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Old 09-17-2024, 04:57 PM   #11
thrash
 
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Default Re: Miniatures at GURPS scale?

It amuses me that Green Army Men and their ilk (54mm figures, at ~1/30 scale) are closer to the right size than traditional 25-28mm fantasy figures. I've been collecting all sorts of plastic toy figures -- pirates, cowboys & Indians, spacemen, monsters -- in addition to many eras of soldiers. They often come in multiple colors, so I don't bother to paint them. I try not to spend more than $1 per figure and often manage considerably less ($10 for 40-100), although some specialty items (females, in general) are worth it. I also look for appropriately scaled toy dinosaurs and such to use for larger monsters. There are a number of plastic vehicles (tanks, trucks, etc.) available in that scale as well, but I've been resisting.

Last edited by thrash; 09-17-2024 at 05:00 PM.
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Old 09-18-2024, 10:15 AM   #12
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Default Re: Miniatures at GURPS scale?

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Originally Posted by Anaraxes View Post
So, two wedges on top of the 1x2 plates to squeeze the paper figure between? Legos are pretty high precision. How much of a gap does that leave you? That is, what's the maximum weight of paper/cardstock you can get that arrangement to hold?
Correct!
I use standard printer paper(unsure of the weight), and it leaves me enough of a "gap" that two layers of paper (folded on top to be front/back) can be squeezed in when I apply the second wedge. For big monsters, I do use taller LEGO wedges with a 2x2 base. I've even done a ten inch Galactus, and he's held up by two tall wedge assemblies on either end with an insert of breakfast cereal cardboard in the middle, but not inside the gaps of the wedge assemblies.
Since the minis are folded on the top, I "hang" them on sheets of paper with horizontal slits, so I can grab a stack of goblins or city guards right away. They also can stand on their own, but the slightest breeze can scatter them, so bases are highly suggested.
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Old 09-18-2024, 10:49 AM   #13
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Default Re: Miniatures at GURPS scale?

Searching Google for "1/36 scale figures" (no quotes) gives results of a decent number of 1/36 scale posable action figures, although all the ones I'm finding are WWII and later male soldiers or paramilitary (like SWAT) decked out in combat gear, which is less than ideal unless you're doing that sort of campaign. They seem to hover a bit over $2 per figure, so a bit on the pricey side going off thrash's suggested limit of $1 each. But such things appear to exist, at least in a limited form. Searches for "2 inch action figures," "2 inch miniatures," and similar (which should correspond to 1/36 scale, although I've seen them stated as 1/32 and 1/48 as well) can also give some options.
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Old 09-20-2024, 04:49 PM   #14
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Default Re: Miniatures at GURPS scale?

Try HERO CLIX miniatures...

Not kidding - discovered years ago that HEROCLIX" ("Mage Knight") miniatures are pretty close to GURPS scale.

Also, if you can find them affordable - old 'HEROSCAPE' miniatures might also be a good choice. Thst game system had a variety of genre backgrounds - a lot like "Infinite Worlds".

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Old 10-03-2024, 11:50 PM   #15
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Default Re: Miniatures at GURPS scale?

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The problem with trying to match figures to map scale (for GURPS) is that, regardless of your scale, figures with a scale height of two hexes will not comfortably fit on a map at a separation of one hex, because most figure have a width exceeding half their height.
Even if the figures are skinny enough, they still tend to be difficult to use when to scale, and the map will seem crowded when showing a melee.

Also, if you have 'half-sized' figures (so 25-28mm on a one inch map or terrain, it's much easier to show close combat or grappling vs normal melee.

Thus while my sense of correctness gets itchy about it, the few times I've used miniatures for mapping RPG combats, I've used 1/72nd/25mm/28mm (thankyou GW for the ongoing bloat in figure sizes) figures on 1"=1 yard or 1"=5 feet maps.
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Old 10-04-2024, 01:24 AM   #16
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Default Re: Miniatures at GURPS scale?

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Even if the figures are skinny enough, they still tend to be difficult to use when to scale, and the map will seem crowded when showing a melee.
Some of that is just GURPS; a 3' distance from center of mass to center of mass isn't really melee combat range, it's close combat range.
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Old 10-04-2024, 10:14 AM   #17
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Default Re: Miniatures at GURPS scale?

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The map will seem crowded when showing a melee.
Well, a melee is crowded, so there's that.

Quote:
Also, if you have 'half-sized' figures (so 25-28mm on a one inch map or terrain, it's much easier to show close combat or grappling vs normal melee.
I tend to just put down a marker to represent the "kerfuffle" and set the miniatures to the side of the play area.

To me, the problem is what happens to visualizing the environment. 25mm figures on a 50mm landscape make cramped dungeons seem like spacious vaults, or corner bistros look like grand restaurants.
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Old 10-08-2024, 12:26 AM   #18
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Default Re: Miniatures at GURPS scale?

I second paper miniatures, since they're light and easily made so you never run out of figures for cannon fodder NPCs. They're also easily scaled up or down to match your metal/plastic figures or your maps. Pennies or washers make decent bases and you can use a bit of "blu tack" poster mounting material between the figure and the base to temporarily mount the figures and keep them in place.

A web search for "paper miniatures," or "paper wargame figures" will yield gratifying results. Do both a general search and an image search to look for promising leads.

If you're made of money, there are also some 3D modeling sites with downloadable files suitable for 3D printing.

For beloved PCs, there's also Hero Forge Custom Miniatures where you can design your own figures and custom order them. Prices range from "not too bad" to OMG depending on what you want.

Last edited by Pursuivant; 10-08-2024 at 12:38 AM.
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Old 10-10-2024, 06:46 PM   #19
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Default Re: Miniatures at GURPS scale?

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Originally Posted by Pursuivant View Post
I second paper miniatures, since they're light and easily made so you never run out of figures for cannon fodder NPCs. They're also easily scaled up or down to match your metal/plastic figures or your maps. Pennies or washers make decent bases and you can use a bit of "blu tack" poster mounting material between the figure and the base to temporarily mount the figures and keep them in place.
Not sure if I've said it here or not, but I like to use binder clips for bases and then just take the 'clip handles' off. You can also get different coloured clips to represent different things at a glance.

And of course different sized clips (though I tend to just use the "standard office size", but for very tall/wide foes printed on cardstock (so they remain upright and not floppy) bigger clips are great.
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