I don't do miniatures. But lately I've been having more and more larger battles where I think miniatures might be handy. In the past, I've used paper and card stock miniatures for this. But I'd like to put something together using plastic miniatures and terrain pieces. Any suggestions for games set in Ancient China? I haven't bought miniatures or terrain since the Ral Partha days.

http://www.oshiromodelterrain.co.uk/ch/chinese.html

http://wargamesterrainworkshop.co.uk/?product_cat=oriental-scenery

As far as miniatures goes, Reaper makes some pretty decent ones (you can search by class and race, too).  There's some martial-artsish guys in Wyrd, too (but I don't know their scale).

Wargames Foundry has a Chinese range.  A lot of them have firearms since it's colonial/Boxer rebellion era, but a lot just have traditional clothes and weapons.  Not a lot of mandarin type armors and clothes, but should be able to find some applicable there.

If you are looking to build some of your own terrain, look to the model railroad hobby. There are tips and tricks in their store of knowledge that are inexpensive time savers and look great.

Chinese wargaming is a bit of a trick... loads of choices for Japanese stuff, Clan War, Ronin, etc.... but far less for China.

For historical army rules I'd probably look to Lion Rampant (or Dragon Rampant if you want to add some fantasy stuff). Simple medieval rules that focus on a 'retinue' level... not huge armies but beyond what you'd normally do with an RPG. There is an example Mongol retinue in the book and I'm guessing there would be some for Song Chinese around on the wargame forums.

The same company that puts out Lion Rampant also has A Fistful of Kung Fu, which are Wuxia skirmish rules, <20 figs per player.

This page has starter armies for Song and Mongols, but they're metal: http://1stcorps.co.uk/product-category/deals/army-packs-lion-rampant-starter-armies/

Here are some plastic Mongols: http://www.fireforge-games.com/webstore/mongol-horde/mongol-cavalry-details

Here's a rundown of some Chinese/Wuxia skirmish figures: http://www.randomplatypus.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=595

Reaper doesn't really do miniatures for armies, but they've got stuff that would make for good character minis.

Look to any historical minis company...
Wargames Foundry
Dixon
Old Glory
John Jenkins
Eureka
ebob
Warlord Games
Forlorn Hope
Fireforge
Copplestone

Also look to any company that has any kind of Pulp thing going on...they almost always have Fu-Manchu types.
Pulpfigures
Reaper's Chronoscope line
Hasslefree

Essex Miniatures does Tang Dynasty Chinese in 25 mm.  They are probably older sculpts so closer to 25 mm than 28 and would be short compared to fantasy sized figures:
http://www.essexminiatures.co.uk/collections/25mm-ancient-tang-five-dynasties-chinese
Perry Brothers have a line of Japanese and Korean figures, they do both metal and plastic:
https://www.perry-miniatures.com/index.php?cPath=23_39&osCsid=hf7vpjv3noong17k42qijqfo66

There is also the British company 1st Corps:
http://1stcorps.co.uk/

Not my field to collect miniatures so I cannot say anything about any of them, except that in other areas, Perry produces some beautiful miniatures

Quote from: wombat1;918450Not my field to collect miniatures so I cannot say anything about any of them, except that in other areas, Perry produces some beautiful miniatures

Some of their mounted knights are amazing.

Quote from: CRKrueger;918441Wargames Foundry has a Chinese range.  A lot of them have firearms since it's colonial/Boxer rebellion era, but a lot just have traditional clothes and weapons.  Not a lot of mandarin type armors and clothes, but should be able to find some applicable there.

My setting is Song Dynasty roughly, but I will check this one out.

Quote from: Crüesader;918402http://www.oshiromodelterrain.co.uk/ch/chinese.html

http://wargamesterrainworkshop.co.uk/?product_cat=oriental-scenery

As far as miniatures goes, Reaper makes some pretty decent ones (you can search by class and race, too).  There's some martial-artsish guys in Wyrd, too (but I don't know their scale).

I like the courtyard house pieces.

