I was playing X-Wing at a friends tonight and he asked me about EOTE. I told him how much I was enjoying it. He asked me, "Are the minis cool?" I told him that the game wasn't really designed for minis.
Then, as I was making sound effects and whooshing my X-Wing miniature across the play mat I thought too myself, if FF did make minis for EOTE I bet they'd look freakin' awesome.
I think they would need to make them much more cheaply then their X-wing series. For an RPG, you will need a much larger collection then a handful of pieces such as needed to play X-wing. I wouldn't want to buy minis for an RPG at over $10 a pop. They also may need to wait until WotC Star Wars minis are harder to find (does WotC still hold the SW mini license?). For example, I already have a huge collection of them so I really don't need to gobble up another collection, especially if they are of a different scale.
But, same scale as d20*, quality stuff, the right price, yes I would still be a customer. Those that don't already have a d20 collection would also be customers. They need to have a gimic to sale them perhaps. Don't go with the randomn sets so you can buy a box of what you want - Stormtrooper Squad, Rebel Misfits, Transport Crew, etc. If they later start making cool gear cards for EotE (or something similar) perhaps throw some unique new gear cards in the box with the minis, matching what the mini is carrying?
*I suppose another route would be to go to a completely smaller scale like 15mm that requires less tabletop space and fits with a narrative style of play. Is pre-painted plastic mini technology good enough to make 15mm look good but cheap?
I love minis, but cost is going to be a factor since I'm going to be purchasing countless hardcover books for this line. I wouldn't mind the stock stand-ups like they use in WFRP 3e. They're pretty solid and get the job done. If we wanted to keep production and retail costs even lower, making sets of tokens like the ones in the beginner boxes seems like a no-brainer. My initial thoughts are that there is something like this coming down the pipe, or there is a large missed opportunity on FFG's part.
I love minis too. I'm one of the renegade bunch out there who enjoyed (and enjoys) the crap out of D&D 4th Edition. (Sue me.) The cool thing about 4th ed after Essentials became a thing was that they started releasing these boards of pop-out counters in place of minis. It sounds ghetto at first, but I LOVED those things; it gave me something to represent literally hundreds of different monsters without breaking the bank.
The Edge of the Empire begginer box set came with very similar pop-out counters. If FF released a few more sheets of those in some kind of map pack, I would absolutely buy it overnight. That's the sort of thing that could come in real handy, and inspire all sorts of neat ideas.
All that being said, EotE is a narrative game and I prefer to keep it that way. Combat is fast and brutal, often with consequences that extend into new, non-combat scenes. Sometimes battles require me to draw up little maps on scratch paper, but other than that visual aids are reserved for just that -- aiding my work as GM, as opposed to BEING my work as GM. Low set-up time and quick recovery time means I can fit more scenes into a given session. 
I've got piles of plastic crack myself, but for this game I'd rather they focus on getting more books out for now. I'd much rather have a dozen supplements then a dozen boxes of stormtrooper minis...
I think they would need to make them much more cheaply then their X-wing series. For an RPG, you will need a much larger collection then a handful of pieces such as needed to play X-wing. I wouldn't want to buy minis for an RPG at over $10 a pop.
Strangely enough, I've spent far less on X-Wing than I did Starship Battles despite being a greater expense per ship because I could control what I got. Instead of buying a blind box of 7 and MAYBE getting a TIE Fighter for 9 bucks, I could spend 10 and actually get a TIE.
That said, I'd rather go WotC over FFG for minis since they seem to be more sturdy than X-Wing. I have no problem throwing Minis in a shoebox and shlepping it along, where X-Wing would have all the fragile bits snap off.
(And no, they don't have the license any more. They gave it up in 2010)
I'd love to see FFG release something like boards of pop-out tokens along the lines of the Beginners Box ones.
I'd have to restrain myself if they started releasing SW RPG miniatures, because I've already got standing orders for everything from X-Wing and the SW RPG system anyway.
