DungeonCraft #43: How to Get Cheap Minis for D&D & Pathfinder!

[@tavernmancer]

I'm working with a very limited budget so I'm going to hit the dollar store a grab a bucket of army men. "No the orcs don't have grenades, shut up and roll for initiative."

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Army men can work just fine.

[@satibel]

if you know someone with a 3d printer or have one, you could make a set of weapons and replace the army men's with that.

[@embergrit2305]

lol

[@bee030888]

An orc with a grenade sounds like an excellent idea for a DM with a vendetta against his players

[@tavernmancer]

An Orchemist :)

[@brie.cheese_x]

My mini collection is now massive, but it all started with Castle Ravenloft and then Wrath of Ashardalon (and then Legend of Drizzt). Bonus tip for those considering these board games - they come with dungeon tiles and smaller tiles for doors, chests, spells, etc! Highly highly recommend!

[@UnderTheSkin13]

Gencon... I remember... The before times...

[@Pit_Wizard]

If our incompetence as a nation causes Gen Con to be canceled again I swear I'll cry.

[@freecanadianshadowbanned4954]

Thanks for the tips, Professor! It took about two weeks, but I was able to find an open box of Massive Darkness. The total cost worked out to a $1.05 a miniature, and I should be able to re-sell the remainder of the game to help invest in some primers, paints, and washes! Thank you for your advice, insight, and expertise on the topic of this awesome game and it's many facets.

[@davidsmith9431]

another cheap set is the Magic the Gathering Board Game about 12.00 on ASmazon and comes with 35 minis, and they go on sale a lot so you could pick up a set for as low as 5.00

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Cool I have to check that out!

[@orinanime]

I was going to say that too. Good suggestion. MtG board game sets are cheap and come with a lot of good minis.

[@blotcho84]

I have a store in my area called Five Below - I got 2 Magic board games there, just $5 each, so many good minis! BTW great video!

[@orinanime]

@@blotcho84 oh my god! If you find more, I'll happily reimburse you and cover shipping to get some

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Sweet! I have a Five Below not far from me. Guess where I'm going tomorrow?

[@scottkfilgo]

The tray of monsters at 2:13 are "crypt ghouls" from Games Workshop for the Vampire Counts army (or whatever the current edition calls them). They currently sell in retail at $40 for 20 minis. This multi-part plastic kit contains 20 Crypt Ghouls, and can be used to assemble a Crypt Ghast Courtier - warscrolls for each are in the box. Supplied with 20 Citadel 25mm Round bases.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Cool! Thanks for the info!

[@tonlito22]

A personal favorite for creepy crawlies (Spiders, Snakes, Roaches, Ants Scorpions, Centipedes and Giant Rats): Halloween Stores. You can get bags and bags of the things for dirt cheap. Some of them will have realistic paintjobs, some will be shiny black, some will be bright colors and some will glow in the dark. I've also found that skull rings make great shields for evil characters and monsters.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Absolutely!

[@sonofaWWIIsailor]

Their Spider rings can be trimmed for good spiders, and Bat rings can be turned into Bat Swarms, just glue them to clear plastic knives & forks.

[@andrewlustfield6079]

@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 The cheapest way I've found for human warriors and civilians is historical models, particularly from the Perry brothers. You're paying basically a dollar a miniature when you buy their boxed sets. The sculpts are great--you have knights and soldiers who look like knights and soldiers and not a cartoon image of knights and soldiers. There's basically any kind of medieval fighting man you want. And if you dive into their metal ranges, their civilians are just amazing. They really look like ordinary folks who could be wandering around any town or village---not your stereotypical character tropes. Fantasy figures are always more expensive, though Oathmark and Frostgrave make more than passable models for pretty reasonable prices.

[@sebastianraducu7850]

@@andrewlustfield6079 thank you, love the look of the minis

[@andrewlustfield6079]

@@sebastianraducu7850 My pleasure

[@Matt_Sorensen]

As a new DM with fairly limited space/funds I went with Arcknight's DM starter set which was $60 when it was first released but is now $80. I've been really satisfied with it thus far because I'm not really interested in painting/storing lots of 3D minis. They also take up a tiny fraction of my space behind the screen which is nice. But what I REALLY love about the Arcknight minis is that I can use their stands with my photo printed Printable Heroes minis and they look fantastic. Between those two types of minis I really have access to anything I need and it's all very cheap and space saving. No, they're not 3D minis but when there's no other type of mini on the board they look fantastic.

