Nine Hands
Explorer
I don't use miniatures much as some combat is easier without them. Othertimes, I grab a nice piece of terrain off of the walls at the store on run it on that. No squares, just a tape measure and our eyesight.
[Poll] Who DOESN'T use minis?
- Thread starter WinnipegDragon
- Start date
Thorntangle
First Post
I'll say it again. D&D is the child of miniature based wargames. Minis and D&D have been together since the beginning.
Ghost2020
Hero
We use counters occasionally. More lately, because the combats have been rather complex.
Other than that, it's a map, graph paper and scribbles.
I hate the fact that 3.0/3.5 is so mini-based. But we can get around it.
I just need to find some counters and minis that are smaller! I don't need the actual 1" or anything. Smaller scales would be fine, we just need it for locations, not actual scale minis.
BTW: Where could I find small counters (either already printed or blank) and small 1/2 inch or smaller hex/squares on a dry erase mat?
thanks!
Other than that, it's a map, graph paper and scribbles.
I hate the fact that 3.0/3.5 is so mini-based. But we can get around it.
I just need to find some counters and minis that are smaller! I don't need the actual 1" or anything. Smaller scales would be fine, we just need it for locations, not actual scale minis.
BTW: Where could I find small counters (either already printed or blank) and small 1/2 inch or smaller hex/squares on a dry erase mat?
thanks!
Last edited:
WinnipegDragon
First Post
Up to 55% who use Minis all the time.
I neglected the users who use tape measures/rulers/string and non-gridded combat maps or terrain. I still consider that 'using Minis' since it is a physical representation of characters for the adjucating of rules and ranges.
I neglected the users who use tape measures/rulers/string and non-gridded combat maps or terrain. I still consider that 'using Minis' since it is a physical representation of characters for the adjucating of rules and ranges.
alsih2o
First Post
i began playing d+d when i was too young to understand the rules properly with friends who didn't understand. we misread lots of things, cheated like heck and made up our own rules left and right, there relaly wasn't even a need for the book after our first couple of sessions.
but the minies wereright and i knew it. i loved them! painting them, posing them, moving them to and fro. then came landscapes, hideous ones, beautiful ones, playing outside inder the deck because the terrain was soooo cool.
when i went away to college and started gaming again i think part of what drew em back in was knowing i could get out my toolbox full of ogres with chipped paint and hordes of skeletons, from base lead to simple white spray paint (even the bases) to some prety details individuals.
i liked pulling out some mini or the other to satify a need but there is no feeling like having an orc xbower represent an orc xbower. who amongst us hasn't let their selection fo minis sway their choices when designing an adventure or choosing a module? heck, on of the few modules i bought (xsomehting i think, took place on an island with dinosaurs, i just found it again recently) i chose because i saw the areana and thought "i already own a giant spider, and just finished painting it!"
i immmediately went home and repainted it in gaudy colors with a pattern based on the b+w illustration in the book.
and now i play over the internet. my group is pretty great, nice combat/roleplay mixture (they even roleplay during combat!!) but i miss moving all that lead around.
but the minies wereright and i knew it. i loved them! painting them, posing them, moving them to and fro. then came landscapes, hideous ones, beautiful ones, playing outside inder the deck because the terrain was soooo cool.
when i went away to college and started gaming again i think part of what drew em back in was knowing i could get out my toolbox full of ogres with chipped paint and hordes of skeletons, from base lead to simple white spray paint (even the bases) to some prety details individuals.
i liked pulling out some mini or the other to satify a need but there is no feeling like having an orc xbower represent an orc xbower. who amongst us hasn't let their selection fo minis sway their choices when designing an adventure or choosing a module? heck, on of the few modules i bought (xsomehting i think, took place on an island with dinosaurs, i just found it again recently) i chose because i saw the areana and thought "i already own a giant spider, and just finished painting it!"
i immmediately went home and repainted it in gaudy colors with a pattern based on the b+w illustration in the book.
and now i play over the internet. my group is pretty great, nice combat/roleplay mixture (they even roleplay during combat!!) but i miss moving all that lead around.
alsih2o
First Post
i began playing d+d when i was too young to understand the rules properly with friends who didn't understand. we misread lots of things, cheated like heck and made up our own rules left and right, there relaly wasn't even a need for the book after our first couple of sessions.
but the minies were right and i knew it. i loved them! painting them, posing them, moving them to and fro. then came landscapes, hideous ones, beautiful ones, playing outside inder the deck because the terrain was soooo cool.
