Miniatures for TFT

aebrain · 08-19-2018, 06:15 AM

There are 4 basic options;

1) Use the counters provided. This has the great advantage of zero cost and complete compatibility. With luck, such difficult to source critters as Octopi and Uncle Teeth will be available too. Disadvantages - flat, aesthetically not very pleasing.

2) Cardboard Heroes - low cost, aesthetically marginally better than the counters, and likely to have some support in future for the aforementioned hard to source critters.

3) 15mm - this was the scale of the long lost official TFT minis put out by Martian Metals ,before their factory burnt down. See https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~tpope/sol/ma...tasy-trip.html . I have some, and while the human figures were good and had some charm, the monsters were mediocre, rather spindly, and have not rated well, so if you don't have any, you haven't lost much. There are now many manufacturers of 15mm fantasy figures, some of which are streets ahead in quality. My personal favourites are by Splintered Light miniatures, http://www.splinteredlightminis.com/1518mmfantasy.html but again, sourcing Octopi or the smaller Dragons is problematic. There is also the disadvantage of having to paint them. They fit well on the original Melee and Wizard maps, and by shopping around there are literally dozens of manufacturers so you can get nearly everything.

4) 25 or 28mm Heroic - Older figures are 25mm and look somewhat small compared to the De Facto 28mm standard in use today. For these, you really can't go past Reaper Bones, which are half the cost of metal minis, just as easy to paint, and have only slightly inferior detail compared to the very best metal minis, and better than average. But again, getting the smaller Dragons is difficult, and as for Octopi, I suggest 3D printing one of the freeware 3D models after suitable file conversion, resizing, and adding weapons. These look the best, and are compatible with the new 1.5" hex mats but again require painting. Many gamers will already have significant collections of these for other gaming systems.

Now if only we could get either a Kickstarter for metal minis or persuade SJG to co operate with Reaper to make Octopi, Uncle Teeth, various slimes, and what is sure to be a worst seller. Prootwaddles.

08-19-2018, 06:15 AM	#1
aebrain Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Canberra, Australia	Miniatures for TFT There are 4 basic options; 1) Use the counters provided. This has the great advantage of zero cost and complete compatibility. With luck, such difficult to source critters as Octopi and Uncle Teeth will be available too. Disadvantages - flat, aesthetically not very pleasing. 2) Cardboard Heroes - low cost, aesthetically marginally better than the counters, and likely to have some support in future for the aforementioned hard to source critters. 3) 15mm - this was the scale of the long lost official TFT minis put out by Martian Metals ,before their factory burnt down. See https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~tpope/sol/ma...tasy-trip.html . I have some, and while the human figures were good and had some charm, the monsters were mediocre, rather spindly, and have not rated well, so if you don't have any, you haven't lost much. There are now many manufacturers of 15mm fantasy figures, some of which are streets ahead in quality. My personal favourites are by Splintered Light miniatures, http://www.splinteredlightminis.com/1518mmfantasy.html but again, sourcing Octopi or the smaller Dragons is problematic. There is also the disadvantage of having to paint them. They fit well on the original Melee and Wizard maps, and by shopping around there are literally dozens of manufacturers so you can get nearly everything. 4) 25 or 28mm Heroic - Older figures are 25mm and look somewhat small compared to the De Facto 28mm standard in use today. For these, you really can't go past Reaper Bones, which are half the cost of metal minis, just as easy to paint, and have only slightly inferior detail compared to the very best metal minis, and better than average. But again, getting the smaller Dragons is difficult, and as for Octopi, I suggest 3D printing one of the freeware 3D models after suitable file conversion, resizing, and adding weapons. These look the best, and are compatible with the new 1.5" hex mats but again require painting. Many gamers will already have significant collections of these for other gaming systems. Now if only we could get either a Kickstarter for metal minis or persuade SJG to co operate with Reaper to make Octopi, Uncle Teeth, various slimes, and what is sure to be a worst seller. Prootwaddles.