Sting of Lolth: Miniatures Faction Pack [Anglais] [Jeu]

When I first happened across Dungeon Command old prejudices immediately surfaced and I rolled my eyes at the thought of another Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game. The more closely I read the secondhand descriptions of gameplay mechanics the more my fear and anger were kindled toward the yet unreleased product. However, one aspect of the game piqued my interest enough to keep the game on my radar and that was the nonrandom faction packs. Randomized miniatures, I felt, was the bane of previous editions and it had almost alienated me due to my financial conscience. My fear of buying blind packs only to discover I had wasted yet more money on another Tri-Horn Behemoth miniature is enough to cause unrestful nights to this day. Nevertheless, it was with a bit of fear and trepidation I ordered the initial Dungeon Command sets.

My initial thought upon pulling Sting of Lolth and Heart of Cormyr from the shipping box was that the game boxes themselves are nowhere near as cheap as they've been made out to be. While the quality of the storage box isn't as high as say Castle Ravenloft, it's still of a very sturdy make and will not be as easily destroyed as I had feared. Not only is the box good, but so is the actual storage system which holds the game components. Everything has its place, and once sorted and closed everything remains where it's placed.

Anyone who's played or collected D&D miniatures before will see some familiar faces, albeit with new makeovers. If you happen to own the D&D Adventure System Games you'll definitely see some old friends return in the Sting of Lolth and Heart of Cormyr, but boy howdy they've never looked better. While some of the miniatures I received with the D&D Adventure System Games are slightly bent or warped, the Sting of Lolth and Heart of Cormyr miniatures are in perfect form thanks to the storage tray. Not one miniature has a bent sword, staff, or arching base. I'm saddened that new sculpts aren't a part of Dungeon Command, but I'm willing to give the recycled miniatures a pass simply because they look good and are of nice quality. Veterans and newcomers alike should be pleased.

The rulebook included is attractive but not on a par with the quality found in the D&D Adventure System Game entries, this one being made of a thick non glossy stock. It is, however, simple to follow and proved more than easy to read through while playing our family's first game. Setup is a simple matter of connecting the dungeon tiles, picking out a commander card, shuffling two decks of cards (Creature deck and Order deck), and deploying starting creatures. From there, every turn, players go through the same four sequences (remeber: untap your characters before ending your turn!) until one player runs out of morale or ends a turn with no characters on the board. After getting through our first game and becoming more familiar with the various cards of the two factions, our playtime *averages* about 35 minutes.

The one thing you'll hear again and again is that the gameplay mechanics are the offspring of a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and Magic: The Gathering union. This is without question the one aspect of the game that will cast you as either a supporter or a dissenter. While, yes, they've abandoned the d20 in favor of cards, the game's spirit has remained true to the original. Removing dice rolls from a DUNGEONS & DRAGONS product might seem sacrilegious to the Church of Gygax (hallowed be thy name), but it appears that the decision to rely on the use of cards instead of dice has shaken up the gameplay as it has drastically changed its nature by putting more focus on skill rather than luck. True, there is fortune involved with the draw of cards but having the `best card' is pointless if your execution is flawed -- dice can no longer serve as your scapegoat for a failed game!

In an attempt to rejuvenate the D&D Miniatures Game Wizards of the Coast shows a willingness to be innovative by removing or drastically altering basic foundations of previous entries. This may alienate veterans, though it may also prove refreshing. My fears of seeing a new D&D Miniatures Game may have been founded in the ghost of gaming past, but I would have to admit that Dungeon Command isn't the monster I feared.

If you've not yet checked out the original launch product, Dungeon Command: Heart of Cormyr, I suggest you consider that product first for a more complete review.

Dungeon Command: Heart of Cormyr: A Dungeons & Dragons Expansion Pack (D&D Miniatures Product)

As with that game, Dungeon Command: Sting of Lolth can be played stand-alone or with Cormyr for a much broader set of play options.

Minis: Sculpts are great and its very nice to have the large Umberhulk figure. I'm pleased that Wizards included this iconic figure in the set. Compared to Cormyr, I found the choice of humanoid sculpts to be a bit less varied and interesting, the paints to be less dramatic and perhaps a notch down in quality. Even then, they are better than most of the random packs that I've purchased.

Gameplay: The Order and Creature cards provide a unique and varied play experience compared to the Cormyr game. Cormyr includes creature abilities that tend to allow you to shield or heal other creatures. By contrast, Lloth relies more on Order cards to interrupt attacks. In Magic the Gathering terms, this plays a bit more like a Blue Interrupt deck compared to Cormyr's White Blocking and Healing deck. They balance each other well, straight out of the box. In my first game with my daughter, she won with 1 morale left after the tide turned three times during the game (bring in the reinforcements!).

A correction to the product description - there are two Commander cards in the game box.

Once again, the minis and tiles are compatible with the Adventure Series board games.

I've purchased both Cormyr and Lloth and am so happy with them that I've now pre-ordered the next two batches. So far, I'm very satisfied with these games and am looking forward to more and more. Here's hoping that Hasbro/Wizards will maintain pricing along the lines of the original introductory offers (<$30) - this approachable price point was a big player in my decision to give it a try and is certainly a big player in how many of the expansions I'll ultimately buy.

When the global economy went south and the cost of importing products from China went up, the miniature market took a severe hit. Miniatures are often molded and painted overseas, which requires a considerable amount of manpower. To make up the cost of creating and shipping the miniatures, they were sold in blind, randomized packs to ensure that every miniature sold at a minimum base value. When shipping and production costs went up, this tactic became less effective and Wizards of the Coast pulled their Dungeons & Dragons miniatures line entirely. Now they're back with Dungeon Command.

Wizards has found considerable success in adapting the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules to the board game market with the Adventure System, a distribution channel long overdue given that the company is owned by Hasbro. Dungeon Command heralds Wizards' return to the miniature market as its own skirmish game, as game pieces for other Adventure System board games like The Legend of Drizzt...and oh yeah, for tabletop role-playing games.

Instead of being released in random packs, you know exactly what you get with Dungeon Command. Sting of Lolth consists of a drow wizard, assassin, blademaster, and priestess, two house guards, a shadow mastiff, two demonweb spiders, a giant spider, an umber hulk, and a partridge in a pear tree! Ahem, no sorry, the last component is a...drider?

As D&D miniatures supporting a tabletop role-playing game campaign this is a good spread - any Dungeon Master utilizing the drow will need a priestess for the matriarchal drow society and her spider minions. What's curious is the inclusion of the half-drow/half-spider driders (see what they did there?), who are considered abominations by the drow and highly unlikely to be part of a warband.

For Adventure System players there are 12 monster cards (aligning with each of the miniatures) and four interlocking terrain cards.

If you just want to play the skirmish game, you really should buy another opposing faction (see what they did there?). But there are rules to play a shortened game with the miniatures you have - after all, it wouldn't be the first time drow fought each other.

The real surprise is that there are no dice in this game. Yes, no dice. Randomized elements are reserved through command cards and creature cards, which are tapped and untapped. So this is basically Magic: The Gathering meets Dungeons & Dragons.

I'll wait for the traditional D&D gamers to stop screaming.

What's great about this set is its utility. Drow have a strong theme that warrants a collection of this type, and because they miniatures are prepainted (unlike the unpainted miniatures for the Adventure System) the components can be used three different ways. In essence, Wizards didn't create a new game system, they just provided new ways to use old miniatures. And that's a pretty sweet deal.