Here is our updated list of the best alternatives to Games Workshop Warhammer 40k and Age of Sigmar models / miniatures from independent third-party company releases!
Tabletop wargaming has become a popular hobby, and Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40k miniatures have been at the forefront of this trend for many years. However, with increased competition, independent third-party companies have released unique and innovative alternatives to GW’s designs.
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- Sci-Fi Best Third-Party Alternatives to Warhammer 40k
- Fantasy Best Third-Party Alternatives to Warhammer
Best Third-Party Alternative Miniatures & Proxies
The following companies offer a massive selection of options for gamers looking to spice up their collections, from bits and upgrade kits to full-blown miniatures and terrain.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the best independent company miniatures as third-party alternatives to Games Workshop models and miniatures for games like Warhammer 40k, Age of Sigmar (AoS), and the tabletop hobby in general.
Sci-fi Third-Party Alternative Miniatures and Models To Games Workshop Warhammer 40k
Imperial Knight Upgrades by Taro Modelmaker
Let’s take a look at our updated list of some of the best independent company miniatures for alternatives to Games Workshop miniatures and the tabletop hobby in general. Snag these alternatives that are perfect for miniature games like Warhammer 40k, and give us a high-five in support! Every qualifying purchase helps Spikey Bits keep the lights on and the fun going.
Third-Party Alternative Warhammer 40k Figures, Models, and Bits By Company:
- Wargame Exclusive (Traditional Miniatures & STLS) Alternate models for all factions of your favorite futuristic sci-fi factions
- Pop Goes the Monkey (3D Prints & STLs) Conversion Bits and kits for Warhammer 40k and more.
- Hardcore Miniatures (3D Prints & STLs) Fantastic Ork alternate models and more.
- Battle Bling (3D Prints & STLs) focuses on amazing bits mainly for AT, and AI, but also plenty for 40k and Heresy as well.
- Liber Daemonica (Traditional Miniatures) Full kits, bits, and painting studio.
- Hexy Store (Traditional Miniatures) From bits to acrylic game aides for Sci-Fi and Fantasy games.
Land Raider Upgrades by The Custom Bit
- Zealot Miniatures (Traditional Miniatures & STLS) has an awesome selection of fantasy minis and terrain.
- Anvil Industry (Traditional Miniatures & STLS) Futuristic sci-fi soldiers and bit collections
- The Custom Bit (3D Prints & STLs) has great conversion kits, upgrades, and models for Warhammer 40k and more.
- Deadly Print Studio (3D Prints & STLs)has some of the best-looking 3D printable accessories for your models.
- Heresy Lab (3D Prints & STLs)has unique alternative designs for games like Warhammer 40k, Mordhiem, Necromunda, and more.
- Halo Flashpoint (Traditional Miniatures) Do you love Halo? Well, then you might have to pick up this game and play it on the tabletop!
SpaceNam Plastics from Wargames Atlantic
- Wargames Atlantic (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures)Has some of the coolest minis on the market for insanely affordable prices.
- Modiphius (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures)offers some of the coolest games on the market, with many great minis that are usable in many game systems.
- Armorcast Terraform Terrain (Traditional Miniatures) They have some amazing laser-cut terrain that will set your tabletop apart.
- Mantic Firefight (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) This game is not only fun to play, but the miniatures are great alternatives as well.
- Grey Tide Studio (3d Prints & STLs) Great designs for Space Marines!
Magnum Packs From Liber Daemonica
- Zinge (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures)futuristic bits, monsters, vehicles & more
- Creature Caster (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Amazing Daemon alternative models for sci-fi and fantasy
- Vanguard Miniatures (Traditional Miniatures) Has a huge selection of scaled-down minis. Tanks & weapons!
- Star Wars Legion (AMG) (Traditional Miniatures)Great line of Star Wars models
- Anarchy Models (Traditional Miniatures)Painting tools and conversion bits
- SciborMiniatures (Traditional Miniatures)Fantasy models and busts
Kits from Fallout Hobbies.
