Kobolds and goblins are like pringles you can't stop at one.

My first miniature I ever bought for DND was the Gargantuan Kraken. Dunno why but I dont regret it.

Bandits or random fighting dudes are always a good investment. Also it's worth getting a large group of humanoid monsters, whatever type, just what you can get cheap, around one or two dozen of the same general type. These can then stand in for any kind of vaguely humanoid monster or bad guy you want. Just having them all the same type makes everything nice and clear during play.

I might add some sort of evil sorcerer looking mini, with a handful of skeletons. I also like wolves and bears, as they can be an encounter as well as pets. I'm also quite fond of all manner of tentacled horrors, floating eyes, etc.

Having 8-10 skeletons or zombies/ghouls is always useful for those undead encounters, which I feel are very common.

A good gelatinous cube,ooze and mimic are always needed.

If you're new to mini painting, skeletons are a great place to start. Basecoat, drybrush/wash, and weapons. Good way to build confidence. Furry animals are good, too - wolves, bears, etc.

Surely everyone needs the "a farmer holding a pig" miniature? Also, to add to the bandits as a scouting thug type, I recommend em4's Criminal Gladiator miniature, he'd be perfect!

I like lots of scatter terrain. I don't build dungeons when I play, I set up a scene really quick when appropriate, like if a battle starts, so I like to have a bunch of bits on hand. You'd be surprised how few things you really need. A couple of rocks, a pool, 2-3 trees, and you've got a decent forest encounter. I glue Jenga pieces together and paint them grey for low walls, doors, etc. 3 bucks at the dollar store will get you all the pieces you'll ever need. Paint them brown for chairs, tables, book shelves, etc.

Undead are always making the way to my table.

I personally love a good set of skellyboys, best undead by far

Commoners are awful handy, and not always easy to find!

Holy damn that intro! Holy smokes, that outro! lol. That was intense. Also, I use more terrain than I do monster miniatures, but my top used monster miniatures would be the Gelatinous Cube and Skeletons.

Random beasts are helpful as well. I seem to always play with a druid in my groups and having their wildshapes for representation always makes them supper happy.

I'll say CMON board games are definitely worth keeping an eye on, especially for new collectors, as their games often go on sale & tend to be slam packed with decently sculpted minis. Massive Darkness will probably give new collectors the most bang for their buck, with loads of orcs, goblins, dwarves, a handful of varied player characters, & some nice large boss monsters. Then there's Rum & Bones considering nautical/pirate campaigns are always popular. You'll get plenty of human pirates in a variety of sculpts, plus tons of aquatic humanoids (especially useful for sahuagins). Then there's the nice fold out ship tiles with a top down view of the decks, so you don't have to blow an absorbent amount on actual ship miniatures

Sadly I don't have the space for minis and terrain but gosh darn it I just love seeing all those cool things.

0:48 that is my current favorite mini. The Dunkeldorf girl with crossbow.

Just got my first minis today! I got a boneyard mystery box that had a lich, a zombie ogre, and a specter, I also got a boneclaw that I’m gonna paint later

Rule one of kobolds: there’s never one kobold.

I have found that the good ol classics orcs skeleton zombies bandits and goblins were my best shot when I started still use all of them regularly on my table and of course my dire rats lol

Wow! Great minis! I believe that, within one's possibilities, it's great to have at least six to ten pieces of different creatures, depending greatly on the type of creature, of course. Having a little bit of everything allows DMs to be ready for any encounter. Personally, I felt in love with the Hasbro miniatures when I started in D&D, from there I've amassed a decent (so to speak) collection of miniatures, including the ones from Hasbro, Nolzur's, Mage Knight, the D&D Board games, and more recently, 3D resin miniatures.

I a lot of times go for human-ish villains, so I end up using minis designed (primarily) for pcs as the villain. Which of course comes with his minions/henchmen, so goblins, bandits, skeletons, kobolds and stuff like that are always extremely useful.

That intro was gold lmao

This intro... was amazing

Must haves- Goblins Orcs Zombies any giant bugs swamp monsters (any) and the npc's/ farmers/ beggers/ other adventurers. My top of the line figures, hands down- Otherworld Minis. Reaper is my go to mass figures, and you can't beat the price of the WOTC d and d figs.

