How should I get miniatures for my game?

ilikepie · Jun 12, 2009

I think I can use the Human Rogue mini for my Eladrin ranger (he has a hood and a bow, so with a dab of green paint here and there it should work). Though the Baaz Draconian does look like a dragonborn, it looks like one that's been starved for several years. I guess it'll have to work until they come out with the next PH heroes set.

I suppose I'll just have to use a wet erase mat.. I'm just not sure we'll have enough space on the table.. My next adventure is going to be set in an "abandoned" tower, so I think I'll get the Arcane Towers set. I really want to do an encounter in a crowded library with bookshelves and thin passages.

Bodhiwolff · Jun 12, 2009

Festivus -- NO!

You told him about Auggie's!

Why'd you let the cat out of the bag?!

Seriously, though, I asked the same question about eight months ago, and got the same answer. Auggie's became dangerously close to a gaming addiction for awhile -- it was just *so* darned easy to get cheap, plentiful miniatures for every occasion. I now have six drawers full of sorted miniatures, assorted types for humanoids/orcs/etc. in multiples (so I can field 8 of one type of creature, 4 of another type, and two individuals for an encounter).

Having grown up being too poor to buy all those cool miniatures, this new era of pre-painted plastic miniatures at after-market prices is simply amazing.

The real trick is to stop surfing Auggie's every two weeks to see if they have new stock. 'cause it is sooooo tempting to just get another hundred twenty-cent miniatures .... and now I have to go surf their site! D'oh!

Oryan77 · Jun 12, 2009

If you want to help support a fellow Enworld user, I also sell minis here:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/miniat...etplace/133037-d-d-miniatures-books-sale.html

My stock is kinda low but I will be getting more inventory within a week or 2.

Larrin · Jun 12, 2009

I and My DM use legos.....mostly from castle and pirate sets...you see to give them a 2x2 base or the fall over, but legos actually work really well....if you're like me and have a bout 50 sets from your youth. Modern castle sets even have trolls and orcs (which they call trolls) and dwarves!

Downside: if you don't have a stockpile of legos already, it can be really expensive to get the ones you want

alleynbard · Jun 12, 2009

Festivus said:
One name: Auggies

There, now everyone will hate me for spilling the beans.

Auggies Games Product List

Wow! Those are some great prices. Especially on the books. But the minis are fantastic as well. That's the cheapest I have seen the beholder from Dangerous Delves. Thanks for the lead. I am happy I learned something today.

ilikepie · Jun 12, 2009

We have legos and I have used them once before, but it's hard to believe that a little man with a hard hat is an Eladrin Ranger, and the reason I'm getting minis and tiles is to make the game more immersing. Auggies is great, but they don't seem to have a huge selection. I need like 3 different types of goblinoids (2 or 3 of each), 4 human beserkers, 2 human bandits, a dwarf bolter, 3-4 duergar, 2 duergar of another type, and 1 more duergar, as well as a dire wolf and the player miniatures. How expensive will this probably be (for the monsters). Also, do miniatures have numbers on them to keep track of during battle?

If they're too expensive I guess I'll just stick with tokens for a while but still look at dungeon tiles.

tallyrand · Jun 12, 2009

I've always been an advocate of "Paint Your Own" but I realise that is a dying art (I should really start a "how to paint" thread)

BUT, one of the most awesomest things about 4e is the reskinning options available, and that makes buying bulk minis much more palatable for me. (even if I do have to repaint them)

Our friend e-bay can net you some nice ones, at great prices, especially if you are willing to buy off brand minis and rebase them. That's what I have been doing.

My personal price point for random miniatures for games I don't play is $.25 per mini, including shipping. I have had great successs with both the Dreamblade and Horrorclix lines. I go to the local crafts store, and can usually get 1" round wooden bases for about $.15 each, so that brings total costs to $.40 each, and the best thing is when you can pull some rare/chase figure, and turn around and sell it, and recoup most of your costs!

This works great for monsters, but not so well for PC minis.

Zaukrie · Jun 12, 2009

No numbers to distinguish them, no.

We use little post-it dots of different color mostly. Works great, and you can take them off the base later if you want.

Auggies and Oryan77 are the best places to buy. But, you can also buy by posting what you want in hordelings, maxminis or WotC trading threads. Many of us have too many minis (don't tell our wives we said that).

As for tiles, skeletonkey games and fatdragon games are my favorites. Worldworks is just behind them. O0ne games has great tiles also. I've migrated to making them out of foam, but that's not for everyone. Seriously, try fatdragon for 3D terrain, and skeletonkeygames for 2D. You won't be disappointed (and both have lots of free stuff you can try out).

ilikepie · Jun 12, 2009

I need something that looks good and fits the H2 encounters. If it's not possible to build most of the H2 encounters with dungeon tiles, I'll use a wet erase mat. Once again, Auggies has great prices but they don't have a great variety- 1 type of duergar, 2 types of hobgoblins...

Chris Knapp · Jun 12, 2009

Another vote for Auggies.

Some other tips:
Use the DDM database to search for a mini you like based on keywords like human, fighter, sword.
D&D Miniatures Database: Welcome!

Then go to abPrices to find the best price for a specific miniature.
abPrices.com - Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures

Good luck!