[@nerdfatha]

finding old or failed board games or minis starting sets is really a great way to go. for Sci Fi Mechs there is Abaddon which was 80 and is now about 20. For fantasy skeletons , spearmen, and some big monsters there is the core set of Rune Wars that is only about 40ish.

[@raymosmookle9373]

Hero-quest produced a bunch of these for me. I found them in a baggie at a flea market.

[@joshblack3626]

Not only am i working with low money but i jusst turned 20 and getting into dnd i had to search this. And you just ssaved my year sir.thanks

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

No problem! Please subscribe. In a week I'll tell you how to craft unlimited dungeon terrain for under $20.

[@torenatkinson1986]

The secondary market is best for minis. Yard sales, flea markets, Facebook marketplace, craigslist, etc. Almost every plastic toy animal is a monstrous/giant animal when the PCs are 30mm tall.

[@orrinellis856]

mild point: you can pick up heroclix from troll and toad for well under a dollar each they need to be repainted an kitbashed but, a great way to fill out a large encounter or handle a cheap genre change.

[@raymosmookle9373]

i found some random clix somewhere, knocked off the bases, and hot-glued them to nickles. Voila!

[@kingforaday8725]

I go back a few years. I have fond memories of perusing catalogs of Ral Partha, Grenadier, Minifigs, etc. I also remember buying plastic figures in the toy department at TG&Y, Woolworths, Kmart. Not the green "Army Men" as those were to large. One could also find them in the smaller 15mm to 25mm range.

[@feral_7706]

Those zombies and the creepy humanoids you show at the start are both games workshop, the creepy humanoids are crypt ghouls if i remember rightly

[@kamorikioko]

And have been painted with washes. If you want to paint a lot very quickly, get into washing.

[@dirigoallagash3464]

You left one out, When/if you can catch it, the Reaper Bones Kickstarters. I have a week left to pull the trigger. $112 for 163 minis, some are quite large dragons, giants, monsters, etc too.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Sweet! Did not know about that.

[@nyarlathotep3334]

Yup, came to the comments to say just this. I know I'm replying to an older comment, but Reaper keeps making more (they just wrapped up Bones 5). Some more information that's worth noting: In addition to the core set (which has superb money/quantity value!) they also have a lot of larger sized miniatures and dioramas/expansions as well which are still great values compared to what you'd pay retail and can net you some really great looking terrain in addition to monsters and NPCs. They also usually have paint sets during these Kickstarters which are terrific value for folks that want to paint their own miniatures. It's a little expensive from the standpoint that you spend a lot of money initially, but well worth it for the amount you get from each Kickstarter. It takes them a year or so from the end of a Kickstarter to create and ship the minis so you won't get them right away.

[@handlesarestupid154]

@@nyarlathotep3334 Is it still possible to sign up for bones v?

[@nyarlathotep3334]

@@handlesarestupid154 I think you still can? I'm not 100% sure though, but I thought I read somewhere recently that they are keeping the pledge manager open until January. I don't have the site handy since I'm on break at work, but you could probably find it through Google.

[@TheKrakenfist]

One option not mentioned here for anyone who has the time do to so, just buy unit boxes from lines like Warhammer/Age of Sigmar and build them yourself. Look for ones that give you the most for your money. For example, a box of "Gloomspite Grots" comes with 20 goblins for 30 USD, with an insane number of options like several types of melee weapons, ranged weapons, banners, unique outfits/ornaments for leaders, and even bits that can be convered into wizard staves and such. It's an entire goblin-themed adventure in a box for 30 bucks. Same can be done with the "Crypt Ghouls" (undead), "Savage Orruks" (orcs), and "Seraphon Skinks" (kobolds-ish) boxes from the same line, among others.

[@THAC0Factor]

Love the paint job on the Dancing Girl / Barmaid set. I hope mine turn out that good when they come in.

[@landalot101]

The first two you sell are from games workshop. The first ones were zombies and come in a box of 20 for about £20.50, the second were crypt ghouls which come in a box of 20 for £25. A steal. The zombie box also comes with some tombstones as well, I believe it's 4 tombstones so that'll go well towards making a graveyard.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I really lucked out on that day. That's the best part about going to conventions!

