Miniatures Games General

Okay Veeky Forums, I've gone full autismo and decided to get into a miniatures game. Sell me on your favorite one.

I'll play anything if its good enough, but here are some considerations:
>can easily scrounge up $100-$150 to start with
>no friends willing to jump in with me as well atm, a strong community is a must
>prefer minimal downtime unless the opponents turn is interesting enough
>like to be able to interact with/ respond to opponents

Anything else you can provide me with, such as beginners painting guides or supplies recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Oh an I guess this can be a general too.

X-Wing probably fits this best. All the rest either have no community, or the ones that do (Warmahordes, 40k) can be started for $150 but easily balloon in price and may end up with long inactive times (40k especially as you take turns playing).

Infinity fits well but isn't as popular as these 3 games.

>no friends willing to jump in with me as well atm, a strong community is a must

go down to your flgs and see what they're playing then, we can't really tell you this

Both of these are the best answer I can really picture, you really have to give us some idea of what's popular in your region.

That said, Infinity absolutely fits the bill from what I've played.

Some good advice thus far, see what your local community is playing and maybe see if anyone is willing to start a new game with you there. However, we can assume the most popular games are being played wherever you live.

I'm going to have to shill for Warhammer 40K, I think there's still something to be said for a game where you build and paint the army. X-wing looks decent but it's soulless, its the fast food version of a war-game. Pre-packaged and ready to wear. Warhammer 40K has it's problems but I think we may be over the worst of it and 8th edition should bring greener pastures.

To add to this I would also check out Bolt Action, there's a pretty good chance someone will play it and you can probably just buy a 1000pts army straight from the website within your budget. 1000pts is about 2/3rds the recommended army size for a good length game but still very fun and varied.

I wish X-Wing came with unpainted, less rubbery figures. Can you imagine FW making X-Wing miniatures? Can't wait for BFG.

Dropfleet Commander has amazing ships for the human faction.

Yeah I noticed they have a tendency (especially the titular ship) to be all bent out of shape. To be fair though FW X-wing miniatures would be fucking nightmare to get back into shape.

Yeah long live specialist games, here's hoping Man O' War gets a look in.

Im okay with investing more if I enjoy the game, and again, if the games good enough to be worth it in your opinion, downtime isnt a huge issue

I'm lucky enough to have 3-4 decent game stores within 45 minutes drive tops and ive seen 40k, xwing, wh fantasy, warmahordes, infinity, malifaux i think, and possibly others i didn't recognize being sold at at least one of them. Im not sure if they have active playerbases, but I was planning a trip to each to find out, just wanted some information beforehand.

I've played a small bit of xwing and thought it was alright, maybe i didnt go deep enough though. I am actually rather drawn to the painting aspect of miniatures, if I'm invested enough in a game I can sink a lot of time into it and something about personalizing each mini gets me.

Highly recommend:

X-Wing
Infinity
40k* (see below)
Warmahordes* (see below)
Malifaux (it uses cards instead of dice)

See if you like it:

40k
Warmahordes

Stay away:

WHFB (no longer supported by publisher)

List is ordered.

Of that list Infinity is the one that offers both the hobby painting and modelling experience combined with the game style you seek without being a shit game. X-Wing doesn't have amazing miniatures and each ship can get pricey.

If you don't like sci-fi I'd go Malifaux.

Dropzone Commander if you're not an American

>>can easily scrounge up $100-$150 to start with
Starter sets run around eighty bucks per faction, a full 1500 point army (which is middle of the road) will run 150 to 200.
>>no friends willing to jump in with me as well atm, a strong community is a must
Very small presence in the US except for isolated pockets (no idea where), but I hear its pretty popular in yuroland.
>>prefer minimal downtime unless the opponents turn is interesting enough
Game is very streamlined and alternate activation; combat is quick to resolve and you order a potion of your army (a battlegroup), then your opponent does, then you do, etc; initiative is determined by dice roll.
>>like to be able to interact with/ respond to opponents
Unless your opponent manages to stick a lot of shit into a single battlegroup, you'll both have ample time to respond to each other.

I've found that what usually keeps people interested in a game is the hobby aspects and background. So if you love the star wars universe or Warhammer then, despite their cost, you'll be more likely to enjoy it.

>Dropfleet Commander has amazing ships for the human faction.
Which one?

Warhammer is no longer supported by Games Workshop but it still has a supported rule set and a good community in T9A. Op says some people play it in his local shops so it shouldn't be discounted if he/she likes swords and sorcery and SCREAMING WITH ROCKS. Some may say this is even a plus.

...

warmahordes is releasing a new version at the end of this month so it's a good jumping on point, the new battleboxes are $40ish and contain everything you need for a small skirmish against another battlebox, and if they play it your store will probably have a journeyman league that lets you builds your army up incrementally along with other newbies

James Cameron is dispatching the legal team as we speak.

>SCREAMING WITH ROCKS

Lizardmen: IT'S ROCK TIME
Be'lakor: NO TERRADON NO

yes, im an amerifat, but looking on yelp I seem to be in one of those pockets. I found a stor id never heard of before because it deals only in miniatures and holy shit do they deal in miniatures. I'm not sure even if anyone here has heard of them.

>We stock Flames of War, Battlefield in a Box, Dropzone Commander, Wings of Glory, Sails of Glory, Bolt Action, Star Wars X-Wing, Star Wars Armada, Star Wars Imperial Assault, Halo Fleet Battles, Terminator Genisys, Beyond the Gates of Antares, The Army Painter, Vallejo, and much much more

Well, what's their name?

if the community is strong try malifaux

>REALLY balanced game
>poker cards instead of dices
>few minis required for a start, then you can buy anything you want from that faction since you decide what to bring after the scenario is decided
>it's pretty deep into combos
>turns in general are long but it works with activations so you don't have to wait a lot for the opponent to finish, also duels require both players to be active
>pretty minis, plastic only at this point
>rules are free, there are something like 3 free apps for scenarios and list building you can use
the setting is steampunk-ish. you can find almost anything from anywhere so you should always be satisfied with your crew (for example there's indiana jones-wannabe, chinese kung fu monks and drunk monks, fucking hulk hogan, goblin luchadores.....)
you should be ok with your budget. you usually start off with a crew of 40-50$ which consists tipically of 25 soulstones (ideal for beginners). then you can just buy some small boxes of minions or big pieces (minions are usually 10-20$ for 2-3 pieces, big pieces could go up to 35$ but they are worth it since they cost a lot in game therms)

I think that you could actually go up to tournament standards with your budget, then it just becomes a "buy whatever you find pleasing" fest