The Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game is a collectible miniatures game

Collectible miniatures game

Collectible miniatures games or CMGs are a form of miniature wargaming that is also similar to collectible card games — the primary difference being that while CCGs are card-based games, CMGs feature miniature figures....

 played with pre-painted, plastic miniature figures based on characters and monsters from the Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons

Dungeons & Dragons is a fantasy role-playing game originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, and first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. . The game has been published by Wizards of the Coast since 1997...

game. The figures are 30mm in scale. Produced by Wizards of the Coast

Wizards of the Coast

Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...

, the Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures line is composed of 20 loosely themed sets that were released roughly every 4 months since the line was launched in 2003 until its cancelation in 2011. Although Wizards of the Coast has discontinued the production and support of the D&D Miniatures Game, the miniatures game is now officially supported by a fan-run group known as the DDM Guild.

History

The Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures Game, commonly referred to as "DDM" served as Wizards of the Coast's official line of miniature figures for the Dungeons & Dragons game since 2003, following the cancellation of the previous Dungeons and Dragons-based miniatures game, Chainmail, in August 2002. The first set, Harbinger, was released on September 26, 2003. This set was available in both Starter Sets, containing 16 random miniatures, a 20-sided die, a rulebook and maps and terrain to play the game on, as well as Booster Packs with 8 random miniatures. Each miniature also came with a card that detailed the statistics of the figure for the miniatures game on one side, and the statistics for use in the role-playing game

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

 on the opposite side.

Since that first release, 20 additional expansion sets have been released. Five of these sets (Giants of Legend, War of the Dragon Queen, Against the Giants, Legendary Evils, and Lords of Madness) contain figures standing on 3 inches (76.2 mm) bases, larger than the 2 inch bases of the largest figures in normal sets. This size is designated “Huge” in the nomenclature of Dungeons and Dragons, and the boosters containing these larger figures are known as “huge packs.”

All figures are one of three rarities, indicated by a marking on the bottom of the miniature: "common", "uncommon", or "rare". From Harbinger to the Demonweb expansion, all standard-sized booster packs contained 4 commons, 3 uncommons and 1 rare. The Starter Set miniatures for Harbinger, Aberrations and War Drums included 1 rare, 5 uncommon and 10 common miniatures. Dangerous Delves and Savage Encounters each contained 2 commons, 1 uncommon, 1 non-random visible uncommon, and 1 rare. The four Huge sets listed above had different distributions of figures. Giants of Legend boosters contained 4 commons, 3 uncommons, 1 rare, and 1 huge, either rare or uncommon, while War of the Dragon Queen and Against the Giants each contained 3 commons, 3 uncommons, 1 rare, and 1 rare or uncommon huge. Legendary Evils boosters had 2 commons, 1 medium-sized rare, 1 large-sized rare, and 1 visible huge figure. The summer 2010 set Lords of Madness was the first and only set to contain very rares, a rarity previously used in Wizards of the Coast's Star Wars Miniatures

Star Wars Miniatures

Star Wars Miniatures was a 34mm scale collectible miniatures tabletop game based on the Star Wars fictional universe that was produced by Wizards of the Coast. The game was originally released in September 2004 and continued production until May 2010...

game.

The game has gone through a number of major revisions since its inception. In early 2008 the game was changed significantly to maintain continuity with the
Dungeons and Dragons fourth edition rules. This set of rules is known unofficially as “D&D Miniatures 2.0.” The first set released under this revision was Dungeons of Dread in April 2008. Additionally, over the course of the next year, all existing miniatures received updated stats so they would be playable in the new game.

Less than a year later, in October 2008, Wizards of the Coast announced that the way miniatures would be packaged was changing. The miniatures would be sold in partially random monster packs, with one visible figure, under the Monster Manual

Monster Manual

The Monster Manual is the primary bestiary sourcebook for monsters in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. It includes monsters derived from mythology, and folklore, as well as creatures created for D&D specifically...

name, and a new line of non-random minis called Player's Handbook

Player's Handbook

The Player's Handbook is a book of rules for the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons . It does not contain the complete set of rules, but only those for use by players of the game...