[@EmeraldVideosNL]

I had the luck that I was a Warhammer and Lord of the Rings collector before I ever heard about D&D. I had a full Beastmen army (I saw a Bestigor on one of your videos) and Daemon army, even though I was always more of a painter than a player. I had dozens of Rohirrim, orcs and Uruk hai, 2 Nazgul on fellbeast the Balrog, and some main characters. My brother had the Wood Elves army and also a small collection of LotR minis. Once my then boyfriend (DM) introduced us to D&D, his Bretonnia and Chaos army, plus his box of D&D mini's had us pretty much covered. The scale wasn't always right side by side, but it got the job done nicely.

[@dreadmaps]

Massive Darkness is so hard to find at a good price now. What a great find though. I found several etsy sellers that sell them as singles or small sets, not as cost effective but you do get to pick the ones you want, which is nice

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

You are correct on both counts. Things have really changed since I made that video. Thanks for watching and enjoy more DungeonCraft!

[@dsan05]

Got Massive Darkness for my first painting foray. It's been fun. Good purchase.

[@TheOnlyTherazan]

If you DON'T want to get into painting, you can just lookup which cans of paint you can use on minis, and blast them in a single color; your orcs and Zombies can be all green instead of all gray, your ghosts and ally NPCs can be all blue, the kobold and enemy NPCs can be red, etc.

[@zachariaravenheart]

I wish I found this video earlier. I love minis and will definitely buy some of this stuff. Thank you sir!

[@carnivaldale7984]

A brush painting kit isn’t $100... I got a $3 pack of 12 brushes for terrain and for minis I got a $10 fine tip brush pack of 10 brushes. I use cheap acrylic paints which are 70¢ each. Learning to paint is relatively simple and takes just a little practice.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I agree. My episode on painting for cheap is coming.

[@user-jv7gr1jb3r]

Haha Mr. Man. He called your paint "cheap". Like you suck! Damn!

[@brunneng38]

$5 for fine tipped packs of brushes at Michaels or AC Moore.

[@KaiserSoze679]

TBF, he said "a decent set" and "decent" is another word like "cheap" that depends on your perspective. What's decent for someone who doesn't care as much might be total shit to somebody who has really high paint standards.

[@satibel]

get an toothbrush, cut the bristles, clean them and put them on the end of a toothpick with a dab of hot glue, now you have a cheap detail brush.

[@torenatkinson1986]

Have you bought from Pulp Figures? One of my favorite mini companies...they have a unique selection!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Yes. I feature them in many videos

[@alvaropalacios4983]

Nice video! I don't have the money to buy miniatures in my country but your suggestion to Wyloch's Army was priceless. I also discovered Games Workshop has 3D pictures of their minis! Jackpot!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Glad I could steer you in the right direction. Wyloch is great.

[@VorpalDerringer]

2:42 Those are Age of Sigmar Crypt Ghouls from Games Workshop. The grey flesh part of the paintjob looks *okay*, but why their forearms and legs are all colored green is kinda a weird choice--shouldn't they have a mix of fresh blood and rotting flesh goop on their limbs, if that's what the green is supposed to be? And the skeleton-backbanner thing the unit champion has doesn't even look painted from what I'm seeing. So it needs some more work, but this is most of a unit that seems to be assembled correctly and halfway painted for $20--a full unit of 20 is around $30, plus several hours of painting work already done is a pretty good deal. And of course, they can be any corporeal undead you want.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I though the green hands looked kinda cool. It's not what I would have done, but that's part of why I like them. Thanks for watching and watch more DungeonCraft!

[@ArbyRadio]

So here's another tip for people like me (college student, non-existent budget), who REALLY want the cheapest rates for minis: My local hobby store (and there's a decent chance yours might have one too) has a 3D printer and will accept any designs (you can just email the 3d designs you download or make) and will print them out for a couple dollars (the liquid plastic they need to use in the printers is super cheap). So if you don't mind the cheaper plastic models, unpainted, you can pick up a pile of them for very little money. Also, there is the other approach of eventually buying your own 3D printer, and/or making a deal with your hobby store to buy a whole bunch for a lower rate. At any rate, for those of us who can't storm hobby cons and the like and spend hundreds on figures, 3D printed work from a LOCAL store (where you can ask them to re-print a busted figure - cause they won't care probably!) will be by far the best way to go!

[@michaelsorensen7567]

My library has a "maker space" where they have (among other things) a 3d printer. Always worth checking local resources. :)

[@stevethomas5978]

I'm loving those zombies in the beginning of your video. Massive darkness has some awesome miniatures.

