Dungeon Command

 Board and Card Games, Table Top  2 Responses »
Apr 192012
 

Image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

So I got the chance to play the new D&D tactical minis game that is coming out in July, and I have to say that I was smitten by it.  Wizards of the Coast has done an amazing job on this product.  But, I’m getting ahead of myself.  Dungeon Command is a tactical miniatures game pitting rival warbands against each other.  The first two sets will be released July 17, 2012.  You get your choice between the Heart of Cormyr (good guys) and the Sting of Lloth (bad guys).

So, what’s in the box?  WHAT’S IN THE BOX?!  You get 12 well sculpted and pre-painted minis.  I got a great look at the Sting of Lloth box, plenty of Drow, a Drider, Giant Spiders, and even an Umberhulk.  You also get of dungeon tiles and two stacks of cards one for Orders, the other are Stat cards for your creatures.  The game is designed so you can compete with your single warband of 12 against an opponents warband.  There are optional rules for using a single Dungeon Command box to play 2 player, but I think it works best when 2 starter boxes are used.

As far as a tactical minis game goes, it does quite well.  Each side has a hero with a special ability.  The hero also has a Morale score and a Leadership.  Morale is important, because if it drops to zero, you lose.  Leadership determines how many and which creatures you can have on the map.  Every creature can move and attack as actions, but you also have Order cards, special abilities and attacks that you can play.  I think the play was well balanced, quick, and most importantly, fun.  This is a great strategy game, how you position your forces and which Orders you use are extremely important.  There are no dice in this game, so the only luck is which cards you draw from your Order deck.

Now, as much as I love miniatures and games involving miniatures, I have reached a point where a game needs to do more than just serve a single purpose.  Dungeon Command excels here.  You can play the Dungeon Command game just fine, but the minis also easily slide over for use in your tabletop RPG.  If that isn’t enough, each figure comes with a stat card so it can be used with all of the D&D board games, Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon, and Legend of Drizz’t.  While not a definite yet, there is also a possibility that Wizards will release cards so these minis can be used with the old D&D minis game too.

Ok, let’s roll that d20 and see what we get.

Components:  5

You get 12 well made miniatures, several heavy duty map tiles, and a heap of Stat and Order cards.  They really pack some great stuff into this box, and it all has multiple uses.

Rules:  3

The game is somewhat easy to learn, though a few things could be explained better.  We are pretty sure we may have played a bit wrong, so this score is kinda up in the air.

Replay:  5

This scores really high because of the multi-use of the miniatures.  Taken just as a single game, it would score a bit lower because how many times can you kill Dro and still be happy about it.  Never mind, I take that last bit back.

Cost:  5

With an MSRP of $40 this game is a must buy I think.  The quality of the components along with how much use you can get out them makes it a no brainer for a gamer like me.

I plan on buying these sets the day they are released.  I have so many plans for them outside of the game itself (yes players of mine, you’ll be delving into the Underdark).  Game on my friends, game on.

 

 

 

Here’s Jonathan

 Board and Card Games, Role Playing Games  2 Responses »
Jan 132012
 

Unflattering picture of me wearing the HuzzahCon 2011 t-shirt

You may be scratching your head and saying to yourself “not another new guy!” Hopefully you’re instead asking yourself, with eager anticipation, who is this Jonathan person? Maybe, just maybe, you’re ready to unleash 20 questions for me to answer.

To save the awkwardness of spending time creating and filling out questionnaires please allow me to introduce myself. I’ve gone by many names. Viktrious the Kingslayer. Nathaniel Hawksworth. ^Raven^. Arick Rolanputural III. Benjamin Kil’dred Nam’a’taht. Rajzar Raoub. Most people, however, call me Jonathan.

I’m a 30 year old retired local politician working in a public library that loves to game. Gaming, talking about gaming, and preparing to game are some of my favorite activities. They’re so beloved that I run my own gaming blog, CWF Game Cast, and bi-weekly gaming podcast titled Wargaming Recon. Naturally, I do those when I’m not on TrollITC posting about gaming.