Where's the goose hydra? :(

That Tia-Duck in the thumbnail is amazing.

Great work these look amazing!

Most of the monsters you showed were very good for low level groups of PCs. As the characters gain levels, some miniatures I've found handy to have around include: demons/devils/assorted fiends, higher level undead (such as vampires, specters, and liches), a purple worm, drow, and evil PC types.

Great video! Such a fun collection.Oh ya skeletons skeletons. loved every minute.

That intro got me, well done.

Great video keep them coming.

Came from the follow up video, and have to say good solid choices in both. I tend to feature a lot of orcs gobbos , bugbears , and goals, as well as Wolves, bandits, and cloakers, so nice to see the various sculpts.

I loved listening to your thoughts and even seeing some of the incredible paint jobs you’ve put on the game miniatures. Well done indeed. For me as a DM I think that my most used are: Kobolds, Undead, Gnolls, Orcs, Lizardfolk, Bandits/Thugs, Townsfolk, Chests, Spiders and Wolves. These are really easy encounters where you can have either a rogue creature or a pack of them - either way they can be challenging and I get to set up a bunch of terrain (great call on the chests - I totally wouldn’t have considered them). So definitely some similarities between our lists which is always comforting.

Good stuff, also this reminded me I need to pick up some townsfolk mini's for an important encounter so thank you

I have used the heck out of a handful of 3d printed rocks to my board (yes..I know, I could use regular rocks, but now I dont have to worry as much about the real rocks scratching/damaging any other minis) Anyways, trees and rocks - really change up an open scatter-style encounter

I was not ready for that intro

Thanks for sharing

Skeletons are a must have for me

My additions, with emphasis on lower level encounters: 1) Orcs. One of the most common low level monsters, and you can use them for hobgoblins too. 2) Zombies. As above, and can do double duty as ghouls. 3) Doors. These really help when drawing out a dungeon. Having a door mini cuts out confusion and looks better. 4) Bats. Not giant bats, just bats. These are mostly because they're readily available and can be used as striges, imps or whatever small flying monster you need. Bird minis also work great. 5) Skeletons. It's D&D, there will be skeletons at some point. But more importantly, they are super easy to paint and are great to learn things like dry brushing and highlighting without worrying about "ruining" your mini. It's a skeleton, it's supposed to look bad. 6) Wolves.. either as monsters or animal companions, these are a must.

I am liking this one in advance! I believe I spy some excellent minis from “Castle Ravenloft”, “Legend of Drizzt”, and maybe “Wrath of Ashardalon”. I liked the “Dungeon of the Mad Mage” and “Temple of Elemental Evil” batches too; haven’t gotten “Tomb of Annhilation”; the last three never seem to be in the $35 to $45 sweet spot. “The Ghosts of Saltmarsh” one is super unappealing to me. From what I can tell, you get 6-8 smells and a bunch of add-to-the-game-you don’t play stuff for about $35. Yikes! Your paint job on these guys looks excellent!

That intro got me pretty fucking good my guy 😂

I always try to keep some goblins, orcs, and kobolds ready for the game. I'd like to get some more bandits. I like your list of required miniatures. It's a good start.

skeletons, zombies and vampires, gotta have em!

I just got done painting my reaper kobolds

Great opening

Yes to almost all of them. I also find quite useful to have undead hordes (zombies, skeletons), cultists (a good source for cultist and other abominable creatures is "Cthulu: Death may die" -bought it, never played it, just in for the miniatures, some of them are exquisite, the game is not cheap thou). I also share your love for dragons, but they tend to be on the expensive side, generally... also, I've had quite some difficulties to find some Ettercap miniatures (is a creature that I love -even if I'm arachnopobe, and that goes very well with spiders)

Funny and helpful video for people starting out. We do minis but love to 3D print and paint our scatter and show on our channel.

Undead ! zombies...skeletons...are always useful.

Lmao, love the little spiel about tieflings

Just got my first 2 pack and I’m already an addict. I’ve bought 40 dollars worth of paint and have painted one

Kobolds, Goblins, and Orcs, Oh My!

Spiders are not my bag. Ankhegs, Wasps hives, and Giant Stirges! Those I will use the most.