Quote from: wombat1;918450Essex Miniatures does Tang Dynasty Chinese in 25 mm.  They are probably older sculpts so closer to 25 mm than 28 and would be short compared to fantasy sized figures:
http://www.essexminiatures.co.uk/collections/25mm-ancient-tang-five-dynasties-chinese
Perry Brothers have a line of Japanese and Korean figures, they do both metal and plastic:
https://www.perry-miniatures.com/index.php?cPath=23_39&osCsid=hf7vpjv3noong17k42qijqfo66

There is also the British company 1st Corps:
http://1stcorps.co.uk/

Not my field to collect miniatures so I cannot say anything about any of them, except that in other areas, Perry produces some beautiful miniatures

Tang is pretty close to what I am going for. And I have an area on the map that is specifically modeled on the Tang Dynasty.

Quote from: Simlasa;918445Chinese wargaming is a bit of a trick... loads of choices for Japanese stuff, Clan War, Ronin, etc.... but far less for China.

For historical army rules I'd probably look to Lion Rampant (or Dragon Rampant if you want to add some fantasy stuff). Simple medieval rules that focus on a 'retinue' level... not huge armies but beyond what you'd normally do with an RPG. There is an example Mongol retinue in the book and I'm guessing there would be some for Song Chinese around on the wargame forums.

The same company that puts out Lion Rampant also has A Fistful of Kung Fu, which are Wuxia skirmish rules, <20 figs per player.

This page has starter armies for Song and Mongols, but they're metal: http://1stcorps.co.uk/product-category/deals/army-packs-lion-rampant-starter-armies/

Here are some plastic Mongols: http://www.fireforge-games.com/webstore/mongol-horde/mongol-cavalry-details

Here's a rundown of some Chinese/Wuxia skirmish figures: http://www.randomplatypus.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=595

Reaper doesn't really do miniatures for armies, but they've got stuff that would make for good character minis.

That rundown page is really helpful.

Quote from: jeff37923;918443If you are looking to build some of your own terrain, look to the model railroad hobby. There are tips and tricks in their store of knowledge that are inexpensive time savers and look great.

This is honestly the most intimidating part of it for me. Buying miniatures, buying buildings, that I can handle. I never got into terrain, but if I am going to do this now, I'd like to incorporate it. It seems like a challenge. We have a model train store nearby in Peabody, so maybe I'll go there when I take my wife to work on monday. Any suggestions for what I should look for (I honestly don't know where to begin here).

A lot of wargames terrain is built out of pink insulation foam. You can buy it in 4x8 foot sheets at Home Depot/Lowes... places like that... well, if you live in colder climate. Here in the desert I have to special order it. Once you have it you can cut it into smaller segments, cut out shapes, glue it... use knives and foam cutters to shape it... then paint it and flock it. It's really pretty easy.
Here are some videos:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pink+foam+terrain

You can't paint it with spraypaint... the solvents will eat the foam (which is a neat effect for weird alien hives...). You can get flock of different sorts at hobby shops.

For buildings, a lot of people use foamcore:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wargames+buildings+foamcore

There's also DM Scotty, who is a zany terrain guru on Youtube. He uses lots of cardboard and hot glue to make really low cost RPG terrain:
https://www.youtube.com/user/theDMsCraft/videos

Making terrain is lots of fun, you can use all those skills you learned in elementary school arts class... popsicle sticks and paper mache and tempera paint... bamboo skewers, plaster tape and potato stamps. Start saving interesting bits to glue together to make stuff. I've got a big plastic storage tub of plastic scraps, bottle caps, interesting shapes I found at the dollar store.

Quote from: BedrockBrendan;918472This is honestly the most intimidating part of it for me. Buying miniatures, buying buildings, that I can handle. I never got into terrain, but if I am going to do this now, I'd like to incorporate it. It seems like a challenge. We have a model train store nearby in Peabody, so maybe I'll go there when I take my wife to work on monday. Any suggestions for what I should look for (I honestly don't know where to begin here).

Most places have books or magazines that specialize in terrain advice.

If it was myself, I'd look into some Woodland Scenics. They have a line of learning aids. I would concentrate on tips for farmlands and shallow water, because IIRC, many of the large battles of that dynasty happened in the fields among the rice paddies (I think, I could be wrong).