If you’re looking for some new minis for any faction, don’t miss our updated list of the top alternative miniature lines to GW, in our latest roundup.
They say competition breeds innovation and lower prices, and for this industry that seems to hold true, somewhat.
As we’ve said previously, it’s hard to deny that Games Workshop’s designs for miniatures have made a quantum leap in the last few years. Part of that is sure to stem from the new 3D computer design and printing technology out there. When you lead the pack, there is always someone right behind you, and in this day and age that has never been truer.
Which of these lines do you like and why?
UPDATE: Since we published this article we have received a lot of messages asking us why “XYZ” company wasn’t on this list, either by hobbyists who had used their products OR by the folks who owned those companies. Just to be clear this is a list of folks I have personally worked with in the past or used their products so, for the most part, I can say without a doubt they “don’t suck”.
That being said feel free to email us (support AT Spikeybits.com) if you think we should take a look at a particular company or want to get your product into our hands for a promo or review.
60 Best Miniature Lines That Aren’t Games Workshop
Spellcrow
One pic doesn’t do Spellcrow justice. They’ve got alternate bits for fantasy and futuristic sci-fi games as well as their own line of models.
Tinker Turf
Tinker Turf has some great options for tabletop terrain and even has some great options for some display board spice!
Mortian
Mortian has some incredible futuristic tank options that fit the bill for all kinds of battlefield roles in your games.
Black Site Terrain
Black Site terrain has 3D printed and laser cut-wooden buildings that are great for blasted warzone landscapes and more!
Imperial Terrain
Imperial Terrain has a huge variety of terrain options matching futuristic battlezones/town buildings as well as overgrown temples/ ancient ruins.
Heresy Lab
Heresy lab has been at it for years, from Kickstarters to their online store, there are a TON of minis for you to hobby on. From pain trains to “not primarchs” there may not be a larger catalog of Imperial wargaming minis on the web.
Hexy Store:
This set includes components to upgrade your Sisters of Mercy vehicles! With it, you will be able to remake some old models to fit your Sisters of Mercy army or give some unique feel to the new ones!
Looking for some dope accessories for your armies? From bits to acrylic game aides, Hexy Store has you covered!
Wargames Atlantic
Wargames Atlantic focuses in on the footsoldiers of the tabletop. Bringing actual historical models to the tabletop as well as a futuristic blend of past soldiers equipped with advanced wargear. Check out Wargames Atlantic.
Models & Minis
Models & Minis offers a whole myriad of tabletop accessories as well as alternative bits to popular factions like Guard, Marines, Orcs, etc. If you’re searching for an off-the-wall bit, there’s a good chance these guys might have it.
Titan-Forge
We’ve had Titan-forge on this list for a while. However, on top of bringing more new models to their entire line, they just did something really unique. They’re now also offering 3D-printable PDF files of models on their Patreon.
They’ve got ALL KINDS of options, and for the rest of March you can get 180 3D model files for only $10
Modiphius
Modiphius has some outstanding resin sculpts and entire games built around the Fallout, Star Trek, Skyrim universes and more! You might find that the overall content from Modiphius serves as a “breath of fresh air” to the norm.
Armorcast Terraform Terrain
Armorcast Terraform Terrain has everything ranging to unit bases, laser cut terrain, both fantasy and Sci-fi models as well as so much more. Whether you’re tricking out your minis or your tabletop, these guys really do have an awesome inventory you don’t want to skip over.
Futuristic Alternative Miniature Companies To GW
Let’s take a look at our updated list of some of the best independent company miniatures for alternatives for Games Workshop’s minis, and the tabletop hobby in general:
- Blood and Skulls Industry More armor plates and alternate tank bits
- Mastercrafted Bits & Upgrades
- VictoriaMiniatures IG Male & Female Soldier models and bits
- Warlord Games Games, WWII, historical, and fantasy models
- Crooked-Dice historical/ futuristic sci-fi models and games
- mad robot miniatures Bits and accessories for all kinds of minis
- Legio Models Alternate kits for Knights
- Heresy Lab: Great Sci-Fi designs for Imperial factions and vehicles.
- Taro Modelmaker If you’re in the market for specific bits and one-off conversions for your Knight, these guys have an incredible selection.
- Iron Wolf Minis Keeping the focus on Knights a bit more, Iron Wolf Minis offers some very unique upgrades, especially for the helmet and weapons.
Puppets War – Prime Battle Walker V1
- Wargame Exclusive Alternate models for all factions of your favorite futuristic sci-fi factions
- Da-green-one Great alternate orc models.
- Cogmind Custom Bits
- Pop Goes the Monkey 3D Astartes Conversion Bits
- Gadgets Plus 3D Knight Upgrade Bits
- Prodos Games AvP, Warzone Ressurection, etc.
- Hardcore Miniatures Fantastic Orc alternate models and more.
- Hexy Store: acrylic game aides, and resin upgrade bits for Wargames.
