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Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




Columbus, Ohio

I like all three, as each has its advantages.

Three D figures are the most beautiful, IMHO, but also the most fragile, finicky, and, of course, pricey.

Tokens: You can do all of your gaming out of a folder. They are very tough (dropped them out of an airplane into a warzone? No problem, provided they don't get directly hit by an incendiary, and that you can find them). IMHO, you do need to pick your illustrator, however. Someone who can really draw, but doesn't know how much contrast it takes to actually SEE a token on a flat table. This guy's minis are among the best I know of, for this purpose https://www.reddit.com/r/40krpg/comments/qokoiv/free_scifi_topdown_token_sets_link_in_the_comments/

In fact, I think that just from the sheet above, you could run a pretty decent Hiveworld campaign.

Standees: A nice compromise between the previous two. Not much more fragile than tokens, but you get the advantge of something that is perpendicular to the tabletop.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/03/17 03:25:09


First, all means to conciliate; failing that, all means to crush.

-Cardinal Richelieu 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





I use a dry erase board with a 1" grid scribed into it. If someone has minis, great; if not, dry erase markers are cheap and easy to transport.

Granted, the dry erase board is a bit less easy to transport...

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Made in us
Brigadier General






Chicago

I've only been part of 2 RPG campaigns in my life. D&D 5th over zoom completely paper based and a Tales of Blades and Heroes campaign packed with minis and terrain.

Both were fun but the latest was more my style. I'd prefer 3d minis -and terrain if possible- in all situations

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My Project Log, mostly revolving around custom "Toybashed" terrain.
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Made in us
Utilizing Careful Highlighting





Tangentville, New Jersey

I ran 2nd ed AD&D from '89 to '18 and I almost always had miniatures. Sure, sometimes they had to be proxies but I made good use out of my vast collection.


 
   
Made in us
The Marine Standing Behind Marneus Calgar





Upstate, New York

I prefer a mix of minis and standies.

The third dimension is key. In my previous gaming group we did not sit around a table per-se. Instead we were scattered around the living room on sofas/chairs/floor. There was a battlemap on a coffee table, but because we were not right next to it, you could not see where tokens were from across the room.

While minis are best, unless you have a crazy deep shelf full of them, you are going to end up with a lot of proxies. Which is not horrid, but not ideal. What’s the orc with an axe today? Megalitch? Oh-kay…. Standies give you the look you need, but without the high cost of minis. Not just cash, but time getting them painted and table ready.

Standies also store better. If you have a lot of monster minis for what an average campaign requires, that’s a hefty box full.


   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




Columbus, Ohio

Anybody here play Hordes of the Things?

Its relevant in this sense. I love minis, but I'm not big on having everything exactly right. Close enough is good enough.

Anyway, if you have a few miniatures (or tokens, or standees, for that matter) that fit into every class of Hordes of the Things elements (Hordes, Sneakers, Blades, Knights, Dragons, etc.) I think you have enough of a collection to put minis that are good enough on the table, for pretty much any purpose.

IMHO of course..

First, all means to conciliate; failing that, all means to crush.

-Cardinal Richelieu 
   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut




have played many RPG over the years, fantasy, sci-fi, historical whatever, using many systems

have never yet used any sort of miniatures or any stand ins, have never found the need for them
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






I've used all of them. My preference is for "fully round"* miniatures, but depending on the time or place, the others are used.

Tokens and cardboard standees were used in high school and college respectively due to economic limitations. In high school, my mini collection was small, and since we were playing In The Labyrinth, which had its start as a tactical man to man wargame, it made sense to use the tokens, especially for things like giants and dragons. So the PCs were minis and NPCs were tokens, with a few encounters being all minis.

In college, my minis were in my parents' home, so I bought Steve Jackson Games Cardboard Heroes. These standees had a front and back, so they were compatible with In the Labyrinth and the later GURPS. {Both games use a hex map, so facing is important.}

Since then my RPG gaming has been limited, and despite the size of my collection, has returned to PCs are minis and NPCs are tokens. This is due to my playing away from my home, and so not wanting to carry the collection with me. When we played after hours in the local game store, the manager (who was also the GM) would use his collection. It comes down to what is practical at the moment.

* Toy soldiers were once described as round or fully round, semi-round, and flat. Historically, most antique toy soldiers were flat or semi-round to save on material and to simplify casting. In the 19th century, Britains Ltd developed hollow cast rounds which made fully round toy soldiers economical for both producer and customer. That also set the standard for toy soldiers being 54mm going forward.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/05/19 18:23:59


Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in se
Regular Dakkanaut





Stockholm, Sweden

 NapoleonInSpace wrote:
I like all three, as each has its advantages.

Three D figures are the most beautiful, IMHO, but also the most fragile, finicky, and, of course, pricey.

Tokens: You can do all of your gaming out of a folder. They are very tough (dropped them out of an airplane into a warzone? No problem, provided they don't get directly hit by an incendiary, and that you can find them). IMHO, you do need to pick your illustrator, however. Someone who can really draw, but doesn't know how much contrast it takes to actually SEE a token on a flat table. This guy's minis are among the best I know of, for this purpose https://www.reddit.com/r/40krpg/comments/qokoiv/free_scifi_topdown_token_sets_link_in_the_comments/

In fact, I think that just from the sheet above, you could run a pretty decent Hiveworld campaign.

