Model Alternatives

It's a known fact that many popular tabletop miniature games require overpriced, badly sculpted, or mono-pose models.

While many companies forbid or restrict the use of alternatives, (an increasing number of) players who play at Friendly Local Games Stores use proxy models, or parts from other sets hybridized with the legitimate model to differentiate their models from the guy across the table's.

Core Games

Roleplaying Games

Generally speaking, no Roleplaying Game should or will require official models, allowing greater freedom of selection. Some games may have licensed products (like Dungeons and Dragons) but mandatory model ownership is unheard of.

Games Workshop

Of most relevance to /tg/ is the dual Warhammer games; Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000.

Games Workshop (and their patrician minion, Citadel) has in the past utilized their status as a big company to enter into lawsuits against other companies in the time honored tradition of using international copyright law as a fulcrum to help you sit on a smaller competitor and crush them (infamously attempting to copyright "Space Marines"). This has done a great deal to remove sympathy for slumping sales that have progressively worsened in the second millennium, and the popularity of their games combined with price gouging have encouraged waves of alternative models, some inspired and some blatant.

After an initial crackdown on external products (culminating both in instances of drilling into a finished model to verify it was not a recast after numerous instances of fraud or even non-GW models appearing at events (see; Golden Demon) and a policy of not allowing homemade terrain despite official literature from GW coming with instructions of how to make it) brought them a great of bad press, Games Workshop quietly released guidelines on how much of a non-GW product may be allowed in an army played at Games Workshop stores, as well as an official policy regarding Unit Filler. Of course, individual cases vary from store manager to event organizer for better or worse.

Worth mentioning that out of production and non-supported Specialist Games like Mordheim/Necromunda and Blood Bowl are fully free to use proxies with due to unavailability of legit models. As a result, the market for "Medieval Football" minis is somewhat expansive.

Proxy Companies

Reaper

The go-to company for random 25-28mm miniatures. Reaper is known for making absolutely everything, from the astrological signs as waifus to female Dwarfs to animu chicks with chainsaws to skeleton peasants to superheroes to blaxploitation characters. While you can dig for these things from other companies, Reaper most likely has five of them already made a decade ago, and one more coming out next fall.

• Dark Haven Legends: Reaper's core fantasy line. Expect everything, including the kitchen sink Mimic.
• Warlord: Reaper's other main Fantasy range. A bit more specialized, since the models fall more into army themes like "Undead" and "Paladins".
• Bones: Recasted miniatures from other categories in plastic. Prone to bending making almost every sword look like a scimitar, but cheap as fuck and thus certainly unique in the market.
• Legendary Encounters: Pre-painted miniatures like the kind you could get out of a blind box set, or pull off a Heroclix base. Unless you literally cannot paint, go back to Warlord and Dark Haven Legends.
• Chronoscope: The more diverse range of models. Cowboys, Shadowrunners, zombie apocalypse survivor stereotypes, funky kung fu masters, and the rest.
• LJC (Legion of Justice and Caeke): Adorable animal chibis. Purpose unknown.
• Master Series: Larger miniatures with a bit of scenery and sometimes multiple characters. Mostly for diorama purposes.
• Pathfinder: Pathfinder miniatures. Very D&D.
• Savage Worlds: Savage Worlds miniatures. Vaguely noir meets Victorian.
• CAV: Mecha miniatures. Mech Warrior meets Rifts.
• The Boneyard: Extra bits like arms, wings, heads, weapons, and the like for kitbashing purposes.
• Boxes Sets: Groups of miniatures of a theme, like "Medieval Town" or "Dungeon Monsters" or "Pirate Crew". Sometimes, miniatures retired from individual sale are still offered in these sets.

While Reaper does have it's own game, most are just there to justify new lines.

When fielding an army and wanting a unique unit champion or a special face for that character, or searching for a miniature that looks just like the character you imagined, Reaper is a good first place to check.

Heroclix

An ever exponentially expanding range of miniatures usually featuring licensed products from Marvel and DC comics to Alien and Predator. The miniatures are usually well-casted, but painted so horribly that even preview models look like a blind Ork using intentionally thickened paints went to town on them. Some (mostly those sold in window boxes) escape that fate, and do look decent.

If intending to use a model of Spiderman in a Mutants and Masterminds RPG, or modify an Eitrigan into a Daemon then it's just a simple matter of yanking it off that base and putting them on an elegant black plastic square or disk.

Russian Alternative

The name sums it up; Russian Alternative is a Russian company that makes alternative models. Most are very Warhammer Fantasy oriented, having groups of very detailed goblins and Dwarves, a fancy vampiress, female Savage Orcs, Chaos champions (one female), and the like. More expensive than GW, but at a much better quality with alternate heads and weapons to use to spice up GW models with. Mostly just for champions and characters. When buying from their eBay site, shipping is free worldwide.

Zealot Miniatures

Makers of decidedly unashamed GW alternatives. From NotSpaceMarines to NotServitors to NotNecrons, NotGuardsmen, NotDaemons, NotTyranids, NotCustodes and NotCultists. The Fantasy miniatures are more unique, looking like named characters...who are Dwarfs, Chaos Warriors, Squigs, Beastmen, and a few Vampires/Elves. The main draw of Zealot isn't the full miniatures though as much as bits to spice up GW models like female Tau "Kadesh" torsos and slit-heads, pauldrons up the wazoo, mutations and giant fly mounts for the Daemonically inclined, alternate heads showing a great deal of character for greenskins, Guardsmen, a huge amount of sci-fi weapons in scale, faces for females, alternative pose legs and chests of various kinds, and...rock guitars with base guitars and microphones. Prices are pretty good as well, comparable to Reaper Bones at times.

Best of all though is cheap and detailed buildings. Most of the line us medieval cottages and that sort, but as far as scenery goes is very affordable for what you get.

Perry Miniatures

An Brit company that mostly makes 28mm scale historical figures. The miniatures are fairly well detailed, and don't come at bad prices. Their site is lacking in pictures of products however, with some only being pics of the prototype and others merely having description. Lines include; American Civil War, American War of Independence/Revolution, Napoleonic, War of the Rose, the Scramble for Africa, World War 1, the War of 1861, the Crusades, the Sengoku period and Meiji Restoration, the Agincourt era, the Carlist War, the 1500's Japanese-Korean War, the English Civil War, Mafeking miniatures, and some 40mm models as well. They sell several buildings which are generic enough to belong to most of their ranges including a straw roof house, a church, a barn, and a facade building. Tents, covered wagons, and camp gear are also sold.

Ral Partha

One of the oldest miniature companies, out of which Games Workshop itself sprung. Most Ral Partha models are out of print and only available on eBay. They also suffer from primitive modeling techniques, having too stock or too gangly proportions at times. Despite this, many feel they have a classic look to them. Ral Partha managed to obtain many licenses in the past including Elfquest, Shadowrun,

Raging Heroes

Southern France company making 28mm scale models. Makes both Sci-fi and fantasy models, most of them female. Has three totally not Imperial Guard armies coming out, with Sisters of Battle Eternal Mercy, Dark elves, and Slanneshi deamons Lust elves in the works.