Creature Caster’s Death Elemental
- Anarchy Models Painting tools and conversion bits
- SciborMiniatures Fantasy models and busts
- Kromlech (Bits of war) bits and alternate models for just about any setting
- Maxmini Alternate minis and upgrade options for your models
- HiTech Miniatures futuristic sci-fi models
- Bitspudlo Huge selection of conversion bits
- Reptilian Overlords They’ve got a whole line of futuristically dark models to spice up your collections with as well as other great conversion bits.
Lord of Death by Wargame Exclusive
- Zealot Miniatures awesome selection of fantasy minis and terrain.
- Anvil Industry Futuristic sci-fi soldiers and bit collections
- Titan Forge (Also featured above) Futuristic sci-fi tanks and incredible fantasy dragons
Lord Lionel From Soul Dark
- Conversion World Just about any alternate weapon bits you can think of
- Soul Dark Sci-Fi Primarchs & more
- Zinge futuristic bits, monsters, vehicles & more
- DreamForge-Games More alternate sci-fi models
- Creature Caster Amazing Fantasy Models
- Vanguard Miniatures Huge selection of scaled-down minis. Tanks & weapons!
- Star Wars Legion (FFG) Great line of Star Wars models (rebel and Imperial factions)
Essential Hobby Products List
Pig Iron Productions
- Nuclear Shrimp Games Titans of all sizes
- Ramshackle Games alternate mini selection for fantasy and futuristic games
- Puppetswar soldier and elite troops minis
- Raging Heroes (Also has fantasy minis listed below) insanely detailed female models of all shapes and sizes
- Forge Planet More conversion bits
- Pig-Iron-Productions futuristic soldier options
- Statuesque Miniatures great alternate character minis and more
Legio Models Nuns of Battle Kit
- Heresy Miniatures Great fantasy minis!
- Copplestone Castings Soldier minis & more
- Hf minis Character alternatives!
- The Assault Group More character alternatives
- Mantic Games alternate army options. Great centerpiece models
- Infinity the Game Incredible futuristic sculpts perfect for characters/elites
- Taro Modelmaker amazing-quality resin alternate bits for futuristic/sci-fi mechanical walkers like Knights.
- Fox Box This company is awesome if you’re looking for a bunch of specific bits. If you’re in the market for the things that are harder to find, Fox Box probably has them.
- Mortian Incredible futuristic tank options that fit the bill for all kinds of battlefield roles in your games.
- Imperial Terrain Imperial Terrain has a huge variety of terrain options matching futuristic battlezones/town buildings as well as overgrown temples/ ancient ruins.
Kromlech’s Orc Greatcoat Company
- Meridian Miniatures Historic Soldier options
- Blitzkrieg Miniatures WWII theme army options
- Secret Weapon Miniatures Great alternate bit options
- Tinker Turf Tinker Turf has some great options for tabletop terrain and even has some great options for some display board spice!
- Artel “W” Miniatures (Gothic Line pictured below)
Artel W Flaming Drake Prime
Fantasy Alternative Miniature Companies To GW
- Tabletop Art Fantasy Figures
- Dark Sword Miniatures Fantastic options for D&D/fantasy characters
- Avatars-of-War
- Reaper Mini
- Spellcrow One pic doesn’t do Spellcrow justice. They’ve got alternate bits for fantasy and futuristic sci-fi games as well as their own line of models.
Dark Sword Mini Sloth Mage
- Game Zone Miniatures Orcs, Goblins, Vampires, and more great fantasy options
- Norsgard
- Raging Heroes
- Fireforge-games
- Other World Miniatures
- Black Site Terrain These guys have the tech to fit all your terrain needs. From Sci-fi to nature, all the way to historical.
Norsgard Orc Templars
- Mini Monsters Alternate and themed Terrain
- Privateer Press Warmachine figures
- Lost Kingdom Miniatures (Fantasy Kickstarters & Direct Sales)
- Megalith-Games More Kickstarter fantasy factions
- Wyrd-Games
Lost Kingdom Yacatecuhtli, Cuetzpal Father
- Mierce-Miniatures Fantastic alternate minis for fantasy games/ D&D groups
- Claymore Castings Medieval-themed Knight minis & more
- Victrix Limited Empire gunners in Napoleonic style, other historical models like Romans
Mierce Miniatures’ Maatmag, Gigantic Mammoth
There’s no doubt that there are plenty of awesome miniature companies out there. And with all of these alternative companies to GW to choose from, take your time and explore what they offer to make sure you get exactly what you want!
Essential Hobby Products List
With so many options to explore where will you look to first for alternate bits? Have you decided to take up 3D printing yourself?
Let us know in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group, and make sure you enter the latest monthly giveaway for FREE today!
Editor’s Note: Since we published the first article we have received a lot of messages asking us why “XYZ” company wasn’t on this list, either by hobbyists who had used their products OR by the folks who owned those companies. Just to be clear this is a list of folks I have personally worked with in the past or used their products so, for the most part, I can say without a doubt they “don’t suck”.
That being said feel free to email us (support AT Spikeybits.com) if you think we should take a look at any alternative companies to GW or want to get your product into our hands for a promo or review.
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
