Quote from: Drohem;520519Late to the party:  No, miniatures do not disrupt my immersion.  In fact, if anything, they add to my immersion as their use aids me in visualization of the situation at hand.

Same here.

Probably I would not like very detailed rules for movement, but yesterday night we were playing CoC and we had a very confusing firefight in a cave between Serpent Men and the PCs, and the minis added a lot to the tension of the fight, as I let them only see the Snake counters when they could see them. Minis may solve a lot of doubts and help people visualize the scene.

I can't see any big deal with them aparts from the logistics of moving them around. Of course, we play at my place

In my experience one of the biggest disconnects between players at the table is that everyone visualizes things differently, and the use of miniatures helps to lessen that gap in visualization.

Quote from: Drohem;520595In my experience one of the biggest disconnects between players at the table is that everyone visualizes things differently, and the use of miniatures helps to lessen that gap in visualization.

I've experienced the same thing, even when not using a 1" grid to place the minis on.

Quote from: Drohem;520595In my experience one of the biggest disconnects between players at the table is that everyone visualizes things differently, and the use of miniatures helps to lessen that gap in visualization.

It's definitely the reason I prefer them, grid not needed even!

Minis yes! This helps speed play immensely. Grid or hexgrid optional. We used rulers back in the day, a handspan 8" or so combined with swag, works just as good now. I'm more about having the players describe in detail the tactical moves they are attempting...

I personally find they disrupt my immersion tremendously. Not only by the fact that they encourage a wargaming mindset and thus often lead to the game slowing down due to unnecessary tactical rules; but also from the perspective that the mini's (and the backdrop) make my own visualisation more shallow.

Quote from: DrohemIn my experience one of the biggest disconnects between players at the table is that everyone visualizes things differently, and the use of miniatures helps to lessen that gap in visualization.

I actually welcome the fact that everyone visualises differently, it is a strength rather than a weakness - much like the deeper experience I get from reading a book, rather than watching the movie of it.

An example of this may be me describing an aerial battle: the PCs, mounted upon dragons, are engaging in a dog fight with dozens of feathered demons - when suddenly the dark storm clouds start to whirl together at preternatural speeds and form into the physical incarnation of the evil deity Tashxan, whom proceeds to try and swat them out of the sky with clawed hands the size of buildings...

Then I pull out a handful of mini's and painfully attempt to represent what is going on from a tactical perspective. Bam! The magic of the moment is flushed away.

Thus I never use minis in my games. The only place I find problems may occur is if a player challenges the GM's visualisation (I thought those guys were over there!) which is the result of either two things. Poor description from the GM, or not enough trust/respect from the players towards the GM. Neither of which are problems with the groups I play with.

Quote from: Pete Nash;520755I actually welcome the fact that everyone visualises differently, it is a strength rather than a weakness - much like the deeper experience I get from reading a book, rather than watching the movie of it.

This. The core RPG experience for my group is generating our own unique movies in our heads. Not rules mastery. Not character builds. Not tactical challenge. And my core skill as a GM is describing what is happening.

A couple of my players spend most of the session sketching out scenes from the gameplay, occasionally interrupted by rolling dice. If it was a good session, our memories of the session will not be guys sitting around a table looking at a grid and minis; the memories will be in the in-game settings and actions, and those memories will be different for everybody.

I have a very large gaming group, and in my experience minis makes everything better.

Maybe when I have like four players, or even six or so, I'd go without.  However, I have 14 players in my current WFRP 2e.

Yeah.

personally I don't have much of a problem with the use of miniatures, though I don't care for it myself and very very rarely ever used them, I don't think that having miniatures on the board alone will affect immersion.   Other factors connected to the type of gameplay that people who use minis tend to engage in might, however.

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