To anyone who uses miniatures....

[jonesy]

Got to get me some of those.

 

[DDK]

All dollar values quoted are Australian. Do yer own damn conversions

This looks a lot like the Microtactix stuff (www.microtactix.com) only it can only be bought in colour and seems to be more modular, at least with the buildings. It also seems to be better coloured and have more bang for your buck, though I noticed they haven't got any terrain options.

As for value for money... eh, it depends on wether you have access to cheap inks. I would heartily recommend AGAINST inkjet refills as the quality seems to degrade in printing by about 25% each time you refill and with these kind of things, you want a good printout. I get Calidad cartridges mainly (for my crappy, POS, Epson 600) and I get them from a small, specialist store so they're very cheap ($9 for black, $14 for colour). NEVER buy inkjet cartridges from newsagents or big retail chains or anywhere else but your local, small-time computer store guy, otherwise you're getting ripped off severely.

With paper, you want, as a minimum, 150gsm with 200gsm+ being your goal paper weight. Standard paper is 80gsm. This is one thing where you want to AVOID the specialist stores as I've found all the artsy-craftsy stores with this kind of paper end up charging you around $0.50+ a page which is just a ripoff. In this case, the best bet is to go to those big office supply stores where they're like a warehouse only they sell to the public. They usually have half a wall dedicated to paper. Obviously if you're going for the colour versions of these things, white is the way to go, but with Microtactix terrain, you're better off getting green/brown for land, blue for water, etc. as it'll save a lot on ink. White comes in at around $6 for 50 sheets at 200gsm and colour at $8.

For a decent sized scenario, you'll need at least 30+ sheets and a lot of spare time.

One thing I couldn't see on the WorldWorks stuff is if it is marked in 1" squares. Microtactix stuff is (although for some stupid reason the buildings don't fit to the scale) which is really handy.

And to those who think it's not worth it... eh, if you get a good deal on paper and ink and are willing to spend the hours cutting and pasting, then I think it is. It certainly beats out paying hundreds of dollars for a tiny little scenario of Dwarven Forge stuff.

 

[Mark]

Hey there Mark! The family is doing great, thanks for asking. My son is 4 and my daughter is nearly 1 1/2 - if you can believe it (how time flies!).

Hope all is well with you, my friend, too.

Unfortunately, I do not have a real good digital camera - otherwise I would have. Funny, but my wife (who plays with us once the kiddies are to bed) said the same thing about taking a picture - I guess great minds think alike, eh! I built a siege tower out of balsa wood, and everything ended up looking real sweet. I put every miniature I had, plus a TON of cardstock minis out, and it looked like quite an epic battle.

Good to hear and all's well with me, too, thanks!

You haven't get one of your other players to buck up for a camera. Don't they know how expensive kids are?

This looks a lot like the Microtactix stuff (www.microtactix.com) only it can only be bought in colour and seems to be more modular, at least with the buildings. It also seems to be better coloured and have more bang for your buck, though I noticed they haven't got any terrain options.

As for value for money... eh, it depends on wether you have access to cheap inks. I would heartily recommend AGAINST inkjet refills as the quality seems to degrade in printing by about 25% each time you refill and with these kind of things, you want a good printout. I get Calidad cartridges mainly (for my crappy, POS, Epson 600) and I get them from a small, specialist store so they're very cheap ($9 for black, $14 for colour). NEVER buy inkjet cartridges from newsagents or big retail chains or anywhere else but your local, small-time computer store guy, otherwise you're getting ripped off severely.

With paper, you want, as a minimum, 150gsm with 200gsm+ being your goal paper weight. Standard paper is 80gsm. This is one thing where you want to AVOID the specialist stores as I've found all the artsy-craftsy stores with this kind of paper end up charging you around $0.50+ a page which is just a ripoff. In this case, the best bet is to go to those big office supply stores where they're like a warehouse only they sell to the public. They usually have half a wall dedicated to paper. Obviously if you're going for the colour versions of these things, white is the way to go, but with Microtactix terrain, you're better off getting green/brown for land, blue for water, etc. as it'll save a lot on ink. White comes in at around $6 for 50 sheets at 200gsm and colour at $8.

For a decent sized scenario, you'll need at least 30+ sheets and a lot of spare time.

One thing I couldn't see on the WorldWorks stuff is if it is marked in 1" squares. Microtactix stuff is (although for some stupid reason the buildings don't fit to the scale) which is really handy.

And to those who think it's not worth it... eh, if you get a good deal on paper and ink and are willing to spend the hours cutting and pasting, then I think it is. It certainly beats out paying hundreds of dollars for a tiny little scenario of Dwarven Forge stuff.

Damned good advice but are those cartridge prices Ausie bucks or US? If Ausie, what's the rough conversion rate?

