Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game
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| Publisher | Wizards of the Coast |
|---|---|
| Random chance | Medium-High |
| Skills required | Strategy, Planning |
The Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game (DDM) is a collectible skirmish miniatures wargame game played with pre-painted, plastic miniature figures based on characters and monsters from the Dungeons & Dragons games. Released in September 2003 by Wizards of the Coast, which is owned by Hasbro, the DDM line has been composed of loosely themed sets that are released roughly every 4 months.
The game is played on a grid of one-inch squares, each representing five feet; the scale is thus 1:60.
All figures are designated as being a 
"common", 
"uncommon", or 
"rare" piece. This rarity determines the odds of obtaining each piece within a pre-packaged expansion pack or starter set. By making certain pieces of higher worth to be less available, DDM has a collectible component similar to collectible trading card games such as Magic: The Gathering (also published by Wizards of the Coast).
Unlike Dungeons & Dragons, which like most role-playing games has players playing the part of a single character, the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game is a miniatures wargame in which two opponents pit armies of creatures against each other. In order to allow rule adjudication without a Dungeon Master, the DDM rules are a streamlined form of the d20 combat system, with a few additional features unique to the skirmish game. The game has gone through several revisions since the original Harbinger rules set, including revisions after Aberrations and Wardrums. Most recently, in February 2008, the game was updated to maintain continuity with the fourth edition Dungeons and Dragons rules, necessitating an update to miniatures in previously released sets.
The Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures Game also currently serves as Hasbro's official line of miniature figures for the Dungeons & Dragons game, until the spring of 2009 when the random miniature booster packs will be replaced with fixed Heroes and semi-random Monsters packs making the Demonweb set the final completely random set of Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures. [1]
The randomized booster distribution of Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures Game will be modified in 2009. Wizards of the coast will end their distribution of miniatures-game specific products, instead focusing on the distribution officially of a new line of miniatures aimed at RPG players.[2] Wizards of the Coast will end their tournament support for the Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures Game in February 2009, at which time organized play will become the purview of the DDM Guild.
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[edit] Future
The DDM Guild has been granted an exclusive world-wide license to continue to develop the miniatures skirmish game by Wizards of the Coast. Wizards will continue to provide DCI support as well as proprietary information on future set lists to the DDM Guild. [3] Wizards remains committed to releasing updated statistics for all miniatures in sets released prior to 2008.
[edit] Rulebooks
- Miniatures Skirmish Rules 2003
- Miniatures Handbook Rules Supplement
- Miniatures Skirmish Rules 2004
- Miniatures Quick Start guide 2006
- Miniatures Battle Rules 2008 [4]
[edit] Sets
The first set, Harbinger, was released in September 2003. The set symbol was a trumpet with a banner. Unlike the sets which would follow, Harbinger contained 80 miniatures rather than 60, and featured no huge pieces. The set contained 27 rare figures, 33 uncommon, and 20 common, including Ogre, Umber Hulk, Human Blackguard, and Drow Cleric of Lolth. The stat cards were in black & white. See the full list here Harbringer Checklist
Dragoneye was the second Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures expansion set, released in December 2003. The expansion symbol was the eye of a dragon. The set was centered on dragons, and included many dragons in it. The set contained 60 figures (20R, 24U, 16C) including Large Red Dragon, Eye of Gruumsh, and Purple Dragon Knight. The stat cards were in black & white. See the full list here Dragoneye Checklist
The third set, Archfiends, was released in March 2004. The expansion symbol was the head of a trident. It contained 60 figures (20R, 24U, 16C) including Drizzt, Large Silver Dragon, Aspect of Orcus, and Orc Champion. The stat cards were in black & white. See the full list here ArchfiendsChecklist
Giants of Legend was the fourth expansion set, released in June 2004. It was also the first set to feature huge pieces. The expansion symbol was a mace. The set contained 60 regular-sized figures (23R, 21U, 16C) and 12 huge figures (6RH, 6UH). The rare huge figures did not take up the slot of standard-sized rares in booster packs. Figures included Huge Gold Dragon, Mordenkainen the Mage, King Snurre, and Treant. The stat cards were in black & white. See the full list here Giants of Legend Checklist
