Do you use minis?

[AwesomusPrime]

In your campaigns do you use minis and maps? Considering the knockback and the number of combatants I intended to have in a given conflict in my campaign I made myself a hexmap. I was immediately plagued with two problems:

 

1) The rules for range mean that my TK player can pick up objects and effortlessly remove them from the combat area, when guiding her creation I was more concerned with what she could lift in terms of her concept. Also I don't believe she has an obscene number of active points in the power.

 

On the same token, on a full move either of the flyers can enter or exit the map, however they are the only characters with 'travel' powers (this is less of an issue).

 

2) The other issue is what to use for minis, we've been using lego men because I can't find 1/72 scale minis anywhere. The lego men are somewhat offscale and I wonder if anyone knows where to find minis a the scale that can be used in this game, or do I need a bigger map and change the size of the hex scale to 2-3" = 2 meters?

[Mike W]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

In your campaigns do you use minis and maps? Considering the knockback and the number of combatants I intended to have in a given conflict in my campaign I made myself a hexmap. I was immediately plagued with two problems:

 

1) The rules for range mean that my TK player can pick up objects and effortlessly remove them from the combat area, when guiding her creation I was more concerned with what she could lift in terms of her concept. Also I don't believe she has an obscene number of active points in the power.

 

On the same token, on a full move either of the flyers can enter or exit the map, however they are the only characters with 'travel' powers (this is less of an issue).

 

2) The other issue is what to use for minis, we've been using lego men because I can't find 1/72 scale minis anywhere. The lego men are somewhat offscale and I wonder if anyone knows where to find minis a the scale that can be used in this game, or do I need a bigger map and change the size of the hex scale to 2-3" = 2 meters?

 

For Champs, I do.

 

Making Minis:

 

1. Print picture of character(get it off the internet), about 1 - 1.5 inches high.

2. Paste picture to thick posterboard or similar substance.

3. Write name of character on back of picture.

4. bases are small wooden disc available at any crafts store - color coded(blue for heroes, red for villains). You'll need to paint them yourself.

5. Add a "peel and stick magnet" available at the same craft stores to each base.

6. use a binder clip to "attach" each character to their base during game sessions.

 

For the map:

 

Standard hex map. I have a simple set up that uses a long piece of posterboard and a long piece of "transparency" type sheeting(get it at an art store) taped together on one end. slide the hex map between the two, draw on the transparency sheet with a whiteboard marker...

[AwesomusPrime]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Good idea making the minis, I'd have to do up some generic placemarkers for villains so I'm not having to create an image of a villain every week.

 

For my hexmap I got a sheet of poster board, printed out a hexmap I made with a downloadable font and laboriously taped it on with clear tape, in effect laminating it.

 

Your way sounds easier lol.

[Edsel]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

We almost always use miniatures whether we play Champions or any other iteration of Hero System. Our gaming table is 5'x8' and on that we have a Mondomat which gives us lots of room (about 55 hexes by 150 hexes).

 

When we have a situation with lots of innocent bystanders in the way (non-combatants) we use pente pieces to represent them and use miniatures for all of the player characters and combatant NPCs.

 

In order to keep track of large numbers of NPCs I have numbered a good many of my miniatures. I printed a sequence of numbers on a sheet of paper and then used a hole punch to make small round pieces of paper with numbers on them. I glue one identifying number to each miniatures base and can keep track of which miniatures is which that way. So for instance if I need to know what any particular miniature represents I can look at the mini, see it is #6, and then note that #6 has taken 12 Stun and is currently holding an action.

[CTaylor]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Yeah we use miniatures, the problem I have with them is that the hex maps are too small (1" hex, doesn't work well with standard miniatures). There was a company that makes killer tile sets with a large grid on it in hard plastic sections like puzzle pieces, but they went out of business. They were working on getting a hex pattern too

[Sketchpad]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

I tend to use Heroclix for my supers games and usually can use the maps from them as well ... sure, they're not hexes, but they scale well

[Lord Mhoram]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

We use a map and markers.

