Chiming in on the D&D minis (merged with "anyone buying the new Mini's?")

[John Crichton]

Not to mention that at high-levels, miniatures can become impractical for some battles. When half the party can deliver attacks at a range of 1000+ feet, miniatures become problematic if the combat splits up. Add in teleportation and transit effects, like at will Dim Dooring, magic carpets, mounted characters, flying characters and so on...and minis can be cumbersome or merely a visual aid, as opposed to a solid game component.

Real world example: two games ago, we had a combat with 150 elves against 85 Githyanki raiders, 15 Durka'Gith, 2 Baklash Dreadnaughts, 4 Blackweave Warlocks, 1 undead gith spellcaster and two astral brigs. The PCs consisted of a 21st level cleric, three paladins and mounts (one of whom can fly), a shadowdancer with three shadows who can shadowwalk, shadowjump and use a magic carpet; a shapechange 21st level wizard, a 20th level druid with 7 shamblers, a celestial Roc and his primary animal companion, two arcane archers (one of whom can fly) and 5 swift-runners of Ehlonna.

Minis are only of so much use in such a battle, I can assure you. Especially when the Dreanaughts are breathing fire and using their anti-magic cone eye-rays at a range of 150+ feet, archers are cutting loose at up to 2000 feet and spells are flying every which way at 400+ feet. Minis required? No, sir.

That type of battle could take forever to set up with miniatures. Add in the flying element and its not even worth it. Just a few dice on the table for relative position (behind the screen) should do the trick there. Or maybe you just winged it. That works, too.

 

[WizarDru]

That type of battle could take forever to set up with miniatures. Add in the flying element and its not even worth it. Just a few dice on the table for relative position (behind the screen) should do the trick there. Or maybe you just winged it. That works, too.

Actually, we used a sort of tactical 'zoom-in'. Miniatures represented a strategic placement until certain characters reach engagement level, and then (depending on the necessity) we zoomed-in for that particular fight. So the paladin wasn't when he closed with the githyanki Blackguard on the dragon, although we knew from logical inference that he'd force two AoOs before he could do his Bull Rush. Minis were for visual reference only. On the deck of the astral brig, the shadowdancer and her companions were tactical when they engaged the Githyanki Sarths and Captains. But we didn't bother figuring exactitudes for the arcane archers shooting at people on the decks of the brigs or the backs of the Dreadnaughts. We just winged it, as you pointed out, which is part and parcel of high-level battles with more than one enemy, generally speaking.

 

[Desdichado]

I found the minis to be much better than I anticipated they'd be. My next door neighbor picked up a starter set and broke it open last night. I'll almost certainly pick one up myself, maybe even today, based on seeing his box.

On the other hand, I'm a bit disappointed with the rules. It's just D&D with nothing but combat. Something more Clix-ish would have made it easier as an intro game, I think. If the game itself is just D&D, then having only randomized minis kinda defeats the purpose, unless you want to just shuffle the cards for random encounters or something like that.

 

[Trepelano]

WOTC says they're making a "miniatures game", but really they're making a grid game that could be played with any old token.

Well, to be fair, you could play the gridless wargames with tokens jsut as easily. In fact, that sounds like a great idea for "cheap-ass" tabletop war game:

COIN WARS.

You could print up a rule book with the stats for various coins based on denomination, date of issue, and mint code. Heck, you could even expand the rules with

COIN WARS 2: GLOBAL CONFLICT.

Which would have stats for a variety of international coins.

 

[Olive]

Yeah, I am prone to "collector's syndrome." I lovingly refer to it as being a shill for the RPG industry.

It's actually a bit dangerous... I keep wanting to buy another box to see if I'll get the ogre and tiefling captain I want, but no such luck so far.

I've been wondering tho: could random packaging actually mean that certain minis get put in boxes in 'runs'. i.e. every box for the next 100 gets a man-at-arms, a crested fell drake and a human brigand? Cos that would explain a few things to me...

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

Henry, I would just go for the expansions because of the rares. I've picked up over 10 of them at this point and I have a pretty good mix of everything. My only complaint is that I have 3 Barghest. Oh well.

These little buggers are addicting. I found myself almost buying a case!

I just ordered one. Damn you, Henry. I had been holding back on ordering one from Potomac distribution, since they have a $125 minimum order and are $116 a case..then you had to go on and post a site with an even cheaper price and no minimum order. My wallet hates you.

 

[MerricB]

It's actually a bit dangerous... I keep wanting to buy another box to see if I'll get the ogre and tiefling captain I want, but no such luck so far.

I've been wondering tho: could random packaging actually mean that certain minis get put in boxes in 'runs'. i.e. every box for the next 100 gets a man-at-arms, a crested fell drake and a human brigand? Cos that would explain a few things to me...

Well, it's not "next 100", but a global thing. As a rule, "random" packaging of commons and uncommons goes in runs - a legacy of the production process. If you get Miniature A and B, then it is most likely you'll get miniature C as well.

That's how it works in Magic, and I doubt it's different here.

Cheers!

 

[MerricB]

It's actually a bit dangerous... I keep wanting to buy another box to see if I'll get the ogre and tiefling captain I want, but no such luck so far.

I've been wondering tho: could random packaging actually mean that certain minis get put in boxes in 'runs'. i.e. every box for the next 100 gets a man-at-arms, a crested fell drake and a human brigand? Cos that would explain a few things to me...

Well, it's not "next 100", but a global thing. As a rule, "random" packaging of commons and uncommons goes in runs - a legacy of the production process. If you get Miniature A and B, then it is most likely you'll get miniature C as well.

That's how it works in Magic, and I doubt it's different here.

Cheers!

 

[Saeviomagy]

It's actually a bit dangerous... I keep wanting to buy another box to see if I'll get the ogre and tiefling captain I want, but no such luck so far.

I've been wondering tho: could random packaging actually mean that certain minis get put in boxes in 'runs'. i.e. every box for the next 100 gets a man-at-arms, a crested fell drake and a human brigand? Cos that would explain a few things to me...

It certainly seems like something of the sort has been going on -there would appear to be a lot more medusas and blackguards around this side of the world for instance...

 

[ForceUser]

I just ordered one. Damn you, Henry. I had been holding back on ordering one from Potomac distribution, since they have a $125 minimum order and are $116 a case..then you had to go on and post a site with an even cheaper price and no minimum order. My wallet hates you.

I've bought about $200 dollars' worth at this point, and I am satisfied. I have gotten exactly what I wanted - lots and lots of mooks. Skeleton mooks, kuo-toa mooks, orc mooks, hellhound mooks, werewolf mooks, worg mooks, and on and on. The rares are nice too, of course, and welcome. But I got into this for the legions of monsters that you throw at your players in groups of 3 or more.

Cheap. Pre-painted. Easily portable. Easily recognizable. Exactly what I've always wanted as a DM! And I can't wait for the secondary market to spring up.

In short, thumbs up.