[@nicholastaylor8613]

Instantly knew that the cleric was plastic before you even started counting. I guess that might be why I don't like plastic so much!

[@pancakeonions]

For those of you who attend gaming conventions (and don't already know this), many will have a flea market where gamers might be able to offload their old games. I almost always see a few guys with buckets of D&D prepaints for cheap. Maybe if you want 'em for reeeeal cheap, wait until the flea market is ending, and see if you can buy whatevers leftover for cheap. Some of my local game stores will sometimes have a minis-flea market (though admittedly, it's been years since I've been to one - thanks COVID!). If you're patient, and look around, you might just luck out! Kinda situational, I know, but good luck!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Good point. I pick up a lot of minis this way. Check out some of them here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b2bdo2Sjot1nrK8

[@CraftsAndMinis]

I keep watching this video! You're one of my favorites, Professor. Blandco, Miniature-Mashup and my own channel are all trying to help folks find cheaper minis too. Hope to run into you at Gencon!!

[@dwightgrosso5481]

Historical wargame conventions are a great way to get all kinds of minis and terrain. There is usually a big bring and buy section where you can get screaming deals on minis both painted and unpainted. Some of the vendor booths have great deals as well. If you are ooking for out of production figures it can be hit or miss, but treasures can be found!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Absolutely!

[@Seudaren]

This is some valuable knowledge for someone piecing together an adventure for new players, I subscribed!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I appreciate it. Now go bingewatch some back content!

[@oxertz5004]

For the hand-painted ones, why not spray them with a light layer or two of fixative? I think that would fix the face rubbing off issue when touching their faces to move them.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I may try that on a practice model. That MAY be a stroke of genius or it might obscure the detail. We'll see.

[@oxertz5004]

@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 From my experience just avoid marker and always start with layers from like a foot and a half away lol should seal them well!

[@tales8855]

Lego characters work well too, Customizable Heads/Body/Pants/Weapons & Carts you name it.

[@bag-o-bags]

fine if you have it already from childhood, but lego ain't cheap lol

[@RafaelGuerra14]

Huge price drop on “lego” minifigs, just search for “building block” or “brick toys” and go for the Chinese spinoff.

[@flamestoyershadowkill]

I already have alot of lego so it works

[@chrisbridges4885]

I have used the pieces from a risk game to portray a large hoard. I especially like them for smaller 1 hit/kill critters/minions. Green pieces for goblins, red pieces for demon minions , black ones for rats and spiders , etc. This saves money and everyone gets the overwhelming feel.

[@antigrav6004]

Dude, your paint jobs are great. I've been painting for 13 years and haven't had any luck like that with the bones of wizkids figures. Gonna have to try harder i suppose.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thank you very much. I just finished painting a Bones cleric and it will be a future episode. Can't say when, but not too long.

[@jonathanlevy3747]

I'd love and appreciate a video on painting minis. You complete me, Doctor.

[@Pit_Wizard]

A couple of years ago I found a Dragonlance Villains box set by Ral Partha on ebay for $20. 9 pewter minis, already assembled and painted. My favorite is the Lord Soth mini.

[@AFnord]

In recent years Kickstarter has been a great source for minis, if you don't need them immediately. Companies like Cool Mini or Not, Mantic and so on tend to give out a lot of extra minis as stretch goals for their board games, so it's not uncommon that you'll end up getting close to 100 minis for ~100-130€, and they're often good minis at that!

[@Patmanx1]

Watched this and went with the arc knight options. Buying their dragon packs covered everything but tiamat herself and bahamut in their campaign story. Loved it.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Cool! They're a great little company.

[@survivorjohnny44]

I just got 96 goblins (20mm Dark Alliance) under $20 that size up great for DnD. Also on Ebay 16 kobalds (15mm Scalions) under $12 shipped and also perfect size compaired to 28mm heroic scale. Thanks for posting this vid

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Nice score!

[@survivorjohnny44]

They are not my listings so of course I don't stand to profit but I thought I would share the deal with you in case you want to take advantage of it too

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I don't care if they're your listings or you're the owner of Dark Alliance. That's a great deal! My viewership thanks you for it and I will definitely be checking it out. BTW--watch more DungeonCraft and share the videos!

[@survivorjohnny44]

@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 I was afraid I would sound snarky I my excitement, lol. Don't worry, I'm working my way through your vids

[@bkmark3164]

Holy crap. Just found a massive darkness on eBay for 45$. Thanks for the tip!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

You're welcome. While you're painting them you bingewatch Dungeoncraft!

