Like to play Warhammer, 40k, other mini games and RPGs that need minis to help represent what your players are doing? Hate paying out the nose for minis OR view the minis more as game pieces than as works of art? If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, Budget Battlefield Minis just might be the answer to your wargaming needs.
With a good printer and the cost of the download fee ($6 typically for black and white version/$14 for color), you can print your own fantasy or sci-fi armies or RPG minis for literally pennies per mini.
Budget Battlefield is a set of miniature wargame rules produced by Microtactix. The rules themselves are not my cup of tea but the minis they have created are an absolute blessing.
The artwork is very good, producing paper miniatures that very nicely depict the characters/troops that they represent. The minis are cut-outs that you fold to stand at comparable heights with other more expensive lead and plastic 25mm miniatures.
Once you've selected an army or set of minis (e.g. fantasy filler donwload), you pay the download fee and download the file. I had my files on the hard-drive within 10 minutes and was printing troops for battle in no time. No glitches to report or unreadable files for any of the multiple armies/filler armies that I bought (Four armies plus the Main rules and one filler army).
Budget Battlefield armies are sold as separate downloads and Microtactix also includes four B&W armies with the core BB Rules themselves. The BB rules include a fantasy undead army, a medieval empire army, and two opposing sci-fi human armies (planetary army versus human mercenaries) which are very useful even if the rules aren't to your liking.
Other armies are available individually and don't require that you buy the rules. They are typically available as B&W or color, with color being more expensive. However, each army includes a customizable master sheet (s) which contains at least one of each paper miniature represented in the army. This master sheet file can be manipulated using MS: Paint or other drawing applications to add color to your armies (even if you elect to buy the cheaper B&W versions).
Armies include very typical and easily used fantasy and sci-fi characters that would fit many mainstream minis and RPG games like D&D, Traveller, Warhammer and Warhammer 40k. The planetary army included with the BB rules makes a nice Imperial Guard and the mercenaries fill in well for Eldar or Dark Eldar.
Power Armored Trooper armies are available to fill in as Space Marines and Shee'tok aliens do nicely as alien Tyranid proxies. The Power Armored regiments have heavy weapons troopers, scouts and standard marine types and vehicles are available as a separate download.
On the fantasy side, there are Barbarians, Amazons, Orcs & Goblins, Dwarfs and Elfs. Microtactix also sells a Fantasy filler pack or two that contain troops that could be used to field Ratmen (cough! Skaven) armies and to provide Ogres, Trolls and other miscellaneous monsters usually found in fantasy forces.
And unless my eyes are deceiving me, I could have sworn I saw some super hero types available as a new download for all the Hero-Clix and Super System and Heroes, etc. fans out there.
In addition to all this goodness, Microtactix lets you preview a sampling of their wares for free directly from their website. They have skirmish game samples and minis samples that let you as the buyer see just what kind of stuff you're buying into--should you make the plunge and decide to pay for a download.
www.microtactix.com is their site and there's plenty of free stuff to try before you commit. Again, I'm not a fan of their BB rules but their minis rock in my opinion. I've taken to mounting them on Games Workshop bases to help boost their height a little and to make them sturdier--also get less argument during games since the bases are the same for everyone's minis that way:)
As long as I'm not playing in an official company tournament or store, I've got an entire Space Marine Chapter for about $12 (and that includes $5 for bases). Even if you don't want to play all your games with paper minis, there's something to be said for trying out minis (using these print-outs as proxies) before you buy the more expensive plastic/metal versions.
Check these things out. If you're cheap like me, you'll be happy that you did and may all your to hit rolls be sixes (if you're playing 40k, that is).
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(Due to spamming, old forum discussions are no linked.)