Miniatures, are they really worth it?

Ever considered this question? Are miniatures really worth it? What about the paper ones, can they pull off the same magical effect of telling a story? What about using the imagination?





Miniatures, you know, the plastic figurines that can be plonked on the board anywhere. The hero figure which looks like it's face has been sat on by an ogre, or that really cool red dragon that takes up an epic 2x2 tile space only to be taken by your younger sister to be involved in a carefree tea party, where teddy bears have ears missing. Speaking to my group they say it enhances their experience, they enjoy it more and provides clarity of what's happening. That's an almost indirect way of saying...yeah I have no imagination...sorry DM! They are nice to look at and they do add a nice touch to your Dungeons and Dragon's game but it does add the cost up a bit...lets say I've spent over £50 on figurines so far *bites tounge* eeep! There's also the annoying case that you want to get something to represent a hill giant...only to find that a small gnome figurine (well I think it was) does the trick!




Then there's the paper version...or cardboard...you just have cut outs of the characters and monsters and you can just whack them on the board. It's basically a 2d version of the 3d figurines explained above a.k.a. crappier (Well depending on your drawing skills, and it would be funny to have a Mona Lisa floating around the board). If you don't have the right one, you can easily quickly create one within minutes and add it to your collection. Obviously a cheaper option compared to above.



Finally...there are those hardcore players. Yeah, the lets-use-our-imagination group who use more brain power and get their creative juices following to keep up with the plot. Combat can be a bit complicated...From my experience the combat was random, the monsters kept changing targets every round and I wasn't allowed to flank (Well, suppose that's a good thing, considering I was playing a wizard). However, visualising what was going seemed more magical then just staring at some blobs of plastic on a board. This seems to be the cheapest and quickest method for setting a story.



So, what do you guys think? Are figurines worth it? Should people be more imaginative with their games? Are they fun to use? Leave a comment below!