D&D Miniatures Entry Pack

[IronWolf]

 

[Bomberg]

About at the same time as the 3rd edition of D&D, WotC published the Chainmail miniatures game. It used metal miniatures, creatures unknown to the roleplaying rules, and sort of an own background. Its success seems to have been limited, as Chainmail isn't supported anymore. Instead, we are treated to collectable plastic miniatures, pre-painted and (mostly) taken from the roleplaying sources.

My point of view

As a long time roleplayer and DM I looked at miniatures ever so often, but my humble efforts at painting those small lumps of metal neither did the miniatures justice, nor did they satisfy me or my players. So after a few sessions the miniatures disappeared from the table. The advent of the 3rd edition changed that. The more tactical approach to combat begged to be supported by counters at least. Fiery Dragon's Counter Collection helped us in this regard. I anticipated the prepainted minis to bring the third dimension to the gaming table, without having to rely on my meager artistic skills.

Breaking the seal

This review is based on a single Entry Pack, containing 16 miniatures, the appropriate stats cards, several cardboard tiles, a copy of the Miniatures Rules, and a d20. As I'm not interested in drifting over to the tabletop field, I'll ignore the rules booklet.

Each of the minis is sealed in its own small plastic bag, which does little to protect it. Nevertheless my minis saw the light of my gaming table in good condition. For each mini a stat card with somewhat abbreviated D&D stats on one side and the stats for the miniatures ruls on the other is provided. The tiles can be used as small floorplans for a roleplaying adventure, but are a bit small for this purpose, as was to be expected.

What meets the eye

The miniatures are in 25mm scale as opposed to the 28mm scale used by most companies in the field. Due to this, they appear quite fragile, but the material used is very forgiving. You may bend the mini in any direction without any negative effects.

The detail of the minis is very convincing. Face expression, clothing, and weapons all look very fitting. Many miniatures from other vendors use comic-like proportions with pronounced details. This is not the case with WotC's minis. The proportions are more life-like than those of, say, GW minis.

The poses shown are a mixed bag. While I like minis in other poses than the screaming, weapon over the head one seen so often - and WotC delivers in this regard - the Wood Elf Skirmisher practicing yoga while shooting an arrow is awful.

Probably, the most criticism will be directed at the paint job. I have no doubt that the average tabletop buff achieves a much higher quality and the minis I have seen so far will not stand up well to scrutiny under a magnifying glass. In some places, the painting is sloppy, and the face of the Axe Sister is just a lifless mask. The tiny details which cause the observers to drool over a mini are absent. But seen from the typical distance the roleplayer maintains to minis on the gaming table, all those little problems vanish. Under these conditions, the painting is totally adequate.

Is it collectable?

Sadly, it is. You have no way to buy the minis you want or need. This leaves you with either a very small collection unable to satisfy your everyday gaming needs or a large number of minis you will probably never use. Of course there are ways to get the ones you want, but those ways do place another burdon on me, where my reason to go for the prepainted minis is to remove the burdon from my shoulders.

Will you buy more?

Yes, I will. Just the possibility to get painted minis is a great advantage for me. That those minis represent creatures from my favorite roleplaying game is another plus. In my part of the world, the price for a mini is about the same as for an unpainted metal one. As DM in three campaigns I appreciate the fact that I acquire a lot of different minis in this way. Wether I'll try my hand at the miniatures rules included remains to be seen. Wether WotC can convince me to by packs of the no doubt upcoming future sets depends on the minis offered and wether I don't feel shortchanged at some point in the future.

My score is somewhere between 3 and 4. 3 might be the more objective score, but as you might have learned from this review, this offer is very tempting for me. So my final verdict is a 4: Well done!

 

[trancejeremy]

"Wow, these are tiny!"

That was my first thought upon opening the D&D miniatures entry box.

Actually, my first thought, is "Where the heck are the minis?". The "Wow, these are tiny!" remark was after I found them (they were at the very bottom on the box - they come in little plastic bags, not plastic containers like Mage Knight, so I was momentarily baffled).

Each box has 16 minis: 10 common, 5 uncommon, and 1 rare. The ones I got were:

Azer Raider
Hyena
Gnome Recruit
Human Commoner
Crested Felldrake
Elf Archer
Halfling Veteran
Ghoul
Wolf Skeleton
Hell Hound
Elf Ranger
Zombie
Orc Warrior
Drow Fighter
Werewolf (Hybrid Form)
Mind Flayer

(Besides the minis and their stat cards, you get a large paper map with 1 inch squares on one side, 8 dungeon terrain tiles, also with 1 inch squares, a d20, a small sheet of counters, a 40 page rulebook - about the same size and quality as old manuals from SSI computer games, and a very thin 1 page rules summary)

I am not a big miniatures fan. I had some when I was a little kid, but as I have no talent for painting, I never bought many. (I also became very allergic to metal - I can't even wear a watch). However, they are very handy for role-playing, especially D&D, so when the concept of prepainted minis was introduced by WizKids, I was intrigued. After a trade for a bunch of Mage Knight figures fell through, I eventually bought a couple of starters, and ended up hooked.

