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I didn't buy it but I saw some youtubers do unboxings where they just got some warband copies recently and just a week or two ago do reviews of the core game itself. At least here in the US, the promo copies tend to precede retail availability by a few weeks.

I just watched a demo video, so many symbols... it looks more like a self contained board game.

Really wanted to be interested in this game, but the fiddly dial boards tracking cool down times like some MOBA really kill it for me.

That price kills it for our group

Chopxsticks wrote:
I just watched a demo video, so many symbols... it looks more like a self contained board game.

More than the old D&D minis skirmish game? Is it almost to FFG levels of token spam (and custom dice)?

All I wanted here was a lower-cost 1v1 skirmish game with pre-painted minis. In other words, I was hoping for the straightforward D&D Minis Skirmish Game from years ago, with just fixed sets of warbands. I would of been all over that (and my LGS said the same thing). The store isn't touching this box set because the risk of sitting on a few is simply too expensive.

They actually sold a game like you describe a few years ago (5-10) but I can’t remember the name. They were set forces in a box with dungeon boards for fighting various scenarios. It didn’t stick around long.

Dungeon Command was it!
https://boardgamegeek.com/geeksearch.php?action=search&q=dungeon%20command&objecttype=boardgame

I always feel like the variousl Wizkid lines were a missed opportunity for just bringing back the skirmish rules.

Those D&D figures were what really brought me back to gaming and eventually got me to pick up the brushes again.

I loved the prepainted game. Hard to believe it started almost 20 years ago, and they still haven't found a successor that's been able to have as much of a foothold in that gaming niche.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
I always feel like the variousl Wizkid lines were a missed opportunity for just bringing back the skirmish rules.

Those D&D figures were what really brought me back to gaming and eventually got me to pick up the brushes again.

I loved the prepainted game. Hard to believe it started almost 20 years ago, and they still haven't found a successor that's been able to have as much of a foothold in that gaming niche.

Never played the D&D miniatures rules but when I got back into skirmish gaming, my first couple Song of Blades Warbands were D&D Miniatures figures.

It seems like the lone survivor of pre-painted games is Heroclix and that's not because there haven't been contenders that were quite strong and made good runs. Mage Knight, Mechwarrior, Star Wars Miniatures, D&D Miniatures and Heroscape all spring to mind as games that did well for a good while, but eventually folded. On the plus side, while the games seem to be gone, we do still get a steady diet of prepainted figures from various manufacturers, just generally not connected to any games beyond RPG's.

 privateer4hire wrote:
They actually sold a game like you describe a few years ago (5-10) but I can’t remember the name. They were set forces in a box with dungeon boards for fighting various scenarios. It didn’t stick around long.

Dungeon Command was it!
https://boardgamegeek.com/geeksearch.php?action=search&q=dungeon%20command&objecttype=boardgame

Dungeon Command wasn't a great game (I played it when it released at GenCon), but it was a great product. The game was fine, but all the minis were compatible with the D&D Adventure Board Games (and had monster cards for them), so you could add them to those games--plus each box was a coherent little warband that was a good purchase for a DM planning encounters. The boxes did triple duty!

Ironically, it was a better 'warband' than the Warband mini packs they sell now, which are ridiculously heavy in upper and middle management. The 'hobgoblin warband' has like, two warriors, two specialists (a spellcaster and a monk) and two leaders (a warlord and a lieutenant?). Like, I'm a DM. I need a bunch of recognizable hobgoblin grunts in a box set. Specialists I could buy separately.

Well now they sell more grunts in fixed composition carded sets. The problem being they are ridiculously priced, too, and often contain a couple head scratcher variants of orcs, kobolds, etc.

Da Butcha wrote:

 privateer4hire wrote:
They actually sold a game like you describe a few years ago (5-10) but I can’t remember the name. They were set forces in a box with dungeon boards for fighting various scenarios. It didn’t stick around long.

Dungeon Command was it!
https://boardgamegeek.com/geeksearch.php?action=search&q=dungeon%20command&objecttype=boardgame

Dungeon Command wasn't a great game (I played it when it released at GenCon), but it was a great product. The game was fine, but all the minis were compatible with the D&D Adventure Board Games (and had monster cards for them), so you could add them to those games--plus each box was a coherent little warband that was a good purchase for a DM planning encounters. The boxes did triple duty!

