I'm the author of Slay the Dragon! and I love ALL Dungeoncraft videos. So hyped that my game has been mentioned on a channel I've been watching while writing it. Thanks a lot!
I love the fact that you donated those minis to your youth group. I work with one as well, those kinds of donations go a long way for years to come. Very cool!
I appreciate all the content Prof Dungeonmaster (with permission by Deathbringer) puts out. Industry news, mini stealing tips, dm advice, and clickbait scandals. I love it all.
As a foreigner, I am slowly realising just how much the U.S. market is interesting for miniatures. I am more of a theater of the mind person myself, but I will definitly share this video with friends.
I play theater of the mind as well and also collect and paint miniatures. I use them occasionally in game but not very often. Its like eating the chocolate crust off of your candy bar first. They go together perfectly but are just as enjoyable consumed separately.
I have many miniatures now, but as a kid in the 70's and 80's we only had a couple miniatures, used lots of everything else for miniatures, ( we used Cast Lead bullets) but many people used coins, or candy or anything else that they had. we would often draw the dungeon room on paper, or the "Map" we had been drawing. I occasionally use theater of the mind, but anything you can do visually is better.
I have too much bad experiences with theater of mind. Thinks like, "I run up to the enemies." DM nods, next round I say, "I take my axe and swing it low, hoping to put the monster on the ground." and the DM saying, "Oh you'll be there next round." TLDR Even if unintentional you get screwed too much if nothing is tracking where you're at.
The ad at the beginning made me laugh. I'm not into online play but the animation of Deathbringer was really great! Thank you for all you do and Huzzah! .
I've never needed to say that I love all Dungeon Craft videos to get them in my feed but I do love them. I'm not really into minis - the last time I painted one was about 30 years ago - but PDM still manages to make a vid that keeps me interested. It reminds me that I really need to look into local cons, even if I'm not looking to buy minis.
I saw this come up and while I was too busy to watch it right this second, I made sure to play it on mute in the background so that the algorithm likes it more and doesn't assume I am rejecting it.
Miniature Market had Altar Quest for $45 a few weeks ago, and the Stretch Goals box for $35. They have 76 and 135 minis respectively. Next Level Miniatures do Kickstarters for just minis and you're usually getting them for less than $1/mini. Their most recent one had them organized into little scenario sets so you could easily do one for a D&D session without needing to figure out what you need. A Song of Ice and Fire miniature boxes are often on sale for $20-22/box. Slightly more pricy for the per mini cost but again, great collections of similar minis. Oh, you want some sea priests? Grab some Drowned Men. Epic Encounters is a great reco and some of their sets go for $25 or less on sale. Darkest Dungeon board game is around $135 which means it's about $1/mini.
Hey prof. I recently came across your videos and I’ve gotta say, it’s been a pleasure listening in. Thanks for putting the content out there and thanks for all you do for the community. You’re making a positive difference in people’s lives and that’s for sure.
I love all Dungeoncraft videos! In 2024 there really is no reason NOT to have a 3d printer - i still buy sets of miniatures and collect older ones but the ability to knock out an encounter monsters a day before the sessions for literally pennies, or just giving one of your friends set of miniatures so he can play your favourite skirmish games with you is invaluable - apart of "i cant be asked" there is no argument left against owning a printer if you are into this hobby and intend to stay
I am a 1e player, back in the late 70's we all started with miniatures as kids as soon as we could afford some ( and find some) . Now, I have a 3d printer, and I am printing most of the useful monsters in the Monster Manual in numbers that I can do the encounter sizes also!!! Nothing like the visual appeal of 200 giant rats coming at your player characters!1 all you Theater of the Mind Players will never be able to visualize that, you player turn you out as soon as you start talking, but you know the saying, "A picture is worth a 1000 words" and placing 20 or 50 goblin miniatures on the table really gets the point across, way better then any words I can say!!!!!
This video was a work of art, loving the beginning and ending with model/terrain shots even if it's just for a skit. I love DungeonCraft videos! Also really exciting information seeing so many bargains I've overlooked.
I love ALL Dungeon Craft videos! That said, a few years ago I bought a 3D printer to print my own minis. Worked with it a few weeks to get it calibrated, then put in a box to move. And haven't taken it back out. On my radar. But, with the proliferation of manufacturers selling minis now it's far cheaper to buy online or drive to Ollies. Thanks for this.
I usually play theater of the mind, but great advice for getting less expensive minis. Collecting and painting is a hobby all it's own, even if they are never used at a table.
Using minis is usually much better the ToTM. if you cant afford them, use pennies or jelly beans or what ever, Get a white board and draw your rooms out, have your players use the minis to indicate their marching order, a very important thing is you can understand that!
This is tangential, but I also love getting plastic standees, especially from ArcKnight. They call them "flat, plastic miniatures". Saw these in a video by Kelsey Dionne talking about her DM kits. Nice to fill out your collection quickly and doesn't have to be painted/assembled. I was getting into 5 Parsecs from Home and didn't have any sci-fi minis, so I grabbed a couple of their sets and I now have more than I'll ever need. Then if I want to replace them with actual minis I'm not under any pressure to get it done now.
One of the conventions I used to go to was Recruits in Lee's Summit, MO. It was hosted by a high school club and only cost $5 for the whole weekend. There were always some great deals there between the cheap vendor stalls and the silent auction where attendees could sell and buy all kinds of games, minis, and terrain. Unfortunately, the convention has been discontinued, so I'm going to have to start looking around again.