[@paulvalentine4157]

Each video gives something useful, this one many things. Thanks!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks, Paul. There are LOTS more. Keep watching!

[@Ghost3210]

20 miniature boxes of Games workshop minis for around 30 Euros are great if you are looking for cheap but good miniatures for painting practice. Plague monks and Stabbas/Shootas are great cannon fodder for DnD groups for example.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks for the tip and for watching DungeonCraft!

[@AggressivelyMediocre]

I love that I got the plastic or pewter right. lol. I feel so special.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

You ARE special, Walter! Watch more DungeonCraft!

[@tylerzerbe6861]

Didnt read thru the whole lot of comments, dunno if someone suggested this yet, but for a zombie horde you can buy "bag o zombies" for the twilight creations zombies boardgame. Costs around 10 bucks and you get 100 plastic zombies. I did a daemon army for warhammer 40k when they first dropped the codex for them but before all the models were available. Went to a craft store and bought spiders, centapedes, dinosaurs, little plastic babies, giraffes, rhinos, elephants, horses, and other random stuff at like 7 cents apiece cut them apart and glued them into weird grotesque things, kit bashed them from my warhammer bits-box, ordered reaper miniatures naked sophie in a larger scale for my daemon prince and supplemented the army with whatever daemonettes and pink horrors i could get my hands on(cuz thats about all was available). My army was the talk of the town and cost way less than gw eventually ended up charging for minis. Another option (if you dont mind getting a catalog every couple of days) is china trading company. You can get tons of cheap plastic figures to kit bash into neat stuff.

[@himesjb]

yes, do some painting videos! I love this channel.

[@ronmreyes]

I saw the massive darkness kickstarter and I jumped on it! So I like to keep an eye on kickstarters for game makers that have awesome miniatures. hands down I love the Massive Darkness miniatures.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

They are great. Thanks for watching Ron!

[@jackreacher4297]

I bought The Wrath of Ashardalon at Barnes and Nobel for 45-50 bucks & really enjoyed painting the heroes and especially the large iconic red dragon.

[@TheLumberjack1987]

you sir, just saved my wallet from drying out, I´ll definitely get the massive darkness game, no matter if it´s 90€, that´s still way cheaper than any of the official ones. you got yourself a like and a new subscriber, thank you very much!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I have your back, Lumberjack! Check out my recent video on getting started in painting for cheap and how to create the ultimate dungeon terrain for cheap, coming by the end of February!

[@BradFonseca]

I would love to see a video from you on how to get into miniature painting for cheap!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

We begin shooting that tomorrow. Thanks for watching!

[@dnaseb9214]

The minies at 2:18 are warhammer fantasy vampire counts ghouls.

[@GryphonArmorer]

That "Reaper Bones Wizard" you showed, I had one except it was pewter and was labeled "Reaper: Dark Heaven Legends". After premium paint job (multiple colors with highlights, shadows and blue flame "illuminated") on a 45mm customized pentagram flame with skulls base. It sold for $45. Now you might say that's ridiculous but that's actually competitive with the "competition". And that was a first place painting competition winner and no I didn't increase the price because it was a prize winner. I think I paid more for it unpainted than you picked yours painted. One thing I learned (because I've never painted pewter before) is that when painting pewter, you have to give it a quite hard and thick clear coat to try to protect it. The detail is nice but as you said they are prone to breaking and even with a hard top coat the paint can lift over time when handling. I don't care for the rubber ones because they're flimsy but take and hold paint well. I've been looking for a good middle ground like resin figures. Although those are few and far between in general.

[@Patrick-it8nk]

I think this video is great for info! I love the plastic Reaper minis! I recently got all the miniatures from the Legend of Drizzt board game, and ONLY the minis, for like 30 bucks. Not bad, in my opinion.

[@Xion_Toshiro]

Getting on ebay, and finding that perfect deal is always satisfying.

[@machinenoise9622]

"Cheeto licking fingers" is the exact reason why I switched from using painted metal minis to plastic. Except I call them "Dorito finger". 😄

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Both are gross (especially because that orange dust is coal byproduct).

[@penitentialarts]

Go to eBay. Search for minis. Limit the price to $1.00-$1.25. Look for the sellers who offer combined shipping. You can get a lot of pre-painted minis that way.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Great tip!

