D&D General Why Isn't There a D&D Table Top Miniatures War Game?

[Clint_L]

Yeah, I've got a fair number of resin printed pieces, mostly for terrain, and they aren't quite the fidelity of molded plastic, but pretty good. You can still see print lines in a few places, like the stone altar top, but very minimal:

Edit: the miniature is a metal Reaper figure that I use for scale.

 

[payn]

On top of that, you have groups like the Lord's Alliance, Harpers, Zhentarim, various Pirates of the Fallen Sea, The Red Hand of Doom, Cult of the Dragon, and the like - and that's just for FR. Get into Dragonlance, and there'd be Knights of Solamnia, Wizardly Orders, Dragonarmy, Silvanesti and other various groups and countries you could organize forces around.

Chainmail made its own factions for the game as well - Ahmut's Legion (undead), Drazen's Horde (orcs & goblins), Kilsek (drow), Mordengard (dwarves & gnomes), Naresh (gnolls & demons), Ravilla (elves & drakes) and Thalos (human clerics & paladins).

I think that as the lore of D&D has expanded, these nuances make a wargame even more difficult. Sure, there are factions one can use, but how do you easily translate that to an outsider? Particularly as its become popular to move away from prescribed alignment and into a more diverse setting.

 

[TheSword]

WotC/Hasbro would need to take direct control of producing miniatures.

Something they’ve not been willing to do in recent times. It’s sounds like a minefield

D&D has plenty of factions. The Sword Coast itself has multiple nations including Calimshan and Amn, Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter and Baldur's Gate could be their own factions. And if you branch out you've got Cormyr, Thar, Thay, and tons of tiny little factions either already created or can be created. And given that you could make a good army entirely of just orcs and goblins, I think D&D has plenty of variety.

They are society factions but what are the iconic D&D creatures that would be part of a Calimsham faction other than humans in different clothing and maybe some genasi/genies. How would a Cormyr faction be fundamentally different to a Waterdeep faction or a Nevereinter faction. D&D variety comes from monsters and monsters in most cases don’t fall into factions. Certainly not in the way Warhammer does.

Even take Bushido. A great skirmish style wargame. There are clear factions at play that are varied and interesting. I don’t think this falls organically into D&D

You're right, they do need a decent set of rules. But even with a decent set of rules they might not be successful.

You might be one of few people on Earth who thinks GW are masters of "balance."

Lol. I certainly think pay to win is a thing. But it think the annual tinkering with the points costs and abilities is the closest they’ve ever got to balance. Any complex game with that many moving parts will be unbalanced. D&D relies on DM moderation too much to have anything close to balance without extreme simplicity which would be a turn off as well.

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

If WotC were to release a D&D miniatures wargame, they'd probably be best off releasing it with a brand new setting, tailor-made with a bunch of distinct factions at constant war.

 

[Micah Sweet]

If WotC were to release a D&D miniatures wargame, they'd probably be best off releasing it with a brand new setting, tailor-made with a bunch of distinct factions at constant war.

Never going to happen, IMO. They always want to trade on existing IP, just like the rest of the entertainment industry. WotC's been allergic to new settings for years in any supported way.

 

[MGibster]

Lol. I certainly think pay to win is a thing. But it think the annual tinkering with the points costs and abilities is the closest they’ve ever got to balance. Any complex game with that many moving parts will be unbalanced. D&D relies on DM moderation too much to have anything close to balance without extreme simplicity which would be a turn off as well.

I don't expect perfection with any game that has as many moving parts as Warhammer 40k, but when an entire codex is so unbalanced that it's banned from tournaments before its official release that should be a wake up call.

 

[Clint_L]

Pay to win is one of the things that eventually swayed me from Warhammer. It just sort of rubbed me the wrong way - I see miniatures as game aids, so at a certain point I stop seeing the value when there are always cheaper options available. It's the same now with Wizkids' prices; they really take aggressive advantage of their D&D license.

 

[TheSword]

I don't expect perfection with any game that has as many moving parts as Warhammer 40k, but when an entire codex is so unbalanced that it's banned from tournaments before its official release that should be a wake up call.

I hadn’t heard that? Which codex. I sold 90% of my warhammer stuff about 3 years ago when I moved house and haven’t looked back. Most of the rest of our group still plays AOS

 

[Stormonu]

I hadn’t heard that? Which codex. I sold 90% of my warhammer stuff about 3 years ago when I moved house and haven’t looked back. Most of the rest of our group still plays AOS

Leagues of Votann

 

[TheSword]

Leagues of Votann

Oh dear. The squats got swatted.