A great alternative for miniatures is ArcKnight’s Flat Plastic Minis. They’re 2D miniature standees with full color art. Not only do you not have to paint them, you can store an entire army in the space of a hardcover book with a trading card binder. This also makes transporting your minis to conventions and other public gaming spaces a breeze. ArcKnight has great deals on bundles and starter packs. For myself, I bought the Fantasy Core Set and filled out the collection with a few extra packs of demons and undead. In one fell swoop, I acquired about 400 minis and have no need to buy any more minis for the rest of my life.
The dark souls character expansion was my first real set of fantasy miniatures. I pretty much dry brushed the whole box, layer by layer with craft paints and love how they hold up with minis I've painted with more finessed techniques. I think they are selling a lot of the minis from the board game in smaller packs now for the rpg version. I'd also rec the phantoms expansion for more dark souls awesomeness. Great recommendation professor!
I bought Magic the Gathering: Arena of the Planewalkers a few years ago just for the miniatures. I also bought some sets of Wrath of Kings and A Song of Ice and Fire miniatures when I found them on sale (Miniature Market or Amazon). The detail is excellent and the cost was good if I watched for sales. Last fall, I bought a 3D filament printer during a Black Friday sale. It was a large upfront cost but I can print miniatures with a lot of detail depending on the image file
Love all the Dungeon craft videos. Im lucky to belong to a great local gaming club. So I have access to all manner of minis, terrain, etc. As a Christmas gift the DMs got the terrain tiles and monster tokens. It was so awesome. Any avenue to get inexpensive minis is nice. I have a couple of the D&D board games and will be using the Strahd one for running my Curse of Strahd adventure. Now to find time to paint them.
Learning to 3D print is easy. Just don't expect top tier master production quality without time, but good enough, solid to function, and can be painted is easy.
@@backcountry164 there is a bit of learning curve for getting good results from random STLs you download, but there are also plenty of quality pre-supported files that can be purchased that are pretty much foolproof.
The barrier to entry is actually quite low. I got started by just poping a model into a slicer and hitting auto support. There are a ton of communities that are really welcoming to newbie printers. There are some elitists out there, but dont pay attention to them.
Great information and video, PDM. My kids cleaned out the local game store during a sale recently on Song of Fire and Ice expansion packs that were all under $6. They are already painting them.
Great video! I can really relate to it since I'm always on the lookout for cheap miniatures. There are a lot of low-quality and questionable miniature sets for sale on Amazon, but I've picked up a couple that turned out to be a decent value for the price: - Guards set by Drunk'n Dragon which features 5 copies of 5 figures (total of 25 miniatures) for just under $1 per mini. Thre are 3 human guard poses (sword, crossbow, spear), 1 dwarf and 1 half-orc - Mythical Heroes Forest/Swamp edition by House of Bodian which includes 90 figures (6 copies of several small/medium figures and 3 copies of some large-sized ones) - the detail isn't great, but the set has many has useful figures such as ankhegs, giant spiders, owlbears, blights (needle, twig, vine), shriekers, ettercaps, hags, dryads, lizardfolk, etc. Price works out to less than 50 cents per figure.
As a lifelong miniatures gamer, I found this to be a great video that's definitely helpful to new players or folks looking for a good entry into minis. Amazon sells some of the 54mm Tehnolog fantasy minis (about $2 each) which work great as ogres, trolls, minotaurs, half giants, undead lords, and big monsters.
Tainted Grail Monsters of Avalon (1 or 2). I have purchased one. You get 20 monsters (3 bucks per) that require no assemly and are high quality. I had a ton of fun painting them. I posted some completed minis in your discord last year. The dark souls set is great! Friend bought that for me for my bday last year. I still have smough and the dancer of the boreal valley to paint. If you watch for reaper kickstarter you can usually get a discount per mini by pledging. Reaper is my personal favorite mini brand (they just have that nice old school vibe).
Thanks for another great Dungeon Craft miniatures recommendation video! 👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎 You got lucky with those D&D prepaints! Ive picked up small groups of the same figure for enemies if the paintjob is not bad the last couple of years off eBay, for a couple of GBP each figure. But you definitely stuck paydirt at the bring and buy! 😃😃😃😃 And kudos for donating them to your local youth group. 👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎
Some great tips there! I have quite a few of the Darksouls minis and like them, they aren't as perfect in some cases with mold lines etc. But nothing that can't be fixed up
Sadly, Ollies was a bust before Xmas. For cheap minis, try Frostgrave, Oathmark, and Wargames Atlantic plastic sprue kits among others. A lot of these sets are around $30 US for 20 minis. You have to assemble them, but once you have a few kits you can mix and match and go crazy with things. I 3d printed extra heads in resin to open up even more options.
If you're into the steampunk vibe, Privateer Press board games (Undercity and Widower's Wood) have a ton of minis and are usually pretty affordable. The minis are a soft plastic and paint up nice. I couldn't get my rattle can primer to stick, but just putting acrylic paint straight on worked just fine.
My alternative mini solution for small/medium creatures is to bulk buy common MTG cards, 1in plastic single coin display cases and a 1in punch. Never had such attractive or cheap tokens for my table. Amazing value if you can stand defacing tcg cards, there's some lovely art on some... Know that's not exactly a "mini" but thought I'd share!
