Quite a few people seem to be moving away from GW's aesthetics and prices, and away from the company in general. Even where players carry on with a GW system, many seem to be looking to alternative model producers. So I'm wondering...
Does anyone know of any master lists being kept that recommend options for counts-as?
I'm thinking of lists at blogs or forums with ideas for any or all of the standard units or a faction as a whole - a place to point people when they ask.
Update: Given the flood of traffic this post is getting and the lack of suggestions so far, I'm taking it there aren't too many lists. Maybe I'll start collecting up links for a series of posts. If you have any recommendations, feel free to leave a reference in the comments.
Update: Given the flood of traffic this post is getting and the lack of suggestions so far, I'm taking it there aren't too many lists. Maybe I'll start collecting up links for a series of posts. If you have any recommendations, feel free to leave a reference in the comments.
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11 comments:
I definitely like to use other models as "counts as" minis, though primarily so I can have a unique looking model or just find something really cool or interesting and then find a way to get it onto the battlefield. More often for me this means using odd bits and melding in with my GW models, though i'm all for pulling the financial rug out from under GW if only to give them a wake-up call. The only thing that comes to mind right now is Reaper -- they make some nice minis. I have a cyborg gorilla i'm going to use as a DE clawed fiend. (more 50s monster movie than 40k cool, but...)
I'm gonna go through my links tonight and drop a bunch here! I have been hunting down all the great minis out there recently due to my new C'MON addiction and come across many great mini companies out there. I don't play any more have become a cabinet painter who just wants to paint awesome minis and there are so many out there I am surprised no one has compiled a list yet. WARNING: There is a lot of great stuff out there - yes GW prices are steep, but once you see the volume of awesome out there you may not be able to un-see it and like me, want it ALLLLLLLL!
I've checked a couple of times hoping someone had got some suggestions, it'd definitely be a useful resource.
I was compiling links for non GW Necromunda models, not sure whether I backed it up before my laptop died though, I'll have a look. Would that be useful or are you wanting to focus on the core games? I'm sure most specialist game players are well aware of what alternatives are out there.
Thanks guys - this is a better response for sure! I agree: there's so much good work out there from so many different producers, often of very high quality, and importantly nowadays also easy to find. True though, that getting carried away could end up working out just as expensive...
As for reasoning, it's not about causing GW trouble, but rather about helping, indirectly at least. If people aren't buying GW miniatures and we want them to keep playing the games or stay gaming more widely, and we want them to take a legal route to do that, putting together this kind of support document makes sense. Otherwise they might be gone, never to return. In theory, GW shouldn't want that, but then how do we know GW isn't already helping us find these alternatives..?
If I do it, I'll probably start with human factions, given that human miniatures are still one of the most generally useful types in gaming, which will give the list more value and help any investment in new miniatures go further, across a range of systems and settings. But after that I could work through other groups.
Options suitable for Necromunda would be ideal for that too - gangers and the like could also be used in larger forces as last-ditch, rag-tag units, maybe press-ganged or draughted, or fighting for survival, maybe as revolutionaries. The same goes for any system right the way back through the decades.
Okay, here we go!
40K marine proxies for primarchs or special characters...
http://sciborminiatures.com/en_,shop.php?group=70
http://www.hitechminiatures.com/
pricey but WAY better than finecast
-_- grrrr, finecast.
40k Dark eldar wyches, female commissars and cyber wolves/ thuner wolves...
http://www.ragingheroes.com/
Awesome 40 compatible bits and kits for pretty much every race...
http://puppetswar.com/
http://www.anvilindustry.co.uk/
http://www.maxmini.eu/store/
Orks (currently under construction but will be great)...
http://kromlech.eu/splash/index.html
Imperial Gaurd femmes...
http://statuesqueminiatures.shop033.com/
Gaurd, necromunda type proxies...
http://heresyminiatures.com/shop/
http://www.brother-vinni.com/gallery/28_sci-fi.htm
~whew~ That's it for 40k (for now). I have a ton more sites that offer fantasty, anime, busts, large scale, historic etc. I'm telling you for God sake don;t look any further!!! I want everything. I'm sorry GW *sob* I'm so sorry. You got me into minis, but *choke* I fear I am outgrowing you...
forgot a good one for marine special characters and primarchs...
http://www.kabukimodels.com/index.php?go=produkty&id=7
Okay, NOW I'm done.
Very useful - thanks a lot for putting this together. About a third are completely new to me too, which also suggests better signposting is needed. Just scanning a couple now I'm already amazed.
If I do follow this up, I'm thinking I'll go through and pick out individual ranges or specific kits, for example those impressive Dragonfly VTOLs from Puppetswar, which could work for various factions.
That point about GW getting you into the hobby is very relevant I think. We might not agree with everything they do, and maybe next to nothing, but they are still a good gateway into gaming, not least through the stores.
If they disappeared tomorrow, the various related hobbies might not be knocked for six, and might even gain massively short- to medium-term, but the long-term could be less certain. I think the interlinked markets, even growing as fast as some of them seem to be, will still benefit from GW and the related flows for some time yet.
This is a worthy project and if I come across anything useful I'll be sure to leave it here.
In the mean time, I use these people as Death Cult Assassins.
Ta very much. I'm only a little closer to actually doing this, but every vote-with-link is a nudge in that direction.
Finally managed to get the links together and have stuck them in a post
http://brushoffumbling.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/necroinquisimunda-mini-options.html
I hope it's useful.
It is. For everyone keeping up, here's a direct link.
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