Which scale do you prefer? Heroic, or True?

40K is a heroic scale game. This is a specific aesthetic and stylistic choice. It means the bodies, heads, hands, etc... of the models are disproportionate to those in real life. Weapons that should be tiny become massive; soldiers carry guns the size of their torso. The reason for this is to make it clear on the battlefield who is carrying what - it enhances WYSIWYG. Also, it lends models a certain grandeur that true scale lacks.

True scale is when models are scaled properly, as they should look in real-life. Mantic and most non-GW companies tend to use true scale, which is why their parts don't cross over to GWs, and why if you stand one next to the other they look 'wrong', or 'different'.

N.B.:There is a popular conversion to make 'true scale' Marines (i.e.: Marines who are scaled up so their model size actually fits the fluff), but that's not the same thing as this, as a 'true scale' marine would still be essentially heroically scaled.


Heroic scale:

True scale:

Comparison of the two: