Painting and Using Miniatures or Not?

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I don't.

I do use graph paper (you use a pencil to show your position, erasing and writing when you move).

If I can get some cheap ghostboard, I might switch to flat counters. (There's a single D20 Modern set at the FLGS.)

 

[JoeGKushner]

I probably have close to 1K miniatures unpainted.

Nowadays I try to avoid any 'character' figures, and focus heavily on monsters or bit characters like bandits, that I know I'll be using.

As my painting level has increased, I'd say from a 4 to a 6 on a scale of 1-10, I spend more time per figure, which is a bad thing, so occassionally go back to the 4 and hurry the process, and sometimes, for a specific NPC, go the other route and throw in some black linning, some wet blending, and some other goods to try and make that miniature really stand out.

I find that I use figures fomr a wide variety of companies:
Reaper has to be one of my favorites.

Not quite with the senority, Magnificent Egoes has some interesting figures. I really like their pilgrim figure.

Odd that I don't want any more characters, but he's perfect for someone like Solomen Kane from Robert E. Howard.

Of course Rackham makes some fantastic figures too, but do they have an English version website? Other French compaies like Illyad (?) and Fenryll make some awesome figures.

In short, too many figures, not enough time, and some sculpts that I don't need, but find so cool I buy anyway.

 

[The Shaman]

I don't use minis, though there are times I'd like to. I'm considering a couple of lines of historical minis for games I'm running, though finding the time to paint them up is a real contstraint.

 

[rowport]

I am in the process of selling the vast bulk of my fantasy metal miniatures on eBay.

Link, please?

 

[The_Universe]

I love minis, but I vastly prefer unpainted metal (that I then paint) to pre-painted plastic.

 

[kenobi65]

We almost always use minis.

I've been painting minis for as long as I've been playind D&D (23 years). I'm reasonably good at it now, and we use minis that I've painted for the PCs. My biggest problem is that I have to be "in the right mood" to paint, and that muse can be elusive. Still, I've got two Chessex mini boxes full of a couple of hundred painted minis (as well as the standard 1000 or so unpainted minis that every mini-painting gamer seems to have).

(I've solved the tipping-over mini problem; I mount all the metal minis on 25mm round plastic bases, which you can get pretty inexpensively.)

I have a shoebox full of the plastic D&D minis, as well as another box full of Steve Jackson's Cardboard Heroes. They make excellent NPCs / Bad Guys.

 

[Kanegrundar]

I completely forgot about the box full of the old D&D carboard stand-ups from the old Basic D&D adventure box sets.

Kane

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I use miniatures extensively - metal and unpainted plastic only, to date. Mini-painting is my sole Craft (visual arts) skill, but I've maxed out ranks in it. Maybe even taken Skill Focus. I'm no Golden Demon winner, but I can do a mini that looks amazing on the tabletop and decent up-close.

All major NPCs have their own minis, including conversions for unique boss monsters.

I can't imagine playing the more tactical RPGs, such as HERO or d20, without minis. For SilCore or True20 I don't necessarily use a battlemat, but I do keep the minis on hand to represent the characters.

Time, and finding the right ones, are the only problems with them.

 

[Henry]

Over the years we've used everything from Risk pieces to lead/pewter minis, to recently the D&D plastic minis. I have probably liked the D&D minis best of all, because they don't break, usually -- they bend, and I can stack a couple hundred in a case and take off.

The down side is they're still a bit expensive for "casts of hundreds", but they're still a hot deal for what you get. I'd buy even MORE, in fact, but I have too many, now - I'd need to get an even bigger case, and that would not be feasible, sans forklift.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I like using mini's. I typically use them for major NPC's or key monsters - if I'm putting out dozens of orcs or such I use different colored 6-siders, each turned up to a different number. That way I can notate damage done to "Red-4" or "Clear-5". I'll use pennies or glass beads for really minor creatures like goblins that are unlikely to survive one blow.

Painting-wise, I'm fast but not really all that good. I don't have the patience. I can do an acceptable job, and I have the Vallejo Game Color suitcase so I don't lack for colors. I have a magnifier/light that aids considerably, as my eyesight is getting worse and worse over the past few years. Eris404 is in one of my gaming groups, and she's very good, and much more detail-oriented than I am.

I've got some of the D&D plastic mini's, and they're pretty neat. They're especially good for the large ones.