Standees: A nice compromise between the previous two. Not much more fragile than tokens, but you get the advantge of something that is perpendicular to the tabletop.


Definitely minis. However, I do create nice tokens with printed pictures for things that I don't have minis for, and for new players.
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




Columbus, Ohio

leopard wrote:
have played many RPG over the years, fantasy, sci-fi, historical whatever, using many systems

have never yet used any sort of miniatures or any stand ins, have never found the need for them


I've heard that argument, but I always found it peculiar.

In my experience, rpgs are just an extension of wargaming onto the personal level. In the end, you still have to kill the monster, be it a doppleganger, a crooked cop, or a sniper. How do you do that without tabletop battlemats and at least some type of piece that represents the PCs and NPCs?

Now, if the rpg is a purely cerebral thing: Let's say an extension of the game Clue, where the players are trying to figure out who the murderer is, and no combat is likely to be involved, I supose I get it, though I'll tell you right now, if I'm Colonel Mustard, and Miss Scarlet just figured out I'm the one what done it, she's going to have a hard time making it out of the room alive if that's my only option.

Certainly every rpg at least has the potential for physical combat. How can you reasonably play it out to everyone's satisfaction without some way of representing the battlefield and its combatants?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 The Pig-Faced Orc wrote:
 NapoleonInSpace wrote:
I like all three, as each has its advantages.

Three D figures are the most beautiful, IMHO, but also the most fragile, finicky, and, of course, pricey.

Tokens: You can do all of your gaming out of a folder. They are very tough (dropped them out of an airplane into a warzone? No problem, provided they don't get directly hit by an incendiary, and that you can find them). IMHO, you do need to pick your illustrator, however. Someone who can really draw, but doesn't know how much contrast it takes to actually SEE a token on a flat table. This guy's minis are among the best I know of, for this purpose https://www.reddit.com/r/40krpg/comments/qokoiv/free_scifi_topdown_token_sets_link_in_the_comments/

In fact, I think that just from the sheet above, you could run a pretty decent Hiveworld campaign.

Standees: A nice compromise between the previous two. Not much more fragile than tokens, but you get the advantge of something that is perpendicular to the tabletop.


Definitely minis. However, I do create nice tokens with printed pictures for things that I don't have minis for, and for new players.


In The Labyrinth! That brings back some great memories! Boy do I ever love the OSR! Though I loved In The Labyrinth, this one was my favorite https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/177317/Swordsmen--Skeletons?term=Swordsmen+%26+ A version of the OSR that is written on one page and actually has all the rules you need to play a good campaign onto high levels.

Sigh. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/05/19 21:10:47


First, all means to conciliate; failing that, all means to crush.

-Cardinal Richelieu 
   
Made in us
Grisly Ghost Ark Driver






 NapoleonInSpace wrote:
In The Labyrinth! That brings back some great memories! Boy do I ever love the OSR! Though I loved In The Labyrinth, this one was my favorite https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/177317/Swordsmen--Skeletons?term=Swordsmen+%26+ A version of the OSR that is written on one page and actually has all the rules you need to play a good campaign onto high levels.

Sigh. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
You're welcome. However, The Fantasy Trip: Legacy Edition (2019) exists if you'd like to revisit ITL in the here and now, as opposed to just reminiscing.

The basic combat game that launched The Fantasy Trip, Melee is free on DriveThruRPG. One will need to print out the tokens and the map of course. Or use existing miniatures, although giants, dragons and other multi-hex creatures should remain tokens as appropriate minis will take up too much map space.

For clarity, The Fantasy Trip is the name of the entire game system. Melee, Wizard and eventually In the Labyrinth are components of it. The first two were originally just combat games which could be combined, the former being fighters and the latter the magic supplement. In the Labyrinth is the core RPG book for the system and provides detailed character creation and other elements common to RPGs.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2023/05/20 06:58:23


Kings of War: Abyssal Dwarves, Dwarves, Elves, Undead, Northern Alliance [WiP], Nightstalkers [WiP]
Dropzone Commander: PHR
Kill Team: Deathwatch AdMech Necron

 
   
Made in us
Regular Dakkanaut




Columbus, Ohio

 Ancestral Hamster wrote:
 NapoleonInSpace wrote:
In The Labyrinth! That brings back some great memories! Boy do I ever love the OSR! Though I loved In The Labyrinth, this one was my favorite https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/177317/Swordsmen--Skeletons?term=Swordsmen+%26+ A version of the OSR that is written on one page and actually has all the rules you need to play a good campaign onto high levels.

Sigh. Thanks for the walk down memory lane.
You're welcome. However, The Fantasy Trip: Legacy Edition (2019) exists if you'd like to revisit ITL in the here and now, as opposed to just reminiscing.

The basic combat game that launched The Fantasy Trip, Melee is free on DriveThruRPG. One will need to print out the tokens and the map of course. Or use existing miniatures, although giants, dragons and other multi-hex creatures should remain tokens as appropriate minis will take up too much map space.

For clarity, The Fantasy Trip is the name of the entire game system. Melee, Wizard and eventually In the Labyrinth are components of it. The first two were originally just combat games which could be combined, the former being fighters and the latter the magic supplement. In the Labyrinth is the core RPG book for the system and provides detailed character creation and other elements common to RPGs.


Again! Much appreciated!

First, all means to conciliate; failing that, all means to crush.

-Cardinal Richelieu 
   
 
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