How do you feel about miniatures?

[Olaf the Stout]

I love using minis. My D&D minis collection currently stands at about 1700-odd minis. I love putting the exact mini I need on the table. Very rarely do I have to substitute minis and say, "pretend that Orc is a Hobgoblin and that Skeleton is a Wight."

I love it when I don't have to even tell the players what they are facing, I can just put the mini down on the table and go from there. The reaction I got when I put my Beholder mini on the table in my Shackled City campaign (they were only 3rd level) was awesome. It would be right up there as one of the most memorable moments of the campaign so far.

I love when have my players comment on how cool a mini looks. They never did that when I used cardboard counters (and they certainly didn't years ago when I used little coloured gemstones to represent the enemies! ).

Olaf the Stout

 

[pogre]

I have way too much fun painting'em to let them rot on my shelves.

Cheers, LT.

I agree totally!

 

[Family]

Public Service Announcement:

Aside from the fact that I like editing/painting them.

WOMEN SEEM TO BE DRAWN TO ARTS AND CRAFTS!

 

[Kichwas]

I've heard that 4E is more of a miniatures game than 3E, which was more than 2E, which was probably less than 1E. But it got me thinking: Isn't ANY edition a miniatures game to the degree that we want it to be? I mean, no one needs to use minis, and I don't think any edition has rules that require minis.

You can play a video game with the monitor turned off, but it wouldn't be wise. But while 4E may feel like a video game, it isn't one.

So...

You can play Warhammer without minis too. I suppose. Might be a tad hard to do, but in theory it is possible.


To answer the key question, I prefer using minis. For the very reasons mentioned by the poster after me about positioning. Plus, I enjoy painting them, and as a visual thinker and artist like to have props. Don't always get to use them though.

 

[Aristotle]

I hated metal minis because they cost a ton and they never looked as good as the pictures when I painted them... but I always used counters of some sort. I hate, hate, hate playing in a game with no sort of positional tracking to keep everyone on the same page. I always end up catching the GM "moving" things from round to round or letting a character "warp" somewhere he shouldn't have been able to get to... Miniatures keeps everyone honest, and a good GM doesn't let it hinder his ability to describe memorable locations.

I bought cases of the first few sets of plastic minis. I got what I wanted despite randomization and had plenty left ot trade for minis I wanted from those sets or later ones. Now I mostly just buy singles of the few I need from each set from the 3rd party sellers. I get what I want and it's no more expensive than metal would have been.

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

You can play Warhammer without minis too. I suppose. Might be a tad hard to do, but in theory it is possible.

Some sort of insane chess notation variation, perhaps?

 

[RSKennan]

a good GM doesn't let it hinder his ability to describe memorable locations.

That's not 100% true. I considered myself a good GM under 2e, and with systems that didn't use minis. Players of my campaigns would go on and on about my games, and we had plenty of stories that would keep getting retold.

3e's focus on minis took a lot of getting used to for me. I had to change my whole paradigm, and when I did, I found that the game had lost something for me. It wasn't as dynamic for reasons I mentioned in my last post.

4e on the other hand, while just as focused on minis (or more), has added all that stuff back in for me. It feels really alive, and not chesslike at all.

So basically I'm trying to say that I was a good non-minis DM, and a mediocre minis DM, until 4e came along. At least I hope- I haven't had a chance to run 4e yet.

 

[Green Knight]

I love using miniatures, myself. Been using them pretty regularly since AD&D. Got a bundle of Ral Partha miniatures sitting in my closet from back in the day.