On the topic of using miniatures for other games, i am fully aware i have shiny syndrome problem, and I will always look to buy miniatures from the ruleset that i am wanting to play, where i can.

This is mainly i think for me, in that i do not play the same game over and over again, too much of a hobby butterfly. So when i do sit down to replay a game such as Bushido or Wolsung. I want to be able to quickly pick my miniatures and know what/who they were. I don’t/cant remember if i swapped in a miniature, then maybe they aren’t wearing the same outfit as character art on their cards, or the weapons are different. So bein gable to pull out the specific model for that game character means both me and my opponent can get cracking at the game.

I am not really an advocate of WYSIWIG, as again i don’t have the time to learn a game wit enough depth to know what is correct etc. I am not into the 100% accuracy of ww2 bolt action equipment for example, i like playing bolt action, but i couldn’t care less if my german was wearing a british ammo clip for example.

I mainly play small skirmish based games too, where the low model count, means i feel i can invest in game specific miniatures, and i also find those smaller games have a richer narrative and more of a fleshed out world with backstories, so i feel like i wouldn’t really have that character if i subbed in a mini from a different range.

Where i can see the reuse of models works, is rulesets based on historical, by there nature the aesthetics have to be the same across ranges as they are based on fact, so mixing of ranges for Saga or Sharpe Practice for example is a lot easier and in my mind those rulesets are written to be used by multiple ranges.

Scale wise again i am not picky, as long as i donnt have models that really differ in height then i would quite happily mix 28/25mm 35/32mm models next to each other in rank and file, cos stood 3 feet away my eyesight wouldn’t care. Different when creating a diorama or display piece, then scale must match across the entire piece.

I have just picked up my first 54mm scale game, called Briskars, animal pirates. The models are amazing. I loved these, i got them again as a small model count, but also to practice airbrushing / painting on larger scale to help me learn some new techniques. This however is a huge scale jump for me. So even though i am happy to buy in game models for this, it comes with an issue in that all the terrain i have looks too small. So requires some more investment – i am going to create a custom board and terrain with this.

I like to have choice to buy and play the games how I want, and there is a huge choice nowadays. But for me and unfortunately for the sake of my cash flow, i will invest in ruleset specific models as i feel they ground me in the world and offer a deeper connection to the story that develops when playing the game.