Can confirm, did this to an old MTG card I had with a black/blue flower on it, made for a very nice setpiece token before it 'blossomed' into the big bad mini. Had the whole table just staring at it the whole time, even when I tossed it aside. Kind of cool.
Best part of Monday is Dungeon Craft. I watch them all and then some of the older videos too while I paint and sculpt. My LFGS hosts an annual games swap meet. Loads of cheap minis from all across the hobbysphere and most vendors will trade too. If you're just looking for odd ball monsters, though, the Dollar Stores and 99cent Centers are great for cheap beasts and dinos and they're all over the US.
I've been buying up Ninja All Stars and Dungeon Explore minis for my daughter. One of our local stores has bargain bin and they've been a really good catch as of late. 4€ for up to 7 high quality anime-esque minis. BTW - Love these basics videos.
Not sure if the Professor has mentioned them yet, but the Frostgrave minis are a great value for multi part minis. You get enough to build 20 generic fantasy minis for around $30.
When you mentioned D&D Campaign Cases in another video a few months ago, I immediately went to Ollie’s looking for them. I can attest that they have been picked clean at the locations here in Wichita. They had plenty of copies of the Dragonlance game no one wanted, but no Campaign Cases. And for the algorithm: I love ALL Dungeon Craft videos!
Glad to hear you enjoyed the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo, I was unable to attend due to family commitments. I used to play AD&D (2e) with Ron, he is a great guy and great GM. My work schedule now prevents me from actively gaming at his table but I did enjoy all the sessions I did attend with him.
You say "crab people" and I get haunted again by the South Park song. Oh what I wouldn't give for a 3d printer... except money of course. That's out of the question. Great video!
I love all of Professor DM's videos on miniatures (and the videos on how he runs games, and the ultimate terrain, and alternate rules to help run the game, and...)
I love this channel and this video had me cracking up. 😂 All that was missing from this video was Bill Mays, Ron Popeil, and Vince with his Sham-wow! But wait! That’s not all! If you order minis before midnight tonight they’ll double your order! All you have to do is pay the extra shipping and handling! 😂
I love all Dungeoncraft videos. My wife isn’t going to like you. After the OG video I had to get the Hate and Massive Darkness, and now you’re giving me even more options!!!! Wha ha ha ha Evil laugh. Excellent. Any Cmon sets if you can get them are great. Song of Ice and Fire sets and the Call of Cthulhu boxes, I have been eyeing them for a while. Epic Encounters minion sets are really good for the price I have a lot of them. Card stock mini’s are cool. I have a ton of the old Pathfinder ones and are great for stand-ins, but the Slay the Dragon has some great styled art.
I have Blood rage, highly second the recommendation! Depending on how cheap qualifies as cheap, some of the Song of Ice and Fire starter sets could come in clutch - the wildling set gives you 48 minis (including 2 giants) for just over $2/mini. Monolith's Conan boardgame is also a great source for miniatures - it's currently out of print but they have done at least a second print run so it might show up again. I admit I never played the boardgame but I *have* used the miniatures a lot :) Edit: The SOIAF are slightly larger scale than Blood rage so worth checking first if that's the kind of thing that bothers you.
I love ALL dungeoncraft videos! I know what you mean about smaller conventions, I just got back from Gary Con and it was a blast! Walking around the vendor halls is actually fun because you can breathe and even talk to the vendors and get to know them before you purchase their wares. Not to mention some fun D&D celebrities like Luke Gygax, Ed Greenwood, and Kelsey Dionne are walking around and playing in games there too! Hope to see you there someday professor!
Reaper Bones had several large kickstarters and a lot of people bought way more than they can ever use, keep an eye out for them on trade or resale. Just make sure you prime with a paint on primer or Gesso before painting as a spray rattle can will make them sticky. They aren't as nice as hard plastic, but all the classic fantasy models are there.
I realize it's not a feasible option for everyone, but if you can play out about $300 for a resin 3d printer and curing station it will save you a bundle in the long run. I used to spend a lot on miniatures. Then I got a Mars 2 Pro printer for about $250 and I can print miniatures and small terrain for literally pennies each. It sounds like a lot but you can easily drop that much on a single Kickstarter project.
I love all Dungeon Craft videos, and this video is no exception. And the Tailspire ad is fantastic, it's only 30 seconds long but you can tell a lot of work went into its making.
Great tip! I ran a Dark Heresy one-shot and used the miniatures I got with the Nemesis board game. I've also been using the minis from "Betrayal at Baldur's gate" for my PCs pretty regularly.
I recommend 1/76 scale historical miniatures. They're cheap, easy to assemble and easy to store. You can store multiple armies' worth of figures in tiny containers. You can usually find them at any hobby store. Because they're not as detailed there's less pressure to paint them with perfect detail.
A friend of mine gifted the whole group those D&D terrain boxes. Mini wise I bought a bunch of acrylic flat minis. You can pretty much put them in those plastic baseball card pages in a notebook. Then people flip through and pick a mini.
