Miniature Sizes Explained

All our miniatures are measured from the soles of the feet to the eyes. This is the industry standard, and it's based on an average human male standing 6ft tall, upright, with at least one foot planted on the ground. So a 32mm miniature of a 6ft human measures 32mm from the soles of his feet to his eyes.

Why the eyes and not the top of the head? Because heads come with helmets, hats, hoods, hair and, in Bob's case, a fine pair of horns. The eyes are the one point every character has in roughly the same place. The base isn't counted either, as bases come in all sorts of thicknesses.

If a miniature is posed with bent legs, a wide stance or kneeling, we adjust the measurement so its proportions stay correct next to a standing 6ft human. That keeps everything consistent across your collection, whatever the pose.

The jump between sizes is bigger than the numbers suggest, because a miniature grows in every direction at once. A 35mm figure isn't just a little taller than a 28mm one. It's broader, chunkier and noticeably heavier on the table. Here's Bob at all five sizes, drawn to scale.

The 6ft human is the yardstick, and everyone else is sculpted in proportion to him. So a 32mm dwarf or halfling measures less than 32mm from foot to eye, and a 32mm ogre or a mounted figure measures more. That's intended and correct. After all, no one wants a halfling towering at 6ft tall. It'd eat us out of house and home.

The same goes for women, aliens and anything else that isn't a 6ft human male. They'll stand at their natural height next to him, which is exactly what you want when they share a table.

Miniature sizes have been creeping upwards for decades. What everyone now calls 28mm started out as 25mm, and plenty of ranges sold as 28mm today measure closer to 30mm or more. Some makers measure to the top of the head rather than the eyes, and heroic ranges deliberately use bigger heads, hands and weapons so they read well across a table.

So please don't assume a size from the game you play. Warhammer hasn't been a single 28mm standard for over twenty years, and ranges sold as heroic or historic 28mm are routinely 30mm measured foot to eye. We've compared over 2,000 miniatures against the leading ranges, and these are the rough figures we work to.

Warhammer 40,000 is a good example of how much one game can vary. Astra Militarum guardsmen like the Cadians come out at about 28mm foot to eye, while current Space Marines stand around 35mm. Necromunda's gangers sit in between, noticeably taller than the Guard, at around 32mm. So depending on which army you're matching, any of our 28mm, 32mm or 35mm sizes could be the right one.

If you're adding to a collection, the easiest way to get a perfect match is to measure a miniature you already own, exactly the way we measure ours, and order to that number.

Our compare tool puts miniatures next to each other at their true sizes, so you can see the difference instead of imagining it. It works just like the lineups on this page, only with real miniatures from our range and reference figures from games you'll know.

It is your responsibility to check that the size you select is right for your collection before ordering. We offer miniatures in 28mm, 32mm, 35mm, 55mm and 75mm.

Our miniatures are printed to order. If you choose a size and then decide it wasn't the one you wanted, the miniature is not faulty and we are not at fault, but you can still return it to us under our Refund Policy, at your cost, for a refund.