While skill with miniatures is usually the province of the wargamer, I want to go through the process of enhancing the miniature experience for roleplayers. The goal is to present as much information as possible, from beginning to end, without being overly complex. This is aimed at your average roleplayer with any interest in miniatures, not the artists and the exceptional amongst us, but those that just want something nice to sit in the middle of the table, give a reasonable representation of everything involved, and not take endless hours of work to complete. After all, we're just trying to get some neat looking stuff on the table, not create a diorama. Eventually, we may get into the more complicated aspects of modeling, but let's not diverge too far yet, shall we? The scenario I'm addressing here is a person who knows little to nothing about miniatures, and how to get started.
We're going to start with the all-important character miniature. After all, you have to represent yourself before anything else, and this is the simplest place to start in any case. Its also one of the most fun, and even the process of looking for a miniature can be a lot of fun. There are a lot of web sites out there that can help you with this, but before we jump into that, let's talk about having a bit of focus. It is all too easy to start looking everywhere and seeing a lot of really interesting figures and get lost in it all.
Where to buy and why...
To start at the very beginning, we must select where to buy the miniature. There are a few basic sources: the manufacturer, a retail website, and your local game store. We'll explore the pros and cons of each briefly.
The manufacturer has the benefit of having every miniature it makes and almost always having it all in stock. You can find out what else is coming out, pre-order upcoming items, see what people are doing with their miniatures, and all the other goodness of a full fledged web site completely dedicated to that company's miniatures. The downside is that you can only see their miniatures, they will typically be full price, and shipping is in addition to that cost. You also have to know about the manufacturer, but if you already like a number of their miniatures and the style, it makes life a little simpler in finding the types of miniatures you want. The customer service is usually better from a manufacturer, as their own livelihood depends on your patronage.
A retail website will have a larger choice of various miniatures, is more likely to run discounts, and will probably stock a bunch of tools and accessories dealing with the miniature or roleplaying hobby. However, they do not always have the full line of miniatures from any given company and as their stock is varied, they will likely have less information or knowledge about any one company's products. Their customer service will vary widely as their profits come from overall sales and there is no loyalty to the product involved. Stock will vary quite a bit, some are very good about keeping things in stock, while others will neglect those lines that do not make them all that much money.
Your local store is, in my personal opinion, the best way to go. You are less likely to see as much discounting, but there is a definite benefit to seeing the actual product in your hand rather than just looking at an image on the screen, and you are going to get more personal service. Customer service varies here, as well, but remember that your local game store is not making money hand over fist, they're just hopefully making enough to live a decent life and are likely running the shop because they love it.
One of the greatest benefits, however, is being able to physically see the miniature. In any online environment, you're looking at a stock photo that is going to be as perfect as they can make it. In the shop, holding that blister pack in your hand, you'll be able to see if that individual miniature was actually cast correctly, acting as a second level of quality control. While most manufacturers keep a pretty good lock on what they put out, a few bad ones always get through, its just a fact of life.
Now that you've figure out where you're going to get your miniature, we move on to the simple task of picking one out. Keep a focus on genre and character image. Don't spend your time looking at all the science fiction miniatures if you're looking for a halfling rogue. The idea of character image does deserve some attention here, though. Also, as a small technical note, most miniatures you see that are appropriate for roleplaying are usually in the 25-30mm scale if this comes up.
In your mind's eye, you probably have an image of what you want your character to look like. Keep that in mind, but don't be too focused on it. To break it down into some of the simplest things look for: proper gender, style, equipment, and attitude. I'm not going to explain gender. If that needs explaining, that's a whole other issue. Style, however, is a matter of how the miniature is attired and its adherence to the genre. So keep an eye out for the tell-tale signs of steam-punk, Victorian, fantasy, space opera, etc. as you look for your miniature. Proper gear is a little less important, as some of it can be easily changed, but having the proper armor, weapons, and general gear can really set your miniature apart especially if its an important part of the character's signature look. (e.g. the giant two-handed sword of the berserker, or the long barrel of a sniper rifle) The attitude can really make or break a model. If your character is an insane berserker, having a miniature that shows wide eyes, an openly screaming mouth, and mid-lunge will do much more for the character than just a big guy standing there with a giant sword on his back. Keep this all in mind as you look for your miniature, you want it to be as inspiring as you can make it.
In the end, you're probably going to have to compromise a little. No miniature manufacturer, or even combination of manufacturers, has every single idea ever conceived. Its just not possible. So try and find the miniature that comes closest to that ideal, setting your priorities on what you want portrayed the most. Later, we'll talk about taking your initial compromise and making it into exactly what you want, but that's for another article and another time.
Now, for those aspiring to start this quest, let's go into a discussion of what miniatures there are out there. By no means is this an exhaustive list, but I'm going to break it down into two major categories and give some resources to follow it all up. Before anyone accuses me of anything for forgetting their favorite company, I am not being payed or compensated in any way by any of these companies. I literally took them off of my bookmarks. If you have others, please feel free to tell me about them. I'm always looking for more sources of good miniatures. I'm a Hero Games lover, so you can imagine how many different kinds of miniatures I want.
The Big Players?
The first category is going to be about major players. These are the guys you'll see in magazine advertisements in prominent publications, and the most likely to show up at your local store and most major web sites. Otherwise, exercise your kung fu on the search engines.