Get half off a tabaxi 🤣🤣🤣 That's a funny bit! Love it. Love Dungeon Craft videos. Always an excellent source for good tips and information. I think the least expensive (if you don't mind painting them yourself) is those mini sets on Amazon. Sets like Spellblades & Enchanted Objects which has 36 minis for 39.99, currently on discount for 37.99, and sometimes it will be lower. They also have 24 Miniatures Town Enemies, 24 minis 8 sculpts is currently 19.99. A few of my favorites are Mythical Heroes Mini Figure Set for RPGs which has 92 minis with 16 sculpts for 39.95 and Mythical Heroes Forest/Swamp Edition with 90 minis 16 sculpts also for 39.95 from House of Bodian. Now granted these are unpainted, there are usually a number of repeats, and there may be a few that are not the best, but hey for that price point I'd say - worth it. There are a lot of packs like that from various companies at varying degrees of quality but still they are cheap you get a lot, and they are generic enough that they can fit just about what ever you may need for your games. I've gotten several and plan to get more. I also like having repeats so I can have small groups or even armies of various types of creatures that I can throw at my players. Probably the best bang for your buck when it comes to minis in my opinion.
Professor DM. Thank you for a great video. One that hardly even mentioned D&D, and in any case, was ALL positive and ALL useful. I have been critical about D&D rants getting in your way in the past. Now let me be as liberal about how great you are when focused on useful fun things to do. You are so helpful when simply talking about adventure gaming, which is perhaps what the activity could be called. We never need to even mention D&D. Unless we are talking about it. Let's just say your examples are "how adventures should be played" (not "how D&D should be played"). It's a small point, but when talking about tissue, one need not mention kleenex. Anyway, thanks for this video and the great suggestions.
I highly recommend North Star Military Figures to anyone looking for a good value on multi-part kits. It's UK-based, but if you're in the US you can find most of their range online at Badger Games and Brigade Games.
I'm the author of Slay the Dragon! and I love ALL Dungeoncraft videos. So hyped that my game has been mentioned on a channel I've been watching while writing it. Thanks a lot!
That game is big fun!
The artwork is lovely, definitely tempted to take a peek :)
Love this!
Wishing you every prosperity, @Vertnerd!
THIS is what I love about Professor Dungeon Master and Dungeon Craft
I love the fact that you donated those minis to your youth group. I work with one as well, those kinds of donations go a long way for years to come. Very cool!
New Dungeon Craft video drops on my lunch break and my mood instantly improves!
Exactly
"What is a Beavis?" Ok, that totally made me laugh out loud!!!!
I am Cornholio!
They should get that big fat dude from Crowbar to come into this video and straighten everybody out. - Butthead
Comedy gold. Best advertising ever.
Hhahahaa me too
I appreciate all the content Prof Dungeonmaster (with permission by Deathbringer) puts out. Industry news, mini stealing tips, dm advice, and clickbait scandals. I love it all.
The Talespire ad with DEATHBRINGER is pretty cool.
It HAD to be done in Beavis and Butt-Head style
@@solouno2280 What is a Beavis?
What is a Beavis?
@@theastralwanderer that's what I want to know too
@@theastralwandererI've been giggling about that too
As a foreigner, I am slowly realising just how much the U.S. market is interesting for miniatures. I am more of a theater of the mind person myself, but I will definitly share this video with friends.
There's a few shops with whole miniatures sections near me, haha. It's def a big hobby for some.
I play theater of the mind as well and also collect and paint miniatures. I use them occasionally in game but not very often. Its like eating the chocolate crust off of your candy bar first. They go together perfectly but are just as enjoyable consumed separately.
I have many miniatures now, but as a kid in the 70's and 80's we only had a couple miniatures, used lots of everything else for miniatures, ( we used Cast Lead bullets) but many people used coins, or candy or anything else that they had. we would often draw the dungeon room on paper, or the "Map" we had been drawing. I occasionally use theater of the mind, but anything you can do visually is better.
@@PurifyWithLight if you use Miniatures and terrain, when possible, its much better! Im 3d printing now, which I wish I had as a kid!!!!!
I have too much bad experiences with theater of mind. Thinks like, "I run up to the enemies." DM nods, next round I say, "I take my axe and swing it low, hoping to put the monster on the ground." and the DM saying, "Oh you'll be there next round."
TLDR Even if unintentional you get screwed too much if nothing is tracking where you're at.
Don't be like Prof Dungeonmaster, don't throw miniatures at your players. Some of them have pointy bits and can hurt.
Yeah that's why I throw them. Also why I use heavy metal dice.
Your players have pointy bits?
Also, what about the potential damage to the minis?
@@AeciusthePhilosopher Do your players NOT have pointy bits?
@@WayneBraack I hear you, I have an oversized novelty d6 for doing real damages to players
Piercing damage? Awesome!
You must be the only professor who does the homework for his students! Thanks for the great information, and for another entertaining video!
You are welcome!
The ad at the beginning made me laugh. I'm not into online play but the animation of Deathbringer was really great! Thank you for all you do and Huzzah!
.
I've never needed to say that I love all Dungeon Craft videos to get them in my feed but I do love them. I'm not really into minis - the last time I painted one was about 30 years ago - but PDM still manages to make a vid that keeps me interested. It reminds me that I really need to look into local cons, even if I'm not looking to buy minis.
I saw this come up and while I was too busy to watch it right this second, I made sure to play it on mute in the background so that the algorithm likes it more and doesn't assume I am rejecting it.
Thanks for that!