The fifth set, Aberrations, was released in October 2004. The expansion symbol was a claw. It contained 60 figures (23R, 21U, 16C) including Frenzied Berserker, Ryld Argith, and Mind Flayer Telepath. This set was released as both boosters and starter packs. See the full list here Aberrations Checklist
Deathknell was the sixth set, released in March 2005. The expansion symbol was a sythe. It contained 60 figures (24R, 24U, 12C) including Beholder, Large Blue Dragon, Couatl, Dire Bear, and Greenfang Druid. See the full list here Deathknell Checklist
Angelfire was the seventh expansion set. It was released in June 2005 and had the expansion symbol of a stylized angel. The set focused on lawful good "outsiders", some of which are considered to be angels. The set included 60 figures (24R, 24U, 12C) including Imp, Sword Archon, Efreeti, Trumpet Archon, and Hezrou. See the full list here Angelfire Checklist
Underdark was the eighth set, released in October 2005, and the expansion symbol was a spider. The spider was chosen as the symbol by Wizards of the Coast because it was within the context of spiders and Lolth, which were essential figures in the set. The set included 60 figures: (24R, 24U, 12C) including Elminster, Iron Golem, Dark Naga, Balor, and Marut. See the full list here UnderdarkChecklist
The ninth set, War Drums, was released in March 2006. It included 60 figures (23R, 21U, 16C) including Chimera, Night Hag, and Large Bronze Dragon. This set was released as both boosters and starter packs. See the full list here War Drums Checklist
War of the Dragon Queen is the tenth set for the game and the second set, after Giants of Legend, to featured huge figures. The Dragon theme of the set ties in with Wizards of the Coast Year of Dragons promotion. The set features 60 figures, of which 12 are huge (6RH, 6UH, 18R, 16U, 14C). Each box includes 1 huge and 7 other figures. Stat cards are included for each figure, including epic cards for select figures allowing players to assemble higher-value armies with which to battle. Figures from this set include Aspect of Tiamat, Dracolich, Blackguard on Nightmare, and Meepo. See the full list here War of the Dragon Queen Checklist
The eleventh set, Blood War was released in November 2006. The set included 60 figures, including Marilith, Solar, and Githyanki on Red Dragon. See the full list here Blood War Checklist
A twelfth set, Unhallowed, was released in March 2007. The set was of 60 figures, including Count Strahd Von Zarovich, Ultroloth and Caller in Darkness. The set also included Thrall of Blackrazor, chosen by Jason Lioi, winner of the 2005 D&D Miniatures Championship at Gen Con in Indianapolis[1]. The Thrall of Blackrazor comes from the module S2 - White Plume Mountain. See the full list here Unhallowed Checklist
A thirteenth set, Night Below, was released in July 2007. Containing 60 figures, two with EPIC stat cards; the theme for this set is dungeons and includes a Raistlin Majere and a Wulfgar figure. See the full list here Night Below Checklist
A fourteenth set, Desert of Desolation was released on November 2. This set features 60 new figures and rules for mounted combat with the return of several recognisable faces such as the Drow Priestess, the Umber Hulk Delver and the Drider. See the full list here Desert of Desolation Checklist
A fifteenth set, Dungeons of Dread was released on April 4 2008, containing figures like the Young Silver Dragon, the Magma Brute, and the Iron Defender. Along with the Dungeons of Dread booster packs a 4th edition starter pack featuring a set of 5 non-random miniatures to learn the new version of the game was released. See the full list here Dungeons of Dread Checklist
A sixteenth set, called Against the Giants was released on 15 July 2008. Containing 60 figures, this was another set to feature Huge models. See the full list here Against the Giants Checklist
A seventeenth set, Demonweb was the final "random" set to be distributed for the Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures Game It was released on 11 November 2008. Future products are all planned to have nonrandom or semirandom packaging. See the full list here Demonweb Checklist
[edit] Icons
Three standalone figures, called Icons, have been released. These are the Gargantuan Black Dragon released in August 2006 [2], the Colossal Red Dragon released in September 2006 [3], and the Gargantuan Blue Dragon released in January 2007 [4]. There is one Icon Scenario Pack called the 'Legend of Drizzt Scenario Pack' released September 2007. It features 3 figures Drizzt Do'Urden, Wulfgar, and Icingdeath the Gargantuan White Dragon [5]. Linae Foster, former Asst. Brand Manager made a forum posting in January 2007 stating that future releases in the Icon range would not be limited to single figures.[6] At GenCon 2007 a prototype Icon of a Gargantuan Orcus was on display. As of November 2007 they have not yet confirmed production of this Icon although Amazon US have it listed as a pre-orderable item released on 4 April 2008. The Amazon US website also lists as a pre-orderable item an Icon of a Gargantuan Dracolich, to be released on 19 August 2008. No word, official or otherwise, has of yet been released on this possibility, and no prototype has been seen.
[edit] References
- Donais, Michael; Skaff Elias, Rob Heinsoo, Jonathan Tweet (2003). Miniatures Handbook. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-3281-3.
