D&D miniatures.

[miniatureaddict]

I am new to the hobby of miniatures and have 39 so far a mix of the dnd skirmish games and a few booster packs.
Were should I go from here.

[Jophiel]

To use for immediate play or to collect and use as they come up? Do you want to paint or just collect prepainted figures?

For immediate use, your best bet is to grab a box of pawns such as these (https://www.amazon.com/Paizo-Inc-Pathfinder-Pawns-Bestiary/dp/1601255616/). You can also find free (legal) PDFs to print your own but that means printing on cardstock. You'll get a much better bang for your buck and can field a lot more critters without running into "Uh, this displacer beast is a carrion crawler, I guess" as often. I say this as someone who loves his minis and feels there's no true replacement for a nice figure on the table but also hates to creatively rein himself in because he doesn't have a painted Remhoraz to add to the dungeon.

Knowing what your goals are with actual minis will help steer you in the right direction with those.

[miniatureaddict]

Thanks! that really helps I also have about 150+ dollars willing to spend on more miniatures, I also started using tokens but when the get wet )with mountain dew) they kind of warp

[NaughtyTiger]

massive darkness expansions give you about 15 pretty, but unpainted mooks of a specific type - lizardfolk, orcs, humans... for about 25$ per box.

[miniatureaddict]

Thanks I look into that!

[Jophiel]

The Arena of the Planeswalker game offers a nice per unit price: 40¢ a figure of the base game (https://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-Magic-Gathering-Arena-Planeswalkers/dp/B00SDJGCRA/) or 55¢ each for the small expansion (https://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-Magic-Gathering-Planeswalkers-Expansion/dp/B015XXU5KS/) (one of them is huge though). But you need to also weigh that against the figures themselves; you probably don't need three fire cats. For painting practice they're pretty nice and there ARE some good figures in there though. They're not as nice as individual figures -- you'll definitely want to work on mold lines -- but you'll have a hard time beating the cost and they'll bulk up your collection in a hurry. Note that only the "main" figures are (poorly) pre-painted; you'll need to do the rest yourself.

For individuals, Reaper Bones is the go-to standard for inexpensive minis. They're basically what my local game/hobby stores carry these days. Probably because they're at a price point people will buy.

[CorporateSlave]

I am new to the hobby of miniatures and have 39 so far a mix of the dnd skirmish games and a few booster packs.
Were should I go from here.

Something I like to do is get a few different sized blank bases, and some Blu-Tack (poster putty, etc). You can easily adapt smaller minis to the right size base for a Large, Huge, etc monster if you're using a map with a grid.

Other than that, I'll second Reaper Bones, cheap and reasonably quality.

Lastly, I would advise you to grab onto your wallet and RUN away from miniatures! Those 1" tall guys will ROB YOU BLIND!

:smallbiggrin:

...but if you're determined, also check out eBay from time to time, there can be good deals there sometimes. Wait for auctions, a lot of the Buy It Now are overpriced. Takes patience, but can get a lot of bang for the buck there.

[sakuuya]

The 4e-era D&D board games retail for like $40-$50, and the two I'm familiar with, Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon, come with about 40 minis each. They're just single-color plastic, nothing special, but it's still a pretty good value. Most of the minis are in groups of three: Three orcs, three skeletons, three grells for some reason, etc. But each game also has a few non-duplicate minis for boss monsters and adventurers. I'd recommend Ashardalon (unless you really need a lot of undead), where one of the unique minis is a huge red dragon.

[Imbalance]

Can you spare a moment to hear the gospel of HeroClix? It's not all just superheroes.

[hymer]

The Arena of the Planeswalker game offers a nice per unit price
I just want to point out that the bases are a little big. You can probably cut or grind them down for use on a 1-inch grid.

[Jophiel]

I just want to point out that the bases are a little big. You can probably cut or grind them down for use on a 1-inch grid.
That's true. I just bought a bag of a hundred 25mm bases off eBay and cut the figures off with an X-Acto and rebase them as I need them (and if size appropriate -- don't need to rebase a Large size creature).

I use a bunch of 25mm bases anyway since a lot of minis don't come with proper bases so I see this as a general "cost of the hobby" rather than an added cost for any specific mini purchase.

[MilkmanDanimal]

The 4e-era D&D board games retail for like $40-$50, and the two I'm familiar with, Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon, come with about 40 minis each. They're just single-color plastic, nothing special, but it's still a pretty good value. Most of the minis are in groups of three: Three orcs, three skeletons, three grells for some reason, etc. But each game also has a few non-duplicate minis for boss monsters and adventurers. I'd recommend Ashardalon (unless you really need a lot of undead), where one of the unique minis is a huge red dragon.

I picked up both those games to have a cheap way to have a stable of miniatures to choose from, at which point I decided I didn't like them being one color, so I started buying paints and primers and brushers and, well, it's no longer cheap.

Reaper Bones are cheaper, but Wizkid's Nolzur's line are IMO notably better quality, but, typically, they're around $4 IIRC for a two-pack of figures at game stores, so slightly more expensive.

