A few years ago I started to get involved with collecting
Axis and Allies War at Sea ships. War at Sea is a war game that was developed by Wizards of the Coast. It is an enjoyable game. Each ship had its own characteristics, some of which were more reasonable than others. The ships themselves were fairly well made considering they were super cheap, made from flexible plastic and roughly painted. But Wizards of the Coast decided to cease producing this game and sadly it is hard to come across some of the rarer ships and when you do it is expensive. However, War at Sea developed a
dedicated community. So, although the ships are no longer made the game itself is supported by the War at Sea gaming community.
 |
Axis and Allies: War at Sea.
these three examples are HMAS Sydney (Back), HMAS Canberra (Centre) and HMAS Nizam (Front) |
As a starting point for miniatures, War at Sea was great for me. It gave me an indication of what could and couldn't be done at such a small scale (War at Sea miniatures are 1:1 800 scale). Some ships were attractive and had good details. Others, however, were ugly and poorly sculpted. Because the ships are no longer produced I wanted to find a way to continue. And I want to continue with nice attractive ships.
Luckily there are other companies that produce model ships at different scales (no one else does 1:1 800). One scale that I considered was 1:1 200. Being a larger scale the ships tend to have more details. Also, there are several manufacturers of the scale (or close to it). Some manufacturers are of exceptionally high quality. The store
Alnavco gives a good example of the range available. Sadly, for me I think that these are too expensive to collect in large quantities.
I think the best value for money (considering the very fine details) are the 1:2 400 GHQ micronauts. These are the ones that I'll be converting my War at Sea navy to in the long term. The range is good, the sculpting is great and they are made from metal. The only thing I don't prefer about them is the size (other people find the tiny size a bonus). This makes it harder to paint for me but also a good enjoyable challenge. It also makes storage very easy! If you've not seen them before have a look at the
GHQ range.
