Today's post will be detailing out the main reasons I use 1/72 scale models for wargaming purposes. Let's list them out to begin with and explore them individually.
- Availability
- Quality
- Variety
- Quick start
- Budget
A drawback to the large online availability in this scale is that it can be hard to distinguish what you want or need based solely on photographs and sellers descriptions.
This leads to the next point on the list, quality. The quality of 1/72 models range from downright unrecognizable to excellent, but again the few photos and brief descriptions usually leave something to be desired.
Luckily there is a fantastic resource for this scale at www.plasticsoldierreview.com.
The site provides great close photos of each miniature pose in the box with a very detailed description of the figures. Details include average size, number of miniatures, plastic hardness, and to top it off they rate the selection of figures in multiple categories. By far this is the best place to start when trying to figure out the quality of each manufacturers offerings.
Now that we have a guide for ascertaining the quality and availability of 1/72 scale miniatures, we can explore the variety of offerings in this scale.
Historical wargaming has a very heavy presence in this scale as far back as the ancients to as recently as mordern combat. While this may be a large portion of the miniatures in this space, there is a growing number of fantasy models being produced. These fantasy boxes range from zombies, goblins, mages, elves, dwarves, orcs, trolls, and many more. Needless to say there is a fair amount of variety in this scale with more being added each year.
Most boxes of miniatures in this scale provide between 36-65 figures per box which is enough to put together a small platoon or division. Additionally most of the figures do not require assembly and only need to be clipped from the casting sprue. This helps people who are just starting out to get into the hobby and gaming faster than assembling every miniature individually. See below example of the Italeri US Infantry box I am using to make a 497 point infantry platoon for Boltaction (WW2 skirmish rule set).
Here you will see 2 12 man rifleman squads, an engineering squad, a second lieutenant with SMG assistant, medium machine gunner with 2 crew, and a medium mortar team with spotter. This one box is enough to create the bones of an infantry platoon. While not part of the 497 points I was able to make a bazooka team as well. The figures left on the sprues are 2 machine gunners, 2 mortar operators, 2 tank commanders and 2 bazooka soldiers which can be used for larger point value games. Here are some close ups of each unit.
Rifleman squad - 1 NCO with SMG, 1 BAR, 10 rifles/carbines
Rifleman squad - 1 NCO with SMG, 11 rifles/carbines
Engineering squad - 1 NCO with SMG, 1 SMG, 2 BAR, and a rifle
Back - 2nd Lieutenant with Pistol and SMG assistant
Front - Bazooka operator and SMG assistant
Medium machine gun team
Medium mortar team with spotter
This brings us to our final point, budget. This one box can range from $12-$25 depending on the time of year and the deals being run online. I purchased this set for $14 with $5.99 shipping. A true value at $20 when compared to 28mm which for the same force would easily be twice or even three times the cost. As a single income family of 5 I have to stretch every dollar when it comes to my discretionary spending and 1/72 scale miniatures fits the bill.
To recap, availability is good and with a little help from plastic soldier review you can find top quality figures in a wide array of era's and fantasies that get your army built quickly and won't break the bank. All in all 1/72 scale checks all the boxes I would want from a toy . . . er . . . figure.
Until next time, Happy Gaming!