Ironically, it was a better 'warband' than the Warband mini packs they sell now, which are ridiculously heavy in upper and middle management. The 'hobgoblin warband' has like, two warriors, two specialists (a spellcaster and a monk) and two leaders (a warlord and a lieutenant?). Like, I'm a DM. I need a bunch of recognizable hobgoblin grunts in a box set. Specialists I could buy separately.

We still have all the Dungeon Command sets and play it like once a year. It's a blast if you are ok with it being diceless.

> The boxes did triple duty!

Would have been nice if the boxes did quadruple duty by being the monsters used in the D&D published adventures! (: And would it kill them to add a freebie D&D adventure with the warband so you could play D&D with the components? You, know, D&D as in the branding on the box?

> It's a blast if you are ok with it being diceless.

I called it D&D The Gathering because the miniatures allowed you to play cards from your hand, just like that other WotC game. (: I've seen way too many dice-based combat games to drop another hundred or more dollars for yet another miniature skirmish game system, although Gloomhaven fired everyone.

Really wish instead of throwing another plate of spaghetti against the wall, WotC would put out a single miniatures skirmish game we know they'd support. Instead of random sets, have fixed themed sets of miniatures that would also be used in D&D published adventures. WotC would release battlemats that would be used in the D&D published adventures, and the skirmish games. Or, better yet, put out the Adventure Boardgames which also had rulesets for a skirmish game. Similar model to GW in the 1980's, where they'd release boardgames that used the same models as their miniature wargames.

I saw onslaught at two different area stores this weekend. One had the expansion warband for $60. The other had the core game for $140. For some reason, I thought it was releasing in summer?

Test market?

I don’t think so. I checked YT and reviewers are fairly abundant and suggesting it’s available soon (from a couple of weeks ago).

Dice Tower said it was essentially a game from 20 years ago.

 privateer4hire wrote:
I don’t think so. I checked YT and reviewers are fairly abundant and suggesting it’s available soon (from a couple of weeks ago).

Dice Tower said it was essentially a game from 20 years ago.

They're not happy with the game components as well. Some of their other criticisms come from their background as primarily boardgamers complaining about things that are core staples of D&D either for 5th edition or even from the past 20 years (like attacks of opportunity).

Right. BGG comments are noting generally disappointing components especially the character card/spinny bits.

I saw the $60 warband up close since it has a clear front. Weapons are bent because-hey d&d figures-so that makes $60 for expansions even tougher to accept.

Agreed. What I find acceptable with a $10-15 blind booster of fig isn't the same as with a $60 known pack.

 privateer4hire wrote:
Right. BGG comments are noting generally disappointing components especially the character card/spinny bits.

Pretty much what I expected, would have preferred a little less of the MOBA ability cool down silliness and just had a double sided character card with a glossy finish to use a dry erase marker on. The minute I saw those were your "stat sheet", I lost all interest in the game.

Fiddly cardboard spinning dials are something I generally avoid in board and miniature games if I can, they wear out too fast and are hard to replace.

X-Wing was a bit of an exception to me, due to dials being easily available with the 2.0 conversion packs.

This expansion is irking me:

https://shop.wizkids.com/products/dungeons-dragons-onslaught-scenario-kit-the-benefactor

So at glance, look like a reasonably priced expansion to the core set, but it needs seven miniatures for the scenarios that you need to pick up separately. It's lists a Nolzur's Bulette blister pack as one of the monsters but that isn't listed on their website?

Nice. It’s like cursed city expansions.
They could have probably uploaded those as free pdf and sold some additional figures. This is awesome 100% of nothing profit AND only the retailers and distributors will reap a loss once they are out of wizkids warehouse.

it's basically a scenario book and cards to allow you to use any mini you have to represent those creatures. Many of the recommended minis are their PVC line and are dirt cheap.

Not sure why that's a bad thing being able to use existing minis from the larger D&D ecosystem is a good thing. It also costs money to design and play test units and scenarios so expecting them to be free is kind of silly.