 Heroes featuring player character

Player character

A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...

(PC) races. Shortly after that, another announcement was posted, clarifying these new changes. Following the release of the Demonweb expansion, the Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures skirmish game would no longer be supported by Wizards of the Coast. Skirmish statistics would no longer be included with the figures, and no further tournaments would be officially sanctioned. Instead, the miniatures line would be marketed solely to RPG users.

Since November, 2008, a group called the DDM Guild, founded and run by members of the fan community, has been granted the exclusive and worldwide right to continue to support and develop the D&D Minis skirmish game. Wizards of the Coast continues to provide DCI support as well as proprietary information on future set lists to the DDM Guild.

Changes were announced at D&D Experience 2010, when it was revealed that the miniatures line would once again revert to entirely random packaging, with both PC and monster minis combined in one set.

On January 12th, 2011, Wizards of the Coast announced the immediate end of the Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures line.

D&D Miniatures was consistently one of the top collectible games in hobby channel sales, with recent rankings from the industry magazine ICv2 placing the game as the 3rd best selling collectible game. In 2010, the Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures line won the ENnies

ENnies

The Annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards are annual, fan-based awards for role-playing game products and publishers hosted at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana...

 Award for Best Miniatures Product.

Gameplay

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

Dungeon Master

In the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, the Dungeon Master is the game organizer and participant in charge of creating the details and challenges of a given adventure, while maintaining a realistic continuity of events...

, the DDM rules are a streamlined form of the d20 system

D20 System

The d20 System is a role-playing game system published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast originally developed for the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons...

, 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. In early 2008, the game was updated to be consistent with the fourth edition Dungeons and Dragons rules.

Each creature has a designated point cost, and players assemble a warband of a certain cost, generally either 100, 200, or 500 points, depending on the tournament format. From Harbinger to Underdark, games were played on tiles arranged on a grid, while from War Drums onward, full-color printed battle maps were used. Players use a 20-sided die to determine if an attack succeeds and also for various other checks throughout the game. Victory goes to the player who first accumulates a given number of points by either destroying the opponent's figures or collecting points by occupying certain areas of the map

Sets

Most D&D Miniatures sets are made up of 60 figures, although exceptions to this are noted below.

The expansion sets for Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures, in order of release, are:

Set Name	Release Date	Gallery	Checklist	Additional Information
Harbinger	September 26, 2003	Gallery	Checklist	80 miniatures in set. Available in starter and booster packs.
Dragoneye	December 19, 2003	Gallery	Checklist
Archfiends	March 25, 2004	Gallery	Checklist
Giants of Legend	June 18, 2004	Gallery	Checklist	72 miniatures in set. Huge set.
Aberrations	October 14, 2004	Gallery	Checklist	Available in starter and booster packs.
Deathknell	March 24, 2005	Gallery	Checklist
Angelfire	July 21, 2005	Gallery	Checklist
Underdark	November 3, 2005	Gallery	Checklist
War Drums	March 3, 2006	Gallery	Checklist	Available in starter and booster packs.
War of the Dragon Queen	July 7, 2006	Gallery	Checklist	Huge Set.
Blood War	November 6, 2006	Gallery	Checklist
Unhallowed	March 5, 2007	Gallery	Checklist
Night Below	July 6, 2007	Gallery	Checklist
Desert of Desolation	October 26, 2007	Gallery	Checklist
Dungeons of Dread	March 28, 2008	Gallery	Checklist	First set using DDM 2.0 rules. Available in boosters and non-random starter packs.
Against the Giants	July 12, 2008	Gallery	Checklist	Huge set.
Demonweb	November 7, 2008	Gallery	Checklist
Feywild	Cancelled			Cancelled. Some minis printed with the Feywild logo escaped the factory and were sold as part of "Monster Manual: Dangerous Delves".
Monster Manual: Dangerous Delves	May 19, 2009	Gallery		First set without skirmish rules included and with visible miniatures. 40 miniatures in set.
Monster Manual: Legendary Evils	August 18, 2009	Gallery		40 miniatures in set. Huge Set.
Monster Manual: Savage Encounters	November 17, 2009	Gallery		40 miniatures in set.
Lords of Madness	September, 21 2010	Gallery		Return to 60 miniatures in set and fully random packaging. Huge Set. Final set in the line.