Reaper Miniatures has a nice search engine. There are two major lines of miniatures for fantasy: Dark Heaven (25mm scale) and Warlord (28-30mm scale). They also have a few other lines, but the fantasy miniatures is what you'll find the most in stores.
Privateer Press has the skirmish wargame WarMachine and the d20 source material for Iron Kingdoms. They have three miniatures lines: WarMachine, Hordes, and Iron Kingdoms. The last is specifically for roleplaying in their world but many of the miniatures from their skirmish game are also usable. This is a steam-punk type of world, but many are useful for your fantasy games.
Clix. I use the generic term as there are many lines out there, but these are the plastic, pre-painted miniatures that closely follow the Dungeons and Dragons line for obvious reasons. They also have superheroes, Star Wars, and others. www.wizards.com
Games Workshop probably has one of the biggest lines of miniatures, but they are specifically made for their wargame lines. However, there are many miniatures you can pilfer for your roleplaying games, especially for those of you who love the Warhammer Fantasy RPG. Warhammer, Mordheim, and Lord of the Rings are their fantasy lines. Warhammer 40,000 and Necromunda are their science fiction lines. There are others as well, but these four will best suit your needs. There just aren't any usable characters in Inquisitor, Battlefield Gothic, Epic, and and myriad others. Though, I suppose, Blood Bowl might have some applications.
Rackham, has a relatively new and very popular set of models meant for a skirmish level wargame, Confrontation, but they are certainly suitable to fantasy roleplay. Their new AT-43 game is a pre-painted line of miniatures usable for science fiction and perhaps superhero games.
Mongoose Publishing has several lines of miniatures. Their roleplaying books are probably familiar to most, their miniatures are typically featured due to this fact. Some of their major stuff includes Babylon 5 and Starship Troopers for science fiction, but they have others.
The Bad News...
There are very few miniatures companies making anything for Modern, Superhero, or Cyberpunk that are very prominent. Some of this I will cover in the smaller companies, but not all.
Small Size, Big Choice
Now, after all of those, there are many companies making miniatures for a variety of genres. I won't go into much detail, their miniatures can be a very eclectic mix of genres and styles. Also, some of these do have nudity, so I don't recommend checking any of these out while at work, just in case. These are smaller press manufacturers, so keep that in mind as you look at them. Quality of sculpt and availability will vary wildly between manufacturers.
Hasslefree Miniatures has modern, fantasy, sci-fi and a fair bit more. A very nice miniature company with only one sculptor who does it the classical way: building the bone structure, muscles, etc. on up until its a finished miniature.
Corvus Belli for 15mm historical, Infinity science fiction miniatures, and Warcrow fantasy miniatures.
Bronze Age Miniatures has sci-fi, fantasy, historical, and generics. The generics are base miniatures, posed and musculature added, which you can sculpt on to make into whatever you like.
Eureka Miniatures has.. well, a large variety, to say the least. Worth looking at.
Excalibur Miniatures, with a variety of figures.
Wargames Foundry has a wide selection of many miniatures. Probably a good place to start for some of those hard to find genres and the like. The variety is quite broad.
Black Scorpion Miniatures has Fantasy, U.S. Marines, Iraqi Militia, and their Tombstone line of Wild West stuff. Interesting company. Also a collectors series that is mostly just for modelers as they're in a larger scale.
Heresy Miniatures has Fantasy, Deathball (like Bloodbowl, a fantasy football game), and some science fiction/modern miniatures.
Shadowforge Miniatures is most distinct for having very few male figures and an anime/manga line. Honestly, not sure what to say about this one, its a bit of a weird set of miniatures.
Superfigs is one of the few superhero dedicated miniatures lines. I actually have a miniature in their Customer Corner, named Inferno. Love them or hate them, its one of the few sets of miniatures explicitly for superhero gaming.
Urban Mammoth, makers of VOID and Urban War has a good line of science fiction miniatures.
Magnificent Egos is all fantasy. Mostly they pride themselves on character miniatures, so a good start, but they have some very interesting spell effect miniatures as well as an enormous dragon.
Old Glory Miniatures has quite a few ranges. Be sure and check under the correct scale, 25mm, and you'll find a good variety of miniatures.
Lance & Laser Miniatures and Models has a good variety of miniatures. They also have a line of superhero models in addition to the usual fantasy, science fiction, and some modern.
East Riding Miniatures has a few different kinds of miniatures. Looks to be a very small company.
Freebooter Miniatures doesn't have an extensive catalog but has quite a few interesting miniatures. Mostly fantasy, but a small selection of future miniatures.
Copplestone Castings has a large variety of miniatures for fantasy, historical, science fiction and otherwise. Another good source for some alternate models, as there is a pretty good variety.
The Part Where I Sign Off...
And that's all I'm going to list for now, but those should be a very good start. The smaller companies will be somewhat harder to get as you'll probably have to order them via their website. A few local stores can get some of these, or are willing to bother, but I find that using a lot of the smaller companies makes for more unique figures at the table and can get you items for the less popular games/genres with which you may be looking to use miniatures.
While this particular segment may seem a bit boring and obtuse to some of you, it is meant as a way of getting a person started. Everyone has to start at the beginning to complete a journey, and a guide to that journey should do the same. So fare thee well, travelers, and look to my next article to expound on model preparation and assembly methods. We will explore some tools and their use in preparing the miniature for painting. Until then, get to searching, and we'll get that character put together!
