This news is good
This is good news for four reasons:
1. SAVES TIME
Painting figs takes time, money, skill, and effort. Those requirements are just part of the fun for "Miniature Painter" hobbyists, but are huge obstacles to "D&D Player" hobbyists* who simply want a good-looking representation of their character.
Pre-painted plastic figs are the answer.
"Miniature Painter" hobbyists who love metal figs are completely unaffected by the new Chainmail. They can still play their painting game, having fun with Reaper figs and whatnot.
"D&D Player" hobbyists are in for a real treat. They'll have instant access to hundreds of well-sculpted, pre-painted figs. Buy a box, and you can have a good-looking fig in your hands in about 6 seconds. Compare to *at least* 6 hours for a good-looking metal fig that you have to clean, wash, prime, paint, and seal.
2. SAVES MONEY
Metals are expensive, especially when you consider the cost of paint, materials, and time. Prepainted plastics are cheap.
The "randomly packed" element is cause for concern, but we need details. Does "randomly packed" mean that you get a blank box with 8 totally random figs? Probably not. It probably mean you can buy a box of "Dwarves", and you get a random assortment of dwarves. Or if CH2 is like Mage Knight (3 power levels for each model pose), you may be able to buy a pack with specific figures poses--it's the power levels of those figures that would be randomized.
Either way, my FLGS sells "common" figs for $0.25. That's ONE QUARTER. Yep, CH2 = cheap figs for anyone who wants them.
3. MAKES D&D BETTER
"Each figure will come with D&D and miniature game stats on their card." Buy a bunch of chainmail figs. Place them into bowls, sorted by Challenge Rating or Race or whatever. When you roll a random encounter, grab handfuls as needed. You can quickly reference the stat cards, which will have full D&D (revised) stats. No fuss, no flipping to the "Standard NPC" section of the DMG, no flipping through your ridiculously huge stack of Monster Manual 1/2/Fiend Folio/Creature Collection/whatever books. It's all on handy cards.
"The rulebook will have both Skirmish level and large scale battle rules" Want to run Helm's Deep in your D&D game? Use Chainmail for the mass combat, dropping into D&D rules for encounters with the leaders or for the crux of the battle.
"Randomly packed pre-painted miniatures" Love it or hate it, the effect of this will be access to a large assortment of figs. Including unusual figs. You'll probably have access to whatever it is you want in your game.
Best of all, since this game is designed by WotC, we'll probably see figs that you commonly see in D&D. Like: a ranger dual-wielding two short swords. Spiked Chains. Spiked shields. Spiked Armor. Duelists. Dwarf wizards in full plate using wands or scrolls. Polearms. Half-orc monks. Adventurers (figs with big back packs and many weapons, potions, and scrolls). Drow. Clerics brandishing D&D-accurate Holy Symbols. Druids. Familiars. Templatized creatures (including planetouched).
4. POSSIBILITIES
If this succeeds, think how cool it would be. We could see boxes of Ducal Guard, the army in Greyhawk's Duchy of Urnst. We could see boxes of Red Wizards. We could re-create the Greyhawk Wars, or the War of the Lance, or creatures and battles from the other published worlds.
We could see a Star Wars version of the game. I guess you'd call that game Stormtrooper Armor, or whatever. And there may be licensing issues. But whatever, we may expansions from WotC's other properties. Miniatures-based Quidditch game, anyone?
The clicky bases of Mage Knight are neato, and Warhammer is fun to paint, but man, I can't wait to play a quick, cheap, fun game with pre-painted figs that uses D&D creatures and D&D-flavored rules.
-z, optimist
* I realize some D&D Player hobbyists are also Miniature Painter hobbyists. But not most.
(Sorry, Australian/English type joke.)
