Squad vs Character Miniatures: Planning What to Add Next

Quick answer

Buy a squad first when you are still building a miniature force, and add characters when a specific role, story, or leader is missing. Squads give you board presence and painting practice for the same money; characters give you a centerpiece, a commander, or a personality your army cannot get from rank-and-file troops.

Most hobby budgets stretch further than they feel like they do, and the real question is not which purchase is better in the abstract. It is which purchase moves your force forward right now. A ten-model squad and a single character kit can cost roughly the same, but they solve completely different problems at the table and on the painting desk.

This comparison uses real Victoria Miniatures kits to show how that decision plays out. We will look at what squads and characters each give you, where the trade-offs bite, and how to sequence purchases so you are not buying a leader for an army that does not exist yet.

What a squad actually buys you

A squad is volume. The Rangers 10 Man Squad Remastered (EB) puts ten models on the table for USD 30.00, and the kit includes extra bits for customization. That is ten chances to practice a paint scheme, ten bases to texture, and enough bodies to fill out a formation instead of leaving gaps in your line.

The Desert Scorpions Rough Rider Squad takes a different route: five mounted models with horses, arms, rifles, and 60mm oval bases included. Fewer models, but each one occupies more space and reads as a distinct unit on the table. Either way, you are buying presence and repetition, not a single focal point.

• Count models per dollar before comparing kits, not just the sticker price.
• Squads reward batch painting; characters punish it because every detail is visible.

What a character miniature actually does

Characters solve a problem squads cannot: identity. The Commissar Collection contains Commissar Yusuf Wick, Commissar Annaka Sage, a Tannenburg Colonel, and Commissar Titus Stoutfoot with 'Muffin.' That is four distinct personalities in one set, each with a role a generic trooper cannot fill.

A character is also a painting project with a different rhythm. You can spend an evening on one face, one coat, one piece of equipment, and see the result immediately. That focus is exactly why characters stall on the desk: there is nowhere to hide a rushed layer when the model is the centerpiece.

• Buy a character when you can name the role it fills in your force.
• If you cannot decide on a paint scheme yet, a character is a risky first purchase.

The real trade-off: coverage versus identity

Spend USD 30.00 on the Rangers 10 Man Squad Remastered (EB) and you get a playable unit plus spare components. Spend a similar amount on the Commissar Collection and you get four named figures that anchor a command structure but cannot hold an objective on their own. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions.

The trap is buying characters too early. A leader with no unit to lead looks good on a shelf but does little for a growing force. The reverse trap is buying squad after squad and ending up with a faceless collection that has no story and no centerpiece to draw the eye.

• A rough rule: one character for every two or three squads keeps a force balanced.
• If you already own several squads and no leader, the next purchase is obvious.

Heavy weapons and support: the middle ground

Not every purchase is a squad or a character. Support kits sit between the two. The Mortar is a multi-part 3D printed kit with a 60mm round plastic base, and crew and alternative wheel options are sold separately. The Missile Launcher Rockets x12 is a 12-piece resin accessory set recommended for use with the Desert Scorpions Missile Launcher Team.

These kits add capability to units you already own rather than starting something new. That makes them efficient if your squads exist but feel thin, and wasteful if you have not built the units they attach to. Check what a kit supports before buying it as a standalone project.

• Accessory kits assume you already own the parent unit; confirm that first.
• Support pieces are cheaper per purchase but rarely satisfying as a solo build.

How to sequence your next three purchases

Start with one squad to establish your paint scheme and get models on the table. Add a second squad once the first is finished, so you are not stacking unbuilt boxes. Then add a character to lead what you have, followed by support pieces that extend those units.

This order keeps every purchase usable. It also means your character gets painted after you have already solved your scheme on rank-and-file models, which is far less stressful than experimenting on a centerpiece.

• Finish before you buy: unbuilt squads are the most common hobby bottleneck.
• Keep one character in progress while batch painting squads to avoid burnout.

Trade-offs at a glance

• Models per purchase: The Rangers 10 Man Squad Remastered (EB) gives ten models; the Desert Scorpions Rough Rider Squad gives five mounted models; the Commissar Collection gives four characters. Squads win on raw model count, characters win on distinctiveness per model.
• Table presence: Squads fill formations and hold space. Characters occupy a single point and depend on the units around them. If your force looks empty, buy a squad before a character.
• Painting time per model: Rank-and-file models tolerate batch painting and minor imperfections. Characters are the models people look at first. Paint a squad first to lock in your scheme, then apply it to a character.
• Hidden extra costs: The Mortar is supplied with a 60mm round base, but crew and alternative wheel options are available separately. The Missile Launcher Rockets x12 is recommended for use with the Desert Scorpions Missile Launcher Team. Read what a kit includes before assuming it is a complete project.

Kits that show the trade-off

• Rangers 10 Man Squad Remastered (EB): Border World Rangers 10 Man Squad, digitally remastered, with pre-assembled components in this Easy Build kit and extra bits for customization. A fully modular version is also available. Ten models with spare parts give you volume and flexibility, which is the strongest starting point for a new force.
• Desert Scorpions Rough Rider Squad: A complete five-model mounted squad including heads and torsos, five horses, arms, rifles in holsters, and five 60mm by 35mm oval bases. Fewer models but larger footprints and a distinct silhouette, so this reads as a specialist unit rather than bulk infantry.
• Commissar Collection: Contains Commissar Yusuf Wick, Commissar Annaka Sage, a Tannenburg Colonel, and Commissar Titus Stoutfoot and 'Muffin.' Four named characters in one purchase gives you command identity and multiple painting projects, but no unit to hold ground.
• Mortar: A multi-part 3D printed heavy weapon kit for 28mm troops, supplied with a 60mm round plastic base. Crew and alternative wheel options are available separately. A support piece that upgrades an existing unit; the separately sold crew means you should budget for more than the base kit.

Which should you buy next?

Choose a squad if

• You are building a miniature force and need playable units on the table
• You want to test a paint scheme across several models before committing to a centerpiece
• You already own characters but not enough troops for them to lead

Choose a character if

• You have no finished units for that character to command
• You are still deciding on a colour scheme and do not want to experiment on a focal model
• You need board coverage rather than a single striking figure

Squads and characters are not competing purchases; they are stages of the same plan. Build units first, add leaders once there is something to lead, and use support kits like the Mortar to extend what you already own. Buy in that order and every box you open has an immediate job.