Dungeon Command Rulebook Available For Download

Several months ago, Wizards of the Coast announced that it was developing a new miniatures game for release this summer. The new minis game eventually became Dungeon Command and is scheduled for release on July 24, 2012.  It will be released in faction packs, starting with Sting of Lolth, for the drow forces and their spider minions, and Heart of Cormyr, for the heroes and adventurers of Cormyr (I pre-ordered both packs so expect my reviews on them shortly after release).  Further expansion packs are expected to be released in subsequent months, with Tyranny of Goblins in August, consisting of goblin creatures and their allies, and Curse of Undeath in November.

In preparation for the launch of their new minis game, WotC has made the complete rulebook for Dungeon Command freely available to anyone who is interested, not only to D&D Insider members.  This will allow customers to learn the game rules beforehand and jump into the play action as soon as they get their faction packs. The rulebook is a short 15 pages and includes both basic and advanced play rules. You can download it here.

According to the Dungeon Command rulebook, each faction pack should include 12 miniatures, 12 Creature cards - one for each miniature, 36 Order cards to give commands to your troops in battle, and 2 Commander cards (which represent you in the battlefield, so you choose which Commander you want to play).  Other items included are Battlefield tiles (2 large and 2 small tiles), Treasure chest markers, Treasure tokens, Damage tokens and markers to record your warband's Morale and Leadership.  My initial thought right now is, damn, this must be complicated...  Lol.

Also included are rules to allow two players to engage in a small 6 vs 6 skirmish if only one faction pack is available.  This is excellent if you want to learn the game without having to incur the expense of buying two sets of minis or faction packs.  As an added bonus, you can us the minis for your regular Dungeons and Dragons game.  You can also incorporate the minis and their creature cards as possible adversaries or allies in the D&D Adventure System series of games, such as Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon and The Legend of Drizzt.

Understandably, I can't comment on the gameplay of Dungeon Command.  After all, the game is not out yet and WotC has not provided me with a copy for review.  Furthermore, Dungeon Command will be my first minis game, so my comments are from the viewpoint of a newcomer to the minis hobby.  As such, I will give you my first impression of the game from my brief evaluation of the rulebook.

The Stack showing 3 actions to be resolved.

Initially, the game does not seem too complicated.  Each turn is divided in 4 phases: Refresh, Activate, Deploy and Cleanup.  A new concept for this new minis players (that is, me) is the action resolution mechanism referred to in the rulebook as The Stack. The Stack is premised on the concept that when an action takes place, it does not happen immediately.  Each player gets a chance to respond to that action.

Whenever a creature takes an action, or an effect is triggered, that action goes on top of the stack. If any player responds to that action, the responding action goes onto the stack on top of what was already waiting there. When no more players respond, the action on the top of the stack is resolved.  After that action is resolved, all players get another chance to respond with new actions. Any new action goes on top of the stack, and players can respond to that action as normal. If no one does, the next action waiting on the stack is resolved. If no actions remain on the stack, the player taking his or her turn continues play.

Movement is reminiscent of 4E. A creature that enters a square adjacent to an enemy creature must stop its movement. While I did not see anything akin to an attack of opportunity, your movement/speed while in a square adjacent to an enemy creature is 1. Players of 4E will see the incorporation into Dungeon Command of familiar terms and effects such as difficult terrain, shift and slide, as well as standard, minor and immediate actions, and line of sight and coverage.  I particularly liked that different creatures can have different forms of movement, like flying for the Copper Dragon or burrow for the Umber Hulk.

As for actual gameplay, I guess we'll have to wait two more months before we can try this game out and see if it is as much fun as it appears, or whether it is the combat slow-fest associated with 4E.