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 games c ...

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 Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...

miniature figures.

Miniatures in role-playing games

Tabletop

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...

s 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 TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules ...

'', 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 as ...

in 1976, and included iconic creatures such as

Demogorgon Demogorgon is a deity or demon associated with the underworld. Although often ascribed to Greek mythology, the name probably arises from an unknown copyist's misreading of a commentary by a fourth-century scholar, Lactantius Placidus. The conc ...

. 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 The ''Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game'' is a collectible miniatures game played with pre-painted, plastic miniature figures based on characters and monsters from the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' game. The figures are 30mm in scale. Produced by W ...

'' 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 A collectible card game (CCG), also called a trading card game (TCG) among other names, is a type of card game that mixes strategy game, strategic deck building elements with features of trading cards, introduced with ''Magic: The Gathering'' in ...

(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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