Store Bought Vs. Home Grown
When I first started role playing we used a handful of miniatures we got from our dad, and some of those Star Wars toys that were also miniatures. If you grew up in the 80's you might remember these toys: they were small miniature metal figures that came from classic scenes from the Star Wars universe. We also used a handful of plastic soldiers to represent villains and other bad guys. What I wouldn't have given at the time for a set of fantasy miniatures who were fully painted and ready to use. Today, you can have just that. These are the Dungeons and Dragons miniatures that come pre-painted and pre-assembled. They're functional, but is it enough?
When I first started role playing we used a handful of miniatures we got from our dad, and some of those Star Wars toys that were also miniatures. If you grew up in the 80's you might remember these toys: they were small miniature metal figures that came from classic scenes from the Star Wars universe. We also used a handful of plastic soldiers to represent villains and other bad guys. What I wouldn't have given at the time for a set of fantasy miniatures who were fully painted and ready to use. Today, you can have just that. These are the Dungeons and Dragons miniatures that come pre-painted and pre-assembled. They're functional, but is it enough?
I purchased a starter box set to see what these were like. First, they are painted, but marginally so. The eyes on the figures aren't done, except for the Wight for some reason. The color palette is a little drab, but functional. The whole line is plastic and easily bendable. As minis, I would say they're steps above cardboard figures and plastic soldiers. They do have a fantasy taste, as there are people here with bows, swords, and scythes.
The box set also comes with a map sheet, cardboard battle areas set up in squares, and a rule book. There are also cards with each miniature's stats for use in the tactical combat game. The tactical combat game is a simplified version of the D&D combat rules, so those of you familiar with that shouldn't have any problem picking up this combat system.
The cardboard battle areas are nice as they are tiled for minis to fit. I would say these were my favorite thing in the box. The battle mat is paper and would be functional if it wasn't creased from being folded up. I put mine under some heavy books to flatten it out, and it's still there. Hopefully in another 24 hours it will be flat enough to use.
Overall, I would say the box set was a fair buy. The miniatures though are not what I had hoped for, but are still functional. If you have neither the patience nor the talent to paint your own, then I suggest these would be adequate. I would also suggest looking at the Mage Knight series for usable minis as well, as those are also small and plastic.
If you do have the time or are looking for miniatures that are more detailed, I would suggest painting your own. Reaper has a great fantasy line, as do Celtos, and even old Chainmail sets if you can find them. The metal miniatures provide more detail, and when painted correctly allow much more astonishing color than these.
The booster sets each come with eight figures. If you start buying more boosters, be prepared to get multiple figures that are the same. The commons and uncommons come in each booster set, so you will end up with a large number of orcs, wolves, and commoners.
The rares are a sight better than the regular miniatures, and are painted to look nicer as well. But since you only get one in each box, and not guaranteed on getting a different one in each box, I would say be careful how you spend your money unless you don't mind having a ton of these small plastic figures.
They do make good fodder for your gaming table though, and in conjunction with my metal miniatures provide a good number of bad guys on the table for when my heroes get into it. At only a $1.25 per figure ready to play, it's a bit cheaper to have hordes of these ready to go then to paint up a horde of kobold or orc miniatures. At that, even though I paint my own miniatures, I still find them useful.
I would say when I was younger I wish these had been around, as it took me a while to pick up painting. These miniatures provide figures ready to be used in the role playing genre right away. So if you're looking for ease of use and not concerned with quality, I recommend these. If you want a miniature you're going to love and cherish, then I suggest a metal painted miniature.
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I never really got into the 'figure painting' but I can respect it as a hobby. I figures I do have are metal and not painted. I guess the cost and variety of the figures were the main reasons I do not currently command a global army of 'small soldiers.' The funds that I put into gaming usually go to books and dice...and snacks. The few times we DID use figures, we could never find any that came really close to our PCs appearance.
We use a whiteboard instead of battlemaps; draw the terrain and just mark each person on the board with a unique color. The board is big enough to allow room for a battle sheet (keep track of stats, MP, HP, etc). There is enough of us who can draw so we don't have any problems with any details...
