D&D, Miniatures, and you.

[frankthedm]

Side question: has anyone tried re-painting or touching up the plastic minis, and if so what kind of results did you get?

Paint won't stick that great, but touch ups are not too hard. Spray primers leave a slightly sticky texture, though thats a minor enough issue. Soft material makes modding very, very easy

 

[Aaron L]

I don't use miniatures for gaming, and I refuse to buy anything "collectible" that is randomly packaged so you don't know exactly what you are getting on principle

I wouldn't be at all averse to buying an extremely cool looking miniature, treating it just as a little statue that is nice to look at and display, but I will never buy a box of random things that I don't know the specific contents of (except Garbage Pail Kids or M.U.S.C.L.E. things! But there's a big price difference there.)

I also would enjoy a good D&D wargame that didn't require the use of miniatures; I used to be a regular Battletech player (and will still gladly play anytime I get the chance, but only real Battletech, NOT MechWarrior/mageknight mecha) but I'll never be able to afford minis and used paper markers instead. If there was a D&D wargame like that I'd be very excited to play it.



The main contentions I have with using miniatures is price: I can't afford them; and randomness: I will not buy random minis. What my group has recently started doing (while I was on "hiatus" from playing with with them) is to use a small sheet of graph paper in a clear plastic sheet, the DM marks out the boundaries of a room or whatever and we just dot our positions with differently colored markers during combat. I'm not exactly thrilled with this new development (it REALLY seems to slow the game down, and makes combats take longer, but that could just be my perceptions playing tricks on me), but one of our other players seems to love it, and I can live with it without too much discomfort, so I just deal with it for his sake.

 

[Doghead Thirteen]

I've got a shedload of old Games Workshite (including the 3 first WH40K figures) Grenadier, Ral Partha, and others, mostly sci-fi / cyberpunk gear.

I far prefer my minatures in lead. Plastic? Only if it's costing me £5 per box of 30 multi-part kits. No way would I buy plastic one-piece figures, and as for this 'collectable miniatures' idiocy? Get real. I'm not paying unless I can see it's what I want.

OK, maybe I'd buy batches of 100 early GW figures off Ebay for £10. Aside from that, forget about it.

EDIT - Short between seat and steering wheel, just correcting a typo.

 

[Zaruthustran]

I grabbed a complete set of the first two DDM releases, then a trickle of boosters of Giants, and that's it. The other day I had to grab a battlemat on short notice, so I went to a physical FLGS for the first time in over a year, and so grabbed a booster of the current release.

I find the DDM minis to be very useful. I keep them in plastic baggies, sorted by role/gross physical attribute. Like so:

• "unarmored/light armored humans" for rogues, monks, barbarians, and rangers
• "armored humans" for fighters, paladins, knights, clerics, and guards
• spellcasters
• "small-size PC humanoids" (mostly gnomes and halflings)
• elves
• goblins
• orcs
• animals
• reptilian humanoids
• "things with wings"
• Large brutes (trolls, ogres, giants, etc)
• undead
• "outsiders" like demons, angels, and elementals
• leftover monsters like oozes, vermin, plants, aberrations, etc.

This org system helps me quickly find a particular type of mini needed for my game.

I played a bit of the skirmish game (I'm a credited playtester) but after awhile the number of choices became overwhelming. I'm a powergamer, so after I found myself creating a sortable Excel database of figure attributes and powers, complete with macros to find and highlight ability synergies, I decided enough was enough.

Now that I'm running The Savage Tide, I may browse some of the sites that sell single figures.

-z

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I voted that I mostly use D&D plastic minis, however this is a very recent development (I only bought my first D&D mini about 2 months ago). Having said that, I now own about 500 of these little pieces of plasticrack and have been buying a lot of the older minis that I'm after. Echohawk and Kaomera also helped me out by giving me some minis (now I can blame others for my evil habit! ).

Before I got minis I used Fiery Dragon's Counter Collection Digital for my game (with a laminator so that they last more than 1 session). I still the use them for minis that I don't have or ones that are still yet to be made by Wizards - Hydra I'm looking at you.

I've sorted mine out similarly to Zaruthustran with each group in a snap-lock bag and then stored in a big sealable plastic tub. Overall I think that the minis definitely add to the "coolness" factor of the game compared to the counters.

I don't love the randomness but I can understand why they do it. I have found that I can get a lot of the minis I want online as singles for a reasonable price. There are some rares from the earlier sets that I want that are quite pricey (i.e. Large and Huge Red Dragon) but I'm hopeful that I can get them off of eBay eventually.

I have also found that a lot of the randomness can be avioded if you are willing to buy a whole case. Of course you may then end up with common minis that you don't want. But if you really only want a few minis from a particular set you can pick them up on the singles market for a cheaper price than buying some boosters and hoping for the best.

I've only played one game of Skirmish so far and it was ok. I played with a guy who has played quite a bit so he came up with both the warbands. I think that half the strategy of the skirmish game (and for many the fun) is in actually putting your warband together in the first place so I might enjoy it more if I put a group together myself so that I am more familiar with the various abilities.

Olaf the Stout

 

[blargney the second]

Side question: has anyone tried re-painting or touching up the plastic minis, and if so what kind of results did you get?

