D&D Miniature Distribution

[GQuail]

I mainly play D&D without any miniatures or battlemaps: it's just the way I've always done it, and the way groups I've played in have always done it too. Sometimes we'd pull out map tiles for a few specific quests (because, say, it was randomly generated as we went along using the tiles, ala Warhammer Quest or Advanced Heroquest) but that was it.

Anyway, over the past few months my current game has had combat slow down somewhat, and I thought adding maps might help: that the players might get more excited about props, tacticals, etc. (I know at least two players were quite into Warhammer before, as was I, so I thought that might pull them in as well.) When I used a map and miniatures for one combat (intentionally designed to be map intensive: an arena fight with beams that required jump and balance checks, making measurements essential) it actually went down quite well, so I figured I'd keep experimenting.

At first, I just pulled out some old Citadel miniatures and used them as rough stand-ins, painting up a few with my girlfriend, but it became obvious the time and skill (I'm a really mince painter ;-) wasn't viable.

So, I started looking into ordering single D&D miniatures online, and after picking up a few bit the bullet and bought my first random box: a Deathknell pack. OK, so one common I got was one I'd ordered online singly, but it's no big deal, two badgers is better than one. ;-) Got a Goliath rare figure, which was of minimal use to me, but that's just the way it goes.

Today, I got a second random pack.... and got the same badger figure again, as well as two other duplicated commons. Oh, yeah, and my rare? THE SAME GOLIATH FIGURE! And, just to make it somehow worse, it had somehow broken it's own packaging bag in transit, ensuring if I resell it that I can't say it's "mint in bag" or whatever.

I really like the D&D miniature, actually: the paint jobs do the trick, the more game-specific miniatures are useful and I like the stat cards. I also used to collect Magic cards and know the D&D figures come in quite small sets, so duplicates are likely with common figures.... but is this a statistical anomaly, or am I really better off picking up singles if I want to avoid having to design more adventures where Badgers and Giant Frogs play a big part?

Right now, hunting EBay for more individual figures only has the drawback of the kind of price rares go for. Like I said, I play Magic, so I know "the good ones" will always go for slightly unhealthy amounts: but do I really want to down all that cash on a pre-painted plastic figure, when twice the amount gets me an unpainted but gigantic Citadel figure or similar?

So, yeah, experiences with buying figures for games is sought, especially buying on a budget: Christmas is a coming, as is my girlfriend's birthday too, so there's little money left for me this month!

 

[Flyspeck23]

I really like the D&D miniature, actually: the paint jobs do the trick, the more game-specific miniatures are useful and I like the stat cards. I also used to collect Magic cards and know the D&D figures come in quite small sets, so duplicates are likely with common figures.... but is this a statistical anomaly, or am I really better off picking up singles if I want to avoid having to design more adventures where Badgers and Giant Frogs play a big part?

If you're not playing the D&D miniature game you're better off buying single miniatures, or else you won't end up with the number of orcs and goblins you'll need...

On the other hand there are some useful rare minis (dragons for instance), and IMHO these cost too much.

Here's what I do: whenever a new set is released I buy a few (2-5) packs. After that I won't buy more packs, but rather single miniatures at eBay.

Btw, you've had some pretty bad luck. It doesn't happen very often, but it's not unheard of either.

(because, say, it was randomly generated as we went along using the tiles, ala Warhammer Quest or Advanced Heroquest)

Dungeon Bash?

 

[Shadowslayer]

So, yeah, experiences with buying figures for games is sought, especially buying on a budget: Christmas is a coming, as is my girlfriend's birthday too, so there's little money left for me this month!

Heh...bummer about getting the same rare. I bought two Harbringer expansions at the same time once, and ended up with 2 Shambling Mounds. Stuff happens.

If you want to use minis and you have a strict budget, it may help to alter the way you look at planning adventures. I'm on a budget. I can't afford to come up with an encounter or adventure then try and track down an appropriate mini. That gets expensive after a while.

What I do is buy the odd expansion pack, then haunt the local FLGS and look for loose commons and uncommons. They're usually quite reasonable. So now I've got a pretty good sized box of minis...and each one is an adventure seed.

So now, when I'm planning, I look over my collection, and design an encounter appropriate to the minis I have, rather than tracking down the right minis that are appropriate to the encounter. Its not as limiting as it sounds...and it a lot cheaper. It'll also prompt you to come up with neat ideas for the oddball ones you figure you'd never use. And don't be afraid to substitute minis...If you need a ghoul and don't have one, then use a zombie instead. Just don't forget that you still have to verbally describe what the PCs are facing.

