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So recently I've wanted to add some an inquisitor or two to my army, and I must say I was pretty disappointed in the number of GW Inquisition models out there. All the art I've seen related to inquisitors makes each one seem very unique with their own distinctive look and crazy wargear, so the choice between "guy in power armor with book" and "guy in flak armor with book" wasn't particularly thrilling.

Do any of you use miniatures from different companies in your games? What have been your experiences dealing with small companies?

Hell yes.

Scibor Miniatures makes great models in power armor and Inquisitor-themed stuff. I've also used stuff from Anvil Industries.

Proxies are a common thing in wargaming, as long as they are similar in size, appearance, and are accepted by opponents. Opponents agreeing is the most important thing.

Wow, these Scibor minis are crazy good.

The only time you have to use GW models to play a GW game is if you're in a GW store.
other than that go nuts, the only people who won't be happy with that are people you don't want to be playing against anyway.

Colpicklejar wrote:
Wow, these Scibor minis are crazy good.

Top notch sculpting and casting. Look around the whole range, he'll definitely have something you'll like.

Victoria Miniatures is amazing for (mostly) human parts and models. By far the most well done humans in my opinion. And not too pricey either. And free shipping. For henchmen or non power armour humans looking there is a good place for customization.

I use many stuff from other companies, as GW prices are increasing stuff from small companies become more viable, i use stuff from Kromlech, Maxmini, Dystopian Legions, Kabuki miniatures, Anvil Industries and others i forget.

I use stuff from all over the place. The only important thing is that your oponent is ok with it. Keep your proxy fairly representative of what it's supposed to be and the vast majority of people will be fine with it.

Remember Rule No.1.... The Rule of Cool.

Check one of the stickied threads at the top of the Painting and Modelling forum for a huge list of non-gw miniature manufacturers.

I use other miniatures and parts in my armies, though I don't play GW games much anymore. I mostly play indie games so my armies/forces/warbands are packed with non-GW stuff . As for 40k though, I've got Harlequin Space Dwarves in my squat force, a Metal Magic Spacelord for my Blood Angel Chaplain, and Pig Iron heads on my IG.

As for small companies in general,(both those making GW proxies and others) I've had very good experiences with the their products and with their customer service. Companies like EM4, Mega Minis (just closed unfortunately) Pig Iron, Proxie models, Denizen, GZG and many others have served me well.

The rule of cool - what's the best looking model I can use for something?

 Portugal Jones wrote:
The rule of cool - what's the best looking model I can use for something?

Kind of, but generally "rule of cool" is simply does it look cool on the tabletop, regardless of whether it's the "best looking" option. Rule of cool generally implies that it looks like what it's supposed to (or represents it in a "counts as" manner that makes sense)and shows effort such as painting and/or conversion.

Rule of Cool is of course very subjective but I think it's still a great way to differentiate between someone genuinely using an alternate model, scratchbuild or kitbash, and someone who's simply putting something on the table to try it out or to not have to buy a model for it.

 Swastakowey wrote:
Victoria Miniatures is amazing for (mostly) human parts and models. By far the most well done humans in my opinion. And not too pricey either. And free shipping. For henchmen or non power armour humans looking there is a good place for customization.

I'll second this. Victoria Miniatures is a top notch company and the range of metal and resin sci-fi infantry really cannot be beat. I have used Victoria's miniatures in my Guard army as well as for cultists in my CSM army and have been pleased with the results. The modular miniatures allow you to really go wild customizing with bits from other model ranges to create unique miniatures. Truly good stuff continues coming out of Vic's workshop!

 Swastakowey wrote:
Victoria Miniatures is amazing for (mostly) human parts and models. By far the most well done humans in my opinion. And not too pricey either. And free shipping. For henchmen or non power armour humans looking there is a good place for customization.

She also makes some great inquisitor minis that you would never expect to be on her site

 MrMoustaffa wrote:

 Swastakowey wrote:
Victoria Miniatures is amazing for (mostly) human parts and models. By far the most well done humans in my opinion. And not too pricey either. And free shipping. For henchmen or non power armour humans looking there is a good place for customization.

She also makes some great inquisitor minis that you would never expect to be on her site

That's because...

 jonolikespie wrote:
The only time you have to use GW models to play a GW game is if you're in a GW store.
other than that go nuts, the only people who won't be happy with that are people you don't want to be playing against anyway.

This, totally this. And thank goodness, it's what's drawing me back into playing GW games after playing Warmahordes for awhile. The ability to convert and make unique armies, and use 3rd party models that are better than the 1st party ones, is a big draw for me.

Yeah, I think I can only get into a game's faction if it will allow for me to use representative proxies. Stock models are fine, but lackluster because anyone can do that. I want to challenge myself.

I just finished a full FRRM force with nothing but Statuesque, Hasslefree and Confrontation miniature. Although in fairness, Corvus Belli minis are nothing to sneeze at.

Don't forget Reaper. With the Bones line, you have access to a bunch of cheap parts you can kitbash an Inquisitor into.

Just have to also give a shout out to the Inquisitor28 guys over at the Ammobunker. Check out their modeling forum for some great conversion ideas as well.

http://s3.zetaboards.com/The_Ammobunker/forum/3012278/

Regarding Scibor, the minis are a bit on the large side compared to normal 40K models. But, still make for great character models.

I have one of the ammobunker inquisitors that I used when I still played.

I don't play in a GW store (the local is too small to play in - although they DO have this HUUUUGE upstairs space that would make a great bunker), though - so GW restrictions on what they allow in their stores is irrelevant to me.

I sell quite a few weird minis. M y mutants and cyborgs are quite useful for inquisitor and mechanicus stuff:

http://shop.ramshacklegames.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=23_40

http://shop.ramshacklegames.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=23_38

 Jehan-reznor wrote:
I use many stuff from other companies, as GW prices are increasing stuff from small companies become more viable, i use stuff from Kromlech, Maxmini, Dystopian Legions, Kabuki miniatures, Anvil Industries and others i forget.

This, totally.


Plus for some things there's just very limited options in the GW range. For inquisitors there's one "real" model i actually like (Gideon Lorr, and OOP model, and his inferno pistol wielding quasi-clone). For retinue members there's even less available, usually mono-sculpt, and if you don't like those, then your only choice is another manufacturer.


I don't play in a GW store, so as long as my buddies are cool with the models i use and they are still WYSIWG more or less, all is right in my gaming world.

I use mainly GW bitzs, but I do use miniatures from other comanies for commanders, and captains of sorts. I have enthierly stopped using GW bases, seeing how the bog standards from GW are far below avarage at best. I mainly use the bases from Micro art studios. They are crazy good and dirt cheap too as a added bonus