We've done a lot of kitbashing with DDM for PCs:
* a draconic raptoran paladin with wings from the Kapak Draconian on the Xeph Warrior and then custom-painted. He also has a Kruthik Hatchling on the base as a variant animated shield.
* a warforged cleric of the Sovereign Host using a Warforged Fighter with components from Warhammer: a shield on his left arm and a bag of holding on his back. He has religious symbols painted on his shield and body.
* a changeling crusader made with an Elf Swashbuckler using a Warhammer glove & axe for his weapon. Totally repainted from top to bottom.

They're great for customization!
-blarg

 

[Nyeshet]

You left out an "I don't buy or use minis" option.

I rarely need minis. When a situation arises where knowledge of how the battlefield is precisely setup is necessary, I have plenty of spare change and dice, loose paper to write / draw on, and pens with which to write / draw whatever details might be necessary.

Why waste money on minis and battlemats?

I can see why some might enjoy collecting minis - especially the more interesting and well painted ones, but why buy scores of minis if you are not playing a wargame? It just seems like a waste of money that could better be spent on books, snacks, etc . . . .

 

[Vague Jayhawk]

I use a large dry erase board with 1 inch marks. I never really got into minis of any kind. I was just never willing to invest that kind of money into the game.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I played a bit of the skirmish game (I'm a credited playtester) but after awhile the number of choices became overwhelming. I'm a powergamer, so after I found myself creating a sortable Excel database of figure attributes and powers, complete with macros to find and highlight ability synergies, I decided enough was enough.

Okay, synergies is new, but the rest already exists: There's warband generators for both Excel and Access, both very good. They allow importing your collection from various sources, too.

You left out an "I don't buy or use minis" option.

I didn't. There's a "I don't use a battlemat" option, and a "I use a battlemat with whatever I have on hand" option.

Why waste money on minis and battlemats?

Why waste money on rules supplements? More than one set of dice?

I can see why some might enjoy collecting minis - especially the more interesting and well painted ones, but why buy scores of minis if you are not playing a wargame? It just seems like a waste of money that could better be spent on books, snacks, etc . . . .

I found that using a mat helps D&D (I played without before, and it often was a pain). I found that using minis makes it easier to remember what you're fighting, show exactly what you're fighting (including size difference - I know, you can get a 4"x4" piece of paper and let that be your Great Black, but the actual figure really shows you what you got yourself into), and they're pretty!

I far prefer my minatures in lead. Plastic?

Plastic all the way. You don't have to treat them like raw eggs. You can drop them without bits breaking off, you can store them in normal toolboxes, a dozen minis per compartment, instead of bedding them in soft material each by itself. I had metal minis. I had bits broken off. I know what it's like to glue it back on and still see where it broke because I didn't have time to fix the paintjob.

I don't have time to paint hundreds of minis, either.

Plus, they cost me less than €1,15 each. Compared to what metal minis cost, that's very cheap

and as for this 'collectable miniatures' idiocy? Get real.

I am real. I'm quite sure of it. "I think, therefore I am" sounds plausible to me. Of course, you could only imagine talking to other people on the internet, but then I won't get real only because you want me to. You'll just have to take my word for it and believe that I'm real. All that paranoia isn't good for you!

The random aspect is what keeps the figures so cheap. Plus, it's not as if you can't get exactly what you want. The secondary market is huge, and except for the rares, quite cheap. You can get common figures for less than 50 cents (plus shipping, but the better eBay Shops have flat-rate shipping, so it's $3.5 whether you buy one mini or three dozen)

I also would enjoy a good D&D wargame that didn't require the use of miniatures; I used to be a regular Battletech player (and will still gladly play anytime I get the chance, but only real Battletech, NOT MechWarrior/mageknight mecha) but I'll never be able to afford minis and used paper markers instead. If there was a D&D wargame like that I'd be very excited to play it.

You can always use paper markers for DDM skirmish (as long as you don't want to play in official tourneys, that is). What keeps you? The Wizards police doesn't have your address, does it?

What my group has recently started doing (while I was on "hiatus" from playing with with them) is to use a small sheet of graph paper in a clear plastic sheet, the DM marks out the boundaries of a room or whatever and we just dot our positions with differently colored markers during combat. I'm not exactly thrilled with this new development (it REALLY seems to slow the game down, and makes combats take longer, but that could just be my perceptions playing tricks on me), but one of our other players seems to love it, and I can live with it without too much discomfort, so I just deal with it for his sake.

I don't think it makes games slower. The little extra time you have to use moving the figures around (and, yes, sometimes looking for a route that doesn't provoke AoOs) is nothing compared to the discussions with the DM whether you can reach enemy X, how many kobolds your fireball will hit (and whether it will hit your fellow party members), and all those things. Not to mention the discussion about where everyone is. I know I always hated those moments.

But with minis, you can plainly see where you are, where everyone else is, and so on. That means you don't have to memorize the battlefield and can put all your brainpower to thinking about the battle.

 

[prosfilaes]

I don't think it makes games slower. The little extra time you have to use moving the figures around (and, yes, sometimes looking for a route that doesn't provoke AoOs) is nothing compared to the discussions with the DM whether you can reach enemy X, how many kobolds your fireball will hit (and whether it will hit your fellow party members), and all those things. Not to mention the discussion about where everyone is. I know I always hated those moments.

The worst argument we've had in this current campaign was when a battle started, a player asked for it to be put on the map, and the DM said it wouldn't matter. Needless to say, there was an area of effect spell, and the player swore up and down his character wasn't in the room. This started an argument about whether he was going to take the damage, and after it was sort of resolved that he was, whether he was going to write down the damage. If either one of them had been a little more stubborn, it would have been the end of gaming for the night.