3D printing miniatures, as a hobby, a technology, and an industry, hasn't brought corporations to their knees and flipped the miniature wargames world on its head like we were told it would - but it is profoundly changing how our favorite games are made, sold, and played. Fast growing STL mega-market MyMiniFactory is one of the biggest players in that transition, so we've invited one of their bosses for a live video AMA in Discord, to answer your questions on what the hell is actually going on in 3D printing (and what's coming next).
MyMiniFactory's head of marketing and brand management, Anjuli Smith, will be joining us in Discord this Thursday, November 6, to answer your 3D printing questions in an hourlong live video AMA! It all kicks off at 11.30am ET / 8.30am PT / 4.30pm GMT - so make sure you join the free Wargamer Discord community to get involved.
Anyone who joins the AMA and asks a question will be automatically entered in our giveaway draw to win a bundle of sick Fighting Fantasy 3D printable mini files, too - so it could be your perfect intro to the 3DP hobby!
If you're a seasoned resin-stirrer who's knee deep in the world of 3D printing miniatures, you've probably heard of MyMiniFactory (MMF) already, so you should come join the AMA just to ask the firm what new treats it's got cooking!
But, for the uninitiated: MMF is an online marketplace where anyone can sign up to sell their 3D model designs to folks who want to print them at home. Naturally, that means there's a befuddlingly vast range of stuff on there, from cars to cannons to candy canes, but what's really interesting is what MMF is doing with official game publishers.
Historically, a lot of for-profit tabletop game designers and manufacturers have seen 3D printers as a risk, not a benefit; if gamers can print dodgy fake versions of our miniatures for a fraction of the price, why would they buy our official products?
MMF seemingly wants to change that, and it's done deals with big name publishers like Steamforged Games and Modiphius Entertainment to sell high quality, official STL files for their games: notably the fantastic reborn Warmachine from Steamforged, and Modiphius' Bethesda licenced games Fallout: Wasteland Warfare and The Elder Scrolls: Call to Arms.
For example, when Steamforged launched the its Warmachine Old Umbrey sets earlier this year, it also brought out an alternate 'extreme' sculpt of the faction's character Kapitan Galina Lissya; a bunch of wild looking conversion parts and alternate heads for Old Umbrey's Warbeast minis, and a whole range of themed terrain pieces via its 'Warmachine 3D' range on MMF.
As wargamers and 3D printing hobbyists both, we find this development very interesting, and we really want to know which of our other beloved games might be joining MMF's stable in the near future! In our view, if there's one thing more satisfying than printing minis at home cheaper than retail, it's doing it in a way where the artists that made the damn things actually get some of the money.
Maybe you agree, and maybe you vehemently don't. Some folks still see 3D printing as a justified, anti-capitalist Wild West; a way for cash strapped gamers to entirely ignore official products (like Games Workshop's ever more expensive Warhammer 40k armies) and print whole legions of minis for every game imaginable at home, for cheaps.
We can understand both sides. Wherever you stand, if you want to learn more, come join our Discord AMA with MyMiniFactory on Thursday and get your burning questions answered!
If you can't make it this time, don't worry - we'll share the full AMA video via the Wargamer YouTube channel. To get advance warning of all these AMA events, plus a basket of all our biggest and best tabletop games news each week, you can also sign up to Wargamer's free weekly email newsletter!