 

The map is a 3 foot by 2 foot whiteboard. We used smooth waterproof paneling from Home Depot, much cheaper than a whiteboard at an office supply place.

 

For minis we use coins usually. Although we do occasionally take character pictures shrink them down to about an inch, and print off a mini - we take the picture, copy it, invert it, and have the two pictures meet at the top. Makes a triangle mini, and we use a penny and some tape to hold it down.

 

We don't worry about hexes at all, we just have a cloth measuring tape and a yardstick for measuring distances. And the yardstick has big think lines at the breakpoints of range mod, so you can just lay the stick down and know instantly what the mod is.

[Doc Shocker]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Hero-Clix and a Mondomap. I just got my 4'6"x8'6" map, they didn't have the 1.5" hex available anymore and we've used the Clix with 1" hex before so it's not a big deal.

 

I've been addicted to minis and maps since way back in the day. Being a visual person it definitely helps me get even more immersed.

[Maur]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

We use minis in our game. They come from sources like Wizkid's Clix games, WotC's D&D and Star Wars minis games, Warhammer (fantasy and 40k) and other sources. They are all either 25 or 28mm so work well in the 1.5" hex maps we have (each hex still counts as 1" for movement and range). The clix minis were all cut off their bases and repainted and attached to pennies or nickels to stand on

[Nolgroth]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

I use a virtual map and minis as I play with either OpenRPG or Map Tool.

[Cannon_Fodder]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

We use Battle Mats for the playing surface, just a gex grid and WET erase markers. For the Players and NPCs we use what ever minis look the best. Hero Clicks are the bulk we also have some Halo Action Clixs, Warhammer 40K figures and pewter minis from cyberpunk and DnD.

[Drhoz]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Maps and minis here, at least for the more complicated battles. 15 city blocks, 30 Destroyer mooks, and multiple tanks, makes for a complicated battle. At least we got the civilians out first.

 

We use a variety of miniatures - two of us bring in boxes of likely stuff, and various ones to match our characters where possible.

 

I do try to convert miniatures to match characters, altho the turnover rate does make that difficult sometimes. Finally finished the anthro orca, added the Elephant Prod to a Chainmail gnoll to make Vitus

 

http://drhoz.livejournal.com/453066.html

[Egyptoid]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Heroclix for the PCs and main villains,

cardboard heroes for the agents, normals, etc.

[The Monster]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

We use Heroclix. The 'Mister Suitcase' of our group got excited and modded some of his extras so that they are actual minis of our PCs. Way kewl. And there's almost always a clix that approximates the villain/s of the week.

Various other RPG minis and toy soldiers fill out NPC ranks, and Matchbox/Hot Wheels vehicles (a bit small, but good enough for scenery/brick ammo) round out the table. We typically have a hexgrid on the table, but I've run just using open surface and a tape measure.

Range and distance is a problem, but most of our fights have been either indoors or in urban areas, which have highrises limiting movement and sighting. Stuff that goes off the map either just leaves or takes a short time to return; if the whole fight goes long-range and/or mobile, the tactical display becomes abstract anyway.

[Alibear]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

No. Never have, don't intend to start now either.

[archermoo]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

For everything except minor skirmishes, yes. And sometimes for even the minor skirmishes...

 

As a note: I haven't bought minis for quite some time. Do they not make 25mm minis anymore? 25mm = 1", so a 25mm mini is perfect for a 1" hex map. Though regardless of the size of the hexes, a normal sized character should be about as tall as a hex is wide.

[teh bunneh]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Yep, I use minis for just about everything.

 

As a note: I haven't bought minis for quite some time. Do they not make 25mm minis anymore?

 

Yes. Most new lines these days are "Heroic 25mm" (which actually means anywhere from 28mm to 33mm), but the Lance & Laser line are still true 25mm AFAIR.

[archermoo]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Yep, I use minis for just about everything.

 

 

 

Yes. Most new lines these days are "Heroic 25mm" (which actually means anywhere from 28mm to 33mm), but the Lance & Laser line are still true 25mm AFAIR.