As a kid I played the stereotypical children’s games. My grandfather and father taught me how to play chess. Checkers, Guess Who, Stratego, and Sorry were some of my favorite board games. Over the years I graduated into playing classic Milton Bradley games like Axis & Allies, Broadsides and Boarding Parties, Conquest of the Empire, and Shogun (now known as Samurai Swords).

My gaming experience drastically changed when I graduated high school and bought into Warhammer 40k, Warhammer Fantasy, and Battlefleet Gothic. That transformed me into, primarily, a miniatures wargamer. I still play a healthy dose of board and card games. But, my focus was forever shifted onto miniatures.

The one oddity in all of this is my love of roleplaying games. I say that RPGs are the oddity, for me, because I didn’t play a pen and paper RPG until Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition came out. I had seen earlier versions of the game, such as AD&D, but never actually played them. It seemed too confusing to create a character, learn the game mechanics, find a party to adventure with, and get a great dungeon master. Fourth edition made most of that absurdly easy.

By now you get the picture. I love games and have played a variety of them. The question remains, “what can you expect me to post on TrollITC?” You can bet to see the usual content that one shares on a gaming blog. I will review gaming products, share my thoughts on games, and discuss my gaming life. Currently I’m enraptured with Warlord Games’ Black Powder rules. Or, as I prefer to call them “Suggested Guidelines for Gentlemanly Wargaming.” Those rules are the system for an American Civil War scenario, Daybreak at Hangman’s Creek, that a couple of my friends are running with me at the Total Confusion game convention this February. I am sure to discuss my process of bringing this game to a convention reality.

Before I end this piece I want to thank you for sticking around this long. I am long-winded, which is a bad thing for a journalist and a blogger. We’re supposed to write tight as my high school and college journalism teacher used to say. That’s hard to do when there’s so much to talk about. It is a good thing that Ben is around to keep me in line each week when I share a new post with you.

If there are games, topics, or anything gaming related you want me to share, then please don’t hesitate to be heard. You can leave comments on this post or e-mail me privately at jreinhart@gmail.com.

Fiat Lux: TrollTips #1 – Easymode for priming and painting minis.

 Role Playing Games, Table Top, Video  6 Responses »
Jan 112012
 
VidBlog

Welcome to the first Fiat Lux! If you’ve never painted a tabletop mini for your roleplaying events you’re missing out. Here’s a quick way to save yourself a lot of time and trouble at the table by temporarily basing your minis, making them easier to handle. Painting pros and longtime hobbyists tend to customize this solution, but the solution you’ll see here is a great option if you’re starting out.

Do you temp-base your own minis for painting? If so, how? Tell us in the comments below!

Paizo and WizKids to launch Pathfinder Battles prepainted minis!

 Pathfinder, Troll in the Corner  1 Response »
Aug 012011
 

PAIZO AND WIZKIDS LAUNCH ONGOING PATHFINDER BATTLES PREPAINTED MINIATURES LINE

Heroes & Monsters Set to Debut in December, More Sets Planned

August 1, 2011 (REDMOND, Wash.) – Paizo Publishing and WizKids Games announce Pathfinder Battles, a new ongoing prepainted miniatures brand to debut in December with Heroes & Monsters, a blind-packed, randomized set of 40 miniatures based on the smash-hit Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Additional sets will follow throughout 2012 and beyond, including a 60-figure Rise of the Runelords set scheduled for June 2012. These sets join the already announcedPathfinder Beginner Box Heroes pack of four high-quality nonrandom prepainted plastic miniatures, due in October 2011.

“Response to our initial Pathfinder Beginner Box Heroes set has been overwhelming,” said Lax Chandra, President of WizKids Games, “A full line of Pathfinder Battles miniatures will enable us to provide gamers with a huge variety of figures based on the award-winning imagery of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.”

“WizKids continues to blow us away with their sculpts for the Beginner Box Heroes and Heroes & Monsters sets,” said Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens. “Every day we’ve been getting amazing images from the WizKids sculptors, and we cannot wait until these figures hit gaming tables all around the world.”

Pathfinder Battles prepainted fantasy miniatures will be available at paizo.com and through WizKids distribution partners worldwide starting in December 2011.

