So for Dark Sun I was looking for cheap minis I could get in large quantities. Unfortunately I haven't found any in the same scale as D&D (it looks like it's about 35mm) - but I have found some in 25mm scale, and in bulk.
I can probably get enough of these to satisfy any village, slave pen, arena, and (humanoid) raider tribe on Athas, but I'd like your opinions on how appropriate they would be for the setting.
Set 1
Set 2
Set 3 (96 pieces; that could be one hell of a caravan raid)
There's also a 35-piece undead set by the same maker for this scale, as well as various fantasy monsters, but what I'm really interested in is how Athasian the above sets seem to you.
EDIT: I almost forgot: those sets look great! They seem a little more traditional Middle Eastern than I typically think of Athas, but they fit the bill, nonetheless!
Taung Warrior from Star Wars would make a decent Gith. Some Yuuzhan Vong look DS, as well as a lot of the beasts.
Most of the DDM I found were just figures without a shirt or not wearing much clothing, or a savage look.
... of course I'd still like to see some future DDM sets feature some DS creatures.
These might be a little bit smaller than (or as little as half the size of) typical D&D minis, although it might just make the PCs feel more special. The maker of the first two (as well as the fantasy ones I mentioned) is Caesar Miniatures, and the sets above are Bedouin and Biblical Hebrews. The third one is El Cid Almoravid Light Infantry from HaT. If you don't want to poke around on eBay/Google then I can PM you with a US seller's site (I don't want to run afoul of the forum's advertising rules).
Those are pretty cool. I like the Caesar Miniatures nubian warriors (CAEH049) as well. Those and some of the ancient Egyptians seem pretty cool for city-state military.
However, the sheer numbers of the minis are overwhelming. A half-set or quarter-set could be then worth the reduced price.
Separately, I liked the chariots, but they feature horses. Anyone have ideas for chariots? One could cut the horse part off, of course... but I worry the area there would not fit a typical round base for a metal or plastic mini.
I really like the El Cid set, but it looks like they only have the 96-piece which I guess is far more than I'll ever need, even if I lost half of it, and it is one of the more expensive selections.
Thanks for the input and suggestions, everyone. I know what I'm getting to start with, now. Feel free to continue to discuss, of course, and even mention more expensive options like Reaper.
Edit: Depending on where you live and which sets you're interested in, Alphastream, I'd be willing to split the cost and ship you your part (also, what do you think of the HaT Nubians? Not as detailed but I think they have more character. HAT8079.) If someone else is interested, even 36-pieces split three ways is plenty for each of us. I'd consider shipping cost as part of the shares, of course.
I am interested in other mini-type posts. I have been looking at cacti minis, such as these.
The Terrain Guy desert bushes.
Palm Trees.
Desert Palm Trees.
Cool metal cacti.
The plastic ones are interesting. I wonder if these can't be found somewhere cheap for use in aquariums or crafts. The metal ones are part of a store that carries a lot of terrain. Their main site is here with an impressive catalog.
I have had good experiences with Naloomi's workshop. The owner is very approachable and can do things like find parts, paint them, etc. Prices are really reasonable.
I am also interested in other terrain stuff if people have ideas.
I am interested in other mini-type posts. [...] I am also interested in other terrain stuff if people have ideas.
Likewise. I've been at a loss for both minis and terrain for DS, so I hope we can get a nice repository going here.
A few other HaT sets worth looking at are Alexander's Thracians, Sea Peoples, Assyrian Infantry, Sumerian Infantry, and Indian Infantry. There are various chariot sets, too, but they're all pulled by horses, of course. Google any of them for images. All those types of figures are also available in metal at 25/28mm scale from any of dozens of companies that make historical figures for wargamers. The plastics are 1:76, which means they'll be at least a head shorter, and probably more like head and shoulders shorter than a typical D&D Mini.
Steve
A few other HaT sets worth looking at are Alexander's Thracians, Sea Peoples, Assyrian Infantry, Sumerian Infantry, and Indian Infantry. There are various chariot sets, too, but they're all pulled by horses, of course. Google any of them for images. All those types of figures are also available in metal at 25/28mm scale from any of dozens of companies that make historical figures for wargamers. The plastics are 1:76, which means they'll be at least a head shorter, and probably more like head and shoulders shorter than a typical D&D Mini.