- Fallout Hobbies (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) They have everything from full alternative kits to upgrade bits to decals and everything in between.
- Kromlech (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Their Bits of war site features bits and alternate models for just about any setting
- Maxmini (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Alternate minis and upgrade options for your models
- HiTech Miniatures (Traditional Miniatures) futuristic sci-fi models
- Bitspudlo (Traditional Miniatures) Huge selection of conversion bits
- Reptilian Overlords (3D Prints, STLs)They’ve got a whole line of futuristically dark models to spice up your collections with and other great conversion bits.
Muzzle Effects & Smoke Effects by Deadly Print Studio
- Dark Place Miniatures (Traditional Miniatures) amazing Chaos-themed minis and demons.
- Ramshackle Games (Traditional Miniatures) alternate mini selection for fantasy and futuristic games
- Puppetswar (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) alternative soldier and elite troops minis
- Raging Heroes (Which also has fantasy minis listed below) (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) has insanely detailed female models of all shapes and sizes
- Pig-Iron-Productions (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) futuristic soldier options
- Statuesque Miniatures (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) great alternate character minis and more
- The Magnet Baron (Magnet Kits) If you want to future-proof your miniatures, they have tons of kits made specifically for 40k! Making it really easy.
Puppets War – Ork Predator (printed or STL)
- Mastercrafted (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Bits & Upgrades
- VictoriaMiniatures (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) IG Male & Female Soldier models and bits
- Warlord Games (Traditional Miniatures) Games, WWII, historical, and fantasy models
- Crooked-Dice (Traditional Miniatures) historical/ futuristic sci-fi models and games
- Mad Robot Miniatures (Traditional Miniatures) Bits and accessories for all kinds of minis
- Legio Models (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Alternate kits for Knights
- Iron Wolf Minis (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Keeping the focus on Knights a bit more, Iron Wolf Minis offers some very unique upgrades, especially for the helmet and weapons.
Kroot alternative by Wargame Exclusive
- Heresy Miniatures (Traditional Miniatures) Great fantasy minis!
- Copplestone Castings (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Soldier minis & more
- Hf minis (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Character alternatives!
- The Assault Group (Traditional Miniatures) More character alternatives
- Firefight (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) By Mantic Games alternate army options. Great centerpiece models
- Infinity the Game (Traditional Miniatures) Incredible futuristic sculpts perfect for characters/elites
- Taro Modelmaker (Traditional Miniatures) has amazing-quality resin alternate bits for futuristic/sci-fi mechanical walkers like Knights.
- Mortian (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Incredible futuristic tank options fit the bill for all kinds of battlefield roles in your games
Kromlech Seraphim Knights Primary Conversion Bits
- Meridian Miniatures (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Historic Soldier options
- Blitzkrieg Miniatures (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) WWII theme army options
- Tinker Turf (Traditional Miniatures)Tinker Turf has some great options for tabletop terrain and even has some great options for some display board spice!
- Artel “W” Miniatures (Traditional Miniatures) Has some of the best alternative 40k minis out there
Artel “W” Miniatures Wolves Chapter Master
Third-Party Alternative Warhammer 40k Figures and Models By Faction:
- Third-party Alternative Necron Miniatures
- Best Imperial Guard Alternatives
- Best Third-Party Alternative Miniatures & Companies to Forge World
- Best Alternatives To GW for Adeptus Titanicus & Legions Imperialis
- The Best Leagues of Votann Alternatives To Games Workshop
- Some of the Best Chaos Alternatives to Forge World
- Best Third-Party Imperial & Chaos Knights Alternatives
- 6 Best Alternative Slaanesh Models That Aren’t GW or Forge World
- Affordable Space Marine Alternatives
- Tau Alternatives
- Imperial Knight Alternatives
- Tons of Dark Eldar Alternatives
Terrain Alternatives For Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Sector 13 from Frontline Gaming
- Frontline Gaming they have all kinds of pre-made and pre-painted terrain made for tournaments, saving you a ton of time!
