These guys are tiny! 10mm ACW gaming

10mm Civil War miniature wargaming figures and terrain from a game held at Rock Con 2008. The rules were A Terrible Discord by Doyle Collins. Photos by Randy Miller of ACME Terrain. For more photos of this scenario, “Richmond or Bust,” please click here.

Have you ever tried 10mm wargaming? It packs more figures, terrain, and excitement into a smaller space, making the scale ideal for kitchen table gaming or smaller venues than 25mm or even 15mm. The scale can readily be used for larger convention games as well.

I gave 10mm a shot a few years ago when I purchased some packs of 10mm Rebellion figures from the good folks at GHQ, who made the Terrain Maker hexes I was finishing and using at the time. I also picked up a bunch of 10mm accessories and houses / buildings and planned to switch from 15mm to 10mm (keep in mind that I had already scaled down from 20mm K+L figures to 15s, so this would have been my second dip into the scale downsizing pool).

At the time, unrelated to all my wargaming activity and painting of hundreds and hundreds of 15mm figures, I began suffering some eye problems (detached retina, cataracts, etc.) that eventually necessitated surgical repairs. (They were hereditary; not to worry, my painter friends.) As a result, I found that my eyes could not focus well enough at close range to paint the tiny little details on the 10mm GHQ pewter figures (which were superbly cast in my opinion, by the way). I kept the 15mm figures, but also kept the 10mm buildings and used them with the slightly larger figures. Doug Kline and other JRGS members I knew had already switched to 10mm structures for 15mm Johnny Reb 3 gaming, so I was not unique. I liked the look, and the footprint of the building was much smaller, enabling more maneuvering in formation.

Have you ever tried 10mm gaming? Any photos of your 10mm Civil War forces in action that you are willing to share with the Charge! readership? If so, send me an e-mail at scottmingus@yahoo.com and I will post them.