 

Cool. I was just a bit confused at the difficulty people were talking about finding properly scaled minis, when one of the reasons for 1" hexes were that the most common type of minis (25mm) were perfect for it.

 

I used to have a friend that made minis from drawing artwork on Shrinky Dink plastic and then gluing them to coins or washers. Worked pretty well.

[teh bunneh]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Cool. I was just a bit confused at the difficulty people were talking about finding properly scaled minis' date=' when one of the reasons for 1" hexes were that the most common type of minis (25mm) were perfect for it.[/quote']

 

Really, there's not much difference between 25mm and 28mm; it's hard to tell them apart unless you're looking for it. But when they get up to 33mm it becomes really noticable (Warhammer minis are 33mm these days, and they look really big).

 

Reaper's Dark Heaven line are 28mm, and they put out some really good work. If you're looking for superheroes, they had a short-lived run of Silver Sentinals that are the same scale. Older Heroclix are 28mm; the newer ones are ranging upwards to 30mm. Superfigs are 28mm. There's lots of stuff out there if you know where to look.

[BigJackBrass]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

I used to have a friend that made minis from drawing artwork on Shrinky Dink plastic and then gluing them to coins or washers. Worked pretty well.

Even easier to do now that they've started making Shrinky Dinks for printers.

[archermoo]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Even easier to do now that they've started making Shrinky Dinks for printers.

 

Yup.

[NestorDRod]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

In my heyday (Ghod, that sounds old just rereading it), we extensively used Cardboard Heroes for minis, which worked nicely in that they were easy to store and carry. Susano, our resident artist, even created a set of tiles to represent vehicles and other objects to scale that got plenty of use (my favorite was the Mach 5).

 

Steve Jackson Games has re-released a bunch of them, and a number of other companies (such as PIG) have jumped into that bandwagon and now offer similar items. Just go to RPGNow and search for minis (their site seems to be down right now so I can't give you more specific instructions).

 

As for maps, the Chessex Megamats always worked for us; I don't know if we ever had any real range problems with them.

 

Hope this helps!

[CrosshairCollie]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Unless the battle simply isn't going to work ... it's going to range VERY wide, is a chase scene, or something of that sort, then yes, I use minis. I've got the cardboard triangles from the 4e GM's screen for Champions, the counters from the Marvel Superheroes Game (with the Universal Chart thingie), some D&D minis, a couple of Heroclix, and some odds and ends like Micromaster Transformers.

[Silbeg]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Hero-Clix and a Mondomap. I just got my 4'6"x8'6" map, they didn't have the 1.5" hex available anymore and we've used the Clix with 1" hex before so it's not a big deal.

 

I've been addicted to minis and maps since way back in the day. Being a visual person it definitely helps me get even more immersed.

 

Yeah, the Chessex Mondomap rules, but is not as transportable as my smaller maps. I have a Crystal Caste map (similar in size to the megamat), and and old megamat. I used to use a variety of metal minis (including the old Champions minis from Grenadier... but who needs 2 Foxbats?!?!) but we have been using HeroClix as a less expensive and easier solution.

 

We just snip the bases down (when possible) to fit in the 1" hexes. I know, some would call this sacrilege, but that's why they were bought... buy 'em bulk on eBay, as random assortments of the crap other people don't want.

[NestorDRod]

Re: Do you use minis?

 

Yeah' date=' the Chessex Mondomap rules, but is not as transportable as my smaller maps. I have a Crystal Caste map (similar in size to the megamat), and and [b']old[/b] megamat. I used to use a variety of metal minis (including the old Champions minis from Grenadier... but who needs 2 Foxbats?!?!) but we have been using HeroClix as a less expensive and easier solution.

 

We just snip the bases down (when possible) to fit in the 1" hexes. I know, some would call this sacrilege, but that's why they were bought... buy 'em bulk on eBay, as random assortments of the crap other people don't want.

 

Actually, one of the players in our group who does figure mods has a way of removing the HeroClix figure from the base entirely (not sure how he does it, I've just seen the results). He then mods it and glues it to a more usable base.

 

I'll have to ask him what the trick is; I wouldn't mind "fixing" some figs myself.