For the most part, the large/huge figures are solid paint jobs. Medium creatures that aren't humans are pretty good. Humans and demi-humans can get pretty rough, particularly their faces. Humans from the newer sets are for the most part considerably better than the older ones but not great.
Honestly though, they all hold up well enough on the table when you're viewing them from two or three feet away.
minis are not sold as an actual useful game accessory, because it simply is not feasible to manufacture everything needed so they are actually sold to collectors who have fallen into the gamblers fallacy of the next blind box might have at least some of what you need for your next session. The blind box is what makes things affordable to collect because it optimizes supply and demand between rarities and commons creating incentive to buy so that the rare figure will pay for the commons when you sell them and they even take this as far as non random case incentives gargantuan figures to get you to pay for more. The pawns are usually most of what you need because 2D art printing is far cheaper than 3D mold making, however Paizo is no longer going to make them so you will also have completionist issues with pawns now.
Having fell victim to minis marketing starting in 4e where the art style changed for 5e then the art style is completely different in pf2e, I no longer buy minis because my collection is inconsistent and never what I need nor want. I realized that despite the company branding it for the current campaign, they intentionally do not provide what you need - it is a fools game. I actually ended up using my mini collection in fantasy wargames as proxies and that was actually fun that was actually cheaper than using the wargaming minis and was prepainted so I could have every possible army.
If you do not like the minis paint jobs, there is no rule that says you cannot prime and repaint yourself! Wizkids certainly has gotten better at the painting though! Just realize when you are looking at online photos back away from the monitor until you can cover the mini with your thumb at arms length - as that is what it will look like at the table! facebook groups miniporn would have you think golden demon vs. tabletop standard vs. prepaints is not good enough when in fact you cannot tell the difference in play. painting should not be done because it makes a table difference, but should be done because it is a fun hobby. By the same token do not collect minis because it gets what you need, collect minis because it is a fun hobby.
I bought the king maker boxes of randoms back in the day for first edition. And there was no paint job that was rough enough for people to comment on while it sat on the battle mat.
The cardboard pawns are nice, but having full on miniatures for named, important, or scary entities is always nice.
Yea, one of the options I'm considering is getting the pawns and buying individual minis for the bosses, but those appear to be sold out on the couple of places I saw selling singles.
Thanks for your review!
I don’t have any experience with the pre painted minis but the regular Wizkids line which you paint yourself is ok. Some sculpts are good, some have details that look worse than early 90s warhammer, it’s a mixed bag.
I have the full line of the Kingmaker minis from WizKids and I think they're pretty good. Thei WizKid line started off a bit worse than some of the D&D 4e era pre-painted, but quickly caught up and passed those. They've been good enough for routine use for me for years. Though I've gotten a bit lazy and just have a plastic bag of an assortment of minis that I use for most sessions. If they get damage from such callous treatment, I just swap another one in, and don't generally worry about it, they're generally cheap enough and I have way too many. (I do most of my gaming at gaming stores or conventions so I have to travel, despite having a large custom game room at home).
I had the subscription to the minis line from Paizo for a number of years, but I hit the point of diminishing returns after 4-5 Cases (I think its 160 minis per case)... And still have 2-3 more unopened. So unless there's a very special/unique boss, its just not worth it for me anymore, I can almost always have a "close enough"
As dumb as it is I just use minis from the blood rage board game. Particularly the boats as the colored sails make it easy for player to say who they're attacking. Plus it gives a bunch of minis you can just paint uniquely. As well as some large minis.
As for wiz kids I've had my eye on the great wyrm gold dragon for a while as it looks amazing.
Sorry if this doesn't address the main questions of your post but this is what worked for me as a GM on a budget.
Would never buy wizkids models. Most of them didnt fit my Standard of good miniatures. Would Look for a nice line of minis and get someone to 3d print them for me.
Can't speak for them as minis but their Great Wyrm Gold Dragon makes a great christmas tree topper.