But tokens would be an affordable way to get a bunch of variety!
I guess this is a good thread to drop the paper miniatures I make. Check out the category link on my blog below. Download the pdfs, print and make your own paper minis, only as expensive as the card it's printed on!
More will be made when I have the time to draw some more.
Those are really cool. Thanks man.
i like maps and minis because I like knowing the lay of the terraine and I find it reduces arguments. And I think FFG would make awesome star wars minis. But I am not sure they will.
You can get a bunch of minis from WoTC on ebay and that is how I would go. I already have them though
I'm thinking of using Infinity Miniatures, with other similarly scaled models from other companies thrown in.
Either that or design the characters myself and have a company make them for me. But I've heard that can be expensive, even for a few models. This won't solve the Stormtroopers, but I was thinking of just picking up Dreamforge Games Eisenkern with a white paint job. Doesn't matter that they're not perfect replicas, it's simply to have something to represent them on the tabletop. Other companies I'm looking at are Malifaux, Mercs Minis, Wild West Exodus and I believe Spartan Games is doing a Firestorm Planetfall range at some point. The problem is, these have different ideas on what "28mm" is so I would have to buy one model from each and stand them next to each other.
I know Troll and Toad have a range of pre-painted models, for a fraction of the price, but there tends to just be one or two available. Also, they're not as cool and the photographs on the website makes their weapons look too bendy.
Just my opinion anyway. If it doesn't work, I'll go the card route.
I like minis, but I spent many years just using pencil scribbles on paper as spacial/location references. I've gone through 3rd and 4E as systems that rely on maps/minis, and I can say that I am happy to interchange between minis/no minis.
What I have noticed is that FFG doesn't give you all of the maps. In Trouble Brewing there are only two and they are highly generalized. In Under a Black Sun there is only one, and it is much more detailed, but it doesn't come into play until the final showdown.
So, what I like about FFGs' approach is that map wise, they are providing reference, but not limiting your imagination. Following this approach, I only use maps/minis for complex scenes that would benefit from a point of reference. If a combat/structured narrative encounter has dynamic factors such as elevation, light sources, multiple minion groups/rivals, etc. terrain and cover to think about, we all like the minis. It's helpful. However, for most other environments, it can be a hindrance.
My group and I love the fact that by flipping destiny points and spending Triumph/Advantage, we can alter the environment in creative ways that enhance immersion and contribute to the cinematic narrative. Conversely, I can hinder the party and change the narrative by spending Despair/Threat. We have found that by having a map in front of you all the time, you establish a creative cage that limits your ability to improvise. Everyone stares at the map as if it's gospel and can't be altered.
Now sometimes the maps do offer visual cues for creativity, but that is another argument. Mine is just the position that a healthy mixture of maps/no maps seems to work best for our group.
On the subject of minis, I prefer pre-painted plastic. I used to paint Ral Partha and Reaper minis, but that was before marriage, kids and stupid ol' reality. Plastic is cheaper, and by coming pre-painted, my players aren't staring at a sea of pewter or colored plastic, which we find makes it hard to distinguish individuals and only adds confusion.
I LOATHE blind boxing minis. When did that become a thing?! Who thought THAT was a good idea? If I want to be able to buy 4 Stormtroopers or a Wookiee with a vibro-axe, I should be able to do that. Without having to stare at a bin full of randoms... I just think it's silly.
I will happily buy pre-painted plastic minis, provided I get to choose, and not have to spend money on randomly getting the same "Coruscant citizen" eight times before I finally luck out and get the two Imperial Royal Guards I was looking for, for the encounter that I needed them for...a month ago.
I will happily buy pre-painted plastic minis, provided I get to choose, and not have to spend money on randomly getting the same "Coruscant citizen" eight times before I finally luck out and get the two Imperial Royal Guards I was looking for, for the encounter that I needed them for...a month ago.
