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...or, am I bad person because small-scale models don't appeal to me?

I feel like I *should* love Flames of War, because I'm a WWII buff and it makes it easy to start out with lots of tanks, and slapping down a bunch of T-34s and PPSH-41 infantry should make me a happy camper. But every time I browse the model section for it, I feel underwhelmed (and vaguely terrified at the prospect of painting so many tiny models, I never wanted to do a horde army again and have shaky hands to boot.)

Same issue with dropship commander, etc. (Not dystopian wars, though, for ships it makes sense for some reason.)

Is this just a purely mental thing where I've been conditioned to 28/30 mm and I will get used to it playing a different game? Or is it just a personal taste thing and some people prefer smaller models representing a much larger battle?

It is mental because smaller scale models are easier to paint to look good than bigger scales. You do not need to detail them to the same level.

It's not bad, the models just don't appeal to you.

If you don't like exaggerated models, you definitely won't like 15mm or smaller, as infantry needs to be exaggerated to have actual visible details.

That said, as notprop said, they're easy to paint if you don't want to spend time on them. That is a scale where quick painting methods like washes really don't look any worse than models painted with time and care.

Being underwhelmed by the models themselves just comes down to preference. I'm not a huge fan of the UCM models for Dropzone Commander, and the Scourge took a long time to grow on me, and I rather like them now. Posthuman Republic initially wowed me but eventually the range just looked very samey (the walkers mostly look the same with weapon swaps, for example). The Shaltari, however, are absolutely gorgeous.

It's a personal taste thing? no one stops you from playing flames of war with larger models.

Although playing apocalypse with epic miniatures would make it cheaper.

The painting thing is mental as notprop says.

As for the overall feeling, I recommend finding someone to show you the game. Many FoW buffs and fans of other ww2 games have more than enough figs to provide both sides. You might find that the experience outweighs your trepidation.

On the other hand after trying smaller scales, you may discover that you are just a 25/28mm addict. No harm in that. There's a bunch of WW2 game that work in that scale as well.

As for the overall appeal. Some folks like one particular scale, but it's been my experience that most historical gamers play different eras and different scales and some even play the same era in multiple scales.

I have ancients armies in 28mm, 15mm and 2mm scales.

Smaller scales are actually easier to paint rather than less. Once you start seeing a 15mm human as the equivalent of the leg of a larger 28mm miniature, it becomes less about painting the whole thing to the same standard as you would a 28mm miniature and more about getting the right impression.

Smaller figures tend to be used "en masse", as seen in these Napoleonic Russians -- 6mm models (painted by Reinforcements by Post).



Each base is 60mm square and has 18 cavalry figures, 19 including the general.

So play ww2 in 28mm then...