Merric's thoughts on "Against the Giants" (DDM)

[AllisterH]

You still can't get a good spread of PC race minis on a reasonble number of purchases, and I just can't understand why WotC doesn't think that's a problem.

Er, does nobody play Limited here?

 

[carmachu]

You know, for as often as people need good PC types, I am SHOCKED there isn't a real "Starter Set" of about 20 minis; half a dozen PC types (a human warrior, an eladrin wizard, a dwarf-with-hammer, a dragonborn, a tiefling in cloak, a halfling roguish type, an elf-archer, and a human/half-elf caster) and a bunch of "useful" commons (3 goblins, 3 kobolds, 2 skeletons, 2 orcs, an evil mage, a drow, and a young [color] dragon). Toss in a battlemat, the DDM rules (or quickstart rules) and call it a day.

The Fast-play guides kinda did this, but a "DDM intro pack" would work just as well.

C'mon Wotc!

You still can't get a good spread of PC race minis on a reasonble number of purchases, and I just can't understand why WotC doesn't think that's a problem.

Its to get you to buy more cases and packs, to be honest. Or singles elsewhere. Either way, its more money to them.

 

[AllisterH]

Seriously, does nobody play Limited?

 

[MerricB]

Please keep in mind that, unfortunately, the stat cards for that set of minis needed to be finished before the books were finished. Some late changes made some of the information outdated.

It's unfortunate, yes, but that doesn't change the fact that the stats are wrong... in some cases very, very wrong.

I also note that the PDF of the stat cards does not correct the D&D stats (there are corrections to at least on DDM statcard there), which doesn't help Wizards' reputation any.

Wizards made a choice to print stats they knew could be wrong; they must shoulder the blame for the mistakes.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Thanks for the review!

 

[chaotix42]

Ok, so I received 4 cases of AtG today and here's what I pulled:

Yellow = Rare
Red = Uncommon

x1
- Boneclaw Impaler
- Death Titan
- Dragonborn Myrmidon
- Fire Titan
- Furious Owlbear
- Skullcleave Warrior
- Storm Giant
- Thunderblast Cyclone
- Tomebound Arcanist

x2
- Hellwasp

x3
- Blackroot Treant
- Blazing Skeleton
- Captain of the Watch
- Cave Bear
- Deathpriest of Orcus
- Doresain, the Ghoul King
- Dragonborn Defender
- Dwarf Warsword
- Efreeti Flamestrider
- Feybound Halfling
- Half-Elf Assassin
- Lizardfolk Raider
- Mighty Blademaster
- Roper
- Shadow Hulk
- Shifter Claw Adept
- Shocktroop Devil
- Yuant-Ti Anathema


x4
- Armored Guulvorg
- Bugbear Lancebreaker
- Cockatrice
- Earth Titan
- Eladrin Pyromancer
- Enormous Carrion Crawler
- Fire Bat
- Fist of Moradin
- Golden Wyvern Initiate
- Lurking Wraith
- Plaguechanged Ghoul
- Visceral Devourer
- Xorn Ravager

x8
- All Commons

I got most of what I wanted, and since I use minis for 4e I'm all about duplicates - x3 Shocktroop Devil and Efreeti made my day. Not so happy with x3 Treants and x4 Guulvorgs, Crawlers, and Earth Titans - a little diversity in Huges would have been nice. The 4 Earth Titans do look pretty badass all together though.

I hope we see fewer PC minis in Demonweb, too.

Oh, and boy was I happy to only see 2 Hellwasps! What a sad mini.

I'm quite happy with the sculpts across the board but the paint jobs are quite muddy. The Ravenous Dire Skunk gets special mention for lack of effort.

Against the Giants gets a B- in my book.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

Oh, and boy was I happy to only see 2 Hellwasps! What a sad mini.

Is it just me, or does anyone else think this looks like a Pokemon?

 

[MerricB]

It's just you.

(Please, don't let me see the Hellwasp again...)

Cheers!

 

[Invisible Stalker]

I bought a bunch of ATG singles online, but I did get a couple of boosters just to take a shot at a dragon.

Box #1 (both were Dragon boxes for good luck)
hellwasp: in 30 years of D&D I can't recall ever using a large wasp
shifter claw adept: ugh
orc zombie: I guess if I need a "special" zombie he'd get the call

those three I did not order online

the other three non rares were hobgoblin guard, galeb duhr and golden wyvern initiate

My rare was at the top of the box and I had indeed chosen well, Young Adamantine Dragon.

The huge was under the divider and I regretfully heard the strains of Godzilla music as I removed it. Yes, it was Gigan's idiot cousin the enormous carrion crawler.

I got a dragon though, so thumbs up to box #1.


Box #2

Lizardfolk raider, ochre jelly, cave bear, goblin runner and the highly versatile gnaw demon were the first five draws. I also got a dwarf warsword I hadn't ordered.

My rare was an Efretti Flamestrider. I'm sure I'll find a use for him down the line.

Then I discovered to my horror that WOTC had jipped me out of my uncommon huge. No Armored Guulvorg or Blackroot Treant for me I had to settle for a Fire Titan.

OOPS!

I doublechecked the cards and they matched the minis. I got two rares by mistake.

Thumbs up for box #2.

 

[chaotix42]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think this looks like a Pokemon?

This is an insult to all Pokemon everywhere.

I saw that B&N had some AtG boosters set out today, and I had a 15% off coupon that was to expire soon, so I foolishly grabbed 3 just to try my luck one last time. Now I have x4 Efreeti Flamestriders, Blackroot Treants, Shadow Hulks, and Mighty Blademasters. I have only myself to blame. I love that Efreeti though.

In fact the only new mini I got was a Chain Golem! I really really hate the proliferation of PC minis in this set... *grumblegrumble*