Miniature Market had Altar Quest for $45 a few weeks ago, and the Stretch Goals box for $35. They have 76 and 135 minis respectively.
Next Level Miniatures do Kickstarters for just minis and you're usually getting them for less than $1/mini. Their most recent one had them organized into little scenario sets so you could easily do one for a D&D session without needing to figure out what you need.
A Song of Ice and Fire miniature boxes are often on sale for $20-22/box. Slightly more pricy for the per mini cost but again, great collections of similar minis. Oh, you want some sea priests? Grab some Drowned Men.
Epic Encounters is a great reco and some of their sets go for $25 or less on sale.
Darkest Dungeon board game is around $135 which means it's about $1/mini.
Thanks for the info! Thanks for commenting.
I love ALL of Deathbringer's metal riffs. \m/
Yes, we all need a Deathbringer in our lives to bring us the hard-hitting information about how to get half of things.
Here every week to help!
Hey prof. I recently came across your videos and I’ve gotta say, it’s been a pleasure listening in. Thanks for putting the content out there and thanks for all you do for the community. You’re making a positive difference in people’s lives and that’s for sure.
I love all Dungeoncraft videos! In 2024 there really is no reason NOT to have a 3d printer - i still buy sets of miniatures and collect older ones but the ability to knock out an encounter monsters a day before the sessions for literally pennies, or just giving one of your friends set of miniatures so he can play your favourite skirmish games with you is invaluable - apart of "i cant be asked" there is no argument left against owning a printer if you are into this hobby and intend to stay
Good tip!
I am a 1e player, back in the late 70's we all started with miniatures as kids as soon as we could afford some ( and find some)
.
Now, I have a 3d printer, and I am printing most of the useful monsters in the Monster Manual in numbers that I can do the encounter sizes also!!! Nothing like the visual appeal of 200 giant rats coming at your player characters!1 all you Theater of the Mind Players will never be able to visualize that, you player turn you out as soon as you start talking, but you know the saying, "A picture is worth a 1000 words" and placing 20 or 50 goblin miniatures on the table really gets the point across, way better then any words I can say!!!!!
This video was a work of art, loving the beginning and ending with model/terrain shots even if it's just for a skit. I love DungeonCraft videos! Also really exciting information seeing so many bargains I've overlooked.
I love ALL Dungeon Craft videos! That said, a few years ago I bought a 3D printer to print my own minis. Worked with it a few weeks to get it calibrated, then put in a box to move. And haven't taken it back out. On my radar. But, with the proliferation of manufacturers selling minis now it's far cheaper to buy online or drive to Ollies. Thanks for this.
Thanks for sharing!
I usually play theater of the mind, but great advice for getting less expensive minis. Collecting and painting is a hobby all it's own, even if they are never used at a table.
I have many I nevr use at the table. Still love painting them!
Using minis is usually much better the ToTM. if you cant afford them, use pennies or jelly beans or what ever, Get a white board and draw your rooms out, have your players use the minis to indicate their marching order, a very important thing is you can understand that!
This is tangential, but I also love getting plastic standees, especially from ArcKnight. They call them "flat, plastic miniatures". Saw these in a video by Kelsey Dionne talking about her DM kits. Nice to fill out your collection quickly and doesn't have to be painted/assembled. I was getting into 5 Parsecs from Home and didn't have any sci-fi minis, so I grabbed a couple of their sets and I now have more than I'll ever need. Then if I want to replace them with actual minis I'm not under any pressure to get it done now.
Thanks for the tip. Thanks for commenting.
One of the conventions I used to go to was Recruits in Lee's Summit, MO. It was hosted by a high school club and only cost $5 for the whole weekend. There were always some great deals there between the cheap vendor stalls and the silent auction where attendees could sell and buy all kinds of games, minis, and terrain. Unfortunately, the convention has been discontinued, so I'm going to have to start looking around again.
A great alternative for miniatures is ArcKnight’s Flat Plastic Minis. They’re 2D miniature standees with full color art. Not only do you not have to paint them, you can store an entire army in the space of a hardcover book with a trading card binder. This also makes transporting your minis to conventions and other public gaming spaces a breeze.
ArcKnight has great deals on bundles and starter packs. For myself, I bought the Fantasy Core Set and filled out the collection with a few extra packs of demons and undead. In one fell swoop, I acquired about 400 minis and have no need to buy any more minis for the rest of my life.
The dark souls character expansion was my first real set of fantasy miniatures. I pretty much dry brushed the whole box, layer by layer with craft paints and love how they hold up with minis I've painted with more finessed techniques. I think they are selling a lot of the minis from the board game in smaller packs now for the rpg version. I'd also rec the phantoms expansion for more dark souls awesomeness. Great recommendation professor!
That opening bit with Deathbringer and the CG minis! It was so awesome! I love all Dungeon Craft videos!!
I bought Magic the Gathering: Arena of the Planewalkers a few years ago just for the miniatures. I also bought some sets of Wrath of Kings and A Song of Ice and Fire miniatures when I found them on sale (Miniature Market or Amazon). The detail is excellent and the cost was good if I watched for sales. Last fall, I bought a 3D filament printer during a Black Friday sale. It was a large upfront cost but I can print miniatures with a lot of detail depending on the image file
Another great video. I’m planning to pick up Slay the Dragon for my kid.
Cool!
