Your Experience with the DND Miniatures Game

[dreaded_beast]

My friends and I are looking to play a heavily combat-focused game, similar to 'gladiator-style' where all the players fight one another.

Another alternative I am thinking of is using the DND Minis Game.

What are your experiences with this game?

Does it have a good pace?

How does it compare to DND?

 

[Jeff Wilder]

What are your experiences with [the DDM skirmish game]? Does it have a good pace? How does it compare to DND?

It has a very good pace. It's usual to finish fairly complex casual games in 90 minutes, and possible to finish earlier. (Of course, if one or more people practice "turtling," games can also take longer.)

I would recommend either acquiring or making your own maps, however, as tile setup both slows the game and very rarely results in an attractive or sensible combat field. (On the other hand, if you're playing competitively, tile setup does add another level of skill, but in my opinion it's minor. A good player has an advantage over a novice in tile placement, but an expert player doesn't have an advantage over a good player.)

Luckily, WotC just announced plans to phase out tiles in favor of large, preprinted battlemaps. You can find one (for the GenCon championships) for download on WotC's site.

DDM is similar to D&D combat. Mostly it is simplified, but there are some out-and-out rules changes that take some getting used to. (For instance, many effects (e.g., spells, missile weapons, charging) can only target the nearest creature in line-of-sight.) Some of the rules changes make obvious sense for the format, but others are just odd. (E.g., in D&D a creature with 10-foot reach threatens the squares two diagonals away ... in DDM, the same creature doesn't threaten those squares.)

It's a great game. It's no subsititute for D&D, IMO, but it's a great game to play in addition.

 

[Pants]

What are your experiences with this game?

It's a fun game to play when not everyone shows up for D&D.

Does it have a good pace?

Depends upon the point total. I've only played two games at this point; a quick 100 point starter game and a massive 500 point battle. The 100 point battle was fun, quick, and very tactical. The 500 point game quickly became a slow slog as the huge, high point creatures destroyed everything around them. IMO, the really powerful critters just sucked the life out of the game. I'm thinking that a 200 point game might be fun, as it focuses more on tactics and it lets the smaller, wussy units shine in combat.

How does it compare to DND?

It doesn't. They are two completely different games.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Thanks for the info everyone.

We're looking to actually host this game in lieu of DND at an upcoming anime convention.

I'm thinking it's fast paced enough for people to enjoy in a convention setting and easy enough for new players to pick up.