My group made the jump to minis yesterday. We tend to get into a lot of combats, so adding minis to make determining LOS and movement makes a lot of sense for us.

We're currently using models from the game Infinity, with terrain scaled for the same. We also use some models from Rezonelution.

I'd like to hear other people's thoughts on minis and shadowrun, along with any suggestions for model sets and terrain of the right scale.

Though not having played lately, we've used a mix of SF minis including SR models on a hex grid with very little terrain, usually just lines drawn on the map. Good enough to help give combat a tactical feel.
I would like to try a game with minis on a 32" lcd which are cheap enough these days (c$200 occasionally). Lie the TV flat with a sheet of perspex perhaps, plug in a PC and use photo realistic maps with a grid; maye there's some suitable software out there.

Keep an eye out for Sprawl Gangers, a skirmish-scale wargame we're currently playtesting, etc. It's gonna be pretty slick, and (going by the concept art I've seen so far) the minis are gonna be slick! Only gangers for sure so far, but there's plenty of cool shadowrunners with an ex-ganger background, right?

Good choice with Infinity, though. Those guys put out some gorgeous pewter.

What is the ETA for sprawl gangers? also, if you need playtesters I know a shop full of tactical gamers who've played pretty much every system you've ever heard of (Warhammer and 40,000 (including Apocalypse. We have the 93rd Tau Manta that forgeworld ever made), Firestorm Armada, Dystopian wars, Infinity, Uncharted seas, war machine, hordes, D&D minis... and some others I forget) and would be happy to try and break the system for you.

If you are lucky you might find some of the old Ral Partha shadowrun minis in a bargain bin. I did.

Other extinct lines that might work for cheap:
Games Workshop Necromunda
Traveler
Paladium Rifts
Some of those fantasy-steampunk wargames.

I have a tendency to use my old BloodBowl minis for big fights as a GM. They all have numbers on them, so it's easy to keep things straight.

What scale is it? Hopefully it's 15mm.

We've used the roll20 system before. Allows everyone with a laptop to log in and move their own digital mini's around. Also allows GM's to create maps in advance. Not that I mind using a dry erase pen and mats, but you can put in some pretty good detail with their system. It's also free, which is nice. Pay for custom content, but the base is 0¥.

http://roll20.net/

We've occasionally used projectors and walls for large scale maps, but honestly, the best thing we've found is a dry erase board. One of my players "acquired" the old magnetic white board out of a school that was being renovated and turned into a 4' by 8' table. He then put permanent tape on it, dividing it into 1" squares. Took him FOREVER to do, but it is easily the best gaming table I've ever used. The best use for monitors I've found was hooking up my iPad and using it to keep track of initiative and status effects where the whole group could see.

We rarely actually use minis for SR, but on the few occasions we have, we used a combination of various D&D and Clix games for the enemies and Reaper or Malifaux minis for PCs. Reaper gets a really bad rap from mini snobs, but to be perfectly honest, I've never gotten a bad mini from them because I'm smart enough to inspect it through the package before I buy. Their range of modern figs is (from what I've seen) the most varied in the business and if you can't find a mini for your character there, you need to have one sculpted custom. Hell, right now, I've got a Luchador with a folding chair in one hand and a piece of pipe in the other sitting on my desk right now, just waiting for a chance to brain someone in game.

edit: I never really thought about it, but having a projector mounted above our white gaming table could mean that we would project the maps directly on the table and have a grid already in place. I will have to try this sometime soon.

That's not a bad idea.

I have to admit the first thing I thought of when I saw the thread title was 'Cool, the Rigger switched over to the Mini Coop-Yamatsu hybrids'

but yeah, miniatures can help for keeping track of movement and just look cool.

The worst thing that can happen is when someone says, "Oh, I never would have done that if I had known how close those guys were. Well, that sucks."

..or something to that effect..

Combat aids are *always* welcome in my games for this reason. Plus, I have a background in art, so it's fun to keep it visual.

Sadly, I suck at art. But, I do know two very prominent Artists... Mr. Xerox and Mr. Google.

Found a new site, very nice terrain of the 'print-and-assemble' variety.
Battle Systems
Really worth checking out.

I can just imagine purchasing that, having a table set up, all my little trees and boulders, painted hellhounds, and whatnot.. only to discover that the team finds a way to circumnavigate a frontal full-combat approach. Would be just my luck. All that time spent in creating a battlezone and it turns into a Matrix run.