D&D, Miniatures, and you.

[Drkfathr1]

I only buy the commons and uncommons from secondary markets, and otherwise paint and use metal miniatures (especially for main villains). For stuff I don't have minis for, I use fold-up paper counters printed with artwork from the Monster books. Or I sculpt critters from Sculpey.

Instead of using a battlemat, I use a custom designed set of dungeon module pieces I made out of foamcore that mimic the wonderful Dwarven Forge products.

Then there's the multitude of painted and handcrafted decor, including everything from furniture to statues to weapon racks, etc., etc. I've probably spent more on that than on minis!

 

[Filnari]

We use a battlemat and Dwarven Forge bits for the play surface and painted Reaper minis for characters & NPCs - great sculpts and lots of choices to go with.

I use a variety of old Steve Jackson "Cardboard Heroes", some Reaper minis and sometimes just a die for monsters.

 

[Patlin]

I kind of like to paint my minis, when I have time... and I have enough that I'm never hurting for something to put on the battlemap. I don't intend to ever buy plastic pre-painted minis.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I use Wizards' plasticrack... the Star Wars kind. I use them because I game away from my house and don't want to damage the paint on my metal and hard plastic GW/Rakham/Reaper minis.

I have a few D&D minis (purple worm ftw!), but not nearly enough to cover a typical adventure. So, Scro marines, Romandan soldiers and assorted other mooks bear a disturbing resemblance to Imperial Stormtroopers.

I do play the D&D minis game from time to time, but again, not nearly as much as the Star Wars minis game. There's no regular D&D minis group in the area.

 

[sjmiller]

I had to vote that I use mostly old metal miniatures. In fact, I use mostly new metal miniatures. While I admit, it's a hassle getting someone to paint them for me (I am allergic to most paints), I like having the exact mini I want. Unless I pay through the nose for individual DDM minis I can't be assured of getting what I want.

 

[hong]

I have a few D&D minis (purple worm ftw!), but not nearly enough to cover a typical adventure. So, Scro marines, Romandan soldiers and assorted other mooks bear a disturbing resemblance to Imperial Stormtroopers.

This is entirely appropriate. All mooks are stormtroopers, whether they know it or not.

 

[Wombat]

Yep, I'm in the minority of their non-use in gaming.

I am good with that.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I had to vote that I use mostly old metal miniatures. In fact, I use mostly new metal miniatures. While I admit, it's a hassle getting someone to paint them for me (I am allergic to most paints), I like having the exact mini I want. Unless I pay through the nose for individual DDM minis I can't be assured of getting what I want.

While I like metal minis for unique characters (and have easily 1000+), this particular complaint doesn't make sense to me.

The most expensive Medium D&D mini on ebay is Drizzt, Drow Ranger, because it's a popular character from an old set - the cheapest of those is about $30, which is extreme for a Medium figure, to be sure. But the vast, vast majority of Medium figs, even Rares, are less than $10 (at or below the price of a 'character' mini from Games Workshop or any Rakham or Anima/FFG mini) and Uncommons are pretty much universally less than the price of any individual metal mini. You can get 10 of any Medium common from the last 3-5 sets for about the same price as a single GW goblin. Assuming you don't pay to have your metal minis painted (I've done a few commissions at $5 for Medium, $8 for Large).

For Large and larger creatures, you're looking at easily $15 to as high as $50 for a metal figure (as opposed to $2-$15 for a D&D mini, unless it's from an old set). Add $20 for a metal Huge (they're also hard to find, IMX), but some of the D&D minis Huges are as low as $5 (I got my purple worm for $6, including shipping)!

Unless the exact mini you want happens to be Drizzt (and not just any drow warrior) or a beholder... you're going to pay more for the metal. If you have the metal painted, *much* more.

Obviously, metal minis have lots of benefits (potentially better paint jobs, more detailed modeling, etc.), but price ain't one of them.

 

[Deekin]

In one of the games I play in, we use legos. In the other, we use cardstock images in those little black clips you hold stack of paper together with.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I'm one of those ones who hates the random packaging marketing thing so I've never bought and don't intend to. I'd rather spend that money on books and beer rather than on tons of extra minis I don't want.

Buy from ebay. The boosters are almost always a bad deal compared to singles. Its hard to beat a painted shambling mound for $1.50. Large uncommons are the best thing to happen to minis. Collecting 8 trolls in metal would have set me back considerably more than what my troll slashers did, same with hill giants, etc. People who say that metal minis are cheaper are either stuck in the 70's (sorry diaglo), or just focusing on a few rare minis. You dont need Drizzt as a drow or an orc champion as random orc (or even an orc boss). Looking at the big picture, plastic is cheaper.

I mainly use metal figures for PC's and major NPC's. Mooks get the plastic treatment. Since we dont game at my house, transportation of the more delicate metal figures can be an issue, so its limited to a small minis case. The plastic guys get thrown into a ziploc freezer bag.