My group started using miniatures and battlemats about 18 months ago, and I really can't believe it took me over 20 years of gaming to discover what a difference miniatures make. We have avoided so many discussions and arguments resulting from player confusion about the positions of combatants.
I'm also a wargamer, so I enjoy collecting and painting miniatures. Some talent is required to paint your own, but I think just about anyone can do a half-decent job painting a mini. It just takes practice and a good set of brushes.
Now my players are clamoring for minis that actually look like the monsters they're fighting. They're tired of facing my Warhammer halberdiers all the time. But some of them have gone out and bought their own monster minis, painted them, and started bringing them to games. Two of them even painstakingly constructed terrain. It all makes a huge difference... the more effort you can put into it, the better it looks.
Paint Legos 8)
I reviewed these as well, from the point of view of a game master. I intend to review the Dragoneye set as well, when time permits.
As to maps / battlemaps / etc ... check out today's retrospective:
http://doccus.dragon.cx:8080/archives/000063.html
I put links back to the separate reviews of all of the products we got over Christmas for our gaming sessions. Basically, we got D&D minis, Tact-Tiles (great battle map!), and Dork 20 cards for our sessions.
We had a *blast* last night paying with it all.
D
I have used minis in games from time to time but that has really fallen by the wayside for my group. Unless, that is, we are playing Twilight 2000 in which case we use army men and not regular minis.
I play tabletop games like Warhammer 40k quite a bit so I do have an extensive collection of minis but most of them are for that and are never used for rpgs.
Minis for me used to be a major part of my Shadowrun games but I no longer do that.
I really wish my DM would use minis. It gets annoying looking at a sheet of graph paper and erasing and re-marking.
Wish the D&D minis were made out of a slightly harder plastic. My bladesinger and troglodyte (both from Dragoneye) are both leaning over more than they should be.
They may not have the best paint jobs, but they are mass producing them, and I wouldn't want the price to get too much higher.
If I had the interest in using these, I'd have a plethora to choose from, as I'm a long time Warhammer/Warhammer 40k player, and one of my roommates is as well. Have enought Chaos and Orc minatures between us to simulate the seige of Minas Tirith.
However, in general I have found that I just don't like the feel of miniatures in my games. When I first started out I didn't use them, and as my group was fairly laid back, and we tend to go into quite a bit of location detail, we usually didn't have many knock down drag out fights.
After a while, we switched over to miniatures for a few games, and the general feeling among us was that they didn't provide enough of an improvement in battle mechanics and clarity to offset the loss of flow and mood. Possibly, this is because we all tend to play wargames as our other hobby, so we prefer to let our imaginations do the wandering in this venue, however, that's personal speculation.
Either way, we switched back after a couple of months and I've found that I much prefer the word of mouth storyteller style of play. I tend to view the whole thing as an interactive book and like creating the scene in my mind from the description given, rather than having it laid out for me in grid form. Loses some of the magic I guess.
To each their own though, and I can see how the structure would at least avoid fights among the argumentative.
As a teen I bought some of the TSR lead minis (OK so I'm old) and painted them up just the way I liked them. It was fun, but they never got used in a game until 18 months ago.
In my curent game we use battle maps an minis, and it is working out great, no more "can I hit him" GM judgement calls, movement rates now matter, and facing bonuses and line of sight et al are clear for all to see. I have just about enough 20 yr old minis for the party, so for the opponents I picked up Cardboard Heros from Steve Jackson Games. For 20 bucks I've got all the opponents I could need, plus there are plenty of potential cardboard PCs in the mix as well, but we like the PCs in metal and the NPCs in cardboard, it makes for easy friend vs foe recognition.
As a result of this article and the ensuing discussion, I think I'll take a look at the D&D minis to see what I'm missing.
I agree with Cocytus that the efforts you put in are well worth the time. I personally find the whole hobby too enjoyable! The work of the skilled sculpters (have you ever tried your hand at it? I suck!!!) completmentd by your own patient work, so that it becomes intimately unique. It's like cocaine for me. I have painted so many mini's ... that ... that... [gag reflex kicks in] I don't wanna talk about it. Needless to say, the p.p.plastic minis have given me enough time to see what the world has become in my absence. And that is a good thing. It goes without saying that I prefer tabletop gaming. The minis get my small (yet highly influencial) vote!