Yeah, I'm not a booster pack guy, either. I'm casually eyeballing D&D Next and while I think the pre-painted minis that Whiz Kids are making are going to be excellent the "grab bag" approach is a real turn off. Sure, singles will be available through online parties soon enough, but it's a munchkiny, CCG model that I've never been drawn to. Thanks, Wizards.
More awesome work by the great Hish! 
I always felt that randomly-packing minis was a necessary evil, 'cause it resulted in more variety of pieces. I mean, how many different WotC Star Wars minis are there? At least a thousand, I'm sure. That's a lot of SKUs... and who's gonna stock that? And how many R4 Astromechs, for instance, could WotC expect to sell?
If they had gone the single-piece-in-a-blister-pack route, my guess is the pieces available would have amounted to not much more than one stormtrooper, one rebel trooper, and a handful of PC races. Plus, then there wouldn't have been a skirmish game, whose players is where most of their revenue came from.
So yes random sucks, but... more pieces = mo' betta!
That's a lot of SKUs... and who's gonna stock that?
Bingo! Difficult to stock means difficult to sell and you'd be a fool to even attempt to make a product that no one wants to even sell no matter how many people would be interested in buying it. Blind-packs are a solution for the retail realities of today. People who want to buy individual minis are served by the few re-sellers willing to cater to that market.
I have enjoyed shopping with Miniature Market. As their name implies, they have a great stock of miniatures, specifically Star Wars miniatures. I've purchased about $25 worth of minis from them because their prices are pretty reasonable and you get to pick what miniatures you need.
I Googled for the entire collection of the WotC Star Wars miniatures game, went through that list, made note of the ones I needed specifically for my game, and purchased them.
https://www.miniaturemarket.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=han+solo
I think the best way to do minis is in boxed sets around a theme. Not blind buy, but still a predetermined mix. That way I can buy a squad of Stormtroopers, maybe I have to get a Coruscant Citizen to get the Senate Guardians I really want, but at least the retailers know they won't be stuck with bins of unsold figures of "that guy".
That said, I would be all over packs of fold out maps and punch out tokens like fur on a Wookiee! I love those tokens. Pare/card stand ups are also good. Cheap, easy to carry, and durable.
I've been considering making custom modular tiles like those done by http://www.thedmg.info/ for D&D/Pathfinder, but for Star Wars. For the Mini's I've been thinking of just digging out the WotC Star Wars minis I have and maybe getting a bulk of stormtroopers and the like.
I've been considering making custom modular tiles like those done by http://www.thedmg.info/ for D&D/Pathfinder, but for Star Wars. For the Mini's I've been thinking of just digging out the WotC Star Wars minis I have and maybe getting a bulk of stormtroopers and the like.
This is what our group does. It actually works out quite well.
I agree with the packs option and had hoped Wizards would have done such someday:
Stormtrooper Squad Pack: Squad of Stormtroopers including an Imperial Officer, Stormtrooper Sgt, various weapons, etc.
Rebel Commando Squad Pack
Droid Pack 1
Droid Pack 2
Sith Pack
Jedi Pack
Coruscant Citizens Pack
Fringer Citizens Pack
Creature Pack 1
Creature Pack 2
etc, etc.
I've been using a lot of old WOTC minis with maps for my game.
Since the game isn't square counting tactical, I have been finding the play is smooth and illustratively useful.
I've been doing similar things with XWing minis for space battles, but I do find the rules there pretty lacking, and un-illustrative.
Since my players are visually challenged, i use WotC Mini's and a CHessx map for reference. I ended up buying 3 booster boxes of WotC mini's at discounted prices to complete my collection, as well as a few individuals (Gammoreans are uncommons WTF?)
Might be a good idea for Disney to reprint the plastic pre-painted Mini's and sell them as "Sets"
Tho I bet a new Miniatures game would have to come out, since WotC stopped publishing them