Miniatures: What constitutes a critical mass?

[msd]

I like the idea of miniatures and I dig some of the ones I have seen from WOTC, but I simply don't have the time (to say nothing of the artistic talent) to get into painting miniatures.

So a couple of questions.

1) Is WOTC the only company that makes pre-painted fasntasy, D&D type minis?

2) How many minis do you really need before you can begin to really use them to model combat? Do you (as DM) *not* have the players engage in combat with monsters you can't represent (seems kinda silly)? Do you have generic counters to represent monsters you don't have minis for? Do you write your adventures *around* your mini collection?

Inquiring minds wanna know...

Thanks,
matt

 

[pogre]

I like the idea of miniatures and I dig some of the ones I have seen from WOTC, but I simply don't have the time (to say nothing of the artistic talent) to get into painting miniatures.

So a couple of questions.

1) Is WOTC the only company that makes pre-painted fasntasy, D&D type minis?

Well, no. A number of companies sell pre-painted fantasy miniatures. Dwarven Forge sells sets, but they are considerably more expensive. There are also a couple of companies that sell pre-painted pewter figures, including Crystal Caste and a couple of others. You can also pick up the Mage Knight stuff, but you might like to replace the click base.

Honestly, I'm not a fan of pre-painted stuff myself, but I have to say right now WOTC is doing the best job.

2) How many minis do you really need before you can begin to really use them to model combat? Do you (as DM) *not* have the players engage in combat with monsters you can't represent (seems kinda silly)? Do you have generic counters to represent monsters you don't have minis for? Do you write your adventures *around* your mini collection?

Inquiring minds wanna know...

Thanks,
matt

I do not have models for everything the party runs into and I use proxy minis for monsters all the time. Example - I have a couple of wraith like monsters I use for shadows, ghasts, and all kinds of other undead. I'm a bit of a fanatic and like to paint a couple of monsters for every adventure, but I rarely can represent everything. I would say a few boosters of D&D minis and you will be set.

I consider my miniature collection when I am writing an adventure, but no, it does not dictate encounters in anyway.

One final thought: You might consider searching ebay for some pre-painted figures. It's possible to pick up collections fairly cheap there from time-to-time. I really enjoy playing with minis and I hope you gain the addiction

 

[nyrfherdr]

MSD,
Always listen to Pogre!

Besides that...
Mage Knight and Wizards have the best selection/price for pre-painted plastic minis. The game stores I'm familiar with usually have boxes of 'common' minis for sale. I pick up stuff there all the time although the price seems to have gone up from $0.25 that I used to get. I have also purchased the Wizards Mini's in their Box sets.
I've only used a few of them in my regular games...
I buy them for when younger kids are playing. My son is 9. My pewters are a bit too valuable to risk with 9 year olds. I've had to repair lots of minis and it's always frustrating.
If you don't play mage knight, you can pop the mini's off the plastic click-base and put it on something smaller. The bases are bigger than the 1" square used for D&D tactical maps. They have some amazing mini's and some that are the opposite of amazing. I don't buy them unseen anymore.

For my regular games, I often use proxies to represent different monsters and only use counters when the miniature is smaller than the monster it is representing. I still end up putting a mini on top of the counter. (This is common for Dragons).

You can play D&D with only a few mini's. The players will be seeing a lot of the same mini to represent their opponents that way, but when I started that's the way it was. A mix of counters and mini's might be perfect for starting out. If you buy a little here and there and let your players know, they can buy a few too. The collection will grow faster than you expect.

My collection now is pretty large, so I proxy less, but I still do. D&D has some strange creatures that play well, but don't come up often enough to search down a mini for. That is one of the benefits of WOTC's approach to mini's is that the collector packs have some of those unusual monsters.

I create adventures knowing what mini's I have, but I have never excluded a creature based on my lack of an appropriate mini.


What I planned to be a short response has grown a bit like my figure collection!
Game ON!
Nyrf