[@saximaphone]

Those hunched over monsters are GW Crypt Ghouls. They come in boxes of 20 for $50 CAD, $40 USD. You pretty much got a free paintjob right there!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

That's reassuring. Someone else said I overpaid and the paint job sucked--but I thought it was OK.

[@saximaphone]

The paint job kind of looks like it's not really finished but otherwise they are in good condition. You pretty much got half a box worth for the price of half a box so it's not a loss really. And you don't have to assemble them either.

[@burnintrees420]

I jus bought a big box of MageKnights (a clix game made by wizkids) game pieces for cheap af. About to go grab another box. Its worked great so far, dirt cheap, easy to source and always kool to kno u kept something from the dump lol

[@dailyvideogamefacts1]

For people who don't mind 2D mini's the pathfinder pawns series sold by paizo are a great option. You can buy the bigger sets for $44.99 to get the box with them already made or you can buy the pdf for $24.99 to make them yourself!

[@josephskiles]

The Conan board game seems like a really great deal for minis although it's mostly bandits. Personally I just don't like using 2d pawns , especially with 3d minis or scatter . I realize not everyone has the money to spend on the hobby ( I'm right there myself) but it just kinda breaks my emersion , I would rather have a DM place down a quarter and say pretend this is a Beholder than a pawn but to each his own. Not all events need a mini for each monster, the mind can actually be more effective in many ways ( lol I say this but insist on having a mini for almost all NPC encounters LOL). I haven't watched your goblin painting video but will do so directly. Gobs are some of my favorite monsters for some reason ( trolls as well) and I have that set which I have already painted but I love picking up new ideas. Yeah yours look just as good as theirs do but there are sets like the we be goblins line that I just love the sculpts! BTW if anyone decides to get the male alchemist Pathfinder goblin set then please be warned, they are extremely easy to break especially the right arms on each figure because of how scrawny they are! Superglue of course fixes them but I added an extra dab around the inner arms to bulk them up a bit without it being to noticable

[@juliacoombs5441]

What about the Mage Knight line. You can buy castle parts & minis for fairly reasonable prices. Thoughts?

[@lazerbeam134]

I was at the local JoAnn Fabrics and they have a bucket of monster and animals toys that looked like they would be a great way to make cheap miniatures.

[@peterlarson233]

Nice thing about doing zombies in 2D like that is if you're being attacked by a whole bunch of them at once, you can use a dry erase marker to write numbers on each of them so you can keep track of which one is which

[@EyelessPorpoise]

2:40 they are Warhammer: Age of Sigmar Crypt Ghouls

[@timbuktu8069]

I know a lot of gamers that use random toys they get out vending machines or where ever. They don't look at all realistic but it's like playing Monopoly. "I'm the top hat! I'm the shoe!" It work.

[@scottjcaldwell]

When I played in high school, we used chess pieces, checkers, and erasers for large battles.

[@blfsh3]

Cheetos licking fingers.

[@paul-georgjordan2650]

Minis at around 2:40 are Crypt Ghoul from Games Workshop

[@GreyCountyGrillin]

I am definitely a new subscriber! I'm looking for ways to make my games even better, and I'm starting to get into minis. I've bought a couple sets of the D&D Dungeon Tiles, and my players(My wife and kids) really love them. Great video, and I'll be looking at much more!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Great to have you aboard. The family that plays together, stays together!

[@TwoGoblinsInATrenchCoat]

Only loosely related, but 7:49 reminded me that I love the look of Pathfinder's goblins.

[@wowfirebat]

I lke to use the pieces from my Risk board game because I can use different colors for each monster which makes it easier for me to track HP and then I can further differentiate using the horsemen and cannons. I can also use them to represent bigger monsters and the regular army guys for smaller creatures.

[@DBLDREW]

3D printers have come down a lot, you can get build your own kits for $100, or complete printers for $200 that make very good minis. Mz4250 on shapeways has all of the Dnd 3d images free for download (and you can also support him as well) cost for the spool of filament usually runs $15-20 so that breaks down to about $0.03-$0.06 per 28mm mini. This is by far your cheapest option for large amounts of minis. "3D printed tabletop" has a good channel just about DnD minis, dungeon tiles and terrain

[@rogthepirate4593]

true, although FDM printing isn't exactly great for minis. I managed to get my hands on an anycubic photon for about 250 bucks though (already including 1.5 L of resin), and the print quality on that thing is absolutely amazing, easily reaching the level of anything you can buy, possibly even surpassing it, depending on the model, since the detail resolution is absolutely nuts.