Dude, that shoutout took me by surprise! Thank you so much! :D Great video! I agree with so much of your choices here. A point of note for the treasure chest is that it's also great for introducing mimics. Love having a treasure chest AND a mimic based on the same design! :D Man, now I think I'll have to make a "spin off"/"reply" video of this, with my choices... but the number one will always be: Kobolds! Kobolds forever!! :D

Goblins, Skeletons, bandits, Orcs

love your channel

Wizkids has a nice un-painted townsfolk and a painted set if you don’t want to paint awsome video!!

For a DM just starting out? My top recommendation would be the old Grenadier boxed set Orc's Lair, which Mirliton currently sells. It's got nine orcs in 25mm that really don't look like the modern orc.... or the modern goblin... or the modern hobgoblin... but they have that generic "monstrous humanoid" feel to them so between that and their smaller scale sculpting, they can just work as your orc encounter or your goblin encounter or your hobgoblin encounter or whatever monstrous humanoid your game has on the table.

Go to any store that sells toys and you can pick up some normal animals - wolves, bears, lions, alligators, dinosaurs.... These are incredibly useful. They can appear at any time in wilderness adventures and you don't need to come up with a special justification for why they attack the party.

I'd also suggest if you're a DM to buy the monsters which can be summoned via spell, starting with the lowest spell level. You can get a lot of mileage out of using minis for players and their allies but use bulk dice for monsters. It also helps keep the two sides visually separated.

That intro was kinda... uh. Interesting lol

thanks

5:55 "Miniatures that are not PC's or Monsters" Me- "I'm pretty sure at least one of those is a mimic"

a gelatinous cude and oozes are a must have mini

What I've ended up using the most are goblins, undead, crystal worms (from ICRPG), and cultists. Not the most creative mix, but I've found in my games that having cultists or goblins worshiping some larger threat is a theme that pops up regularly. For cultists I just try to hoard minis who are wearing hoods. I've never actually used a dragon or an ogre in one of my games. But as someone who has very little money to put into this, I'll usually dig through the "minis" I already have for ideas. Cheap plastic dinosaur with a decent paint job? What if there's a pissed off stegosaurus between my party and where they need to go? Completely out of scale but hyper realistic chicken? Beware the Dire Hen who has been terrorizing our poor village! I also usually find making weird minis is more fun than buying minis (although not terribly time efficient). My players don't seem to mind that my monsters are often a bit odd.

Agreed on Bandits. However, I think they're only the 2nd most useful minis to have. Top place goes to the classic, and my fave enemy, ORCS!

Surprised you didnt mention any undead Blandco my man! Those find my table so much...

The best miniature i got was a Playmobile pirate ship for $3.50 at goodwill. If you want spiders or small/medium sized animals. The best I feel are the like 15 or so you get in the packet at dollar tree

Minis are like dice Always need more

My daughters just got into D&D so buying the bits she needs to start. I have no idea about any if this, what sort of miniatures should I get?

check your FLGS and scrub boxes for cheap minis. Trades and sales work, as well.

Need skeletons, Zombies, Undead creatures. Enemy mages to go with that. from Hag to lich. Maybe a few wolves to run by themselves or tamed. but otherwise a good starting point. I also suggest gettinhg the mini's for LMoP as that is very genneric and reusable.

Bandits, rats, skeletons, orcs, goblins, zombies, spiders, hobgoblins, bugbears, ogres and an owl bear. Maybe throw in some lizardfolk, kuotoa/sahuagin, or bullywug/grung. That should cover a wide variety for your first three to five levels. Then pull your giants, elementals, aberrations, and large sized dragons.

I'm not into any specific type of Monster or company. I pick up the Minis I like the most. (Recently: D&D is my excuse to by a few Miniatures, I have no real reason for buying them.) Of course I got a few Minis via Kickstarter, which are more or less the basic canon-fodder, like the Goblins from First Legion, but most of the time it is "O I like this Miniature!". (So: Of course there are a lot of Reapure-Sculpts in my collection, which are in most Cases cast out of Metal.)

What? No goblins or orcs?? I don't think I could run a game without them. Some skeletons never go unused either.

I have over 2000 figs dating back to the early 1970's, but have where to play... Alas...

Townsfolk, skeletons and minions in general (orcs goblins etc). Lots of dressing/scatter pieces terrain/decor. So.... My top ?five? Townsfolk, minions/monsters in general, terrain, dragons, and I dunno what my fifth spot would be

What about the duck hydra thing from the video tumbnail?

