Miniatures and Maps

[Shin Okada]

If you cannot find nearby shops which are selling minis, try this online shop.

http://www.thewarstore.net/

This is known as one of the best online miniature shop. Unfortunately, this shop's page do not contain much image of minis. So if you want to see the images, try some manufacturer's page.

Reaper
http://www.reapermini.com/

GW
http://www.games-workshop.com/front.US

Reaper is making tons of minis. You can find various PC models and monsters.

If you want to start quick, I suggest you to get some GW's LotR kit. Especially, starter set. That set contain 8 human warriors with sword and shield, 8 Elves with bows, 8 Elves with two handed sword (looks somewhat like glaive), and 24 goblins.

Regarding Maps. I have put a paper with 1 inch grids into clear vinyl paper holder. I have made several of them. That way you can use white board pen to write down dungeons on it, and can erase it very easily.

 

[ToddSchumacher]

When we played d20 Starwars we used a friends Star Wars Lego collection for minis...hows that for geekiness?

 

[maddman75]

http://www.dragonscalecounters.com

I was just pimpin these guys the other day in another thread. For about $10, you can get a set of six 8x11 plastic mats. They are easy to transport, easy to predraw and area, and dirt cheap.

The counters here are all plastic as well, and pretty cheap.

HTH

madd

 

[Kershek]

If you like the idea of miniatures that stand up but don't want to pay for pewter, you can get Cardboard Heroes (http://www.sjgames.com/heroes/). They fold and stand up on their own and are really cool. We've been using them since the beginning of our gaming group and we love them.

A suggestion: instead of bending them and standing them up like a triangle, fold them in half and clamp them to small 3/4" binder clips (http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/SKU.asp?BCFlag=False&PageType=1&SKU=ACC72020), then take the metal rings off. They stand up perfectly and more can be stored in a smaller area.

 

[Silver Moon]

At last! ANOTHER lego person!
Used Lego mini-figs for years. I will always think of my favorite character with that yellow face. ------->

Make that three. I've used Legos for caves and fortresses for years (even let my young kids help to build them).

The single best use for Legos over the years was a during a Star Trek Live Action Role Play game we ran five years ago at TotalCon. As an engineering puzzle for all of the engineer characters they were required to build a model of DS9 out of Lego blocks to prevent the station from blowing up. Great fun.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Here's the cheapest - and, in our group's opinion, the best solution.

Draw your map on standard 5mm grid paper (or whatever equivalent you can get where you live). Get a block of styrofoam big enough for the grid paper. Get some pins from the office supply store of your choice - and pins with little flags on them for your PCs.

Stick the pins into the map to show the location for each character and monster. Use the flags to show facing for each PC.

Now you will never have problems with gauging relative distances and combat locations again...

 

[mkletch]

I use battlemats and poster paper with 1" grid all the time. I play in two campaigns, and for the one, we do not have a player with a square grid battlemat - only hexes - and must use the paper. I prefer the battlemat for a variety of reasons, especially reusability. The poster paper comes down to about 30 cents a sheet, which can add up over the span of a year - into the cost of a new hardcover! Granted, you have an up-front invenstment for hte battlemat, but new battlemat will cost about the same as a tablet of 50 sheets of 1" grid, 27"x32" (and used would be even cheaper).

As for minis, there have already been a lot of good suggestions (I prefer Reaper), but I did not see HeroQuest mentioned. If you can pick up a set or two of the minis on eBay, you'll have lots of bad guys. In our campaign without the battlemat guy (who is also the HeroQuest guy), we try to keep the battles small or abstract.

-Fletch!

 

[Ashrem Bayle]

In my more recent games, I've taken to using tokens. The tokens in question are actually pennies, dimes, nickles, and quarters with little numbered pieces of paper glued to them.

Works nicely and is very efficient. It's easy to quickly look over the battlemat and find what I'm looking for.

Cheap too!

 

[robaustin]

Said it before, will say it again.

Food makes wonderful minis(for monsters)

M&M's - different colors for the DM to keep track of monsters. You get to eat the monster you kill.

Goldfish - also very good.

Larger monsters - cookies, crackers, etc....

Cheap, fun and yummy!

--*Rob

 

[Storminator]

Watch out for combining dry erase boards and paper counters. The dry erase ink will smear onto your counters. I used a dry erase board for a long time before I got a battlemat. I much prefer the mat.

I also prefer minis to counters, but I have a LOT of painted minis, so I like to use 'em. I do use the counters for dead bodies, which is a pretty neat trick.

Reaper minis has a starter paint kit that gives you everything you need (except spray primer and spray varnish). They also have a forum so you can get tips and ideas, show off your minis, see others' work, etc.