[@DBLDREW]

@@rogthepirate4593 yes thats true the FDM makes ok minis but is also great for making dungeon tiles, terrain etc Have been thinking of adding a Resin printer because the cost of them has come down a lot

[@sponge260]

This is the way my dad used to make minis, he bought molds and melted down some metal, it's really cheap, you could also melt crayons and make wax minis

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Your dad is cool!

[@trynda1701]

If it hasnt been said already, I bought some Wizkids plastic minis of minis that caught my interest (and fit my idea fo my game world for specific fwctions) where the auctions show one mini, but you can choose how many to get. I try and get between 4 and preferably 6 of each, having four players to run games for. 😊😊😊😊

[@dreadmorg]

I too am a huge miniature fanatic and have been collecting them since the early 80's lead based models. One thing that has always perplexed me though is storage. How do you store your minis Professor? I used to use bit drawers, then I placed them all shelving, and have recently built a console table with drawers that I lined with trays. Each storage solution has pros and cons though. I can see them all on a shelf, but then they get dusty. In a drawer, they are tucked away, sometimes hard to find and go unseen. Any storage tips?

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Great question, Keith. I keep the best minis on shelves in the studio. I keep the ones I actually play with in plastic containers I get at dollar stores, so if I need orcs, they're all in the same place. My actual "play" figures are all varnished, usually with Army Painter Quickshade, so I don't have to worry about them getting chipped. I plan to do an episode on transport my stuff, but it may be a Patreon exclusive video. Not sure how many people would want to see it it. I'll tell you though--I throw them in a toolbox. Again, they're plastic, so I never worry about them getting chipped.

[@backonlazer791]

I bought the Dark Souls Board Game and it came with plenty of minis to paint =) The game is also fun by itself, so it wasn't waste of money. If you only count the miniatures, it wasn't all that cheap, but they are very high quality.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I was looking at DS. I like the monsters because I don't like using traditional D&D monsters. Thanks for watching, Backon, and please check out my other 50+ videos!

[@Billchu13]

I just picked up Orcs must die board game, great minis

[@chazlong61]

Hot damn, Professor. I am fighting the urge to gush. This is a good video. You kept things punchy and above all else you were still honest. I absolutely agree with you on everything you said, in particular on maybe liking the Bones better than the standard Reaper minis. I especially appreciated the plastic/pewter comparison. I agree that sometimes you get a weird face (it's always the face!) with the plastics a good plastic is very competitive with a pewter and it becomes a matter of opinion. Have you ever kickstarted with Reaper? I still have a couple of shoe boxes of unpainted Bones, largely because I got married and now have kids. In terms of bulk minis, their kickstarters were about $100 (American) for around 100 miniatures of quality ranging from player character to npc horde-types. Thank you for some really great content. I personally would love to see some painting videos by you. I think you have a remarkable grasp of the time vs money dynamic and your insight and tips on that would be incredibly valuable.

[@thor97470]

I am thinking about getting into mini painting.

[@gnarlestongnu637]

My advice - start with skeletons. Skeletons are all one color and have plenty of nooks and crannies without tons of extra details, so its great for learning washes and dry-brushing. Plus you only need a couple colors of paint to get started.

[@icare8899]

It's fun and relaxing! Except doing eyes. No one likes painting eyes on mini's

[@altersilentium]

There is a lot of ways to go when starting. Good paints and brushes are a must, but don't go overboard with a bunch of colors. A set of basic colors, a couple of metals, and flesh tone. After that look at what scale you like and if you want metal/plastic minis. You don't need everything at once. If you don't like it, then you are not out a lot of money. If you do then as your skills increase add more paints and venture into new techniques like airbrushing. Just take your time and enjoy the process.

[@King_Merit]

Cool Mini Or Not has some great sculpts to paint. Here's a listing I found with a ton of them (100+) with some terrain to practice on top. rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F312324208511

[@King_Merit]

rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F312324208511

[@mikemcmahon67]

I was just about to pull the trigger on a CMON Massive Darkness set, but it appears that the scale (particularly for the heroes) is significantly different from the WizKids and Reaper Pathfinder minis. Just from what I could see, they seemed to be around 32mm in height which will really throw scale off compared with the WizKids 25mm minis. Is that accurate? Am I overthinking?

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

You are correct about the scale and you are also overthinking. I use different scales all the time!