Icons

Three large standalone figures, called Icons, have been released. These are the Gargantuan Black Dragon released in August 2006, the Colossal Red Dragon released in September 2006, and the Gargantuan Blue Dragon released in January 2007. There is one Icon Scenario Pack called the Legend of Drizzt Scenario Pack released September 2007. It features 2 miniature figures: Drizzt Do'Urden, and Wulfgar, and one large figure: Icingdeath the Gargantuan White Dragon. At Gen Con 2007 a prototype Icon of a Gargantuan Orcus

Orcus (Dungeons & Dragons)

Orcus is the fictional demon prince, and lord of the undead in many campaign settings for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. He is named after Orcus of Roman mythology. His symbol is a mace with a human skull as the head...

 was on display. Later in 2007, a Gargantuan Dracolich

Dracolich

In the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, a dracolich is an undead dragon that possesses certain abilities of a lich.-Publication history:The dracolich was introduced to the D&D game in the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons...

 Icon was listed on Amazon.com

Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...

. However, in January 2008, Dungeons and Dragons Brand Manager Scott Rouse revealed that both figures had been put on hold. At the 2010 Dungeons and Dragons Experience Convention, it was announced that the Gargantuan Orcus would in fact be released after all in 2010.

The Icons line of Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures has won two major fantasy gaming awards, with the Colossal Red Dragon winning at the Origins Awards in 2007 for Best Miniature or Miniatures Line of the Year, and the Legend of Drizzt Scenario Pack winning the 2008 ENnies

ENnies

The Annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards are annual, fan-based awards for role-playing game products and publishers hosted at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana...

 Award for Best Miniature Product.

Player's Handbook Heroes

In 2009, Wizards of the Coast released two series of 18 non-random figures designed to represent player characters in Dungeons and Dragons under the name Player's Handbook Heroes. The sets were sold in packs containing three figures, and were made up of a combination of repaints of older figures, figures taken from the canceled Feywild set, and entirely new figures. A third set was planned for 2010, but was canceled.

Future of the game

The DDM Guild continues to release new stats and new variations and scenarios of the game, as well as support national championships.

Figures from the D&D Miniatures line have been used in other games from Wizards of the Coast, including the Dungeons and Dragons Basic Game, Heroscape

Heroscape

Heroscape is an expandable turn-based miniature wargaming system originally manufactured by Milton Bradley Company, then shifted to Wizards of the Coast, both subsidiaries of Hasbro, Inc., and discontinued by Hasbro in November 2010...

and the Dungeons and Dragons board game

Board game

A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...

s Castle Ravenloft

Ravenloft

Ravenloft is a campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. It is an alternate time-space existence known as a pocket dimension called the Demiplane of Dread, which consists of a collection of land pieces called domains brought together by a mysterious force known only as "The Dark...

, Wrath of Ashardalon and The Legend of Drizzt. Wizards of the Coast discontinued the production of D&D Miniatures in 2011.

At GenCon 2011, it was announced that a Dragon Collector's Set would be released in 2012, and also in 2012, WOTC will be producing a new skirmish game with sets of themed, non-random miniatures packs and dungeon/terrain tiles.

External links

• D&D Miniatures: FAQ!, Official D&D Miniatures FAQ and card downloads for earlier sets.
• http://www.ddmguild.com, Official website of the DDM Guild, home of the latest rules and stat cards for the game.
• The Wizards Community> D&D Miniatures Forum, Official D&D Miniatures Message Board.
• D&D Miniatures game engine, D&D Miniatures game engine (with AI).