Pathfinder Battles Q&A:

Q: How will Pathfinder Battles fantasy miniatures be packaged?
A: Pathfinder Battles fantasy miniatures will be available in a variety of formats. The first release, Heroes & Monsters, will come in a “brick” of 19 blind standard booster packs, with 16 packs including one Medium or 2 Small figures, and 3 large packs featuring 1 Large monster each. Duplication of figures within a sealed brick has been held to a minimum, so purchasers should get no to very few duplicate figures in a brick (as with any randomized product, collation is not guaranteed). Buyers who purchase factory-sealed cases (4 bricks) should get a nearly complete set of figures.

Heroes & Monsters is scheduled for a December release. Future Pathfinder Battles sets, including June’s Rise of the Runelords, will use a multi-figure blind booster format. Additionally, WizKids plans to release additional Pathfinder Battles Encounter Packs, which will feature visible non-random assortments of selected repainted or resculpted figures from the full sets. Product details for these later sets will be released shortly.

Q: How often will Pathfinder Battles sets release?
A: The first set, Heroes & Monsters, will release in December 2011. The second set, Rise of the Runelords, will release in June 2012 to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the very first Pathfinder Adventure Path. Additional Pathfinder Battles Encounter Packs will appear between these two large releases. More full sets and Encounter Packs will follow throughout 2012 and beyond.

Q: How many figures will be in each Pathfinder Battles release?
A: The first set, Heroes & Monsters, contains 40 miniatures. Retailers who order one case (four “bricks”) will have the opportunity to purchase the mighty Black Dragon, a special promotional miniature that towers over other figures in the set and sits on a 3-inch base. The Rise of the Runelords set, scheduled for a June 2012 release, contains 60 figures in the standard set, with promotional figures to be announced in the future. Pathfinder Battles Encounter Packs generally will include 6 figures each.

Q: Will Pathfinder Battles fantasy miniatures be available as part of a Paizo subscription?
A: Pathfinder Battles fantasy miniatures are produced by WizKids under license from Paizo, and are not currently part of any Paizo subscription. That said, Paizo understands that many of its customers would appreciate a way to subscribe to these miniatures, and is currently exploring options to offer a subscription or similar service.

Q: How does this affect the Pathfinder Miniatures line from Reaper Miniatures?
A: Reaper Miniatures has been producing unpainted metal Pathfinder Miniatures since Fall 2009, and they will continue to do so. Paizo is committed to producing the finest-quality miniatures for gamers of all tastes, whether they prefer prepainted plastic or unpainted metal.

Q: Do these miniatures use Reaper’s sculpts?
A: These miniatures use all-new sculpts by WizKids.

ABOUT PAIZO PUBLISHING
Paizo Publishing®, LLC is a leading publisher of fantasy roleplaying games, accessories, board games, and novels. Paizo’s Pathfinder® Roleplaying Game, the result of the largest open playtest in the history of tabletop gaming, is one of the best-selling tabletop RPGs in today’s market. Pathfinder Adventure Path is the most popular and best-selling monthly product in the tabletop RPG industry. Paizo.com is the leading online hobby retail store, offering tens of thousands of products from a variety of publishers to customers all over the world. In the nine years since its founding, Paizo Publishing has received more than forty major awards and has grown to become one of the most influential companies in the hobby games industry.

ABOUT WIZKIDS GAMES
A wholly owned subsidiary of the National Entertainment Collectibles Association Inc. (NECA), WizKids/NECA is a New Jersey-based game developer and publisher dedicated to creating games driven by imagination. The HeroClix brand is the most successful collectible miniatures games on the market today, with over 250 million miniature game figures sold worldwide. For additional information, visit www.wizkidsgames.com.

Origins 2010 Photodump

 Role Playing Games, Troll in the Corner  1 Response »
Jun 282010
 

The part of my Origins coverage that I think was the poorest was my taking of pictures. It’s not the first thing that I think of when I walk around someplace, I’m no professional photographer, and I even forgot to take my camera with me on Saturday, the busiest day of the convention.

That having been said, I did manage to take some pictures, and I uploaded them to my Picasa account. Enjoy!

Photodump of Tracy’s coverage of Origins 2010

[tags]rpg, rpgs, Origins, tabletop, miniatures, board games, art, conventions[/tags]