From: P & J Hidalgo

Long before there ever were Star Wars micromachines, I regularly gamed with WEG's miniatures. Yep. That was in the good ol' days of lead figurines. Back when WEG sold 10 figures to a box packed with blue sponge material. A friend of mine painted the player character's characters. I got the complete set... except for one. Rebel Troopers remains the one hole in my WEG collection.

For large armies, I also use the cardstock characters provided in the Assault on Hoth and Battle for Endor boxed games. And, of course, I've added Star Wars MicroMachines (ACtion Fleet stuff especially) into the mix. The speeder bikes and swoops are perfect. Just ditch the showy action fleet stand they come with, and use the individual ship stands that come with the other micromachines.

For starship combat I still use my Star Warriors set. While I don't play it with Star Warriors rules, I use the map and counters for the RPG rules.

WEG stopped making boxed minis in 1990. The started in 1988. They switched to blisters with the second edition relaunch of their popular miniature battles rules. From a selling standpoint, blisters sell better than boxes, as stores are more willing to stock blisters than boxes. Sure, it's easier to build armies with the blisters, but the boxes came with 10 related figures, a place to store them, and were of much higher quality lead than the pewter or whatever they make them out of now. The old figures tarnished gray. The new ones tarnish a kinda icky yellow. The new figures tend to have more flash and bent-out-of-shape extremities. The old ones had less flaws.

The first sets came out in 1988. They were:
HEROES OF THE REBELLION (Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie, Ben, Artoo, Threepio, Rebel Trooper, Rebel Trooper, Rebel Pilot)
IMPERIAL FORCES (Vader, Tarkin, Officer, TIE Pilot, Imperial Droid, Imperial Gunner, Imperial Trooper, 3 Stormtroopers)
BOUNTY HUNTERS (Fett, IG-88, Zuckuss, Barada, Zardra, Dengar, Bossk, Rebel Scout, Rebel Merc, Boushh)

The second bunch of sets came out in 1989.
A NEW HOPE (Luke on Tatooine, Leia w/blaster, Vader on Death Star, Tusken Raider, R5-D4, Power Droid, Sandtrooper, Ithorian, Jawa, Greedo)
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK (Luke on Dagobah, Han on Hoth, Leia on Bespin, Snowtrooper, Rebel Hoth trooper, Lando, Lobot, Yoda, Veers, Probot)
RETURN OF THE JEDI (Luke Jedi, Leia on Endor, Wicket, Nien Nunb, Gamorrean Guard, Emperor, Royal Guard, Royal Guard, Scout trooper, Ackbar)
STORMTROOPERS (10 stormtroopers)
REBEL CHARACTERS (Old Senatorial, Wookiee, Ewok, Mon Calamari, Male Young Jedi, Female Young Jedi, Tech, Gambler, Kid, Alien Student)
MOS EISLEY CANTINA (Sivrak, Labria, Muftak, Kabe, Figrin D'an, Bandmember, Wuher, Garindan, Arcona, Kerru)
JABBA'S PALACE (Bib Fortuna, Quarren, Jabba the Hutt, Nikto, Gamorrean, Oola, Tooth Face, Lando Skiff Guard)

The last sets were released in 1990. These, in my opinion, are inferior. New sculpters took over from the capable hands of Bob Charrette and Julie Guthrie. While these other figures are still highly detailed, their porportions are much more distorted than the previous sets.
RANCOR PIT (The rancor, it's huge!, and its keeper)
REBEL TROOPERS (10 Rebel troopers)
IMPERIAL TROOPERS (8 Imperial troopers, and a heavy repeater)
ZERO-G TROOPERS (8 oversized Zero-G troopers)

From: Barry Stockinger

I use both the Micro Machines and occasionally pewter minis in my games. Since it is a RPG and not a mini game I am not stressed about scale differences. I find that the MM figures are cheaper and already painted. I love to paint minis but don't have the time. If you plan on using MM mini figures I strongly suggest that you use crazy glue (or similar adhesive) to affix them to a thin but rigid piece of plastic. I went to the local hobby and craft store and found some plastic that is used to make stencils. I cut it into 1/4" square pieces and glue the figure diagonal across the stand. Does that make sense? Otherwise they tend to fall over when you breath near them. I found bags of plastic dinosaurs already painted make good space monsters. T-rex could be a taun-taun, get creative. The idea is to augment the RPG experience, not replace it. Play-dough makes great terrain, you don't have to be an artist to make a hill or cave. In a pinch I will use card board figures like those found in the "Introductory Star Wars Adventure Game". That is a great source for maps and cardboard figures so even if you are not a beginner it has a nice resource. It also has a great series of adventures for breaking in new players.

From: Johannes M. Bowers

Well, I regularly rape and ravage the mini selections of other games. I recommend:

Up to 4 Jumbo Chessex boxes (320+ figs) and overflowing that, just for all Sci-Fi to Present games (not counting 60+ Mechs). BTW this selection is just what I have assembled for roleplay with minis, I'm not even a Wargamer.

FULONGAMER
aka
Johannes M. Bowers

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