when i went away to college and started gaming again i think part of what drew em back in was knowing i could get out my toolbox full of ogres with chipped paint and hordes of skeletons, from base lead to simple white spray paint (even the bases) to some prety details individuals.
i liked pulling out some mini or the other to satify a need but there is no feeling like having an orc xbower represent an orc xbower. who amongst us hasn't let their selection fo minis sway their choices when designing an adventure or choosing a module? heck, on of the few modules i bought (xsomehting i think, took place on an island with dinosaurs, i just found it again recently) i chose because i saw the areana and thought "i already own a giant spider, and just finished painting it!"
i immmediately went home and repainted it in gaudy colors with a pattern based on the b+w illustration in the book.
and now i play over the internet. my group is pretty great, nice combat/roleplay mixture (they even roleplay during combat!!) but i miss moving all that lead around.
but the minies were right and i knew it. i loved them! painting them, posing them, moving them to and fro. then came landscapes, hideous ones, beautiful ones, playing outside inder the deck because the terrain was soooo cool.
when i went away to college and started gaming again i think part of what drew em back in was knowing i could get out my toolbox full of ogres with chipped paint and hordes of skeletons, from base lead to simple white spray paint (even the bases) to some prety details individuals.
i liked pulling out some mini or the other to satify a need but there is no feeling like having an orc xbower represent an orc xbower. who amongst us hasn't let their selection fo minis sway their choices when designing an adventure or choosing a module? heck, on of the few modules i bought (xsomehting i think, took place on an island with dinosaurs, i just found it again recently) i chose because i saw the areana and thought "i already own a giant spider, and just finished painting it!"
i immmediately went home and repainted it in gaudy colors with a pattern based on the b+w illustration in the book.
and now i play over the internet. my group is pretty great, nice combat/roleplay mixture (they even roleplay during combat!!) but i miss moving all that lead around.
Use minis and a map all the time, and have for 23 years now. Several reasons, really:
1) We all love minis and making terrain and buildings, and really love the visual spectacle it adds to the game, and
2) A couple of us got our start "fantasy gaming" with the plastic knights and vikings toy sets that came with the big tin castle with the lead paint (
) and the toy catapults that fired big plastic rocks that we started playing with about 30 or so years ago It was a given that we'd have "toy soldiers" in our D&D game when we started playing it.
/gnarlo!
1) We all love minis and making terrain and buildings, and really love the visual spectacle it adds to the game, and
2) A couple of us got our start "fantasy gaming" with the plastic knights and vikings toy sets that came with the big tin castle with the lead paint (
) and the toy catapults that fired big plastic rocks that we started playing with about 30 or so years ago It was a given that we'd have "toy soldiers" in our D&D game when we started playing it./gnarlo!
I never use minatures, nor have they been used in any campaign I have played in. If we have a chalkboard or dry erase board available sometimes I will draw a rough map with unit positions on it, but this is usually just for large scale combat. It really isn't difficult to run combat without the visual representation. I don't really care one way or the other about D&D combat having more "miniature rules".
Shemeska
Adventurer
The entire combat takes place more in our own heads, with I as DM giving the pointers for relative position in combat, than as detailed by any graph paper or poker chips or pewter minis.
More because I'm a starving grad student who can't afford alot of mini's and because I've never really used them, except for with the 'gaming group from hell' I was in once. Soured me on the idea entirely, and I have more fun, and can provide more details in a combat when its all described in the groups collective heads. *shrug*
Of course I do have some mini's but they're all 2nd ed Planescape mini's sitting all pretty and happy on a bookshelf next to me. *waves to the A'kin mini* More collected for the art than for anything else, and never actual use besides looking neat.
More because I'm a starving grad student who can't afford alot of mini's and because I've never really used them, except for with the 'gaming group from hell' I was in once. Soured me on the idea entirely, and I have more fun, and can provide more details in a combat when its all described in the groups collective heads. *shrug*
Of course I do have some mini's but they're all 2nd ed Planescape mini's sitting all pretty and happy on a bookshelf next to me. *waves to the A'kin mini* More collected for the art than for anything else, and never actual use besides looking neat.
WinnipegDragon
First Post
Another question, if I may pose it:
For those of you who do Mini and Non-mini combats, how do they play out in terms of speed of play? Do the minis help or hinder?
For those of you who do Mini and Non-mini combats, how do they play out in terms of speed of play? Do the minis help or hinder?
