I've been buying a bunch of Pathfinder Pawns sets for my Classic D&D campaign, they work really well. I bought both the Rise of the Runelords & Shattered Star sets, and now have a ridiculous number of Goblins.

I sometimes feel like I'm one of the only gamers who's never made any kind of meaningful attempt at collecting minis.  

I've almost never used them in play, but in those very rare situations where for some reason I've wanted to, I just use whatever:  heroquest minis, chess pieces, buttons.  Doesn't really matter.

Generally I don't use minis but there are exceptions.

In Bounty Hunters of the Atomic Wastelands there is a mechanic whereby you create encounters by randomly drawing colour-coded d6 from a jar; the colour and the facing value determine the properties of each critter. It is less weird than it sounds. The point is the individual d6s also become a handy makeshift minis. It works really well.

And then that time I ran Marvel Super Heroes using heroclix and 3-d props for scenery. It was glorious. I found that even without a grid or strict range measurements the visual information generated a lot of ideas and it was very pretty. A lot of prep to have everything at hand as not to slow things too badly.

Quote from: RPGPundit;829275I sometimes feel like I'm one of the only gamers who's never made any kind of meaningful attempt at collecting minis.  

I blame tobacco.

We use minis (often lego) or counters (generally 2p pieces). We started out using all minis but it slows down your game looking for the right mini, so we often use them only for PCs.

I use a mat with grid lines as a guide for drawing walls on (not for movement) but not some official battlemat - just a sheet of the transparent book covering film with the squared backing paper. I draw thick lines every third square on the back and it shows through nicely. We use three squares = 10'. It makes a nice big map and rolls up to put away.

Quote from: TristramEvans;828963They're 28mm scale, so base should be around 20mm...so .787th of an inch.

The em4 plastic orcs and dwarves have large 25mm/1" square integral bases.

Quote from: RPGPundit;829275I sometimes feel like I'm one of the only gamers who's never made any kind of meaningful attempt at collecting minis.  

I've almost never used them in play, but in those very rare situations where for some reason I've wanted to, I just use whatever:  heroquest minis, chess pieces, buttons.  Doesn't really matter.

Pretty much my way too. I have alot of minis I can call upon from various board games like Heroquest, Warhammer Quest, Heroscape, etc. But usually I dont feel like digging them out or theres really no need.

Graph paper for indoor/city maps, hex paper for large outdoor maps of regions and such, never used a miniature to date. If I need to represent where someone or something is, I just use a die or poker chip or eraser or something else that is handy.

We have used numerous figures in our games and have now turned to lego minis or even some knock-off brands off ebay. They work wonderful and there are a ton of options!

As far as a map goes, I love the plexiglass idea! I mean if you plan on gaming often why not!

Quote from: RPGPundit;829275I sometimes feel like I'm one of the only gamers who's never made any kind of meaningful attempt at collecting minis.  

I've almost never used them in play, but in those very rare situations where for some reason I've wanted to, I just use whatever:  heroquest minis, chess pieces, buttons.  Doesn't really matter.

I don't use minis for RPGs. So between the time that I first played Warhammer in 89 to 92 up until I got back into it @2-3 years ago, I did not collect a single mini, not counting a brief stint playing Mordheim in the early aughts.

For the most part, with RPGs, I prefer "theatre of the mind", only drawing maps when necessary. But recently Ive become more and more interested in wargames that bleed the line between miniatures game and RPG. Its a significantly greater investment, but Im financially secure enough now that I can do up a table with all the appropriate scenery to actually make the game work.

Im currently looking at adapting my Phaserip rules to a sort of modern Braunstein.

Its not the exact same type of game as a pure RPG, but it hits a geeky button thats related.

When I was poor and couldn't afford many minis, I used to always want to use them.  Then when I finally had a decent number of minis (in the 90s) the people I played with kept wanting to exclusively play a game system which didn't even support decent rules for abstracted combat, much less minis play.