I was somewhat into Mage Knight (MK) for a while. I probably have around 200 figures, and maybe 35 Heroclix. I played it somewhat, but gave up because I didn't like the changes to the dial system (you now need a little ring to turn the clicky base, which I really really didn't like)

Actually, after comparing a MK mini with a D&D mini, the difference in size isn't that great, but the clicky dial is a lot bigger than the D&D base, and the MK are made of a heavier plastic. The MK figures also came in a plastic holder, the D&D minis come in little tiny sealed plastic bag, which is why I couldn't see them at first when I opened the box, they were on the bottom.

The real thing is, that most of the minis I got were of small things. Gnome. Halfling. And the ones that were normal sized, like the Human Commoner, were scrunched over like Marty Feldman in Young Frankenstein (BTW, am I alone in wanting Mel Brooks-Clix?)

Also, the paint jobs on the D&D minis are a lot better than much of my MK figures. For instance, the Gnome Recruit has a tiny little head that is painted, and it actually has painted eyes where eyes should be. It's not uncommon to find eyes or the entire face painted onto the shoulders of a MK figure (though that was more common with the early figures).

And as I look at the detail of the halfling, I am also impressed. The figure is about the width of a dime and about as tall as a dime. I have to squint to see the details of what has been painted on it. One heck of a lot better than I could ever manage (though my manual dexterity sucks, as a kid, I got so frustrated trying to paint minis I ended up just dipping them into the can of paint like easter eggs. camouflage, I called it.)

Some of the minis though are pretty silly. The Hell Hound looks like a dog with a dinosaur fin on it. More funny than scary. The Felldrake bears a striking resemblance to Baby Godzilla (albeit less bipedal). The werewolf has a white belly, making it look more like a were-skunk (it also has a detach-able tail, for reasons beyond my comprehension).

The Mind Flayer is pretty cool, but other than the purplish color to it, it reminds me a bit of Dr. Zoidberg. (While I wouldn't want Futurama-Clix, I think Dr. Zoidberg should get a spin-off - he was the only really funny character. But I digress)

Probably the coolest looking is the Zombie. If a bit creepy. It actually looks like the skin is off, and you can see the bones of the top, but the inside, where the sternum stops, you can see the guts. It also has a full head of hair, which is quite disquieting, he must have been a dead 80's rock singer. The teeth are also painted (one of those things I have to squint to notice).

Also neat (kind of), the Wolf Skeleton has a detachable metal collar and chain. So you could transform any other figure into a punk rocker. Poor wolf though.

So to sum up, the level of detail is better than Mage Knight, as is the paint job. So I am actually very impressed with the minis themselves (other than their small-ish size).

The other stuff with the set are of varying quality.

Unfortunately, folding out the "battle mat" the first time, I managed to tear it. This probably is related to the reason I can't paint minis very well, but it's also fairly light paper.

The small cardboard bits are for "terrain" and are actually fairly sturdy. They are "dungeon" terrain, mostly rooms. 1 statue room, 1 abattoir (too bad no dancing queen figure), 1 rubble room, 1 treasure room, 1 corridor, and 2 assembly tiles (these are tiles that go in the corner, and are placed first). Basically you just place them on the larger paper map.

Each figure also has a matching stat card. The card has D&D mini game stats on one side, and D&D stats on the other. They are about as sturdy as baseball cards - okay, but not great. I was hoping they'd be more like playing cards or CCG cards, coated with something.

The figures are also divided up into 4 factions, based on alignment. Lawful Good, Lawful Evil, Chaotic Evil, Chaotic Good. There are also multi-faction figures which are the neutrals.

The counter sheet has 10 punch out tokens for 5 points of damage, 3 for 25 points, 2 "x"s, presumably used to mark off spells cast, and 2 "+1"s, 2 "+2"s, and 1 "+4", presumably used for spell effects. (As I didn't get any spell-casters, I'm not really sure)


How does it play?


Well, quite frankly, it's a lot like D&D. A whole lot like D&D. That's probably a good thing, considering the name of the game and the intended audience. Or it would be, except in many ways, it's more complicated than it really needs to be.