Steve
Any specific recommendations for wargame minis that will be more comparable in size with D&D plastic minis?
Here's a pretty comprehensive list of who's making what in 25/28mm Ancients:
fanaticus.org/DBA/Bazaar/minisources25.h...
Some of the links are out of date, but you can frequently find the company's new website or distributor with a search for the company's name. Some of the companies have expanded their ranges since the list was last updated.
If you find a period that seems particularly suitable or really captures a look you like -- ancient Indians, for example -- web search something like "ancient indians 28mm miniatures" and you may come up with more. eBay is a good resource, too, because wargamers compulsively buy a lot more lead than they can ever paint, until eventually their wives make them sell some of it. Some manufacturers and distributors have their own eBay shops.
A lot of these manufacturers are UK companies, but most of them have US distributors or are well accustomed to shipping to the US.
Because you're dealing with wargaming figures instead of roleplaying figures, you probably won't be able to buy just one of anything; they'll come four or more to a pack. The good news is, the per-figure price probably will be about half of what you'd pay for comparable RPG figures in metal.
Steve
No one can tell when it's on the table, but I'll probably touch it up a bit before using the sealer. Maybe I'll practice a wash on the base to make all those little rock details look nice (and if I screw up, no harm to the character).Photo
Reaper mini, Dark Heaven line: Jaatu
Reaper mini, Dark Heaven line: Jaatu
Independent of my attempts to find a good number of cheap plastic slaves/raiders, I have a few Reaper minis.
Yes! There is an excellent Thri-Kreen mini I got and am painting for one of my players, Zizzix.
I also picked up a copy of Cactus #2 by Pegasus. This box contains 60 cacti that are plastic with minor assembly (basically stick the cacti into the base). They are in various sizes, but all work well with 25-28mm minis. They are shiny green plastic - they can be used as-is or you can paint them (much better). They have less heft than the metal ones, of course, but should work ok.
I've been trying to make some terrain pieces as well, I ended up taking the dive and getting supplies to make cardstock terrain (though who knows how I'm gonna find time to put it all together!) I wasn't having much luck with finding terrain I liked for Dark Sun until I ran across this Mars Station set:
www.worldworksgames.com/store/index.php?...
I'm just building the red sandy/rocky base tiles and the layered canyons, which are perfectly usable for fantasy terrain if you omit the sci-fi related portions. I really like the dark red sand, I think it fits perfectly!
Another thing I've been thinking about, after looking at all this cardstock terrain available, is if opening up the files in Photoshop before printing, to shift the color palette of some tiles into a more grungy/burnt/dusty direction might make some fit in better. There's so much medieval stuff available, but if I'm gonna build custom terrain I'd want it to undeniably say Athas rather than look like generic medieval stuff.
Any other ideas?
In the recent free RPG day adventure, my GM used mustafarian flea riders for kanks. The art from the module looks pretty similar!
Any other ideas?
Nice! I hadn't thought of those, I picked up some extra Giant Celestial Stag Beetles to use as kanks.
Many of the "dragons" in McFarlane's Dragons Series' aren't all dragons and could substitute for any number of giant reptiles in Athas. I'm not certain how close the scale is, but 6" is the listed scale, and it seems like it would be serviceable. Not to mention that even the rarest of the older figures from the set are STILL less expensive than Orcus.
Also, Dregoth?
I like some of the Dragons listed for defiler-dragons or drakes, even though most of them are a little huge for minis. That's doesn't always matter. Having the dragon standing next to the board and using tokens or a paper cut out to represent him on the board works just fine for me.
In session 2-4 of Encounters, I used Geonosian Drones from the Star Wars line to represent the Hejkin (based on the art in the adventure booklet).
Stole your idea, but I use(d) them for variant Gith next to the Crucians I use for Gith.
It take some searching, but Reaper has a lot of quality figures. A number of my figures comes from Foundry, but they are pricey. I have some classic DS figures, as well as a number of unrelated old-school figures. It takes a bit of work, but there are a lot of figures that fit really well into the DS setting. I really like the plastic figures displayed on the first post, and I would rather use them then any of the lame gumball mines WotC likes to $#!%-out.