 

[King_Stannis]

Re: All dollar values quoted are Australian. Do yer own damn conversions

One thing I couldn't see on the WorldWorks stuff is if it is marked in 1" squares. Microtactix stuff is (although for some stupid reason the buildings don't fit to the scale) which is really handy.

And to those who think it's not worth it... eh, if you get a good deal on paper and ink and are willing to spend the hours cutting and pasting, then I think it is. It certainly beats out paying hundreds of dollars for a tiny little scenario of Dwarven Forge stuff.

The WorldWorks stuff is marked off in 1 inch squares. In fact, you get 8 different pages of terrain with the Villageworks buildings as well. He suggests you mount them on 30*20 foamboard, and he even gives you a page of small bordering to put on the finished product for a very slick look. I actually made a double sided one the other night, grass on one side and gravel/dirt on the other. He also gives you grass/dirt blended sheets, river, swamp, and road PDF's. I have to admit that it looks very nice when done. And it only took about an hour and a half to make.

Microtactix is good too. I've bought lots of stuff from them in the past too. I will say that the guy at WorldWorks aims more at realism than Microtactix. But I've bought Microtactix cardboard minis and their dungeon (color) set. They're nice - but I just appreciate the quality of WW a little better at this point. Microtactix has a bigger library right now.

What's nice about the Villageworks set is that you can build a structure with a stone base and a plaster 2nd and 3rd floor (etc) - giving your village/city setup a fairly unique look.

 

[Holy Bovine]

WOW! Thanks for the link KS - those are beautiful. This gives me one more reason to get that laser printer I've been wanting

 

[el-remmen]

Wait a minute!

You have to print it out yourself?

I think that's a gyp!

I would have ordered it if they actually sent it to you on cardstock. . .I don't even own a printer!

 

[DDK]

Damned good advice but are those cartridge prices Ausie bucks or US? If Ausie, what's the rough conversion rate?

I think it's up to US $0.60 now. I usually just halve and add a little as the dollar fluctuates between 50 and 60 a lot.

I think all American's should bookmark the following site though so that the rest of the world doesn't have to keep on converting for you

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Oh, and it'd be nice if you'd lobby your government to catch up with the rest of the world and convert to metric, too

Microtactix is good too. I've bought lots of stuff from them in the past too. I will say that the guy at WorldWorks aims more at realism than Microtactix. But I've bought Microtactix cardboard minis and their dungeon (color) set. They're nice - but I just appreciate the quality of WW a little better at this point. Microtactix has a bigger library right now.

Yeah, the WW stuff, on closer examination, seems much better quality, artwise. And like I said, you seem to be getting more for your money as well.

The foamboard idea is a great one! I have no idea where I'd pick something like that up, though... hardware store? That might make cost a factor though as well, although it would reduce the need for thick paper.

That's another thing I forgot to mention. The thickness of paper is directly linked to whether or not you use miniatures and whether or not the areas need to support their weight. For Microtactix stuff, most buildings don't need to support mini's so you can get away with 120gsm. You still want thicker than regular paper though since printing full-colour pages tends to warp thinner paper and when you fold the buildings up, you want crisp edges and walls that won't bulge outwards.

For WW stuff, especially the second story stuff, I'm guessing you'd want 200gsm since it'd have to support pewter mini's at a height.

Even without colour, though, the Microtactix stuff can be pretty cool. I built a scale model of the Moathouse (ground floor only) from Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil and due to circumstances, ended up using it for three pretty large battles. Even though I didn't manage to finish it (budgetary constraints) fully, I thought it rocked to have it on the table with our mini's.

I would have ordered it if they actually sent it to you on cardstock. . .I don't even own a printer!

If you're poor then a cheap printer is good enough for what you need and, on the whole, it's a worthwhile investment if you want 3D gaming scenarios.

 

[tennyson]

These look pretty cool. Has anyone tried using a strong tape instead of glue for these models? Are there any disadvantages/advantages to it?

 

[DDK]

These look pretty cool. Has anyone tried using a strong tape instead of glue for these models? Are there any disadvantages/advantages to it?

Yeah, it's a PITA to use tape. Stick with a gluepen. Though the manuals recommend against it, I still say the water-based, clear glue with a sort of blunt cloth-like tip on the end and shaped like a thick pen is the best way to go. You have to be sparing with the glue but it's MUCH quicker as it's easy and quick to apply and dries rapidly. Also, they're really cheap. A gluepen here costs less than a dollar and lasts a long time. Alternately, the UHU sticks are also good, though too gooey and hard to apply to long, thin lengths of paper (tabs) and cost too much for what you get.

Again, tape is useless and just plain annoying, IMO.

 

[smetzger]

How does the size of the figures compare to the size of 25mm or 28mm lead/pewter figs?