Wrath of Ashardalon board game!

[Mark]

Is this the WotC answer to Descent and such? Any word on the size of the minis? I see some potential in this. It'll largely depend on the "flavor" of it for me, in regard to whether I enjoy the game itself, but the accessories (minis, interlocking tiles, etc) might clinch my purchase no matter how good the game is.

 

[malraux]

Is this the WotC answer to Descent and such? Any word on the size of the minis? I see some potential in this. It'll largely depend on the "flavor" of it for me, in regard to whether I enjoy the game itself, but the accessories (minis, interlocking tiles, etc) might clinch my purchase no matter how good the game is.

The minis are the same scale as the DDM.

 

[M.L. Martin]

The minis are the same scale as the DDM.

To be more precise, the minis are DDM minis, albeit unpainted. (The Castle Ravenloft game has shown them in some preview shots; they're unpainted, but in several different colors of plastic, including a translucent blue plastic for some of the undead.)

 

[mach1.9pants]

Bizarre. I know the board game standard is unpainted but wouldn't painted make them even more tempting for the board-gamers/kids/non DnD players? As a point of difference over the standard. It wouldn't cost anymore in real terms, with them already being on painting lines, and even cost less as the plastic could all be the same colour.

 

[Steel_Wind]

I imagine that WotC considered this issue carefully and I don't presume to instruct Hasbro and WotC as to how to brand and market boardgames. These guys know WAY more about this stuff than we do. This is, after all, Hasbro's core business -- at least at the mass market toy level.

But I am unsure as to the wisdom of branding this so heavily as a Dungeons and Dragons product.

Were I to see this in the store, I would assume it was some sort of D&D game. Not a boardgame merely set in the "D&D" world setting, where knowledge of D&D is not required to play. But a D&D game accessory or some similar product that is intended for use with a D&D game.

I presume that the intended retail channel for the product is the hobby channel only and so this does not overly trouble WotC, as they reasonably believe most of the patrons of such a store would see the branding as a plus and not a minus and know enough about the product lines to already know the difference.

When it comes to boardgamers, I wonder how true this is? I'd be sending out review copies and swarming BoardGameGeek with this information, just to be sure the word gets out.

Still... It's an issue with the logo being so prominently displayed on the box like that. It comes down to this: are you attracting more boardgamers than you are chasing away by branding the game in this fashion? Or are you just chasing more RPG gamers wallets? Do you cannibalize sales from your RPG products with this approach? If so, for you still manage to earn a net gain?

I guess WotC will find out in November/December.

Don't get me wrong: I love Ameritrash games and I will probably buy this product. But selling something like this to me is preaching to the converted.

It's the other boardgamers I wonder about...

 

[malraux]

Bizarre. I know the board game standard is unpainted but wouldn't painted make them even more tempting for the board-gamers/kids/non DnD players? As a point of difference over the standard. It wouldn't cost anymore in real terms, with them already being on painting lines, and even cost less as the plastic could all be the same colour.

In the podcast from DDXP, they specifically mentioned that painting would raise the costs beyond their threshold. If you look at something like Decent or Space Hulk, both of which cost a lot more, you still have unpainted minis. If you run the math, DDMs sold for ~1.50 per mini. At 40 minis, that's the 60 dollar MSRP alone, without counting the cards, dungeon tiles, or development costs.

 

[malraux]

When it comes to boardgamers, I wonder how true this is? I'd be sending out review copies and swarming BoardGameGeek with this information, just to be sure the word gets out.

Mearls is surprisingly active on the BGG forum for the Ravenloft one.

 

[Mark]

Don't get me wrong: I love Ameritrash games and I will probably buy this product.

This might not qualify as "Ameritrash" since it features "cooperative game play" (or is that just one of the ways to play it?).

 

[mach1.9pants]

Very good point, be interesting to see how it goes. I may pick it up to see if I can slowly tempt my wife to the dark side Mwahahahahaaaaa!

 

[Mark]

Are these going to be recycled DDM molds or whole new figures?