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I’ve been slowly getting into 4th edition D&D, and one of the things I’d like to do is build up my miniatures collection. I know there are other mechanisms for representations of monsters in gaming (I’ve used ‘em all, and I respect ‘em all, and have access to them) but I like miniatures. I like pretty terrain, and little guys on the field.
I'm relatively new to the game and as a DM i don't think there are really enough miniatures, and the ones that exist are very expensive. What are the "other mechanisms"?
I'm relatively new to the game and as a DM i don't think there are really enough miniatures, and the ones that exist are very expensive. What are the "other mechanisms"?
You could use scrabble tiles.
The local RPGA had lots of little cardboard chits. Maybe thousands of them. They would hand out handfulls of them in a pinch.
I'm relatively new to the game and as a DM i don't think there are really enough miniatures, and the ones that exist are very expensive. What are the "other mechanisms"?
Pieces of paper with foes names scrawled on
Glass beads
Poker chips
Self Printed counters [see my sig]
Bought professional counters {fiery dragon has a nice set]
Descent board game from FFG
Ancient board games like Heroquest and Battlemasters
Various companies also make various types of cardboard "miniatures" -- sort of like counters, but they're made to stand up (either via stands, or by being folded into triangular shapes to give a base).
There are a bunch of them available on various PDF sites (here, for example). I have & use Steve Jackson Games' Cardboard Heroes; they used to be available in print, though SJGames seems to be out of 'em. You might still be able to find them at a game shop, and they are available in PDF (at e23).
__________________ - Bob Huss
[H]e's dead and poisoned and possibly insane on another plane. It's a very stylish death, but a definitive one. - Piratecat
Last edited by coyote6; 25th August 2009 at 12:50 AM..
Reason: more specific url
They've got reasonable (not always the best, not too far from it) prices, and $0.99 shipping for most orders (which more than makes up for not always having the best prices). Most of my orders have ended up being less than a dollar a mini.
They also have a discount based on total amount you've spent over your lifetime there as a customer. For minis, the discount can get as high as 15%.
Even with the cheap $0.99 shipping, I've never had to wait more than a week to get my order, and they've never goofed up an order... Everything they've sent me has been in good condition.
I'd recommend them.
__________________ The Pbartender
"I don't believe it. There she goes again! She's tidied up, and I can't find anything! All my tubes and wires and careful notes and antiquated notions..." - Thomas Dolby
Bought professional counters {fiery dragon has a nice set]
Descent board game from FFG
Ancient board games like Heroquest and Battlemasters
I've used Dollar Store chess sets in the past. Provides lots of counters for very cheap, with a variety of shapes in two different colors for distinguishing monsters.
__________________ The Pbartender
"I don't believe it. There she goes again! She's tidied up, and I can't find anything! All my tubes and wires and careful notes and antiquated notions..." - Thomas Dolby
1. Orc Archer: Don't even bother. It came out for the first set there hasn't been another one. It runs $5-7 for this common if you can find one.
2. I recommend the starter set from last year. A young green dragon, 3 PCs and some very useful maps for RPG.
3. The current set Legendary Evils is brilliant. All 8 huge visibles are very useful and the 8 commons are top notch too. The last set Dangerous Delves also has visibles on the top of the booster. If you are looking for a beholder, a dragon, a balor or a giant you can get one at a very nice price.
Now my box from Auggies has arrived so I'll leave it at that for now.
__________________ Member of Grognards for 4th Edition
As an aside, it's probably worthwhile posting a classified ad here on EN World, looking for large lots of minis.
For instance, I just completed an inventory-and-purge of my collection, trimming it by almost 20 percent (down to "only" 2100 minis), and I'm looking to liquidate two big lots, totalling about 400 minis. I'm selling the Commons and Uncommons (over 300 of them) for what I could get selling them to a third-party seller (as long as I sell them as a lot), and the Rares for only about 15 or 20 percent more (and I'm willing to sell those individually).
I have a friend who has right of first refusal -- as he and I spoke about it at GenCon -- but if you're interested, drop me a line.
__________________ Jeff Wilder, San Francisco Bay Area If your sig is longer than your posts, your sig is too
long. Nobody reads it, they just get annoyed by it. And if you bore me, you lose your soul to me. - Belly
I've had good luck from purchasing from both Auggies and CoolstuffInc. Both of them shipped my items to me very quickly with no hassle.
On the other hand, after placing an order from Battleworks.net, not only did they never ship my order, they never replied to any of my e-mails to inquire about the status of the order. I'll never do business with them again.
I was another Auggies (and the like) Common Singles purchaser. I had received cash for Christmas from various family members and thus was able to earmark $120.00 towards D&D pre-painteds. As I am a DM, I knew I wanted lots and lots of various monsters in different forms and quantities, plus a bunch of potential PC miniatures for the future.
I went into Auggies and went down every single set list... writing down and Adding To Cart any miniature that was less than $1.00 each. Made sure to write everything down seperately based upon race or class (for potential PCs) and race for every monster mini. When all was said and done, I was able to pick up over 200 miniatures for my collection, all in various quantities ranging from 1 (for PC minis or monsters that they either had a low count of or was slightly over my $1.00 minimum for a mini that would ultimately be too useful not to grab) upwards to 10 (for extremely large and low-priced collections of figures to use as potential minions like the Chillborn Zombie)
By buying 5-10 of the really cheap ones (ones you can get for like .25 to .45 cents apiece) to 2-3 of the mid-range ones (.55 to .75 apiece) and then filling the collection out with the .85 to .95 figures that are just really useful (like ranged attackers for specific monster races)... you can have a great base to begin playing with.
I myself now have numerous and various animal figures, a dozen-plus each (in various poses) of kobolds, goblins, hobgoblins, orcs, gnolls, drakes, skeletons, zombie/ghoul, kruthiks, reptillian humanoids, warforged/mechanical, duergar, drow, plus quite a few single figures of various types of other monsters (like swarm figs, a grell, a grick et al.) And it's worked out fantastic.
It looks like Auggie has reloaded his store as I type this. Lots of cheap commons and uncommons including kobolds, orcs, goblins, zombies and skeletons. Strike quickly my friends.
__________________ Member of Grognards for 4th Edition
It looks like Auggie has reloaded his store as I type this. Lots of cheap commons and uncommons including kobolds, orcs, goblins, zombies and skeletons. Strike quickly my friends.
Thanks for the heads up!
Though... next time, can you give me a heads up in a private message a day or 2 before everyone else?
__________________ Law's Game Style: Storyteller 83%, Tactician 75%, Specialist 67%, Method Actor 58%, Power Gamer 33%, Casual Gamer 25%, Butt-Kicker 17%
I bought from him 3 times, and he's been very professional every time.
Hey Klaus, thanks for promoting me...it's rare that I get a mention around here. If you make a purchase from me again, remind me and I'll give you a 10% discount. Thanks again man!
Hey Klaus, thanks for promoting me...it's rare that I get a mention around here. If you make a purchase from me again, remind me and I'll give you a 10% discount. Thanks again man!
Well, you have a list of minis I want!
But honeslty, folks, oryan77 has been top-notch for me. He may not have *every* mini, but he does have a great selection from ALL previous DDM sets (including some I couldn't find anywhere else) at a great price! Do check his thread.
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