D&D 4E [4E only] What kind of miniatures do you use, if any?

[ourchair]

It's hard to get minis where I come from, unless you're willing to shell out major change (at least based on local standards of living) or order online using strategic shipping configurations and bargain hunting skillz.

So we tend to use a mix. Sure coins, counters, paper clips and the like are monsters, or use dice cases to substitute Large creatures but we also toss random Clix figures, Star Wars minis and the like to get things that approximate our player characters.

Sometimes, a player might have a hoard of minis he will lend, but it doesn't guarantee that it matches everything. I have to use a steampunk gun and sword robot thingie as my Warforged Brawler Fighter.

 

[Blackbrrd]

We use miniatures for players (Miniatures from the LOTR movies btw) and colored dice for the monsters. My player get real scared when I pull out the red D4 or the yellow D12.

 

[captainspud]

I use a combination of different minis for my various games.

Player Minis

Player minis get a ton of special attention. I consider it to be very important for players to have a perfect mini to represent their character, so I work with them to design a look that fits their mental concept, and then I start digging through various minis lines to find something appropriate.

If I find something perfect, I'll just paint it.

• Shadar-Kai Tempest Fighter (GW Wardancer)
• Deva Cleric of the Raven Queen (Reaper Anirion)

Usually minis require at least at least some conversion work, though-- I'll do weapon swaps, or sculpt on details and custom heads.

• Githyanki Wizard (Reaper Harrix Fireblood with a sculpted head and other details)
• Gnome hide-wearing Warlord (Reaper Elliwyn Heatherlark, gender-swapped with a modified chest and chin line, and added weapons)

Other times, there's just no appropriate mini anywhere, so I sculpt the models from scratch.

• Goliath Axemage
• Warforged Fighter
• Deva Monk
• Dragonborn Dragon Sorceror

My superhero PCs' minis follow the same lines-- most are converted and repainted Heroclix, but when I run into something that just doesn't have a good base (like Code Monkey in that pic), it gets scratch sculpted.

Monster Minis

Players need nice minis because it's a part of how they bond with the character; but nobody really cares what the bad guys look like (since they usually only live a few hours at most), so they get FAR less time and effort than hero minis.

For my regular D&D game, I use whatever I can scrounge:

• I have about 40 D&D minis, and I've just bought 140 more from TrollAndToad.com (they'll be arriving this week, I'm quite excited)
• I've got 25-30 random Reaper metal minis-- zombies, Kobolds, and bigger things like ogres and trolls. I paint these VERY quickly-- base colours (usually 2 to 3 colours per mini), and then a quick GW wash for shading. It only takes me about 10 minutes per figure-- I don't really care what they end up looking like.
• I buy some GW minis off of other people when I see lots for sale-- zombies, skeletons, and the like. If I need to paint them, they get the same half-assed paintjob as the Reaper minis.
• I also buy some of the pre-painted Reaper minis (which are plastic casts of some of their stock metal models). They're very similar in quality to D&D minis, but since they're non-random, they're much more useful for bulking out certain monster types.

Bad guys for my 4e superhero game are much tougher. Heroclix tend to be very specifically a certain character, so they're a harder sell in my homebrew world. Thus, I've forsaken the use of minis entirely for the bad guys my heroes fight, and instead make paper standees. I draw all the art, then print them two-sided and cut them out. I hot-glue pennies to the bottom to help them stand up.

 

[nyenyec]

We use minis from different sources.

The PCs have a combination D&D plastics and Reaper metal minis.

For monsters I have a few dozen D&D minis but we also use unpainted plastics from the Descent and Hero Quest board games. I also have Lego minis by the dozen: dwarves, undead, hobgoblins etc.

I love huge battles with several dozens of enemy monsters (mostly minions) and it's much easier this way.

Since there is a lot of proxying I always print out the Monster Manual images on init cards and hang them over the DM screen, so the players get a good image of what they're actually fighting.

 

[Scurvy_Platypus]

Nice to know I'm not the only mini-free GM for 4E.

The idea of doing lego-minis is vaguely appealing, but on the whole I personally don't run with minis, regardless of the edition or game.

 

[Nytmare]

I used to do nothing but metal miniatures, but when I started running a "serious" campaign about 10 years ago, I decided to start doing chits.

Aside from the cost (printing and card stock are free) the two big things for me were space needed to keep the collection and speed at which I could spit out chits. I currently have an alphabetized collection of monsters and characters that number somewhere approaching five digits. All of them fit into two sets of plastic tool drawers (technically 3 cause anything larger than 3x3 goes into the bottom of the terrain drawers) On top of that, if I decide that I really need an army of 200 Wartfiend Overlords on Wednesday, I can have them designed, printed, cut, and laminated by Friday night.

 

[Herschel]

I mainly use DDM (I have a few thousand of them) but occasionally a metal makes its way to teh table as I can paint but generally don't take the time. I did a female human paladin for one player as a gift and each character he comes to the table with can use that mini, for example.

 

[enigma5915]

I use DDM with a collection over 7,000 D&D miniatures. I am a very visual DM. I also use dwarven forge, flip mats, and home made scenery learned from my time playing warhammer. DM

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

captainspud, welcome to EnWorld!

Loved your pics, but I ended up with a question:

¿How do you "make your own models from scratch"??

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

We use a mix of metal & plastic minis, as well as tokens of various types.