Miniature Versitality

Something that has become incredibly important to me over the years is that I get as much out of my models as I possibly can. How many games can I use my miniatures for? How should I base my miniatures so that I can use them to their maximum potential?

The rise of this concern for me personally is due to the following:

• Increased competition for hobby budget (starting a family will do this to you)
• Game systems disappearing or being abandoned (I'm looking at you Games Workshop)
• Investment of time assembling/painting miniatures

I'm sure that all of you can at least relate to one of those points. But who cares? If you want to play a different game, you  might as well just throw out all of your current miniatures and buy miniatures for that new games.

Right?

Well, I'm telling you that you really don't have to. If you have models that are suitable for multiple game systems, there really is no need to purchase new miniatures. In fact, my advice would be to purchase miniatures that can easily translate into multiple game systems.

For example, here is a brief list of games that I can use a few of my miniatures for:

Fireforge Miniatures Foot Sergeants: Warhammer Fantasy (Bretonnians), Age of Sigmar (Bretonnians), Lion Rampant, Warhammer Ancient Battles, Kings of War, really...any game set in the medieval period, so a countless number of games.

Games Workshop Dwarf Warriors: Warhammer Fantasy, Age of Sigmar, Kings of War, Dragon Rampant, Frostgrave, and any other game that has a typical fantasy trope race such as dwarves. Ultimately dwarf miniatures are more limited than Fireforge Miniatures Foot Sergeants.

Dropzone Commander PHR Ares Walker: Dropzone Commander

Essentially when I purchase more historical medieval miniatures I can use them for a lot more games than if I purchased miniatures that are specific to a certain game. My investment into purchasing that miniature is safer.

Basing also plays a part, but not as significant as the miniature itself. The reason why it's not as important is because you can always rebase a miniature. It's just a matter of time investment and perhaps some resources if you need to buy new bases...but it can be done, it's just really annoying. If your miniature is based in such a way that it can be used for multiple games, then it's just that much more flexible.

The reason why I will NEVER rebase any of my fantasy miniatures for Age of Sigmar is because if I retain them on squares I can play older versions of Warhammer Fantasy, Kings of War, and any other skirmish game (since in most, if not all, skirmish games the base really does not matter). As soon as I rebase them on circle bases I lose that ability to easily use them in ranked up games. True, you can just put them on a special movement base, but that requires specialized movement bases which goes against the guiding principle of this article.

So after that wall of text, why should you care about miniature versatility? It's something that will save you money, save you time, and thus give you more money and time to enjoy this hobby! It's something to keep in the back of your mind when you're looking at getting into a new miniatures game, or even when looking to purchase miniatures for a game you already play.

War Room Episode 1: Introductions

Over the years I've appreciated listening to podcasts about wargaming, so I figured it's neigh time to start my own. This isn't going to be nearly as grand or complex as others that are on the interwebs, it's mainly going to be myself rambling about the hobby and what I might be up to at the moment.

This is completely unedited, so hopefully it isn't too harsh on the ears. Hopefully in time it will get smoother.

Hobby Update #2

I started I working on painting my Questing Knights and have managed to get 2 of them completely finished...alas my steam for Age of Sigmar seems to have faltered. These models are incredibly fun to paint, but they do take a while. Below are some pictures of the Questing Knight Champion.

So the hobby winds have shifted and I'm now pumped up to start working on some dropzone commander models! I was able to assemble and fully magnetize the PHR starter that I picked up and have even gotten the base coat of paint down on all of the Scourge vehicles from the starter box. I really do love the airbrush...makes painting go so much quicker. The plan is to paint up the UCM and the Scourge so I can start demoing some games. Perhaps I'll start working on the PHR, but we'll see where hobby winds blow then.

For the Scourge, since they look very crustacean like, I used the following picture for inspiration.

Here are some WIP photos of the Scourge. I'm going to try to take some nicer photos of the Scourge and UCM forces when they're all done.

I've also purchased the DBA 3.0. Fantastic set of rules. If you have any interest in historical warfare I'd urge you to pick this book up. For me the selling points are that the game plays quickly, you don't need hundreds of models, an army is incredibly affordable, and you still get that big battle feel. Other than the 28 mm figures I have already any further big battle games I only really want to play them in 15mm. Otherwise it's skirmish games for me at 28mm. And the only skirmish game I'm truly interested in at the moment is SAGA.

Age of Sigmar is fun...but it just doesn't quite do it for me. Perhaps I'll elaborate on that more in a different post though.

Hope you all have a good one! Until next time!