I have been posting so much on other threads I decided to write my own review as well. This is based on the downloaded demo version of the game which can be found on upperdeck’s website.

http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/wowminis/en/

The Game:

World of Warcraft Miniatures Game is a collectible miniature game (CMG) in which players will create groups/parties of miniatures from 3 different factions and try to beat the snot out of each other. Death is only temporary, so it’s extra safe for the kids.

The demo game consists of a simple map, and 4 characters. Each character comes with 2 action cards which give them more options during the game. The game does allow for using multiples of a single character so I suggest printing out 3 sets of the characters, and using this to give more variety in playing the demo.

The game play is based around a timing mechanic. Each turn, time advances by 1 tick. This is measured on a track on the map that counts from 1 to 10 before resetting back to 1.
Characters each have their own clock. You spend time on your clock to take actions. Taking simple actions advances their clock by small amounts. Other actions, like attacks, add more to their clock. On each turn every character whose personal clock matches the game’s clock can do something.

The time aspect is interesting, and is growing on me with more plays. I think it's a definite step forward from other CMGs combat systems, and allows for some very interesting planning and strategy. You can plan to have your characters all take actions on the same turn, or spread them out. Since you can also see your opponent’s miniature’s clocks, you can also plan around when they will next move. It’s very simple, though it will be better with the actual bases for the game, but makes for interesting strategy.

The map provided with the demo, is a simple hex-based map. There are 3 types of special terrain; forest, hills and victory point locations. The game has simple line of sight rules, which can quickly be resolved with the map. Overall the map is very symmetrical, and games tend to start with opposing teams on opposite sets of the map, and meeting in the middle.

Action Cards:

Action cards are attached to each character, and give them optional actions on their turns. Each character can have 2 action cards. Normally when they are used you will exhaust them, meaning they can not be reused again until the clock resets to 1. These actions can be special attacks, heal skills, or other useful boosts. Action cards can be limited to specific character classes (priest, warrior, mage, etc..) or even to specific characters. When creating a team to play, choosing appropriate action cards will be a big part of the decisions process.

The action cards are a huge part of the game and really form your strategy. Having more action cards to pick from will be a big deal, and add a lot of dimension to the game. Since I believe each character comes with 2 specific cards, this means the cards inherit their rarity from the character they come with. Thus there should be more action cards from the common characters available. Put another way, this is both a CMG and a CCG, since action cards can and will be collected separately from the miniatures. I can very much see situations where ability cards and miniatures will be traded separately.

This is interesting because it slightly improves the situation when buying blind booster packs. Even if you play only alliance miniatures, you will still likely want ability cards from the other factions.

Action cards also allow you to customize a miniature. In most other CMGs each miniature has a definite set of abilities. This game provides more choices and flexibility in creating your group of characters which is nice.

Winning:

The game is played until one party/team reaches a specific number of Victory Points. Each team may be playing to reach a different number of points, based on the characters they are using. Each character has an honor value, and it appears that stronger characters have a higher honor value. Each team adds the honor values of their characters together to get the number of victory points they need to win.

Victory points are earned in 2 ways. Killing an opposing character will earn you 4 victory points. The map also has special spaces that give you 1 victory point for each character on or next to the space at the end of turns 5 and 10.

Combat results in rolling D10s, lots of them. The attacker rolls a number of D10s equal to the strength of the attack. Each roll of 4 or higher is a success, and doing a point of damage. The defender rolls D10s equal to their defense, with each 4 or higher block a point of damage. Rolling a 10 is called a critical, and may result in extra damage or other bonuses.

Combat is quick and simple in practice. Due to the high numbers of dice rolls, results can be pretty random. When a character is killed, they have 2 ticks added to their clock and then respawn on their side of the board.

Overall:

The game plays very fast, often less than 15 minutes. It’s quick to setup, and provides a decent amount of fun for a miniature skirmish game. There is also talk of potential dungeon crawl expansion, as well as large monsters that can be battled as a group.

There are 3 factions currently in the game. Alliance and Horde have characters in the demo game. A Monster faction will be introduced when the game is released.

The game will be sold in fixed starters (with the same characters as the demo I believe), random started (with fancy new maps), or in random boosters. Boosters will have 3 miniatures but all of those will be from the same faction. The boosters will not indicate which faction you are buying, so collecting only a single faction will be difficult.


Good:

-Timing mechanic is interesting and provides strategy
-Action cards allow miniatures to be further customized for play
-Multiple play styles, when future expansions are released

Indifferent:

-Collectible, it is a collectible game, you are either OK with that or not
-Dice fest, it has a lot of random dice rolls, you are either OK with that or not

Bad:

-Random booster’s make collecting specific factions impossible without trading