The big minis games for me and the people I played with were Marvel Super Heroes and Mekton II.  For a long time I had three maps for MSH (the Original set, the Advanced Set, and Secret Wars II) laid out on my huge game table.  Lots of super hero battles were held in that city.  And Mekton always meant breaking out my substitute Battletech minis and the battlemat.

I've added lots of minis to my hoard.  I have nearly everything made for Heroscape.  I also have tons of MageKnight.  Then there are boxes full of Heroquest, Battle Masters, Descent, and other games as well as metal and plastic gaming minis I've bought over the years.  I also have two huge battlemats and tons of dungeon tiles.

Yet, now I just abstract combat.  I don't pull out the minis for RPGs very often.  This started somewhere mid to late 00s.  It was probably a combination of sleep apnea exhaustion and depression, but I just quit wanting to mess with anything.  I didn't want to set stuff up.  I didn't want to clean up afterwards.  I saw it all as just a huge pain in the ass.

When I want to play with minis nowadays, I suggest hauling out one of the minis-centric boardgames.  I still like playing with minis, but for RPGs I don't want to deal with the minis game setup and cleanup step.

Some of you sound like using miniatures at all requires a 4e mindset. We set them on the table to show marching order, and sometimes they go on the mat to clearly illustrate positioning, but we don't drag them out for lengthy set-up every time we run into some goblins or count out exact squares of movement every single turn. Minis don't force you into tactical battles mode nor do they prevent you from running abstract combats. Thay're just a tool like anything else.

Quote from: Raven;829421Some of you sound like using miniatures at all requires a 4e mindset. We set them on the table to show marching order, and sometimes they go on the mat to clearly illustrate positioning, but we don't drag them out for lengthy set-up every time we run into some goblins or count out exact squares of movement every single turn. Minis don't force you into tactical battles mode nor do they prevent you from running abstract combats. Thay're just a tool like anything else.

Yes, THIS! Exactly this. Minis are a tool for helping everyone at the table see a similar scene and know who is on the left of whom, in front of whom, close to whom, etc.

I can do the same thing with Xs and Os and a quick sketch, but with minis its easier to keep straight who is who. Also generally it's faster to move a mini than to redraw the sketch.

For some folks nice minis help with imagining the scene or character and they are just fun to look at, pick up, and have around.

Quote from: Raven;829421Some of you sound like using miniatures at all requires a 4e mindset. We set them on the table to show marching order, and sometimes they go on the mat to clearly illustrate positioning, but we don't drag them out for lengthy set-up every time we run into some goblins or count out exact squares of movement every single turn. Minis don't force you into tactical battles mode nor do they prevent you from running abstract combats. Thay're just a tool like anything else.

Personally, I don't feel they're worth using for that.  At that low level of precision, abstracting things works fine for me.

The Crystal Caste Battle Top is an awesome idea.  I will need to pick one up, or rig up a simulacrum.  It effectively doubles your table space!

I would not expect to have a instantly complete mini collection.  As listed in this thread, there are a variety of methods to build up a collection.  I myself have done so with Reaper Bones I and II, bulk MageKnight, Heroclix, World of Warcraft, Dreamblade and various odds and ends on the cheap (relatively).  You would surprised what kind of animals/monsters you see on the cheap if you keep an eye out for them.  

I used a mix of TOTM and Minis/terrian/maps.  Both systems have their str and weaknesses.

The Dwarven Forge I and II KS were really good deals, sadly they are passed.  I do highly recommend the Dwarvenite Tiles though, they are durable and no fuss, one can easily toss them around and just go with the flow.  That being said, their $150 three set deal is still pretty good, and even more attractive when they run specials at XMas (shipping I believe).  They also make wonderful educational toys for kids (if that helps with your justification).

Do look into DIY 2.5D Dungeon Tiles on Youtube (theDMSCraft, theDMG and others).  There are lots of cool things and ideas in the vids.  Flat 2D is soooo 80s, like gag me with a credit card and put me on layaway!