Love all the Dungeon craft videos. Im lucky to belong to a great local gaming club. So I have access to all manner of minis, terrain, etc. As a Christmas gift the DMs got the terrain tiles and monster tokens. It was so awesome. Any avenue to get inexpensive minis is nice.
I have a couple of the D&D board games and will be using the Strahd one for running my Curse of Strahd adventure. Now to find time to paint them.
Until I learn how to 3d print I still find Reaper bones a happy medium. And btw they have some good pig faced orcs. Otherwise known as ORCS.
Learning to 3D print is easy. Just don't expect top tier master production quality without time, but good enough, solid to function, and can be painted is easy.
There's basically nothing to learn. You just buy the printer and start downloading stl files
@@backcountry164 there is a bit of learning curve for getting good results from random STLs you download, but there are also plenty of quality pre-supported files that can be purchased that are pretty much foolproof.
The barrier to entry is actually quite low. I got started by just poping a model into a slicer and hitting auto support. There are a ton of communities that are really welcoming to newbie printers. There are some elitists out there, but dont pay attention to them.
Great information and video, PDM. My kids cleaned out the local game store during a sale recently on Song of Fire and Ice expansion packs that were all under $6. They are already painting them.
Great video! I can really relate to it since I'm always on the lookout for cheap miniatures. There are a lot of low-quality and questionable miniature sets for sale on Amazon, but I've picked up a couple that turned out to be a decent value for the price:
- Guards set by Drunk'n Dragon which features 5 copies of 5 figures (total of 25 miniatures) for just under $1 per mini. Thre are 3 human guard poses (sword, crossbow, spear), 1 dwarf and 1 half-orc
- Mythical Heroes Forest/Swamp edition by House of Bodian which includes 90 figures (6 copies of several small/medium figures and 3 copies of some large-sized ones) - the detail isn't great, but the set has many has useful figures such as ankhegs, giant spiders, owlbears, blights (needle, twig, vine), shriekers, ettercaps, hags, dryads, lizardfolk, etc. Price works out to less than 50 cents per figure.
Thanks for sharing!
I love Dungeoncraft videos! These mini videos are great. Thanks Professor.
Thank you for watching!
I love ALL Dungeon Craft videos.
Thanks for telling us where we can get cheap minis. Now I know where to go shopping.
And Knowing is half the battle!
Ok, I gotta say, Deathbringer's heavy metal jam-out was freaking awesome... 🤘🎸
While I am not that into miniatures as many of your viewers will be - this is a terrific assembly of information. Great idea.
Thanks for commenting.
As a lifelong miniatures gamer, I found this to be a great video that's definitely helpful to new players or folks looking for a good entry into minis.
Amazon sells some of the 54mm Tehnolog fantasy minis (about $2 each) which work great as ogres, trolls, minotaurs, half giants, undead lords, and big monsters.
Thanks for the info!
Wow, those resin ones really look sharp! I'm a big fan of the card-stock style minis because they store flat like you mentioned.
I'm always on the hunt for affordable big sets of minis for my games.
Also I'm very hyped for the next video!
Thank you Professor DM
So glad you called out epic encounters. Great sets!
These are some of my absolute favorite videos from Dungeon Craft!!! PDM does the leg work, and we reap the rewards!!! Thank you!!!
You're welcome!
Tainted Grail Monsters of Avalon (1 or 2). I have purchased one. You get 20 monsters (3 bucks per) that require no assemly and are high quality. I had a ton of fun painting them. I posted some completed minis in your discord last year.
The dark souls set is great! Friend bought that for me for my bday last year. I still have smough and the dancer of the boreal valley to paint.
If you watch for reaper kickstarter you can usually get a discount per mini by pledging. Reaper is my personal favorite mini brand (they just have that nice old school vibe).
Thanks for the info!
Thanks for the PAGE shoutout! We can't wait to host you again in January.
I love all Dungeoncraft videos. Love picking up minis from small companies at conventions.
Thanks for another great Dungeon Craft miniatures recommendation video!
👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎
You got lucky with those D&D prepaints! Ive picked up small groups of the same figure for enemies if the paintjob is not bad the last couple of years off eBay, for a couple of GBP each figure. But you definitely stuck paydirt at the bring and buy!
😃😃😃😃
And kudos for donating them to your local youth group.
👍👍👍👍😎😎😎😎
Thanks for your kind words.
Some great tips there! I have quite a few of the Darksouls minis and like them, they aren't as perfect in some cases with mold lines etc. But nothing that can't be fixed up
Thanks for sharing.
Sadly, Ollies was a bust before Xmas. For cheap minis, try Frostgrave, Oathmark, and Wargames Atlantic plastic sprue kits among others. A lot of these sets are around $30 US for 20 minis. You have to assemble them, but once you have a few kits you can mix and match and go crazy with things. I 3d printed extra heads in resin to open up even more options.
Really thankful for the tips, my friends and I are always on the lookout for more figures!
If you're into the steampunk vibe, Privateer Press board games (Undercity and Widower's Wood) have a ton of minis and are usually pretty affordable.
The minis are a soft plastic and paint up nice. I couldn't get my rattle can primer to stick, but just putting acrylic paint straight on worked just fine.