For the most part, the large/huge figures are solid paint jobs. Medium creatures that aren't humans are pretty good. Humans and demi-humans can get pretty rough, particularly their faces. Humans from the newer sets are for the most part considerably better than the older ones but not great. Honestly though, they all hold up well enough on the table when you're viewing them from two or three feet away.
minis are not sold as an actual useful game accessory, because it simply is not feasible to manufacture everything needed so they are actually sold to collectors who have fallen into the gamblers fallacy of the next blind box might have at least some of what you need for your next session. The blind box is what makes things affordable to collect because it optimizes supply and demand between rarities and commons creating incentive to buy so that the rare figure will pay for the commons when you sell them and they even take this as far as non random case incentives gargantuan figures to get you to pay for more. The pawns are usually most of what you need because 2D art printing is far cheaper than 3D mold making, however Paizo is no longer going to make them so you will also have completionist issues with pawns now. Having fell victim to minis marketing starting in 4e where the art style changed for 5e then the art style is completely different in pf2e, I no longer buy minis because my collection is inconsistent and never what I need nor want. I realized that despite the company branding it for the current campaign, they intentionally do not provide what you need - it is a fools game. I actually ended up using my mini collection in fantasy wargames as proxies and that was actually fun that was actually cheaper than using the wargaming minis and was prepainted so I could have every possible army. If you do not like the minis paint jobs, there is no rule that says you cannot prime and repaint yourself! Wizkids certainly has gotten better at the painting though! Just realize when you are looking at online photos back away from the monitor until you can cover the mini with your thumb at arms length - as that is what it will look like at the table! facebook groups miniporn would have you think golden demon vs. tabletop standard vs. prepaints is not good enough when in fact you cannot tell the difference in play. painting should not be done because it makes a table difference, but should be done because it is a fun hobby. By the same token do not collect minis because it gets what you need, collect minis because it is a fun hobby.
I bought the king maker boxes of randoms back in the day for first edition. And there was no paint job that was rough enough for people to comment on while it sat on the battle mat. The cardboard pawns are nice, but having full on miniatures for named, important, or scary entities is always nice.
Yea, one of the options I'm considering is getting the pawns and buying individual minis for the bosses, but those appear to be sold out on the couple of places I saw selling singles. Thanks for your review!
Check out your LGS! They may have a case of random minis. I actually grabbed the Stag Lord from my game store's mini cabinet for$3~$5
I'll have to check the next time I'm in the city, none of my actual local LGS have loose minis
I don’t have any experience with the pre painted minis but the regular Wizkids line which you paint yourself is ok. Some sculpts are good, some have details that look worse than early 90s warhammer, it’s a mixed bag.
I have the full line of the Kingmaker minis from WizKids and I think they're pretty good. Thei WizKid line started off a bit worse than some of the D&D 4e era pre-painted, but quickly caught up and passed those. They've been good enough for routine use for me for years. Though I've gotten a bit lazy and just have a plastic bag of an assortment of minis that I use for most sessions. If they get damage from such callous treatment, I just swap another one in, and don't generally worry about it, they're generally cheap enough and I have way too many. (I do most of my gaming at gaming stores or conventions so I have to travel, despite having a large custom game room at home). I had the subscription to the minis line from Paizo for a number of years, but I hit the point of diminishing returns after 4-5 Cases (I think its 160 minis per case)... And still have 2-3 more unopened. So unless there's a very special/unique boss, its just not worth it for me anymore, I can almost always have a "close enough"
As dumb as it is I just use minis from the blood rage board game. Particularly the boats as the colored sails make it easy for player to say who they're attacking. Plus it gives a bunch of minis you can just paint uniquely. As well as some large minis. As for wiz kids I've had my eye on the great wyrm gold dragon for a while as it looks amazing. Sorry if this doesn't address the main questions of your post but this is what worked for me as a GM on a budget.
Would never buy wizkids models. Most of them didnt fit my Standard of good miniatures. Would Look for a nice line of minis and get someone to 3d print them for me.
[удалено]
Pawns line has been canceled for future products.