[@antigrav6004]

if you want barbarians and giants, pick up the board game HATE from cMON on ebay. usually around $150 for over 100 amazing models. most of which fit right in with GW armies in terms of quality and sculpt (all designs are by adrian smith, who did the heavy metal looking art for warhammer a decade or 2 back)

[@Matias-ub9pz]

Are you using primer before painting your minis and a matte sealer like Dullcote or similar after? Because it looks like your minis don't hold paint very well.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Yes. They get a lot of wear and tear. Usually I touch up any model that I shoot on camera but sometimes the flaws show through. Thanks for watching my videos!

[@vulkan7800]

The “monsters” at 2:10 are from GW. (The makers of 40k) those are crypt ghouls. The box they come in is 40$ for twenty unassembled and unpainted. So you basically hit the mark except its twice as big. Just thought I’d drop this in here

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Nice! That was a lucky find.

[@thewitchkingofangmar1715]

The 'monsters' in the beginning of the video are flesheater courts from Age of Sigmar

[@dragonmaster613]

I tried to make minis out of twist-ties(like in the produce section of the grocery store) and some white-out.

[@jasmynweatherhead3395]

Hot tip, craft store acrylic paints work just fine. Wait for a sale and get every color for $30...

[@DerekStone]

Massive Darkness is a lot of fun to play too.

[@crisrody852]

Living on Brazil, with a minimum wage equivalent to 254,4 dolars and paying taxes that adds 60% into the value of anything we buy from other countries. It's almost impossible to get cheap minis. We usually play with printed tokens now, but when I was a kid, we used dices and pebbles to represent players and monsters. Now, I'm using a 3d printer, spending hours and hours in order to make good prints and paint those (even good paint is hard to find here). I honestly envy how easy is to access these things in some countries

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Thanks for watching Cristian! Sorry minis are so expensive. Check out Wyloch's vids on printing minis. And watch more DungeonCraft!

[@deadrekoning5247]

I enjoy your videos brother, keep it up 👍

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

I appreciate that. Did you watch the Lost City yet? It's my best video ever.

[@judahthiem5487]

I switched to 1/72 scale overall a while back. It allows for easy scaling and and cheap minis from wargamming. In addition I 3d print minis when I need something specific

[@MrVulcanator]

The monsters at 2:30 are Ghouls from Warhammer: Age of Sigmar

[@Nelsike]

Where can I buy the Kingdom Death Monster 17lb box? I really want to buy it but can't find it anywhere online.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

www.ebay.com/itm/Kingdom-Death-Monster-V1-5-Core-Base-Board-Game-KICKSTARTER-EDITION-1-5/183826939197?epid=5011064142&hash=item2accf07d3d:g:taAAAOSwXUBc7DZQ

[@thedungeondelver]

*snaps fingers* of course! All I have to do is come up with $500-$1000 to go to GenCon, then whammo! Cheap minis!

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Most 5000+ cons have them. They're replicating like tribbles. Find one near you!

[@RussNo1]

I just found, at a yard sale, 3 Rum & Bones games. The minis are all pirate dudes but comes with a sea dragon and kraken (tentacles). They're a bit large and cartoonish but still usable. For $20 I got 140 minis and 7 2D ships.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Nice score, Russ!

[@3squareddesigns]

Sadly Massive Darkness is waaay more expensive on eBay now but I’m going to keep an eye out for a good deal on it.

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

Adhesive Tom got the deal but he haunts eBay like a ghost. Keep trying--and thanks for watching DungeonCraft!

[@IntheeyesofMorbo]

i buy into the reaper kickstarters (for me 2, 3 and now 4) lately (and bones from reapers website and nolzurs from amazon or miniature market). for terrain i make my own with hirstarts molds and hydrostone plaster.

[@ndowroccus4168]

TIME IS MONEY... Then again, nothing like someone using your mini and hearing “woah! This one is sick!”

[@mistysteppn]

Cheeto licking fingers lol

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

The worst is when they bring submarine sandwiches to the game. Then they have oil and vinegar fingers. That's like paint stripper.

[@mistysteppn]

@@DUNGEONCRAFT1 I bet lol, I've been looking into finding a decent of miniatures for cheap, but man the good deals go fast. Currently I am using homemade tokens and a few odd tiles (some homemade, some from other board games).

[@DUNGEONCRAFT1]

That's what I did when I first played. Minis are not necessary for RPGs.

[@gsgcmc]

If you seal your minis with a protective varnish you don't have to worry about it

[@terrancat]

that slayed me