My alternative mini solution for small/medium creatures is to bulk buy common MTG cards, 1in plastic single coin display cases and a 1in punch. Never had such attractive or cheap tokens for my table. Amazing value if you can stand defacing tcg cards, there's some lovely art on some... Know that's not exactly a "mini" but thought I'd share!
That's a great idea
Could also do the Runehammer thing, & just draw on index cards... no stress from defacing cards but maybe stress from lacking art skills :D
I started doing this a few years ago and it is a really great alternative.
Can confirm, did this to an old MTG card I had with a black/blue flower on it, made for a very nice setpiece token before it 'blossomed' into the big bad mini. Had the whole table just staring at it the whole time, even when I tossed it aside. Kind of cool.
Another must watch video from Dungeon Craft! Thanks PDM love all your videos!
All of Dungeon Craft's videos are great!
This is the content i come here for!
Best part of Monday is Dungeon Craft. I watch them all and then some of the older videos too while I paint and sculpt.
My LFGS hosts an annual games swap meet. Loads of cheap minis from all across the hobbysphere and most vendors will trade too.
If you're just looking for odd ball monsters, though, the Dollar Stores and 99cent Centers are great for cheap beasts and dinos and they're all over the US.
Thanks for your support and sharing great advice.
Anything from CMON is great for growing your miniature collection. Massive Darkness and Zombicide Black Plague in particular for fantasy-themed minis
Thanks for the tip.
I haven't even gotten past the intro and I'm loving Deathbringer with the Eddie Van Halen inspired guitar.
I've been buying up Ninja All Stars and Dungeon Explore minis for my daughter. One of our local stores has bargain bin and they've been a really good catch as of late. 4€ for up to 7 high quality anime-esque minis.
BTW - Love these basics videos.
Thanks for your support.
Not sure if the Professor has mentioned them yet, but the Frostgrave minis are a great value for multi part minis. You get enough to build 20 generic fantasy minis for around $30.
Thanks for sharing.
One of your best videos. I hope this starts becoming a yearly or every other year video.
It is. I did one in 2016 and 2021.
A great update to a classic Dungeon Craft video!
Thanks for the support!
When you mentioned D&D Campaign Cases in another video a few months ago, I immediately went to Ollie’s looking for them. I can attest that they have been picked clean at the locations here in Wichita. They had plenty of copies of the Dragonlance game no one wanted, but no Campaign Cases.
And for the algorithm: I love ALL Dungeon Craft videos!
They never made it to the Ollie's near me. 😢
My whole region sold out of campaign cases within a day of hitting the shelves at Ollie's.
They are all sold out at the Iowa City store as well.
Collecting and painting is my favorite part of the hobby!
I love it, too!
Glad to hear you enjoyed the Philadelphia Area Gaming Expo, I was unable to attend due to family commitments. I used to play AD&D (2e) with Ron, he is a great guy and great GM. My work schedule now prevents me from actively gaming at his table but I did enjoy all the sessions I did attend with him.
I love Dungeoncraft videos Please please keep making them Professor! You rock!!
You say "crab people" and I get haunted again by the South Park song.
Oh what I wouldn't give for a 3d printer... except money of course. That's out of the question.
Great video!
Thanks for commenting.
Fantastic video Professor! Hope you are having a great day doing what ever it is you do.
I will, doing whatever It is I do. You too!
OMG Epic add at the beginning. I love all Dungeon Craft videos!
I love all of Professor DM's videos on miniatures (and the videos on how he runs games, and the ultimate terrain, and alternate rules to help run the game, and...)
I love this channel and this video had me cracking up. 😂 All that was missing from this video was Bill Mays, Ron Popeil, and Vince with his Sham-wow!
But wait! That’s not all! If you order minis before midnight tonight they’ll double your order! All you have to do is pay the extra shipping and handling! 😂
I love all Dungeon Craft videos, especially when they reference Dark Souls.
I love all All Dungeon Craft videos! "This is an ad" lol. Props on being honest and up-front with your promos! Many sales to you, sir.
Awesome! Thank you!
It's great to see so many options! I'm definitely going to check them out!
Good luck. Thanks for commenting.
I love all Dungeoncraft videos. My wife isn’t going to like you. After the OG video I had to get the Hate and Massive Darkness, and now you’re giving me even more options!!!! Wha ha ha ha Evil laugh. Excellent.
Any Cmon sets if you can get them are great. Song of Ice and Fire sets and the Call of Cthulhu boxes, I have been eyeing them for a while. Epic Encounters minion sets are really good for the price I have a lot of them.
Card stock mini’s are cool. I have a ton of the old Pathfinder ones and are great for stand-ins, but the Slay the Dragon has some great styled art.
Get your wife into the hobby. Then she won't complain as much!
Can't forget the good old, green army men! Any port in a storm, amarite?
I love ALL dungeoncraft videos!
I have Blood rage, highly second the recommendation! Depending on how cheap qualifies as cheap, some of the Song of Ice and Fire starter sets could come in clutch - the wildling set gives you 48 minis (including 2 giants) for just over $2/mini. Monolith's Conan boardgame is also a great source for miniatures - it's currently out of print but they have done at least a second print run so it might show up again. I admit I never played the boardgame but I *have* used the miniatures a lot :)
Edit: The SOIAF are slightly larger scale than Blood rage so worth checking first if that's the kind of thing that bothers you.
Thanks for sharing.