Each side gets 100 points in which to construct a "warband". The most powerful critter in the first set appears to be the Large Fire Elemental, which has a point value of 50. Most figures tend to be much lower than that, around 3-4 for a weakest. Interestingly, the figures are also rated by levels, like in D&D. There are only broad correlations. My toughest figure, the Mind Flayer is level 8 and 35 points. The elemental, while 50 points, is also apparently 8th level. A Drow Cleric of Lloth is 6th level but 42 points. Level is really only important because it is used as the saving throw modifier (in lieu of "Reflex, Will, Fortitude", found in D&D)

Combat is like D&D 3E, you roll a d20 and add your attack bonus. If the final result is greater than the Armor Class, you hit. Damage is a bit simplified, instead of rolling damage, you do a set amount (a multiple of 5).

Most other D&D 3E combat rules apply - attacks of opportunities, cover modifiers, "full attack" vs. attack and move, charging, flanking, etc.

Besides making damage a fixed amount, as opposed to random, there are some other simplifications. Rather than having 3 different saving throw modifiers, you simply add the figures level to the roll. Otherwise it works the same way.

The big difference is that per turn, you can only move 2 figures. (This seems directly taken from Mage Knight, though that is one more per 100 points of figures)

There are quite a few complications. The first one is "Command". Figures have to be within 6 squares or in line of sight of a "Commander" figure, otherwise they are "out of command", and move slowly. An added complication is that many figures are "Difficult". This is a rating that makes them uncontrollable by certain commanders.

Secondly, morale. When figures reach half their hit point total, they must make a morale saving throw or flee, screaming and running away like, well, you better fill in your own joke.

If they are in "command" they can make a saving throw on later turns to rally , and return to acting like normal.

Frankly, these two rules are more a pain than anything else. You're dealing with at most 12 figures per side, probably closer to 5 or so, so it's skirmish level. Do skirmish level games really need morale or command? I really don't think so.

So, I think it's a pretty poor miniatures game. The complexity is more or less the same level as D&D 3E, so why not play that instead? While I play d20 a lot, I found myself constantly looking things up in the mini rule book.

Related to that last problem I had, was that many (most?) the special abilities are described in the glossary. The glossary! Whose bright idea was that? So that caused quite a bit of confusing on the first (and only) attempt to play the game. (If you're going to copy Mage Knight, why not copy the special abilities on a cardboard reference sheet, too? You do get a "rules summary" sheet, but it's very thing paper and very bare bones)

Secondly, there is no plot or background involved in the game at all. No back story, no plot, nada. So the net result is that it is a rather bland game.

Thirdly, you need more than an "Entry Pack" to actually play the game as described in the rules. The 16 figures I had had a total point value of 160, while for a 2 player game you need 100 points per side. Yes, it's easy to just have 80 points per side, but I think you should be able to play the game as the rules state with what you get in an "Entry" pack. I also had to ignore the faction rules. (In Mage Knight, they have factions, but allow any mix. Factions just get some small perks).

So, the two games (in about 3 1/2 hours, total) I played of this, will probably be the last two games I play of it. Was it horrible? No. Was it fun? No.

I used to think this game was aimed at the Mage Knight market, but other than the collectible aspect, there is little similarity. It's not particularly quick playing, not much fun (IMHO), there doesn't seem to be any sort of organized tournaments or scenarios.

So, bottom line, get this for the minis. While I was a bit turned off by their small size, they really aren't bad upon closer inspection, and they generally are pretty well done.

The miniature game might get better with the Miniature's Handbook, but that's $35. Right now, I can't even afford to buy more minis. Be warned that this is a potentially expensive game to play at it's full potential. Maybe not as pricey as GW games (which can literally costs $1000s), but not cheap, either.


Call it a B for the miniatures themselves and a D for the game

 

[wangka]

Wizards of the Coast's entry into the collectable miniatures market are partially derived from their defunct Chainmail line and benefit from the sizeable Dungeons and Dragons crowd. They are prepainted randomized plastic figures in 25 mm scale. The first release, Harbinger, has eighty figures (common, uncommon, or rare) selling in Entry Packs of 16 or Booster Packs of 8. Entry packs contain the skirmish rule book, a paper map, terrain tiles, and dice, but have proportionally fewer rares.

As an avid Mage Knight and D&D player, I eagerly looked forward to this product both for the miniatures game and its RPG utility. My review is based on the contents of a entry pack and a case of 16 boosters. Although distribution problems have been reported, I had few repeats of rares and a fairly good selection of uncommons and commons. Out of 128 figures, I had 15 different rares, missed the gnoll as an uncommon, but also missed the ghoul as a common. Overall my experiance found a reasonably random selection. It's also a bonus that the same figures don't come in separate rarities like the weak, standard, and tough versions of the same sculpt that are found in Mage Knight, Mech Warrior, and Hero Clix.