- War Scenery has tons of wild 3D STL sets that can kit out an entire table.
- Tabletop Terrain has tons of full-size kits for specific factions that you can’t really find anywhere else.
- BW Terrain and Forge have a bunch of terrain, bits, and everything you need to enhance your games!
- Squad Marks has a terrain system that fits an entire table of terrain in a single box!
Imperial Terrain from War Scenery
- Snot Goblin recently came out with a LEGO-style setup to make games easy and future-proofed.
- J15 Games has perfect terrain and accessories for Warhammer 40k.
- Jucoci has great pre-painted terrain that saves you tons of time on building and painting and more time for playing!
- Imperial Terrain (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Imperial Terrain has a huge variety of terrain options matching futuristic battlezones/town buildings as well as overgrown temples/ ancient ruins
- Game Mat EU (Terrain & Mats)
Full pre-painted terrain from Juccoci
- Corvus Games Terrain
- 3D Alien Worlds
- Asgard Rising (fantasy terrain)
- Kromlech (HDF and resin terrain)
- Archon Studios
Fantasy Third-Party Alternative Figures, Models and Miniatures To Games Workshop Warhammer Age of Sigmar
- Tabletop Art (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Fantasy Figures
- Dark Sword Miniatures (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Fantastic options for D&D/fantasy characters
- Avatars-of-War (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) has some of the coolest classic styles of sculpts out there!
- Reaper Minis (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures)
- Spellcrow (Traditional Miniatures)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.
Classic Orcs by Avatars of War
- Game Zone Miniatures (Traditional Miniatures) Orcs, Goblins, Vampires, and more great fantasy options
- Raging Heroes (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures)
- Fireforge-games (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures)
- Other World Miniatures (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures)
- Black Site Terrain (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) These guys have the tech to fit all your terrain needs. From Sci-fi to nature, all the way to historicasl.
- Privateer Press (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) Warmachine, Hordes figures, and everything Iron Kingdoms.
- Lost Kingdom Miniatures (Fantasy Kickstarters & Direct Sales) (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures)
- Megalith-Games (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) More Kickstarter fantasy factions
- Wyrd-Games (Traditional Miniatures)
High Elves by Raging Heroes
- Mierce-Miniatures (Traditional Miniatures) Fantastic alternate minis for fantasy games/ D&D groups
- Claymore Castings (Traditional Miniatures) Medieval-themed Knight minis & more
- Victrix Limited (Traditional Miniatures) Empire gunners in Napoleonic style, other historical models like Romans
- Kings of War (3D Prints, STLs & Traditional Miniatures) By Mantic Games alternate army options. Great centerpiece models
Mierce Miniatures’ Mjagnir
So, there you have it – a plethora of fantastic Third-party alternatives to Games Workshop miniatures for systems like Warhammer 40k or Age of Sigmar! Whether you’re into futuristic sci-fi or fantasy gaming, there’s definitely something on this list that will catch your eye and elevate your tabletop experience.
With so many to choose from, take your time and explore what they offer to ensure you get exactly what you want from the Best Alternatives to Games Workshop designs and Warhammer 40k, The Old World, and Age of Sigmar models / miniatures this year!
Don’t miss out on these posts for even more awesome games and money-saving tips for your hobby purchases!
- Best Alternative Tabletop Games to Games Workshop
- Buy Cheap & Save Money on Warhammer 40k, AoS
- Top Warhammer Army Lists
- Essential Hobby Supplies, Tools for Miniatures & Wargames Models
What do you think about these models and miniatures that are a great alternative to Games Workshop and Warhammer systems, like 40k or Age of Sigmar? Do you have a “go-to”?
Editor’s Note: Since we published the first article of this series over six years ago, 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. 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 they “don’t suck.”
That said, feel free to email us (support AT Spikeybits.com) if you think we should look at a particular company or want to get your product into our hands for a promo or review.
