Articles
The
GameGuy: THE MINIATURES EDITION
By
Mark H. Walker
Turn off your computer.
That’s right, you heard me. Turn it
off and come
over here. No, I’m not going to suggest something radical like going outside
or spending more time with your family. Nah, none of that; I’m suggesting
you turn off your computer and get a little old school, play something that you
might not have played in awhile, play something that is as old as gaming, but
with three new releases is as hot as Eliza Dushku. I’m suggesting you throw
a game of miniatures on the table.
Gaming is all about immersion –getting away from the tedium of
our daily lives, and nothing provides this immersion better than
beautifully painted miniatures
and a well-landscaped battlefield. Perhaps one of the simplest ways to get
into miniatures is with any of the pre-painted games on the shelves.
Two of the best
are Heroscape and Star Wars Miniatures.
Heroscape,
is amazingly simple but also intriguingly complex –warriors from
all eras have been called to do battle in
the mythical land of
Valhalla. One scenario might pit World War II-era paratroopers against a band
of samurai, the next a fight between giant Mech-like creatures and Matrix-style
agents in black. The incredible thing is that the combatants are finely balanced,
and each group of miniatures had its own strengths and weakness that allow
it to hold its own against the others, each rolling a number of attack
dice delineated
on its card against a defender’s defense die. Blocks are subtracted from
hits and the results are the wounds inflicted. The battles are intensely exciting
affairs, further enhanced by the beautiful pre-painted miniatures and terrain.
Yeah, I said terrain. Heroscape comes complete with not only 30 painted figures,
but also terrain hexes that can be built into any landscape your mind conceives.
What’s way cool is that the hexes will work with your other 28mm miniatures
to boot.
Star Wars Miniatures
(SWM), which is published by Wizards
of the Coast,
doesn’t come with terrain that can be built, but it does
ship with some handsomely painted miniatures. A collectors’ game
through and through, SWM is sold in starter and booster
packs. The starter packs, which are available
in the original Clone Strike and new Rebel Storm flavor,
ship with ten miniatures, a colorful map, and everything that you need to start
playing. Later, you can
grow your collection with booster packs. The game is based on the venerable
D20 system, which means it’s fast paced yet believable. If
you buy a starter set make sure you also pick up a copy of JD Wiker’s
Ultimate Missions: Rebel Storm – a well-designed
set of missions for your miniatures to fight through. Be forewarned,
however, you’ll
probably need to buy a few more Stormtroopers before you can play
all those missions.
Speaking of well-designed
missions, how about Games Workshop’s latest offering,
Battle for Macragge? Warhammer
40K has long been considered
a tough game to master, and an even more expensive one to own, but with Battle
for Macragge the Workshop is trying to change all that. The game is a complete
starter set for Warhammer 40K. And when I say complete, I mean complete. There
are Space Marines (the good guys), Tyranids (the bad guys..err… I mean
bugs), terrain, rules, painting instructions, templates, dice, and a six-mission
campaign book. Nah, nothing’s painted, but painting these beautiful plastic
miniatures is half the fun. The game is the most complex of the three, but
also the most rewarding. And with the huge following Games Workshop games have,
you’ll
never lack for opponents… or fun.
And fun is what it is
all about. I love computer and video gaming, but ever so often
I need to put them down, break out a cold beverage
and sit across the table
from a real person, and play with real miniatures. It’s real cool.
© Mark
H. Walker, LLC 2005
Mark H. Walker is a veteran interactive entertainment journalist who has written
over 40 books including the recently published Games That Sell – and designs
games including his just released board game Lock ‘n Load.