Doors!, other scatter terrain (trees, rocks, walls, etc.) For creatures; wolves, hyena, gnoll, goblins, skeletons, zombies, earth elemental, person in full-plate (can be construct/animated armour or living warrior, etc.), stirdge, giant rat, snake, scorpion, etc. You can use toys too! Animal toys. Easy to get great ‘giant’ versions of animals that way. Look near Halloween for bulk packs of bugs, rats bats, skeletons and webs, etc. You can get amazing model train various trees cheap just look, I got some on Amazon (wait for price drops if it’s too high right now). Then get air dry clay from the dollar store and make bases and push the trees into the base then dry the. Paint. Get moss to use from the dollar store, and use thick cardstock. Also you can use glass cabochons and wooden circles! You can use acrylic paint to paint and glue moss into wooden (or even thick Bristol/cardstock) circles for scatter terrain bushes! 1 inch = med or small and 2 inch circles are large. You can even just get construction paper (better to use higher grade coloured cardstock) cut shapes out for quick scatter terrain Such as but not limited too; water, mud, pit, tar, lava, sand, oil slick, webs, acid pools, carpets, magic circle, Remember to use cut out templates to help with area of effect for spells and creature abilities. You can also use a glue gun and silicone mat to make lines and craft. Most useful; fireball circle, Leomunds tiny hut circle, various cones for spells and monster breath weapons. Also get a measuring tape for long distance. You can pre cut and park off on a flexible long paper the length of lightning bolt if a PC uses it, etc Make the spell effects your players have and your NPCs and monsters use! More is more. Use similar miniatures as ‘good enough’ ensure the base is the correct size in the battle map! Size is most important. Better to just use a 2 inch circle to represent a large foe than a ‘too small’ but accurate miniature. Better put that mini on the larger circle! If your Gargantuan mini is too small. Cut out the proper base size from a larger paper and put the mini on that and move them together focusing in the paper base position most! Recent discovery; modern wrapping paper can have a 1 inch grid on the reverse! Check the rolls invest in cheap dollar store 1 inch grid papers! Also some monsters are easy to craft. Glue guns and using a silicone Matt; can easily make; oozes, slimes, elementals,etc. Using air dry clay and styrofoam balls/other balls you can make beholders. Filling with cardboard toons, stones aluminum foil, etc then air dry clay it’s easy to make huge worms! Craft what you can, buy what is hard to craft! Most of all I say doors! Doors are ALWAYS USEFUL and harder to craft!

great outro (if thats the opposite of intro)

Goblins and orcs and a rust monster or mimic oozes and jellies and mold, wizard or sage wizard zombies and skeletons and one bad guy that keeps getting away til party can actually do damage

Ok, everyone's thinking it. Where did the hydra goose in the thumbnail come from and where can I get it???

yes

skeletons, zombies, bandits, wolves, spiders and one or two of each enemy NPC archetypes - fighter, ranger, rogue, cleric, mage will cover 80-90% of low level D&D play.

I just wanted to see the Goose Hydra

Kobolds are cool, but I kinda lump in all my beast men into the same horde. A bunch of 1 hit goblins, lizard men, etc. With an ogre as their chief/boss.

Where can I find painted minis

gotta 3d print your own man!

Goblins & Orcs, & Your list would be completed lol

Does anyone know the name of the five headed goose in the thumbnail?

Hello where get ur figure?

A review on the quality of the casting would be beneficial. I seem to have an excessive issue with breakage,

Yo, is that a TrendMasters' Biolante I spy?

:-P minis i could do without? All of them since i use bottlecap tokens with pictures (from magic cards or other art i found online) so i have now around 200 of round tokens with picture and epoxi sticker on top with several character art, monsters and creatures and i can take them everywhere since they fit in a small container

Ha that intro

How could you miss Skeletons and Zombies? At low levels cultists, bandits, goblin/kobolds, skeletons and zombies are the main players.

You’ve never seen army of darkness. You should never eat a smaller version of yourself

I either make lego minis buy minis or make a paper token

I go from game store to game store my carrying case I have goblin zombie Skeletons Ghost Human Dwarf Elf’s Some large monsters What would you guys bring to carry’s everywhere ?

Undeads no doubt. They are always a good enemy