Reaper Miniatures 101

Most of us in the US know about Reaper. Most game shops carry them because of their usefulness to those who play role playing games. However, many wargamers think that is all they are good for. So what do they offer to the wargames community? A huge catalog of figures. (It is important to note that unless a figure was made under a license agreement you can always get any figure they have made even if it is not in the current catalog.)

Reaper Miniatures got their start in Fort Worth, Texas in 1992 and are today one of the larger producers of metal figures in the USA with well over 3500 different figures. They have released the Dark Heaven line, which is quite possibly the largest line of metal fantasy figures on the market with over 10 million blisters sold to date. In 2002 they launched their Warlord line of figures, which also happen to have a game written for them. (I’ll talk more on that later.) 2004 saw the release of their Master Paint Series of paints.

Besides the vast catalog of figures Reaper also makes two wargames: CAV and Warlord. These two games are based on what Reaper calls the R.A.G.E. System (Reaper Adventure Game Engine) – a core set of rules that support multiple games. CAV is right now being worked into a new edition so I won’t talk much about it, but for those interested it is a game of combined arms in a scifi setting at a 10mm size. It uses mecha, tanks, infantry and aircraft. I like the models and I’m not a huge Mecha fan, so it says something for the look of the game.

Warlord is a skirmish level fantasy wargame based on a d10 dice mechanic with a points based army construction. The setting is generic enough that players can insert their ideas into the game while still retaining the identity of the fluff, which gives the player more room to make their own forces come alive. The rulebook contains the rules, basic fluff, and forces for 9 factions. The newest supplement also contains all the rules but it has 5 more factions.

The game uses a unique turn system. It uses playing cards and each warband generates a given amount of cards of the player’s chosen suit/color per turn. These cards are shuffled and drawn. When a card is drawn the player whose suit/color was drawn gets to activate a single unit. This continues until all units from both sides have activated.

When a unit activates, each model in the unit can do what actions they want in any order. The only exception is that all combat actions of the same type must happen at the same time for the unit. This makes for a highly tactical and flexible game.

Average games played at the recommended size take no more than 90 minutes. The average warband size is 12-20 models, and most players can get into the game for well under $125US – with full sized forces under $250US.

What really sets Reaper apart is, like many game companies, their customer service is great but they go above and beyond. FAQ’s for their games are released in a timely manner many times days after the question is asked. Requests for replacement on defective figures, parts, and paints are quickly handled. What I really like is that if you have a question about anything involving their company you can post it on their forums or to their email and someone will return an answer in a timely fashion. All in all Reaper has some great products worth looking into.