I love ALL dungeoncraft videos! I know what you mean about smaller conventions, I just got back from Gary Con and it was a blast! Walking around the vendor halls is actually fun because you can breathe and even talk to the vendors and get to know them before you purchase their wares. Not to mention some fun D&D celebrities like Luke Gygax, Ed Greenwood, and Kelsey Dionne are walking around and playing in games there too! Hope to see you there someday professor!
Reaper Bones had several large kickstarters and a lot of people bought way more than they can ever use, keep an eye out for them on trade or resale. Just make sure you prime with a paint on primer or Gesso before painting as a spray rattle can will make them sticky. They aren't as nice as hard plastic, but all the classic fantasy models are there.
I love the intro on this one! Great suggestions on mini's too!
That ad is awesome! Thanks for commenting.
Wow. That metal intro was *epic*! So many ways to get cheap minis. I get a lot from board and strategy games.
That is a cool ad! Thanks for commenting.
I love ALL Dungeoncraft videos. I like learning about the different aspects and talents it takes to put on a good game of Dungeons & Dragons.
Loving that this is so prominent in my feed.
Me too! Thanks for commenting.
I Love ALL minis featured on ALL the Dungeoncraft videos I LOVE
Thanks for commenting.
Thank you, professor, for another great Dungeon Craft video.
Thank you for the kind words.
I realize it's not a feasible option for everyone, but if you can play out about $300 for a resin 3d printer and curing station it will save you a bundle in the long run. I used to spend a lot on miniatures. Then I got a Mars 2 Pro printer for about $250 and I can print miniatures and small terrain for literally pennies each. It sounds like a lot but you can easily drop that much on a single Kickstarter project.
I've never used one, so I don't think I'm qualified to recommend it. Thanks for commenting.
Every year I look forward to this video thank you professor!
You're welcome.
I love all Dungeon Craft videos, and this video is no exception. And the Tailspire ad is fantastic, it's only 30 seconds long but you can tell a lot of work went into its making.
That is an awesome ad! Thanks for commenting.
I love all Dungeoncraft videos. Thanks for sharing this. Needed to pick up some for the game my kiddos are playing now.
I love all of Dungeon Crafts videos. Another great video
Another great video! I'm excited for the next one. The Deathbringer zingers at the end of each video always make me chortle
Great tip! I ran a Dark Heresy one-shot and used the miniatures I got with the Nemesis board game. I've also been using the minis from "Betrayal at Baldur's gate" for my PCs pretty regularly.
I recommend 1/76 scale historical miniatures. They're cheap, easy to assemble and easy to store. You can store multiple armies' worth of figures in tiny containers. You can usually find them at any hobby store. Because they're not as detailed there's less pressure to paint them with perfect detail.
Been a while since I bought any minis, but I always preferred getting lots of old ral partha/grenedier minis on ebay.
I love all animated heavy metal Deathbringer music videos!
A friend of mine gifted the whole group those D&D terrain boxes. Mini wise I bought a bunch of acrylic flat minis. You can pretty much put them in those plastic baseball card pages in a notebook. Then people flip through and pick a mini.
Nice! Thanks for sharing.
Excellent advice. I love all dungeon craft videos.
Great video! Awesome to see this update. What a great aervice to fans.
Thanks! Pass this video along!
Thanx muchly!
Another stellar video!!!
All of your videos are worth watching.
Thanks for commenting. Thank you for the support.
Get half off a tabaxi 🤣🤣🤣 That's a funny bit! Love it. Love Dungeon Craft videos. Always an excellent source for good tips and information.
I think the least expensive (if you don't mind painting them yourself) is those mini sets on Amazon. Sets like Spellblades & Enchanted Objects which has 36 minis for 39.99, currently on discount for 37.99, and sometimes it will be lower. They also have 24 Miniatures Town Enemies, 24 minis 8 sculpts is currently 19.99. A few of my favorites are Mythical Heroes Mini Figure Set for RPGs which has 92 minis with 16 sculpts for 39.95 and Mythical Heroes Forest/Swamp Edition with 90 minis 16 sculpts also for 39.95 from House of Bodian. Now granted these are unpainted, there are usually a number of repeats, and there may be a few that are not the best, but hey for that price point I'd say - worth it. There are a lot of packs like that from various companies at varying degrees of quality but still they are cheap you get a lot, and they are generic enough that they can fit just about what ever you may need for your games. I've gotten several and plan to get more. I also like having repeats so I can have small groups or even armies of various types of creatures that I can throw at my players. Probably the best bang for your buck when it comes to minis in my opinion.
Professor DM. Thank you for a great video. One that hardly even mentioned D&D, and in any case, was ALL positive and ALL useful.
I have been critical about D&D rants getting in your way in the past. Now let me be as liberal about how great you are when focused on useful fun things to do. You are so helpful when simply talking about adventure gaming, which is perhaps what the activity could be called. We never need to even mention D&D. Unless we are talking about it. Let's just say your examples are "how adventures should be played" (not "how D&D should be played"). It's a small point, but when talking about tissue, one need not mention kleenex.
Anyway, thanks for this video and the great suggestions.
I highly recommend North Star Military Figures to anyone looking for a good value on multi-part kits. It's UK-based, but if you're in the US you can find most of their range online at Badger Games and Brigade Games.
Another fantastic video!
And, of course, I love all Dungeon Craft videos!
Thanks for your kind words.