What I'm really interested in is Lil' John's Cardboard Heroes, and Doccus's Dork deck. I have heard of, but have not seen these products. Please, tell me more about these wonderful items. They are ... preciousss ... to meeee.
Thank you Amp21 for the review.
As times changed, we got away from minis, and everyone used their favorite d4... at least they were all different colors so we could tell who was who.
Now, though, we're starting back into minis. Unfortunately, most of the hobby stores in our area carry only Battletech minis and a few LotR minis. I can remember spending countless hours pouring through racks of minis to find the one closest to my character, and then the painstaking process of painting it (which for me was terrible as I don't have a steady enough hand).
Online purchasing from Reaper or other makers is an alternative, but I miss being able to look at them in the blisterpack and compare several side-by-side.
Ah, well, just my old man musings again, I guess.
Yeah, but your musings made me smile!
Sharky says:
What I'm really interested in is Lil' John's Cardboard Heroes, and Doccus's Dork deck.
Cardboard Heroes - SJG came out with these in the 80's, a sheet of pictures that you cut out, fold into a little stand, and use like a mini. At the time, I remember spending a great deal of time deciding which sheet would provide me the most value for $2.95. Now they are sold as a wirebound book with about 12 pages of characters, npcs, and monsters, and a of page of debris, treasure, weapons, etc. Assuming I can embed a link correctly you should be able to see the product here:
http://www.sjgames.com/heroes/index.html
and see sample art from it here:
http://www.sjgames.com/heroes/art.html
They are not as cool as the minis you paint yourself (not close) but they are a cheap way to represent a 15 orc raiding party, and I've used the giants and elementals a lot.
John
There's a ton of free or so cheap as to be durn near free cardboard miniatures, buildings, etc. on the web. This guy:
http://www.geocities.com/glenbarnett/minis.html
...has links to a lot of them.
The best (in my not-so-humble opinion) are the ones that come either as fonts or as pdf files and you simply print out as many or few as you need.
HH
We're all here to help each other out...
I thought that the quality of the Minis were really sub par. I prefer to use rebased MageKnight minis for easy to find cannon fodder. The quality of the paint jobs is much higher than the garbage that WotC is trying to feed us. I found that the insistance with using the same shade of brown and flesh on 70% of the figures was just annoying. Also the plastic they used is hard to repaint to make the figures decent. Gloss finish just makes the minis look cheap. I will not waste my money on any more of these pieces of garbage. I am annoyed that WotC foisted these off on the gaming public as "quality"
I also paint minis and have now for many many years. I remember the LoTR minis that Heritage put out. They were my first figures. Using a battlemat and any kind of figures is much better than using dice. Having a mini that resembles your character and your opponents just makes imagining the scene much easier. I have used Cardboard Heros for many years in conjunction with my own painted figures. I think that having a decent looking figure also helps.
Tasha :/
We used the D&D Minis, Tact-Tiles battleboard, and the Dork 20 cards for our weekly game on December 29th.
http://doccus.dragon.cx:8080/archives/000063.html
Review above. Includes links to all three of the products, and some other post-Christmas information.
The Harbinger minis paint job is horrid. However, when you can get them on the net for less than $1 each ... understandable. The rares are painted better, usually, and the entire Dragoneye line is a step up from Harbinger. Some are still shoddy, though.
Friends drop my hand-painted leads, and I'll freak! They drop my plastic $1 "painted in 30 seconds in China" minis, and I really don't care that much :)
The Dork 20 cards were a complete hit! They're fun as Hell, actually speed up gameplay (combats, at least) in many instances, and were something new to us jaded old gamers.
D
Doccus!
Nice site. Simple yet informative. Kudos for keeping it all elegantly accessable for even a first time visitor. The all white background seems so fresh and original, it's absurd! My eyes thank thee.
I went to find out about those ... precioussss ... Dork20 cards. Thanks. I'll check back again in the future to see how your site is doing!