So this week I'm going to talk a little bit about two new miniatures lines that will be shipping to stores near you very soon. I'll be talking about one today, and the next tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about each of these, and I'm sure you will be too.
First up we have the World of Warcraft Miniatures Game. This is a new line of miniatures based on the ever-popular and always expanding games in the Warcraft series. It has a few distinct innovations, and several advantages and disadvantages to most miniature games.
I'd like to discuss the innovations this game brings with it. The game attempts to simulate a real time environment by having a "Tick counter" on one side of the board, with ticks from 1 to 10 and back again. This tick counter tells the players which characters turn it is. The miniatures themselves use this by having small removable bases that click from 1 to 10 as well. When a character uses one of its powers, it must click forward so many numbers, simulating the time it takes for a power to be used.
This may sound confusing, but let me give you an example.
The game starts on tick 1. Kevin the Mage starts with tick one showing. Since it is tick one and his base reveals tick one, Kevin can take an action. He casts Frost Armor to protect himself, raising his defensive capabilities. However, it takes time before he'll be able to do anything else after casting that spell, so he has to click his personal base forward three ticks (this number is determined by the ability). Now his base shows 4. He won't be able to do anything until the tick counter reaches 4.
Each character in the game has a card to represent its strengths, weaknesses, and powers. Each character can also employ special power cards to customize the miniature in his army. This allows two players playing the same army to have vastly different combat styles, and it allows the game to be even more customizable.
Playing the game, this tick counter system really makes things seem fast and frantic. I'm also in love with the customizable cards. I'm a huge fan. These are probably the games biggest advantages, but there are quite a few disadvantages as well.
The minis are actually quite large. You wouldn't want to use them as subs for any other miniatures game. They're more like small action figures. For me, this is a minus. It hinders the games portability and its collectivity. Also, the paints are a little disappointing compared to the previews on the website and it kind of seems worse when the paint is off on such a large mini.
Overall, the gameplay is solid and the models are big and clumsy. I think it's worth checking out if you like miniature games, or if you like the Warcraft series. Play it, try it, and see if it's for you.
Check me out tomorrow and you'll get some information on the big changes to the DnD Minis line!
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