The Commander Series Forum

Hi guys,

For those interested in 1:600 (3mm) minis, the first installment of the long awaited Israeli range has been released by Oddzial Osmy (through Picoarmor). So far there is:

IS-601 Merkava 1 (15 pcs) - first Israeli made tank, designed for maximal protection of crew
IS-602 Sh'ot Kal (15 pcs) - upgraded Centurion with new engine and 105mm gun
IS-603 Sherman M51 (15 pcs) - old Sherman tank up-gunned with French 105mm gun
IS-604 M113 Bardehlass (15 pcs) - standard M113 APC version
IS-605 M113 Vayzata (15 pcs) - version with additional 'Toga' armor
IS-606 M3 Half-track (15 pcs) - 2WW veteran, in use by IDF for many years
IS-607 IDF Infantry (15 pcs) - strips of 5 standing infantrymen

Along with the M48 & M60 models already available in the Modern US range, this is pretty much everything needed to do the Israeli forces in most Arab-Israeli conflicts ('56, '67, '73, '82). The Arabs can of course be done from the very comprehensive existing Soviet range.

About the only thing needed to expand the Israeli range into the future is some more of the Israeli-specific modified vehicles (such as RCL on Jeeps & M113 and some of the early SP Artillery) some of the newer MBT (Merkava 2,3,4 and M60 with ERA), and tanks coverted to IFV / APC (eg. Achzarit). But I'm happy to wait for these since the majority of equipment in the most important conflicts are now covered (and Artillery is normally off-board in my games).

I for one am happy about all this as it means I can switch from Europe to the Middle East for some games.

cheers,

bish

It would be nice if they formed some Battle Group packs, to help save a little on price. Did some comparison shopping a little while ago, and there is not much of a difference in building a BG in 1:600 then in 6mm (from scratch.)

But, for the size they are really good minis.

Hmmm, I think it's much cheaper? But it depends on the brand for 1:300 really (I only use GHQ). Just to illustrate what I mean, I'll give an example.

Using a 1:1 ratio for 1:600 of minis to real vehicles in an organisation, and a 1 mini per 'platoon' for 1:300 scale. A soviet Tank Battalion (30 tanks in 9 Platoons, plus HQ):

In 1:600 is 2 packs (30 vehicles) for $7.00 USD. I usually buy multiple Battalions and buy a spare pack to make up any odd HQ vehicles, but PicoArmor also very conveniently offer part-packs, so you can even buy single vehicles (= $0.50 USD ea.). So worst case, $7.50 for the whole battalion of 31 vehicles.

In 1:300 is 2 packs (10 vehicles = 9 platoons + BHQ) for $19.90 from the GHQ site. I'm sure you can shop around and get better prices, or buy another brand, but it's still a big difference!

It's the same for any unit. Basically where you would have 1 vehicle in 1:300 you would have 3-5 in 1:600 (or only 1-2 if a HQ stand). On average a pack of fifteen 1:600 minis does the job for 3-5 stands. Which is the same as a pack of five 1:300 minis. The cost of a 1:600 pack is $3.50, and for a 1:300 pack is $9.95. So since a pack of each does the same job on the gaming table, it seems it is always going to work out cheaper to go with 1:600? (and I like the 1:1 look better too...)

regards,

bish

I must admit that my 3mm AIW has been waiting for these new models. With air support cheaper in 3mm as well, it makes a world of a difference to your whole force costs.

I am not planning on doing 1:1 with these but we will wait and see

Si

Pico ? in the US do do unit packs and terrain.

IanS

Ian,
the same bunch that John pushes on the 1/600th air group on yahoo

http://picoarmor.com/catalog.html

Thanks, couldnt rember. Must admit his terrain looks nice. Still I'm going to make my own, all it takes is time. As to troop represnetation in 1/600th for Arab Israli, the full strenght on a base approch is a good way to go. Because :

1) All tank platoons are 3's

2) There are no large platoons - 5 or more.

I often use 3mm or 1/600th air support - as have run out of room for 1/300th, and a bomb wing (18 B17 or 24) would be rather expensive in 1/300th.

IanS