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I would suggest to you, from what you have said, is to go with 15MM. Old Glory and Battlefront should have everything you need to do the forces you want. Especially if you use the "dunk and thunk" method of painting.

"Dunk and Thunk" to those that dont know is to block paint the figure w/o trying to get the details brought out. Basic flesh on face, basic uniform , quick webgear, weapon, boots, hands. Then dunk the figure in a wash of wood stain, then thunk it to get the excess off. The stain fills the recesses and performs a quick and dirty shading of the figure.

Very useful method when you are trying to build a force quickly. It wont however win you any figure painting awards.

Hope my two cents helps.

Edited to add. As a basic starter I would say Ospreys are good. Just understand that they are trying to cover a wide swath of history in 40 to 60 pages. I would also suggest to google search for museums that post parts of the collection online. Nothing better than to see color pictures of the actual gear.

If I might suggest "Easy Model" as a source for your 20MM armor. A tank ready to go out of the box at not quite the price of a Dragon die cast. I would also see if a google search would turn up "wargame tank kits" as a viable option. Some kits out there that are bare bones but you get two tanks per box and cheap too. Built for wargaming, you just add the details you want.


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Since you are going 20MM I also have a suggestion for basing your infantry. Use a movement tray that has holes cut for individual figures. I think Litko has them as well as a few other manufactures. If you want some opinions from folks that have used them you can go to http://theminiaturespage.com/ and ask there.

Basicly it will allow you to use your figures for FOW and other systems out there where you use the individual figures to play.

I would post up links to companies for you but I am not 100% sure that it is acceptable practice here.

For me, YMMV, the 20MM scale is the way to go. I can paint them up quickly, not fast, and they dont strain my four eyes to paint them like the 15's do.

Here are some pics of my modern US and Afghans in 20MM for you.

Edited to add: Make sure you wash all the plastics you buy in luke warm water with dishwashing soap. This will get the last of the mold release off the plastic and allow the paint to stick to the figure. If you already knew this then accept my apologies.

http://www.ambushalleygames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=422

http://www.ambushalleygames.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=943