Hope this helps.

 

[GQuail]

If you're not playing the D&D miniature game you're better off buying single miniatures, or else you won't end up with the number of orcs and goblins you'll need...

If I make a game world full of giant frogs, though, I could be sorted. :>

On the other hand there are some useful rare minis (dragons for instance), and IMHO these cost too much.

Agreed. For the RPG you are going to need a big dragon/demon type at some point, but the needs of the Miniature game forces these to be rare, and keeps them expensive.

Btw, you've had some pretty bad luck. It doesn't happen very often, but it's not unheard of either.

Like I said, I've played Magic, and a few other CCGs, so I'm used to Randomised Shafting like that: my original Star Trek CCG collection only had one member of the bridge crew, but repeated three time.

Dungeon Bash?

I hadn't seen that: I'd been improvising other random dungeon rules rather than use D20 specific ones. Hmm.... my campaign /is/ about to hit a quiet plot point...

 

[GQuail]

So now, when I'm planning, I look over my collection, and design an encounter appropriate to the minis I have, rather than tracking down the right minis that are appropriate to the encounter. Its not as limiting as it sounds...and it a lot cheaper. It'll also prompt you to come up with neat ideas for the oddball ones you figure you'd never use. And don't be afraid to substitute minis...If you need a ghoul and don't have one, then use a zombie instead. Just don't forget that you still have to verbally describe what the PCs are facing.

Yeah, miniatures aren't a huge deal with me so I don't mind using proxies.... and through my old Citadel collection, I've got plenty of (even if unpainted) skeletons, zombies, orcs, goblins, elves etc to pad out or stand in for figures.

But yeah, those stat cards the figures come with are great: they give me pre-made rules to use the figures without having to stat out an NPC or whatever, they're usually at the lower end of the level spectrum which allows me to easier drop them into something (making an encounter harder with class levels or more monsters is easier than trying to make it easier, as anyone whose converted an adventure to a different level will probably agree) and the fact the stats include quick versions of how to use any non-standard rules (like, say, the Renegade Warlock figure) lets me easilly drop something new into my game without necesarilly requiring another book to get pulled out on the table. :>

Certainly, they aren't supposed to act as a replacement for descriptions: but there'll probably be a primal fear when I slap down the Equiceph Skeleton figure, they see that it takes up four squares, and I announce it won the initiative and is casting Fireball. :>

 

[Remathilis]

Deathknell is poor for distribution. I got the EXACT SAME box twice. Exact, even down to the commons. I remember the rare: the griffon (no problem there) but I didn't need to dwarf artificers or warforged wizards (1 is enough for both).

 

[Omand]

GQuail,

For your broken miniature yo ucan contact WotC Customer Service for a replacement. They will require you to mail in the defective mini for the replacment, but you get a mint one for sale or trade. The Goliath is sought after by skirmishers to a certain extent if you know where to look.

As for singles, you can also check out the Marketplace thread here at ENWorld, myself and several others have singles from a variety of sets for sale.

Cheers

 

[MerricB]

Just a note: if you have the money, it is well worth picking up a sealed case (12 boosters) of an expansion.

The distribution in that will give you 1 or 2 of each uncommon and 4 of each common, and, in most cases, 12 different rares.

The chances of picking up two boosters that have the same rare is 1 in 24. Unusual, but not unheard of (unfortunately).

Cheers!

 

[Steel_Wind]

Agreed - sealed case is the way to go. You will have all of the commons and uncommons with plenty of both to play with. You will be missing only 12 rares.

Sealed cases are usually the cheapest to buy in terms of price per unit too. We have a deal where we get ours for $150 CDN, inclusiv of tax.

(That's about $9.50 USD a booster before tax, btw).

How - or if - you fill in those missing 12 rares is up to you.

 

[Glyfair]

Just a note: if you have the money, it is well worth picking up a sealed case (12 boosters) of an expansion.

As someone who hasn't yet bought a case of D&D miniatures, but a number of Mage Knight ones, I'll second this. If you will even come close to buying 12 boosters, and can get the money together at one time, it's well worth it.

You'll usually get it at a significant discount because you are guaranteeing a large sale, and game companies are working harder and harder to make sure the distribution is better within a case, to reward those who buy in bulk.

I know in the heyday of Mage Knight, you could buy a case, pick a few key pieces and still sell the set for more than the full retail price of the case. I really wouldn't be suprised if you could do this for D&D Miniatures. Indeed, if you want a lot of one or two commons (say you want 10 Kobold Miners), this still could be a good tactic. You'll get them for free in the long run.