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Unfortunately IMO, Rifts does not lend itself well to the use of minis because of the HUGE disparity of ranges (2 miles for GB's, 4k' for most PA and Robot Vehicle weapons, 2k' for most laser rifles, melee range, etc). They would be more suited for the PFRPG honestly.

if you're interested, i worked up some really basic miniatures rules that were included in Rifter #50. They were intended for use with Ninjas & Superspies, but you could use them in small-scale battles in Rifts.

chaz47 wrote:I recently started collecting miniatures for a TriStat dX campaign. The campaign seems to be moving into RIFTS and I'm wondering if anyone else on here uses miniatures and if so what lines? I am aware there are some official RIFTS minis but they are currently OOP, no? Also, for those of you who are using minis what scale do you recommend? 1 inch = ?

I made myself a number of 2D minis using the books, a scanner, and Adobe PhotoDeluxe. Construction comes and goes, but I'm up to a Company of CS soldiers, dog boys, skelebots, power armor, rocket cycles, bots, and vehicles. I use book tape to mount them on cardboard folded into isosceles triangles with the image on the front, and identifying numbers/icons and quick stats on the back. Works pretty well. Front side is for the players' benefit, the back is for the GM's.

Scale-wise I generally go with 1 hex = 1 yard/meter for small scale action, and bump it up to 1 hex = 10 yards/meters or more when power armor and fast vehicles come into play. The scale is mainly there for the coordination of events (I made my own much-improved movement/action rules) as played out on a hex map. I like to use hex maps with my minis because with a little prep, there's never any arguments about distances of line of sight; it's right there for the world to see.

I made a series of paper minies to appromately 25mm scale. Evrything possible int eh main book/RUE and sourcebook 1's and all to scale. So the CS Grunt is to proper scale next toe the Enforcer next to teh Skull Walker. While only one side of the mini has an image there is an outline to cut them out so they take up a 3d space on teh table

I would like to know just how tall was the Grunt in cm, or the Enforcer, or the Skull Walker?

dragonfett wrote:I would like to know just how tall was the Grunt in cm, or the Enforcer, or the Skull Walker?

Grunt - 3cm (this is within 1mm of the hieght of hte actual Rifts Mini of a CS Grunt)
Enforcer - 10.1cm
Skull Walker - 15.2cm

Ther is a thread on teh boards with some pictures I took of some of the paper minis I did.

EDIT - Here is the thread I found and then posted mine in. Gagiboys are pretty neat too

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=72737

One question, if you are using a game mat, how many feet are each square/hex?

Generally 1"= 5 ft on a battle mat.

Rifts isn't hard sci-fi. Real life armored duels can occur at long range (over a mile) but Rifts is geared toward being able to use all those cool melee weapons and abilities. Most energy weapons (max range: 2000 ft.) can't even shoot half a mile.


Just for frame of reference the new world record sniper shot was taken in Afghanistan by a British Corporal of Horse with a Accuracy International L11583 rifle chambered in .338 lapua. 3 hits on 3 separate targets at 8120 ft.

Well we have always played with minis they add so much interest to the game, I don't think I would be interested in playing without them. Their is such a large selection out there now you can easily find something to mirror your character class, vehicle or P.A. I painted up two elephant models I had to look just like the Mastodon Battle Robot “Hannibal” in SA 2 and made a NE-JE Juggernaut Heavy Hover Tank out of lego and painted it up. Used newspaper & plaster to create a Galapagos Submersible Robot “Shelly” & our Behemoth Explorer but both didn't turnout perfect but I'm still working on them.

If I use minis with Rifts, I just use them for approximations and determing who is in relation to who on the battlefield. Any scaling would drive me crazy. I don't like to nail down my gonzo.

I found that HeroClix and other minis from WizKids work nicely.
Plus, they have different sets depending on what type of character you have.

Mageclix, Heroclix (different comic companies), and Battletech (for PA, robots, vehicles, etc) are the most common. Plus, alot of the game shops in my area clearance packages of these all the time.
So, they are usually fairly cheap. Plus, they are already painter (I am terrible at painting mini's and models).

We don't use mats as we are usually strapped for time to set up encounters.
So, we generalize and approximate the situation.

So far, it seems to be working rather smoothly.

stankind wrote:We don't use mats as we are usually strapped for time to set up encounters.
So, we generalize and approximate the situation.

In addition to a final hex-map (that can be drawn on with a water-based felt-pen and erased) I use two additional things to help speed setup along.

The first is what I call my Generic Props. These are generally black foam shapes (most are one-inch cubes) that I can drop down and declare to be whatever... it's a rock, it's a tree, it's a platform... Also in my box of generic props are pizza topper with their legs cut down to just a half-inch or so for instant round or triangular tables (I've never come across a square one). And lastly in the box, there is the generic shape... a fat purple lace I salvaged from a some old sweat pants that I can quickly form into any shape in a matter of seconds; square it off into a room or a long narrow passage (winding or straight), throw it down for a cave with uneven walls, whatever.

But when I really want something to be good, I print out some hex paper and either draw the environment how I need it, or put something more elaborate together on my Adobe program and print it on that pre-hexed paper. Either way its really nice and can be sprung on the players in an instant. This is especially nice for reoccurring locations, like the character's favorite bar/base of operations, a generic setting that you want detail for, or a million and one other things that you want to look nice but also want overlaid with hexes for combat situations. And best of all, because they're so easily reproduced* (* remember to save) the sheets are disposable! Write on them, punch holes in them, set the darn things on fire, it doesn't matter.