Avoid photographing your set-up from this unrealistic angle - it is too high.  This angle is how we are accustomed to looking at action figures and so they appear more like toys than if you shoot them from a lower angle.  Further, a combat photographer would have trouble finding this angle unless he has the opportunity to photograph from the top of a tank, truck or the second floor of a building.

This angle is more realistic and makes the figures appear larger than the previous example.  Try to photograph your scenes from the figures eye level or below; lay on the ground with your camera and tabletop tripod.  Photograph your scene from various angles and edit to the best one after the film is developed.

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This photo is the most realistic of the three examples.  I cropped in the camera to the essentials of this set-up; I cropped out the figures feet because I felt that they did not add any necessary information to the meaning of the image.  Photographing from the figures eye level and cropping out the feet helps to create a more realistic image.

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This was my photographic set-up for taking the Tips photos.  My studio tripod is on the left supporting the reflector, which helped to bounce a little light into the shadow areas.  My camera with cable release and tabletop tripod is on the right.  Note that I had to elevate the tripod with my toolbox because placing it on the ground produced too low of an angle.  There are more stable ways to anchor the tripod than the handle of a toolbox, but this provided a quick solution.  I photographed using the mirror lock up feature on the camera to help reduce vibration.