Best Fantasy Miniatures UK: Where to Start for D&D and Fantasy Wargames

If you're looking for fantasy miniatures in the UK, the quickest way in is to pick one designer whose style you like and buy one complete themed set. That gives you a matched party or warband, all sculpted to sit together on the table. Our fantasy collection runs to nearly 4,000 listings from our licensed designers, all printed to order in resin, and this guide is about narrowing that down to a sensible first purchase for D&D or a fantasy wargame.

We'll cover which designers suit which kind of game, how scale works, and whether a full set or a single hero makes more sense. You can browse everything in our fantasy miniatures collection as you read.

Fantasy miniatures UK: where to start

Start with what's on your table next week. For a D&D group that means a handful of heroes, a few NPCs and something nasty to fight. Skirmish wargames want a coherent warband of eight to twenty figures, while a painter after a winter project may only need one sculpt with plenty of texture. Those are three different shopping lists.

Most of our fantasy ranges are released as monthly themed sets, so you can buy the whole drop as a "Full Set" or pick single figures out of it. On the listings we checked for this post (Galaad's Norse Fighter, RN Estudio's Neokingdom IV and Artisan Guild's Troubles in Tavern) you can also choose a scale: 28/32mm, 35mm, 40mm, 54mm or 75mm. The larger sizes are mainly for display painting. For gaming, 28/32mm is the one to pick.

Which designers make the best fantasy miniatures for D&D?

It depends on the look you want. These five designers cover a lot of fantasy ground between them, and each has a clear personality.

Galaad Miniatures is our go-to for classic adventuring parties. Galaad releases a themed faction every month, and the sets read like a ready-made encounter: Norse Fighter is a seven-figure band of warriors with a warchief, Thieves Guild covers your city rogues, and Ratfolk Gang gives you a sewer-level threat. Prices start from £6.29. Our Galaad Miniatures guide goes through the full back catalogue.

Artisan Guild is the epic end of the shelf. Their sagas are big, armoured and detailed, and many pieces share a ball-joint system so heads and arms swap between sets (we explain it in building a modular army with Artisan Guild). The Frostmetal Clan Full Set at £79.99 is a whole army in one box, with mounted riders and a huge beast. For a lighter start, Troubles in Tavern is ten tavern regulars, from a paladin to an ogre mercenary, that work as a party or a bar full of NPCs. More on the studio in our Artisan Guild guide, or on Artisan Guild's own site.

RN Estudio leans towards anime and JRPG character design. Neokingdom IV alone has seventeen named heroes, so it suits players who want a mini that looks like their character rather than a generic fighter.

Bite the Bullet and Printed Obsession fill the gaps with folk races, monsters and oddities. Bite the Bullet's monthly sets run from tabaxi and owlfolk to centaurs (see our Bite the Bullet guide), and Printed Obsession is where we send people who need a strange NPC or a weird shopkeeper.

What scale are 28mm fantasy miniatures?

28mm and 32mm are the standard tabletop scales for fantasy gaming, and both fit a one-inch grid on 25mm bases. Our gaming option is listed as 28/32mm because modern fantasy sculpts sit between the two in "heroic" proportions.

If you want the detail behind that, our 28mm vs 32mm vs 35mm guide covers the differences, and the D&D miniatures size guide lists base sizes for Large and Huge creatures.

Full set or single figures?

Buy the Full Set when you need numbers, whether that's a wargame warband, a cult of enemies or a whole tavern. You get every figure in the release and they share a look, which matters once they're painted and lined up together.

Buy single figures when you're kitting out a party. Four players rarely want four sculpts from the same range, so mixing a Galaad ranger with an RN Estudio mage and an Artisan Guild dwarf is normal. Size and style still match well enough at 28/32mm. If you're on a tight budget, our guide to buying 3D printed D&D miniatures in the UK has more on getting a table filled for less.

Fantasy miniatures to paint: a note on prep

Everything we print ships as unpainted resin, ready for you to clean and prime. Resin holds fine detail like chainmail rings and facial expressions very well, which is why so many painters prefer it, but it does need a wash and a primer coat before paint goes on. Our prepping and priming guide covers that step, and painting resin miniatures for beginners takes you from primer to finished figure. If you need colours, we stock paint sets as well.

Not sure where to begin? Pick one Galaad set for your party and one monster from Printed Obsession for them to fight. That's a full session's worth of painting and play, and you can grow from there through the whole fantasy range.

Frequently asked questions

Where can I buy fantasy miniatures in the UK?

We sell print-on-demand fantasy miniatures from our UK store, with ranges from Galaad Miniatures, Artisan Guild, RN Estudio, Bite the Bullet and Printed Obsession, among others. Browse the fantasy collection to see them all.

What scale are fantasy miniatures for D&D?

Most D&D players use 28mm to 32mm figures on 25mm bases, which fits a standard one-inch battle grid. Our 28/32mm option is the one designed for gaming.

Are your fantasy miniatures painted?

No. They're printed to order in resin and arrive unpainted, so you'll need to clean, prime and paint them yourself.

Can I buy one figure instead of the full set?

Yes, on many of them. Galaad and RN Estudio sets, for example, let you choose a single character from the Pack option on the product page, or pick "Full Set" for the whole release. Some larger Artisan Guild bundles are sold as one complete set.

What is the best fantasy miniatures set for beginners?

A small themed set such as Galaad's Norse Fighter or Artisan Guild's Troubles in Tavern is a good first buy. You get a matched group of characters that work as a party or a set of NPCs, without committing to a full army.