Figure quality is better than the initial releases of Mage Knight, but pales in comparison to the latest sets. However, the Harbinger set is truer to the 25 mm scale (except for the bulky Human Commoner), unlike the 25-35 mm scale variance of MK. The plastic used is reasonably malleable with heat, but has a somewhat toyish look perhaps exacerbated by the overall poor paint jobs. Some sculpts are familiar to Chainmail players; I recall seeing, among others, the Half Orc Fighter, Drow Fighter, Drow Archer, Ogre, Goblin Sneak, and Tiefling Captain. This isn't really a bad thing, as most of these offered very good detail. Some pieces were dissapointing. The larger ones such as the Troll, Minotaur, Fire and Earth Elementals, were particualrly galling as missed opportunites for potentially attractive pieces. (Check out the older MK Fire Minion, Rock Minion, Troll Knight, and even the Jackal Warrior). The paint jobs are generally poor by gaming standards, but better than expected given the cost of the miniatures. Most miniatures have less than four colors and details are often glossed over. The vast majority still look decent on the table, but a select few pieces look quite presentable. They take paint well, and even a brief touchup and repaint by a mediocre painter can really make a remarkable difference in appearance.
[My favorite looking pieces include the Azer Raider, Lizardfolk, Tiefling Captain, Umber Hulk, Thri-Kreen, Human Blackguard, Owlbear, and Displacer Beast. My uglier pieces include the Centaur, Troll, Jozan, Human Comoner, Earth and Fire Elemental]

The sizing of the figures, barring some outliers, is good and makes for a consistent gaming appearance. Small figures such as halfling, goblins and kobolds are appropriately tiny. A minor annoyance with MK was that figures can vary dramatically in size. Later sets of MK also showing a gradual increase in size which benefits from better detailing and ease of painting, but suffers with appearance consistency. It looks as if sizing in Harbinger and the next set Dragoneye will be more rigorously observed.

The skirmish game is familiar to D20, somewhat less to Chainmail, with just enough differences to be a little annoying. The skirmish rules are fairly well written and easy to learn. You won't really need the Miniatures Handbook to play unless you want to try the mass combat rules. Check over the errata and FAQ that's been posted. It's fairly easy to play out of the box. The grid style of play means less measuring is needed for movement and range. However, stats are printed on separate cards. The need to track similar figures, activations, hit points, special effects, and spells/abilities used can quickly grow cumbersome in large games. Dial based figures have the advantage here, but D&D Minis can boast a greater potential flexibility with a wider variety of special abilities and spells. Barring some annoyances on how line of sight is measured, the skirmish game plays quickly and can be quite fun.

In summary:

Distribution: Overall good. Reports of poor distribution are unsurprising.

Sculpts: Overall good, but individual variance is high.

Painting: Overall poor. However, in terms of reasonable expectations, the paint quality was quite reasonable.

Value: Quite good. This is a great way to bolster a DM's army of figures. Check out the vibrant singles market if the randomization upsets you. A bunch of 10 orcs might run you $5.

Gameplay: Average. It's a simplified system but suffers somewhat from the necessary bookkeeping.

Overall: Good. A very cool game with great potential. For limited time games or limited skill painters, the prepainted and inexpensive miniatures are a godsend. I plan to continue collecting and using them in games.

I admit that I am very perplexed with the claims that the appearance of Harbinger minis compares more favorably than Mage Knight, but I suspect bias from the admitted ugly early releases of Mage Knight. Later sets such as Uprising, Dragon's Gate, and Minions are superior in sculpt and painting, while the newly released 2.0 is simply amazing. (for the skeptical, I'd check out Wiz Kids website. Their figure gallery is also a bit more true to reality than the WotC figure seen in ads.) I suspect the D&D Minis will see the same gradual improvement as the product line matures so I don't see this as a huge problem.

Other complaints and concerns that seem to exist?
Ugliness - A little effort in painting and flocking can dramatically improve the figures' appearance. And, again, for the price they're quite good.
Randomization - With singles right now going for $.50, it will not be hard getting most figures for any potential hordes you need. The prices will undoubtedly drop in the future. Check out some MK pieces for 10 to 35 cents like the Pyramid and Dragon's Gate Mage Spawn pieces and the Unlimited versions of the Centaur Lieutenant, Nightblade, Woodland Scount, Liege Knight, and Temple Blademaster. I've rebased a ton of my MK figures.

 

[trancejeremy]

All I can say is, the D&D minis I got in my box were superior looking (paint jobs anyway) to the last batch of MK figures I bought, which were from Pyramids.