Axis & Allies Minis Sizes

From an ENWorld post:

"The stores in my area are having the same problem with the Axis and Allies minis game. I know at least one store that has given away an entire case of starters and boosters because no one wants it. Wizards made a huge mistake in not making it to the same scale as the DDM and SWM lines. A lot of people would have loved to use the figs for a modern game."

and

"I second the Axis and Allies. I don't know who may be using it in this area, but the fact that it's not built for 28mm scale has totally mixed any desire for me to buy them."

I'm not sure how you could use WW2 minis for a modern game, unless by "modern" you mean "1940's". Also, the vehicles, tanks in particular, would be huge and cost-prohibitive for most people. And let's face it - the people that would play A&A mini's want tanks. Not infantry, not jeeps - tanks. Tanks are badass.

If Avalon Hill* made a mistake with the A&A minis it was not making them proper 15mm scale and to scale with one another. That way they would have appealled to the Flames of War crowd as well. The sculpting isn't nearly as good, but being pre-painted is a very attractive quality to a lot of people. Plus, looking at the preview of the next A&A set, you could get some interesting figures that FoW doesn't have available (Chinese, Polish, and Romanian units aren't available for FoW, and the selection of Japanese units is pretty sparse...).


*: Technically these minis are AH-branded, though it seems a little surreal to consider that AH is a subsidary brand of WotC...