Figurine Games

Many types of games use miniature figurines. In most of these, a player moves the warriors on a model battlefield and declares attacks on each other. The results of fights between units are determined by simple arithmetic and sometimes with the aid of playing cards or dice rolls. The battles may be historical or fictional, or they might take place in a world created by the player. The figures used for these games are usually made of alloys or plastics.

The earliest examples of figurine games were didactic toys that taught children lessons in religion or civics. These early sets were often large and expensive, and parents restricted their child’s play with them to special occasions. For example, the Saxon king presented his son with a wooden Noah’s Ark in the late sixteenth century that allowed him to recreate scenes of hunting with hounds, wild boars, stags and hares. The same type of toy also offered religious training for the child as it helped him imitate the activities of adult hunters.

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the miniature game evolved into children’s playsets that were self-contained settings with toy animals. The jack of communal pleasure, which had begun as a mechanical toy that struck bells in medieval church towers, was miniaturized into a string-pulled jumping jack and sold at fairs as an amusement that both entertained the children and pleased adults at festive events.

Figurines are also used in a form of tabletop wargaming, where miniature physical models represent military units on a model battlefield. This contrasts with wargames that use abstract counters and blocks, or computer-generated virtual models. The use of models in wargaming helps simulate the ebb and flow of a real battle, but it can complicate realism and make certain aspects of the game difficult to manage, such as movement and firing ranges.

To make a miniature, a sculptor first designs a master figure that is used to create a rubber mould and then to produce a production mould. This is a time consuming process, and once the master mould is made the actual figures are produced by spinning or gravity casting. This process is cheaper and faster than making a metal or resin master, but the result is less detailed figures that require more careful assembly by the player.

Once a miniature is assembled, it must be painted to give it an individual appearance and help the player identify his units on the battlefield. This is another time-consuming step, and the time required to assemble and paint a set of miniatures often discourages casual players from taking up the hobby. The miniatures industry occasionally features painting competitions at gaming conventions, and some gamers take their miniatures’ paint jobs very seriously.

To prepare a set of miniatures for a game, the player should first wash them in warm soapy water. This is important because new miniatures are coated with the invisible powder that was used at the factory to get them to release from the molds, and this lubricant will prevent the paint from adhering. The player should then rinse the miniatures in clean water to remove the soap and oil that may have accumulated on them from handling the figures.