

So, with this in mind, I would like to to present some of my weird ideas that I’d like to see made flesh in “god’s true scale”!

1. Scooby Doo gang (Mysteries Inc.)- Someone should bring out these minis! Who could resist using the gang in scenarios and missions with a zombie theme? Or even a Lovecraft based skirmish, hell you could even make some house rules for Scooby snacks or when Velma looses her glasses mid combat! On a more serious note (Not too serious though…) They could be great in Sci-fi games, moderns and maybe time travelling games. There are plenty of 28mm versions available now, so come on people, lets get scooby dooby dooing a set for us please….!
2. Mr Men- I always thought that the Mr Men (or alternative Mr types) would make for a funny campaign. I can imagine Mr “Trigger ” Happy, or any number of parody Mr’s. Zombie Mr Men Vs Survivors (Mr men ones of course!), Maybe a Mummy themed dungeon bash with Mr (indy) Jones and many Mr bump styled Mummies! Even fantasy versions or scifi parodies would be fun. I’m not suggesting that these would sell well, nor would there be a high demand, just fun!
3. Super Heroes- Now this is fantastic an idea, I’m pretty sure that there aren’t any that have tried to make some of these before. Of course it would be nice if we could have some Marvel or DC comics characters, but it is highly unlikely that even if one was to aquire the rights, this would make them far too expensive within the niche market that is 15mm. Imagine though, the games you could play, reenacting your fave comic story lines. I myself would settle for some “not” versions or some made up unique types.
4. Coronation Street/Eastenders characters- Ok, this may seem strange but, I have always thought it would make a great game on a board based in Weatherfield/Walford, either would do for me, this could be a post apoc, or alternative invasion scenario (even aliens) My choice would be for the usual Zombie game, as it would be great to see the dead characters rise again to attack the living.
5. Fruit Vs Veg- When I was little, there used to be a thing called the munch bunch, a group of anthropomorphic fruit and veg who had little adventures in a TV program. There used to be little cheapo pencil toppers you could get, which I loved, using them versus my toy soldiers in missions and battles. I would now love to get some figures of these crazy fruit and veg in more dynamic poses, ready to battle other dynamic posed veggies (or other food stuff for that matter) I can picture an apple with a machine gun, or the Potato commando in a Rambo stylee. Silly? Yes absolutely! Fun? Yeah, for sure!!
6. The A Team- Who could resist these guys for your modern games? Hannibal, Face, BA and Murdoch would be great to do a campaign straight out of the classic episodes, you know, the ones where they end up against the MPs or in some little backwater tin pot dictatorship. Lock them up in a barn and watch them convert junk into a CO2 powered tank thing to save the day!!
7. ABC Warriors– Now I’ve considered making some “not” versions of these, and I’m sure that it isn’t just me that would welcome a set of them for some brilliant sci fi games. I always had a liking for them and was a big 2000AD fan when growing up. A set of these would be a very welcome addition to my collection, as I have always pondered if I should get the 28mm versions available, but I fear that my lack of 28mm sci fi minis it would be simply for a collectors perspective. ABC Warriors, Hell yeah!
8. Dr Who- Someone just please bring out some 15mm Dr Who minis. I’m not too interested in the Doctor and his companions (I would imagine that most wouldn’t share my sentiments) I just want the Aliens! Daleks, Cybermen, Autons, Silurians, Judoon and so on and on. Lets face it, there is a lot of races to draw upon that would be good for wargaming in this scale. I’m sure the BBC would stamp on anyone who crossed the line too much, but this doesn’t seem to have happened with certain manufacturers creating 6mm, 10mm and 28mm versions of the much loved franchise, this even without Auntie Beeb‘s all seeing eye! Hear us, WE WANT DR WHO STUFF IN 15MM NOW!
9. Star Wars- Yes I do know there are some 15mm minis of the main characters and some generic jedi types available, but I would love just the “bods”, the stormtroopers, clone troopers, trade fed droids, mandalorians and other main Wars troops. It would seem that no one would like to take on Lucas’ lawyers in the past, and now the even bigger galactic frozen head emperor, Disney. Just like the rebellion, a brave individual needs to stand up against the Sith and make some good minis. The nearest thing we ever had for these troops were micro machine troopers, but they are no longer available, and what are fetch a high price. Darth Disney would no doubt be willing to sell rights to make them, but again one fears  the nicheness of the 15mm gaming world would be a barrier. Besides, you know what they say about fear and the darkside…..
10. Planet of the Apes- now this is promising, I have seen some 15’s that look as if at least these could eventually be reality, but for my lot, I’d want the classic 70’s apes and not the modern versions (although Tim Burtons version had the gorillas that looked cool) I was brought up with the old classic versions and TV series, and think that a lot could be done with some decent miniatures and the setting. Apes on horseback with rifles were quite disturbing as a kid, and they would no doubt strike a bit of fear in your opponent. I would urge any who would make these figures in 15mm to just do it. We would forever be in your debt!

So, there you have it. Some good, some probably not so good ideas, but ideas none the less. I would love to hear your own top 10 ideas for 15mm ranges, however off the wall they are. Maybe industry people actually listen to us plebs, maybe they don’t.

One thing is sure, 15mm is still a valid miniature scale for those of us with taste and sense.

LONG LIVE THE 15’S!!

Related articles

• [The Grinning Skull] 15mm US Marines to battle the zombie hordes…
• 15mm SciFi Future War Neo British Kickstarter Fully funded!!
• [The Grinning Skull] First Look: 15mm Criat Mercenary master cast!
• [The Grinning Skull] LOUD NINJA GAMES: 15mm SPACE RAPTOR Miniatures Kickstarter now Live!
• [The Grinning Skull] Attack of the 15mm Giant B-Movie Spiders and Ants from Poundland!!