Whether you’re a tabletop wargamer, RPG player, or someone who just likes to paint, digging into so-called “loose minis” can be a great way to bolster your army, add life to your next session, or give you the centerpiece to your collection.
Noble Knight has a dedicated team curating miniatures across all spectrums, providing you with a deep, constantly changing catalog to delve. Below, we’ll dig into the different types of minis you can find, and why getting them apart from big published packages can save you money, time, and unnecessary baggage.
Pop open Noble Knight’s website, head over to the Minis & Games section, and pick a game. Say, Warhammer: 40,000. You’ll be presented with a grimdark flood, but veer away to the left side, where you’ll see a whole bunch of ways to filter. Towards the bottom, there’s a Type section. Find Minis Loose or Miniatures Loose and check that box to see what we’re talking about. These are standalone sets, either a single figure, terrain, or several similar ones in a collection, at a cheaper price point and with your painting preference accounted for.
In other words, it’s the best way to get the mini you’re looking for, every time.
Not sure what you are looking for? That’s ok! You can browse all of our fantasy loose minis here and our historical loose minis here!
Are you looking to see all of the loose minis in one place? Check out our collection here!
Save time, Buy Battle Ready
As anyone who’s ever tried a miniature wargame knows, getting ready for battle is, er, half the battle. It’s also a huge part of the fun. Assembling, painting, and deciding on the force you’re bringing to gameday is a big part of games like Warhammer, Star Wars: Legion, or Infinity. Often, you’ll get into one of these
games through their starter sets, only to learn about (or witness as they tear through your force like a wet knife through butter) a unit that’d be a great addition. This is where Noble Knight’s minis come in handy, and when that tournament is coming up, or your buddy deserves a revenge beatdown, battle ready quality gets you there right away.
Scroll through the loose minis catalog for your game of choice and you’ll see plenty with paint already applied. You’ll be able to buy that space marine or stormtrooper and deploy them that same afternoon, no need to break out the brush. It’s like buying a fresh single for Magic or Pokemon: no extra work required.
There’s gradients to battle ready acquisitions, of course. Some minis are only partially painted, leaving you room to finish a sculpt how you’d like it. Or maybe you’ll rapidly deploy a purple Ork on tomorrow’s mission only to strip off the paint and remix them back to glorious green later. Other minis come in the same gray they were born in, ready for your priming and painting touch.
For those looking to buttress their battle force with more than a single soldier, you’ll find squads aplenty. This is where grabbing painted up figures can really save you time, or money, if you’d otherwise be paying someone a commission to color them up. Grabbing a full squad, assembled and painted up, for the same cost as a new, gray, unbuilt box is a pretty solid deal.
While I’ve been pitching this as a way to grab new additions to an existing force quickly, there’s another couple of miniature wargamers these loose minis are perfect for. First, children. If you have a kiddo that’s wanting to get into Legion, that wants their own Imperial assault force, you can buy up exactly the 
one they want here and give them a shot without sinking hours upon hours into getting their group ready. Time’s precious, and with battle ready minis, you can spend that time playing rather than gluing and painting.
Not that those things don’t make for a nice afternoon, but sometimes you just wanna get to chucking dice, right?
Another group that ought to consider loose minis like these are people that either don’t have the time, the interest, or the physical dexterity to build and paint their own figures. Those things shouldn’t lock someone out of a game you might love, and battle ready minis let you get the force you want, painted and assembled, at a price you can afford (and on a timeline that works for you).
Tailor Your Collection to Your Story
If you prefer your RPGs with a side of tactics, minis bring your battles, heists, and surreal encounters with eerie soccer moms to immersive life. While big companies pop out new figures with regularity, getting the perfect little dude, dragon, or Armodax to reflect the disaster about to befall your players sometimes means venturing beyond the newest releases and into the fertile ground of loose minis. Noble Knight’s collection drops back decades and covers virtually every setting you can imagine, letting a few searches set you up with a fitting collection.
We mentioned the battle-ready painted options above, and the same holds true for your RPG sessions, where a quick inexpensive acquisition can give you a matching figure in between plays without extra work on your part. This extends to terrain too, so if your party dimension door’s to a tropical paradise, you
can swap those snowy fields for delightful palm trees without assembling, painting, or just finding the right miniature maker for your needs.
I’m a fan of using these things for solo RPGs too. Bringing something like Frostgrave or The Silver Bayonet to the table is viable with the random figures you have from other games (so what if my adventurous wizard is represented by a giant Baphomet from Planet Apocalypse? He’s just that cool!) but you might find it easier to fall into the story if your table matches the game’s setting.
This is, of course, window dressing. The frosting on the RPG cake. These minis aren’t a luxury, but a cheap, fun way to add flair to your stories. And just imagine how satisfying it’ll be to flick that annoying gnome’s figure across the table when he finally gets his just desserts?
Finding the Perfect Figure
So what’s the best way to actually find the minis you’re looking for? Given the figure flood, navigating the waters is best done through some helpful filters on the Noble Knight website.
First and foremost, if there’s a specific game you’re looking for, start by clicking on the Minis & Games header on Noble Knight’s main webpage. On the left, you’ll get a spread of the biggest titles, and in the next column over, some of the largest mini makers, like Reaper and Games Workshop. Pick one of those and you’ll get to the catalog page, where you can use the product type filter of Miniatures Loose or Minis Loose to find what you’re looking for.
Alternatively, type the name of the game, like Battletech into the search bar and then use the type filter. Either way, you’ll get a good spread to work through.
Once you’ve found a bunch of interesting results, bear in mind a couple of pointers:
- Products with the word ‘Collection’ in the title will have multiple minis, usually related. This is what you want if you’re building up a squad.
- The product images for loose minis are exactly what you’re going to get, so if you’re looking at a sprue with parts on it, or a collection of parts, assume the mini will need assembly first. Same deal with battle-ready figures: those colors are what you’ll be grabbing when you buy it.
- In most instances, if a figure comes with cards, like this, you’ll get those along with the figure, but make sure that’s noted so you’re not surprised.
Lastly, bear in mind Noble Knight’s $149 free shipping threshold. If you’re grabbing a bunch of minis, you can save yourself some scratch by slipping over the line (or, if you’re nearby Fitchburg, WI, just pick your newfound figures up in store for free).
There’s a Miniature for Every Game
Miniatures are a fun, flavorful part of our hobby, and Noble Knight’s committed to keeping them available in all their fantastic variety. Whether you want to gild your RPG game night or burnish a growing army with a specific model, surfing the loose mini seas lets you get just what you’re looking for at a great price.
After all, what RPG couldn’t use a mechanized pig?
