D&D Miniatures Game Starter (D&D Miniatures Product) [用品]

[Disclaimer: I purchased this at a local store and not Amazon]

The packaging is awesome. Being able to see everything that you get with no surprises is a deviation from the old starter sets. The molded case holds the figures well and my set had no bent weapons or disfigured forms. The d20 is nice - it helps that my favorite color is blue - but it seems a little lightweight. I'll have to get out some of my others and compare.

The Green Dragon is very nice. The pliable plastic gives the wings a realistic leathery feel. The detail is good. The Dwarf, Human, and Yuan-ti (a confusing inclusion) look really good; but the face of the Elf looks marred. The paint covers too much detail and seems to bleed into other parts of the figure.

So, the rules released on the Wizards of the Coast site indicated that the following miniatures would be included:

* Young Green Dragon
* Yuan-Ti Swiftscale
* Human Sellsword
* Elf Warlock
* Dwarf Battlemaster

Which is what I received in my package. Amazon, however, lists the following:

* Large Green Dragon
* Exiled Drow Fighter
* Human Sellsword
* Elf Warlock
* Dwarf Battlemaster

The Yuan-Ti seems to be a better thematic fit, but the idea of a Drow Fighter mini sounds cool. All in all, I am very happy with the set.

My friends and I used to play the pen and paper D&D game as kids, but as adults now, we don't have time to gather for long gaming sessions and read the latest RPG rules. Still having the urge to get some fantasy gaming however, I picked this miniature starter kit a few weeks ago and tried it out on my friends, and I was pleasantly surprised that it was a hit, even with the most skeptical. Not in depth as the full fledged RPG game, but offers some quick and strategic fun.

Firstly, I was surprised at the quality and value of the starter kit. It comes with everything you need, like nicely painted miniatures, nice stat cards describing your miniatures abilities, dice, damage counters, full color rulebook and colorful maps, at such an affordable price. The rulebook was easy to understand and we quickly tried out the quick battle, and then moved on to the standard rules. My first friend I played it with didn't have any D&D experience, but he had no problems learning. The second friend I showed the game, had D&D experience, although from way back from the 2nd edition days, was able to pick up the game rules even quicker.

I found out online that this starter kit is a new version using the updated rulebook, called the Dungeons of Dread rulebook, which is the same name as the booster pack that was released at the same time as this new edition of the starter kit. This new rulebook streamlines the game and makes it faster and easier to learn. This starter kit has new stat cards that are designed with the new rules. As a benefit, these news rules tie the miniature game closer to the upcoming new 4th edition version of D&D role playing game. I don't play the RPG game myself, but having had a lot of fun with the miniature games, I've been thinking of looking into it.

My friends and I got addicted and looking to expand our armies (called warbands), we eventually bought some booster packs from the Dungeons of Dread booster set, which come with the updated stat cards to use with the new rulebook. If you buy any booster packs pre-Dungeons of Dread, you can download updated stat cards at the publishers website, Wizards of the Coast. As of this writing, Desert of Desolation and Night Below boosters have their stat cards are available online, with Unhallowed to be available sometime in May/June 2008. It was announced that all the older expansions will have updated stat cards in the future as well.

If you've been waiting like I have, this is a great time to jump in with the new rules and a nice set of miniatures. You don't need a lot of space to play so and it's easy to carry around. I've also heard of veteran collectors buying multiple copies of this starter pack as the miniatures only are available in this starter pack and not in any booster pack, and since they have some nice abilities, they are very worthy to have multiples of, if creating your own custom-built warband.

The only negative I see is that I could see myself getting tired of this and maybe wanting to move into something more in-depth like something from Games Workshop, like the classic Warhammer 40k series or popular Lord of the Rings miniature game, both which offer deeper rules but also more time commitment. But for right now, this is suiting my friends and I well. This could be also good gateway to the more advanced games I just mentioned, or perhaps into the wonderful D&D RPG game itself.

I've been playing D&D (pen and paper and miniatures) for years. When I first started getting into the first DDM (with Aberrations) I was very into it. After a few weeks though, a few game mechanics got very, very dull. The whole "commander" and "command range" thing really bugged me. I always thought the DDM game should emulate, if not precisely, the pen and paper combat experience. It did to a certain degree, but having commanders really took away from that.

In this edition, commanders are gone. Some may not like this- but for me, it's a godsend. Commanders have been replaced by Champions. Champions are "heroes" you could say. There is no command range or bothersome mechanic to them at all. All they do is add abilities to your warband. The days of calculating and measuring "command range" are gone. Good riddance!

Outside of that change, the rest is similar to previous editions. Factions are now more streamlined. I won't go into detail but it works out for the better, and it fits in with WotC theme for 4th Edition D&D. In my opinion, combat encounters more closely reflect the 'real' D&D experience.

Quality is great. Maybe it's just the pack I got; but I was thoroughly impressed with the paint and modeling. Definitely a step-up from previous starters. And it's nice to know what you're getting beforehand. I've heard the set in general is lower quality than previous sets, but this starter is certainly no indication of that.

The starter comes with two battle-maps. I'm not sure yet if I prefer these fold-out maps to the tiles from before, but they're not bad. I'm used to using fold-outs, anyhow...Axis/Allies miniatures did that.

Overall I am very satisfied. If you're on the fence, get the hell off it and pick it up! Shipping was much faster than expected as well. They gave me a delivery estimate of 2 weeks, and it got here in a few days. I'm not complaining! :)