How many mini sets do you need to make them a useful part of your game?

[johnsemlak]

Thus far I've resisted the hype, I've not gone down the path of collecting miniatures.

When I read about people who've spent hundred's of dollars on some mad obsession to collect an entire set I feel gratified.

For the most part I've been satisfied with counters, though many of my CCI and CCII counters are sized 3.0.

Last session I was running a combat and moving the flat counters did become a pain. It might have been nice to have standup minis.

So how many miniatures does it really take to make them a useful part of the game, where you have one for each PC, plus enough for most of the NPCs and Monsters? I've never used minis for D&D before. I really like counters in that you can get loads for cheap, and in any case I'll probablty be mixing minis and counters

 

[Flyspeck23]

For the RPG I mix metal and plastic. The PCs, all of the main NPCs and some monsters are metal. If I've got a choice I use the plastic version.
And: no need to collect entire sets for me

IMHO it's very expensive to just use the plastic miniatures. Granted, a single one is cheap, but you've got to buy tons of them to get everything you need.

I've just ordered 2 more Umber Hulks (the WotC metal minis) for $2 each, bringing my total count to 4. I don't want to think about how many booster packs I'd need to buy to get 4 Umber Hulks. And secondary market for rares is IMHO not an option - they're more expensive than full-price metal minis, and I won't pay that much for plastic.

Conclusion: the D&D miniatures are a welcome addition to my miniature collection. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

[Thanee]

We currently use miniatures for the characters only and usually dice for the monsters.

Bye
Thanee

 

[null_boundry]

None.

But if I could figure a way of using my Battle Fleet Gothic models...

 

[Li Shenron]

How many mini sets do you need to make them a useful part of your game?

Marketing answer: one more.

 

[Thanee]

To answer your question: You'll need one figure each to represent the characters and then one or two dozen various monster miniatures (that could double for similar creatures, too).

I guess at that point it becomes useful.

Problem with the WotC line is the randomness, so buying sets makes you buy a lot more than you might actually need.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Li Shenron]

Problem with the WotC line is the randomness, so buying sets makes you buy a lot more than you might actually need.

Heh...

A stupid question: are WotC minis of a standard size? I suppose there are more than one standard sizes for minis in general, I just wonder if the D&D line is compatible with other lines... How tall is a typical medium-size char D&D mini? How wide is the square of a battlemap supposed to be, compared to the size of a minis base?

 

[Calico_Jack73]

Only the PCs get minis (and the players provide those). NPCs and Monsters are colored glass beads you can get at pretty much any hobby store.

 

[MarauderX]

I snag what I want, and only what I want, from ebay, trading or other sites. I use tons of counters too, and have found incorporating them with minis easy. The BBEG and tougher henchmen get minis; the mooks do not. As such the players can more easily recognize the more nasty looking bad guys from the eleventeenth 'goblin' counter.
As far as number, I have nearly 100 minis now, and I think I paid about US$0.75 per mini on average, including the large ones. And...shhh... come closer...I plan to use most if not all of them at some point.

 

[Arnwyn]

We currently use miniatures for the characters only and usually dice for the monsters.

That's exactly what we do, as well. (I have many multi-colored dice: white, red, green, blue, orange - so they are all nicely numbered and colored for me and the players. Makes combats run *very* smoothly and quickly while still being accurate wrt damage dealt, who is attacking who, etc.)

A stupid question: are WotC minis of a standard size? I suppose there are more than one standard sizes for minis in general, I just wonder if the D&D line is compatible with other lines... How tall is a typical medium-size char D&D mini? How wide is the square of a battlemap supposed to be, compared to the size of a minis base?

The WotC minis are of standard size (25mm?) and compatible with most other minis on the market. Standard battlemap sizes are 1" squares, IIRC. (WotC minis that are "large" size or larger actually fit better on standard battlemaps than other minis since they follow the 3.5 rules for space while using standard 1" square battlemaps.)