Episode 06 - Substituting Miniatures

Welcome to Episode 6. In this episode we have a look at alternate miniatures for use in your games. When we say “alternate miniatures”, we mean miniatures made by a different manufacturer to the game that you are playing, eg. using Crododile Games figures in a Warhammer Fantasy Battles army.

There are a number of benefits to doing this.
1. You can make your army look unique without doing a lot of conversion work
2. If you are a collector or hoarder :-)  it gives you an opportunity to use those figures that you swore you would use one day”.

There are a few things to consider when looking for alternate miniature ranges to use. Are the figures representative of the troop type they are being substituted for? This has a big impact during game play. While you may tell your opponent that they are a certain type of troop, a few turns into the game your opponent may have forgotten what they. Also, if you are using similar models to represent different types of units, make use that they can be easily distinguished. Ensuring these things are done, can avoid confusing on your opponents behalf, and ensure the game is fun for both of you.

Avatars of War is a range of character models designed to be used in your role playing or table games. These figures are of extremely high quality. Currently they have all the classic fantasy types in their range, which is expanding at a steady rate. The styling of these figures is such that they will blend into your Warhammer Fantasy army with little trouble.
Crocodile Games produces an extensive range of miniatures for it’s Wargods game system. One of the most popular ranges of figures are the Spartans from Wargods of Olympus. These figures are just all types of cool! If you’ve wanted to do a “300”style army, then these figures allow this to be done with little trouble. It’s tempting just to start another project just to use these figures...  Wargods of Hyperborea has a small range of figures that would easily fit in amongst a Warhammer Beastman army. The Ice Witch would make an awesome evil sorceress...funnily enough.

The largest range of figures produced by Crocodile game is for their Wargods of Aegyptus game. Aegyptus is set in mythical Eqypyt and as such its figure range is Egytpian inspired. The range of figures has a lot of variety and the possibilities for their use are endless. The Sebki, for example, can be used to great a crocodile themed Lizardman army. The easisest use of these figures in a Warhammer Tomb Kings army. Check out previous episodes of Ä Dog’s Life”for how Adam used Typhon warriors in his Tomb Kings army. For those of you ever wanting to do an alive ”Tomb Kings army, then the Asar range is for you.

Another range of figures made by Crocodile Games, this time is association with Piazzo, is the Pathfinder range. These figures are designed for use in your role playing games, but, can easily be substituted for characters in your army. This range also includes a lot of icon fantasy types and are off the typical Crocodile games quality.  One fo the things Mick and I like about the range of Crocodile Games figures, this applies to the Wargods range as well, is the detail on the figures themselves is not over the top. A simple paint job makes these figures look great, but, there is space aplenty for a more intricate paint job, making your figure really standout. With at lot of other highly detailed figures, an intricate paint job can sometimes get lost amongst the detail.

Anima Tactics is a range of animie / manga inspired figures for use in the Anima Tactics table top skirmish game and RPG. These figures are extremely detailed, multi-part white metal  figures which  allows them to be very dynamically posed. Their use in other games systems would be primarily limited to characters models. Something to be aware of when using other manufactures models, and particularly with these figures, is how they will fit in amongst other models, should they require to be ranked up in units. A little bit of planning at assembly stage can save a lot of heartache later.

What we have shown you in this episode is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of other miniature lines. If you are starting a new project that you want to really standout on the table top, it pays to spend a bit of time looking at other manufactures, as it’s an easy way to achieve this goal. Hopefully, this episode has also given you some ideas for your next project. If you have used alternate miniatures, we’d like to see some pics of your project. Also, if you’d like some suggestions to just to bounce some ideas around, drop us an email, we’re only too happy to help.

Until next time,

Mick and Adam