[kenGarff]

If you are ok with style, you could also use LEGOs. If you are ok with knockoffs, you could get things like 21-pc orc/elf/dwarf army for ~15 dollars on aliexpress. If this is not allowed, let me know and I will immediately delete the post. I love using LEGOs for miniatures since it's possible to edit your character as you go if you wish. And...who doesnt like LEGOs?!

[Jophiel]

Watch with random "Knights & Wizards!" style toy bags/tubes as they won't be 28mm or work on a standard 1" grid mat. Could be fine for looser things like general placement in a semi-"Theater of the Mind" style game.

[Ventruenox]

Keep an eye on eBay, thrift shops, and flea markets. Watch for some of the miniature games from the late 90s and early 2000s such as Heroscape (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroscape), Mage Knight (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mage_Knight), Hordes/Mar Machine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hordes_(game)), Dreamblade (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamblade), and a spinoff of Heroclix - HorrorClix (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HorrorClix). They are already painted. Most are marketed as D&D figures and charge collector rate prices, but fairly frequently the sellers don't know what they have. Look for those bargains, and you can amass a decent collection pretty quickly. I search for "game pieces lot" or stroll through a thrift store and usually find something once a month. I spent about $110 and have over 230 painted figures and terrain. Also, HeroClix maps make for great battlefields, and most FLGS that sell single figures provide those free with purchases.

[Imbalance]

Keep an eye on eBay, thrift shops, and flea markets. Watch for some of the miniature games from the late 90s and early 2000s such as Heroscape (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroscape), Mage Knight (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mage_Knight), Hordes/Mar Machine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hordes_(game)), Dreamblade (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamblade), and a spinoff of Heroclix - HorrorClix (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HorrorClix). They are already painted. Most are marketed as D&D figures and charge collector rate prices, but fairly frequently the sellers don't know what they have. Look for those bargains, and you can amass a decent collection pretty quickly. I search for "game pieces lot" or stroll through a thrift store and usually find something once a month. I spent about $110 and have over 230 painted figures and terrain. Also, HeroClix maps make for great battlefields, and most FLGS that sell single figures provide those free with purchases.

A fellow acolyte! Not only are these pieces fantastic and affordable fill-in for D&D, there's an amazingly fun combat system built right into the base. Try it!

[guachi]

Best miniatures are LEGO minifigs. There are a huge number of minifigs that are perfect for D&D. They come molded in color. Plus, you can mix and match heads, torsos, weapons, helmets, etc.

Cost ranges from $1.50 to about $10 for rare figures. Accessories cost between $0.10 and $0.50. If I don't have a minifig for an NPC or creature I use tokens from gamemash.com as they are inexpensive, around $0.75 per token. Creatures never last long enough for me to find it worthwhile to spend much on them.

[furby076]

Things i like to use for battle mat
Jenga -> It's a tree, it's a platform, it's rubble, it's a house, it's a long corridor
Chits (little plastic beads about have inch diameter, with a flat side) - great for simple critters that usually die on one hit
Poker chips numbered 1-10. The DM records each number to track HP
Pizza box holders (the little white plastic thingies to prevent the box from collapsing on the pizza)...use it to represent someone flying as the figure can sit on it

And, obviously various figures. Take your tim collecting these, as they can get expensive. Id mainly start with bi-pedal (humanoids) as those are typically the most common enmies. Invest i a few large creatures, maybe one or two giant. Some animals or monsters are good too. Take your time. See if you can find stuff on ebay, for cheap, or if someone is giving away their collection

[ZorroGames]

Making an exception to my normal practice here.

Moving from 5 bedroom house to apartment this summer and cannot move basement full of 3mm, 6mm, 15mm, and 25+ mm figures.

Just loaded bunches of fantasy figures in boxes for end of May to first of June auction (semi-annual affair) at local Saint Charles Fantasy Shop.

Send me PM if interested in specific figure types and I will list what I have.

[MagneticKitty]

Matt colville released a good video on minis on youtube.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fUCpolL_6Tk
Enjoy.

[Finback]

Reaper also do a yearly kickstarter, where for about $100, you get a heap of figures, but as goals are reached, they add more to the base $100 unit - iirc, the first time I went in, I got about 200 minis and bases, not including all the add-on pieces I got. They do sub-sets for $50 with a theme, big figures, etc. Case in point, last year's

$50 could get you an Underdark set, or a prehistoric set, or a medieval, grimy swamp set. $20 would get you a roc, or a colossal serpent, etc. A few years ago, they did their biggest figure ever, basically Tiamat - about 18" or more tall, for about $25 iirc. They've even done troop builder sets (one was 24 lizardmen, in four styles, for about $10)

Well worth checking the past kickstarters online for what you could get for your money. The Bones material is softer, but on the other hand, if you want to just go large, it's well worth it.

(https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1513061270/reaper-miniatures-bones-4-mr-bones-epic-adventure for an example)

[Ventruenox]

Moving from 5 bedroom house to apartment this summer and cannot move basement full of 3mm, 6mm, 15mm, and 25+ mm figures

OP: Based on what I remember of this poster's comments in other threads, this is the type of opportunity to jump on. I respect this grognard, and if I were in a better financial position, I would be all over it.(Ex took the kids, but left me the debt.)