Our group has combined over 10,000 minis so yes, we pretty much use them for everything. In 4E combined with a battlemap, we also use dungeon tiles, model terrain, laminated power, ritual and item cards, special condition tokens with custom built stands, and physical fantasy coinage... and a character sheet. We love us our accessories when we game. In 3e we do roughly the same but without the condition tokens and spell cards instead of powers.
Best Regards
Herremann the Wise