Sergeant_Crunch
08-07-2006, 07:07 PM
Here's one guy's opinion of Dreamblade. Have it 4.5 stars (of 5)
Dreamblade is the new collectable miniatures game from Wizards of the Coast. Players take on the role of psychic "dream lords" who battle through their dream constructs, represented by the miniatures in their respective warband.
The game uses many familiar concepts, and uses them in less familiar ways. Play occurs on a set gameboard, with opponents beginning at opposite corners with sixteen selected figures. Each figure has a distinct point value, and players randomly generate a point value of figures to bring onto the game board each turn. From there they work their way across the board, coming into conflict with one another. The central spaces of the board have point values for the player whose miniatures control the space - the closer the space is to the opponents starting corner, the more points it is worth. Victory comes from outscoring your opponent during six turns of the game.
The figures all have a very unreal, dreamworld design that makes them distinct from other miniatures games - many of them are quite creepy. They are divided into four aspects: Fear, Passion, Madness, and Valour; each having differnt charactaristics. Some, but not all, of the miniatures also have special abilities which have a random chance of activating in combat. Apart from their point values, each figure also has a value for attack, defense, and life. The Attack value indicates how many dice the figure rolls in combat. Defense and Life are the numbers an opponent must beat on their attack dice rolls in order to have an effect on the figure.
Players have two action phases during their turns, to either Shift their units positions or to Strike with them. The action applies to all the figures a player has on the board. Shifting units cannot share a space with an opponent, while Striking ones must be in the same space as opponents they are attacking. All of your units in a space attack together, pooling their attack dice into one roll. Attacks are made with the special Dreamblade dice provided with the starter set. These dice are six-sided, with the numbers 1-3 on three of the sides, and the Dreamblade symbol on the fourth. The other two sides feature a small diamond shape, one empty and the other filled. The diamond sides are currently meaningless, but will be used for abilities in future expansions. The Dreamblade side is the important one, as rolling it may allow you to activate the special abilities of any of your attacking figures. Some abilities may require more than one blade to activate, but they tend to be even more powerful. After activating any applicable Dreamblade powers, the attacker adds up the dice and applies those hits to either push the figure back to the starting row, by meeting the Defense value of the opponent, or to eliminate the piece from the game, by overcoming its life total. The latter is generally harder to do, but gets rid of an enemy and scores a victory point for the round, to be added to the total for holding parts of the board.
The game play is compared alternately to both Magic and Chess. On the one hand are the wide variety of creatures with special abilities seen in most collectible card games, while on the other is the high importance on playing the board strategically in order to win. It provides a fascinating synthesis of the two game styles, which proves to be more fun with each playing. This is a good game for strategy fans, as well as anyone who wants to collect some very creative figure sculpts.
(Product Summary)
Dreamblade
From: Wizards of the Coast
Type of Game: Miniatures Game
Game Design by: Jonathan Tweet
Game Components Included:
Starter - $29.99 (US)
•16 randomized, prepainted, plastic miniatures
•Double-sided, full-color Dreamscape map.
•9 six-sided dice
•Rulebook
Booster - $14.99 (US)
•7 randomized, prepainted, plastic miniatures.
•Set checklist.
Number of Players: Two
Player Ages: 13 and older
Website: www.wizards.com/Dreamblade (http://www.wizards.com/Dreamblade)
Reviewed by: Bill Preusser
Dreamblade is the new collectable miniatures game from Wizards of the Coast. Players take on the role of psychic "dream lords" who battle through their dream constructs, represented by the miniatures in their respective warband.
The game uses many familiar concepts, and uses them in less familiar ways. Play occurs on a set gameboard, with opponents beginning at opposite corners with sixteen selected figures. Each figure has a distinct point value, and players randomly generate a point value of figures to bring onto the game board each turn. From there they work their way across the board, coming into conflict with one another. The central spaces of the board have point values for the player whose miniatures control the space - the closer the space is to the opponents starting corner, the more points it is worth. Victory comes from outscoring your opponent during six turns of the game.
The figures all have a very unreal, dreamworld design that makes them distinct from other miniatures games - many of them are quite creepy. They are divided into four aspects: Fear, Passion, Madness, and Valour; each having differnt charactaristics. Some, but not all, of the miniatures also have special abilities which have a random chance of activating in combat. Apart from their point values, each figure also has a value for attack, defense, and life. The Attack value indicates how many dice the figure rolls in combat. Defense and Life are the numbers an opponent must beat on their attack dice rolls in order to have an effect on the figure.
Players have two action phases during their turns, to either Shift their units positions or to Strike with them. The action applies to all the figures a player has on the board. Shifting units cannot share a space with an opponent, while Striking ones must be in the same space as opponents they are attacking. All of your units in a space attack together, pooling their attack dice into one roll. Attacks are made with the special Dreamblade dice provided with the starter set. These dice are six-sided, with the numbers 1-3 on three of the sides, and the Dreamblade symbol on the fourth. The other two sides feature a small diamond shape, one empty and the other filled. The diamond sides are currently meaningless, but will be used for abilities in future expansions. The Dreamblade side is the important one, as rolling it may allow you to activate the special abilities of any of your attacking figures. Some abilities may require more than one blade to activate, but they tend to be even more powerful. After activating any applicable Dreamblade powers, the attacker adds up the dice and applies those hits to either push the figure back to the starting row, by meeting the Defense value of the opponent, or to eliminate the piece from the game, by overcoming its life total. The latter is generally harder to do, but gets rid of an enemy and scores a victory point for the round, to be added to the total for holding parts of the board.
The game play is compared alternately to both Magic and Chess. On the one hand are the wide variety of creatures with special abilities seen in most collectible card games, while on the other is the high importance on playing the board strategically in order to win. It provides a fascinating synthesis of the two game styles, which proves to be more fun with each playing. This is a good game for strategy fans, as well as anyone who wants to collect some very creative figure sculpts.
(Product Summary)
Dreamblade
From: Wizards of the Coast
Type of Game: Miniatures Game
Game Design by: Jonathan Tweet
Game Components Included:
Starter - $29.99 (US)
•16 randomized, prepainted, plastic miniatures
•Double-sided, full-color Dreamscape map.
•9 six-sided dice
•Rulebook
Booster - $14.99 (US)
•7 randomized, prepainted, plastic miniatures.
•Set checklist.
Number of Players: Two
Player Ages: 13 and older
Website: www.wizards.com/Dreamblade (http://www.wizards.com/Dreamblade)
Reviewed by: Bill Preusser