Miniatures games are a form of
tabletop game
Tabletop games or tabletops are games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface, such as board games, card games, dice games, miniature wargames, or tile-based games.
Classification according to equipment used
Tabletop ga ...
which prominently features the use of
miniature models or figures.
War games
One of the oldest and most popular miniatures game genres is that of
war games
A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...
, where figures are arranged into competing "armies", with figures that represent ranks of troops or individual combatants.
Naval wargaming
Naval wargaming is a branch of the wider hobby of miniature wargaming. Generally less popular than wargames set on land, naval wargaming nevertheless enjoys a degree of support around the world. Both historical and fantasy rulesets are available. ...
is a variation of play where figures represents ships and do battle on the seas. Early
wargame
A wargame is a strategy game in which two or more players command opposing armed forces in a realistic simulation of an armed conflict. Wargaming may be played for recreation, to train military officers in the art of strategic thinking, or to s ...
s were focused on faithfully recreating historical battles with units represented by chips, blocks, and other abstract markers. The modern genre has expanded to include fantasy and science-fiction settings, often using intricately-detailed and
painted miniature figures.
Miniatures in role-playing games
Tabletop
role-playing games evolved from miniatures games, and the two genres have continued to be linked in varying degrees. One of the most cited examples of this connection is ''
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TS ...
'', which developed from a 1971 medieval miniature wargame called ''
Chainmail
Chain mail (properly called mail or maille but usually called chain mail or chainmail) is a type of armour consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was in common military use between the 3rd century BC and ...
''.
The first line of official ''Dungeons & Dragons'' miniatures was produced by
MiniFigs
A Lego minifigure, commonly referred to as a minifig, is a small plastic articulated figurine produced by Danish toy manufacturer The Lego Group. They were first produced in 1978 and have been a success, with over 4 billion produced worldwide a ...
in 1976, and included iconic creatures such as
Demogorgon. While the early editions of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' reduced or eliminated the use of miniatures, later versions reestablished their use as a core mechanism of the combat system.
This even led full-circle into the development of ''
Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game'' which acted as a stand-alone skirmish game without role-playing elements and as a set of accessories which could be used during ''Dungeons & Dragons'' play.
Collectible miniatures games
As a result of the popularity of the
collectible card game (CCG) genre starting in the 1990s,
collectible miniatures game
Collectible miniatures games (CMGs) are a form of miniatures game that is also similar to collectible card games (CCGs) — the primary difference being that while CCGs are card-based games, CMGs feature miniature figures.
A popular theme for CMG ...
s were developed that made use of elements of CCGs, such as selling miniature figures in randomized packs, with certain figures being assigned different rarities. This led to a secondary market where figures were resold and valued based on either their utility for play or rarity as a collectible.
References
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