Who plays DDM Skirmish?

[Kae'Yoss]

for me, miniatures skirmish games are basically "chess with variations".

That's quite an oversimplification there. You don't call D&D "book reading with variatons", either.

I know for a fact that Chess doesn't have factions (okay, I don't hang out in chess forums or chatrooms, so there might in fact be "How White Needs More Damage Dealers" threads and the like), you don't change your figures (no "Hm... What kind of pawn to use to get my 16 activations full?" or "should I go with dual queen warband or load up on knights?"). You don't roll dice in chess, either. (okay, dice are a mixed blessing. Just the other day I lost a DDM game without killing anything, mainly because the Lady frowned upon me. The dice just wouldn't cooperate with me, but they did cooperate with my opponent).

 

[Michael_R_Proteau]

We demoed the skirmish at Gen COn when Harbnger was being previewed, but I bought them mostly for use in D&D games. I did skirmish occasionall and played in a laegue at the lgs a few times when Harbinger was released and continued to do so through the Giants of Legend release, but with the release of the Aberrations and forward I have not skirmished, though I continued to buy them for use in my tabletop rpgs.

-M

 

[Kae'Yoss]

The rules got as complex as D&D, so why not just play D&D and get more for your money.

Well, you said it: DDM is for when you don't have a full party.

Besides, it's not like D&D. In D&D, you tell a story, or maybe just sit there and hack up baddies together. You cooperate. That's what I love about D&D.

But sometimes, I want some nice competition. Tearing into the other guy's enemies with fang and claw, while my ranged support rains down destruction upon them.

Anyone tried Dreamblade? It looks interesting.

The figures aren't really suitable for D&D (because of the scale alone, plus, you would have to proxy most of them), so it never picked my interest. Besides, from what I've seen, it's more like those collectible card games. Not my cup of tea.

 

[Nebulous]

I know what he means by "chess with variations." I sort of agree. You're completely limited by the board and the static number of figurines you have at your disposal. The variable abilities of those figures change every time though, and yeah, there are hell of a lot more options than a chess game. Anyway, i've tried DDM, but i buy the minis for rpg use. I'm really looking forward to Reaper sets though, so i can buy more minis that i don't particularly use much.

 

[Anti-Sean]

I haven't played it in a while, but I used to play with my wife and my brother, and I've gone to a few prerelease tournaments to get my plastic crack fix a week early. My wife won't play D&D, but she likes the skirmish game. Go figure!

I walked through a torrential downpour with the maps from my War Drums starter in my backpack last summer, and they were ruined - I haven't felt like coughing up the $20 to replace them, especially since I've got about 2-3 cases worth of figures from that set already!

My FLGS (Pandemonium Games in Cambridge, MA) is trying to drum up some local DDM, DreamBlade & HeroClix gaming; I keep meaning to stop by, but my schedule has been crazy lately. I just wish I had a firmer grasp on the rules so I could walk people who are new to the game through it. I play both DDM and D&D sporadically enough that the rules from both games bleed into one another in my mind, which is Not Helpful.

 

[Nebulous]

Well, you said it: DDM is for when you don't have a full party.

Besides, it's not like D&D. In D&D, you tell a story, or maybe just sit there and hack up baddies together. You cooperate. That's what I love about D&D.

But sometimes, I want some nice competition. Tearing into the other guy's enemies with fang and claw, while my ranged support rains down destruction upon them.


The figures aren't really suitable for D&D (because of the scale alone, plus, you would have to proxy most of them), so it never picked my interest. Besides, from what I've seen, it's more like those collectible card games. Not my cup of tea.

For me, i would rather just set up a battle with D&D rules and let that play out. I don't really see the need for separate DDM rules, although i see why some people do. Actually, according to the poll, a lot of folks here don't play the minis game.

I haven't tried Dreamblade, and only a small amount of the minis are suitable for rpg. If you can find some you like (preferably at a local game shop) you can paint the base black and they make a great Large figure. There's a two faced giant that makes an excellent formorian.

 

[The_Gneech]

That's quite an oversimplification there. You don't call D&D "book reading with variatons", either.

That's because, among other things, that's not what it is.

My point is that miniatures skirmish games are an interaction of figure statistics in preset configurations -- a figure can move X amount, can do Y actions, etc. Dice rolling and the building of bands are the variations I referred to. DDM is more like chess, than either chess or DDM are like D&D.

-The Gneech

 

[Ry]

DDM are really just for my D&D sessions.

 

[KB9JMQ]

We play it but rarely. When my group or family wants to play a skirmish type game we break out Heroscape. We like it a lot and it is easier for my 8 & 5 year olds to play.

My DDMs are mostly for gaming. Now my boys use them in their own made up mini's game all the time. But it is really closer to D&D than skirmishing

 

[Oryan77]

I have a huge collection of them, but I don't skirmish. I only use them for my D&D game.

I wouldn't mind trying a skirmish game if I had someone around to show me the ropes. I really hate learning boardgames on my own. I have more fun when someone is showing me how to play it. Plus, skirmish looks pretty complicated and I get enough complication out of learning D&D 3.5 rules.