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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stoat" data-source="post: 4975443" data-attributes="member: 16786">I started playing in 1989 with 2E.  We almost never used minis or counters for melee combat.  (I played a lot of Spelljammer, and we almost always used counters for ship-to-ship combat).  I switched to 3E in 2000 and immediately started using minis.  I think there are two reasons why.  First, the rules seemed to assume minis use, with the focus on the battlegrid, templates for AoE's, etc.  Second, my friends and I had accumulated a bunch of Warhammer minis, so we had them handy to use.w/r/t the OP.  I think a couple of issues are at work.  First, 4E seems somewhat more mini-centric than 3E, primarily because of the focus on attacks that push, pull or slide combatants.  In 3E, the big thing to worry about if you went without the grid were attacks of opportunity.  (I assume that a DM who could handle flanking, movement and area attacks without a grid in 1 or 2E could do the same in 3.X.)  4E keeps a simplified version of the AoO, and adds a lot of tactical movement.  To me, it looks like an incremental move toward "more minis."As for older editions, I think a certain amount of self-selection is at work.  Folks who enjoyed 1E or 2E with minis are more likely to enjoy 3.X or 4E's focus on minis.  I posit that those folks are thus more likely to switch to 3.X or 4E.  Folks who didn't use minis in 1E or 2E are less likely to enjoy 3X  or 4E's focus on minis.  Those folks are more likely to keep playing earlier editions.  Over time, earlier editions of the game thus become more associated with non-mini play, because the people who played them with minis have moved on.Edit: It also seems to me that the folks who complain about 4E's focus on minis are more likely to be 1E Grognards who didn't particularly like 3.X either.  I don't know that I've seen too many 3.X players complaining about the use of minis in 4E.</blockquote>

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