Unplugged #48: It's a game of miniatures, not a miniature ga

[GamerDad]

Dr. Matt Carlson's Unplugged #48: It's a game of miniatures, not a miniature game! article - http://www.gamerdad.com/detail.cfm?itemID=3198

[txa1265]

Another fascinating view ... I never got into those types of games, but they are pretty cool stuf. We've done a bit more with the kids, it will be interesting to see how they progress in their interest for them.

Mike

[happycamper]

Be sure to watch for the next one, it will cover stuff that is even one more step removed from minis in both cost and complexity, and then you can think about taking the next step later...

(I'll talk about Pirates of the Caribbean, etc... )

-Matt

[MrAndyPuppy]

We're (my son and I) are into the miniature gaming more for the painting side of things. There's nothing like painting a little soldier or space beasty that's only an inch high and getting all the details.

It's been very helpful for my son's dexterity, and I have been doing it for years because it's quite relaxing. Having him by my side doing it has also been a great relationship builder.

Of course, we do the gaming thing too, but the painting is key for us.

[happycamper]

Do you mostly paint plastic figures then or do you also do some of the metal ones?

[orangeelement]

I'll also vouch for the fun of painting teeny tiny miniatures. It's great!

I just picked up a copy of "The Lord of the Rings: Mines of Moria." It's got everything you need to play a game with NO randomized collecting. [I only collect non-collectible games. ]

I paint plastic or metal without preference. Plastic is nice because it's easier to cut, pose and resculpt. Metal is heavy and has a nice heft to it. Either way the most important step is to prime them. (I recommend Game Workshop's Citidel Primer: White)

[Darkhonor]

I just want to say that some of my favorite childhood memories are sitting around with my dad and painting lead figures. I imagine he still has this tiny ancient suitcase that is covered in paint splotches both inside and out, full of half dried out (or fully, probably) jars of paint. We even took our gear on vacations!! My sister and I were absolutely terrible, in hindsight.. but we didn't care then.. we just knew we were painting with our Dad and there wasn't anything in the world we would rather do.

So paint minatures with your kids! They'll thank you later.

[txa1265]

I never painted minis, but was definitely into models ... and painting those. My parents are getting ready to move, and clearing out old stuff - and they brought me my old thing of Testers paints and brushes. None of them were any good at this point (30 years later!) but they thought it had been worth keeping. I thanked them ... then threw the dried paint jars and crusty brushes away

Sadly my kids have shown no interest in building models yet ... it may come in time, but I don't know ...

[momGamer]

We did it for a while, but they seem to have found other interests now.

When I was growing up my friends and I had several hundred of them between us for D&D and Champions and Battletech. I lost mine in a house fire and I just have never taken the time to really go back into it.

I personally perfer the metal ones, because of play performance. The plastic ones tend to tip on uneven terrain.

[Alpern]

Do you mostly paint plastic figures then or do you also do some of the metal ones?

If you're mostly into it for the painting, I guess you have a choice.

If you're painting the models to play the game, you have to paint what they give you. Games Workshop (Warhammer 40,000) is mostly plastic these days.

Lately I've been playing War Machine, who's models are all metal. A lot of people complain about the plastic models, saying they're really overpriced because they're plastic, and the metal ones are better quality.

But so far I prefer the plastic. Because they're so much lighter, they're much easier to glue together, and less likely to break if you drop them.


Anyhow, I paint with Becca sometimes. She's not very good - her guys look like she paints them by smearing thick paint on with a butter knife, and when they dry the paint often cracks because it's so thick. Plus, she always forgets to rinse the brush before changing colors, so all her colors are a sort of greenish brown. But she likes "painting guys" with me, and sometimes I'll throw a squad of her marines in with mine when I'm playing against my friends.

[SiW]

When I used to collect and paint miniatures, I hated the change to plastic at first, but I eventually learned to like the uniformity. But I had all my models up on shelves by the window, and every time the wind blew my curtains, it'd pull down some Space Marines while the hordes of Chaos stood firm