Type of Game: Miniature Fantasy Combat
Number of Players: 2
Age: 14+
Designers: Alex Davy, Travis Severance and Nicholas Yu
Publisher: WizKids
I’ve encountered Dungeons & Dragons sporadically throughout my life in its many different forms. I started with D&D in the early 90s with the board game starter set for the 2nd edition. I then moved to an actual group with my older cousins that played Advanced D&D. At the same time came the gold box computer games and Dragonlance books. It eventually all fell to the wayside as I got older, but I always had the itch to go back. In 2017, I recruited a party, offered to be the Dungeon Master and off we were. It was great, I loved it! However, as the DM, you aren’t actively trying to kill your PCs. So combat for me while fun and challenging, wasn’t hitting the same way it did when I was a player. D&D: Onslaught has helped scratch that itch for me.
I talked with Mitch from WizKids at Pax Unplugged this past year and he graciously provided CBY with the D&D: Onslaught Core Set. Thanks Mitch!
CONCEPT
Two players each take control of an adventuring party and duke it out to see who comes out on top. Parties are made up of heroes with weapons, spells and abilities that help you do this. Not only are players battling each other, but monsters can also be present and need to be dealt with. Wipe your opponent from the board or score more points to be the winner.
HOW IT WORKS
D&D: Onslaught is a game based on a version of D&D Fifth Edition combat. Pre made parties are provided, composed of characters based on the RPG games twelve classes. All your classics like the rage filled Barbarian, backstabbing Rogue and fireball hurling Sorcerer. Each character has their own actions and abilities which will be used to help accomplish the goal of the scenario. A double-sided game board provides two maps that will be utilized across the campaign of scenarios provided.
Setup the board with the five members of each party, monsters, loot tokens and any additional scenery needed to begin. Players are dealt Initiative cards that they then secretly assign to their party members, determining the order in which they will take their turns. Monsters initiatives will be known prior to this assignment. The Action phase begins and runs from lowest initiative to highest. A character then can perform a combination of Standard, Move, Bonus and Free actions as assigned to the player on their player board with the better abilities having a cool down timer before they can be used again.
With typical miniature games terrain, range, line of sight and cover all come into play. The board also provides elevation levels that contribute the tactical aspect of the combat.
The scenario rules will provide the players with how to run the monsters telling you how to move and who to attack.
Not all scenarios are last man standing circumstances. There are objectives that can win the game outright or score you Victory Points. If the game reaches the provided round length or condition whoever has the most points wins.
COMPONENTS
As it is a miniature game, the components are very important and WizKids does a great job providing quality pre-painted minis. You get all twelve characters and all the monsters that show up in the Core Set scenarios with the young black dragon being the crowning piece.
The game board is thick and double sided that will seem to stand up to the wear and tear it will endure. The player boards seem a little fiddly with their dials. If you grab them or bump them, they may move slightly causing you to remember if you were on 1 or 2 turns left until your Healing Word ability is ready. The additional condition markers, tokens and terrain pieces have a good thickness to the cardboard.
Additional premade parties have been released and can be seamlessly integrated. An additional big box expansion, Nightmare of the Frogmire Coven, provides more monsters, a new map and more scenarios.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Onslaught is a game that I have enjoyed playing and teaching to those familiar and unfamiliar with D&D 5E rules. As stated earlier, I’m normally the DM for my groups so finally getting to go into combat with a mindset to win was a nice change. In talking with non-DM players they liked being in charge of a whole party and not just their one character.
I’ve played this game multiple times now and with people familiar with D&D combat and with people having no knowledge whatsoever. Both found the game very enjoyable. The rulebook walking you through the first round of the first scenario was a big help. It gives the player lots of information but not all at once. The strategy of a miniature skirmish game is definitely something that takes time to get used to for a new player, but the pre constructed parties hold your hand into learning and executing combinations that will help you be successful.
This is definitely a great way to get people into the RPG hobby who maybe are on the fence. We all know the people who like beating up on monsters, but not too sure about the role playing aspect or don’t understand how you win the game. Have them play some Onslaught and then see if they want to take that next step.
D&D: Onslaught is not D&D. This is miniature skirmish, not story telling. However, the suspense of a decision or dice roll is still there. One game, two enemies were locked in combat and the winner basically came down to one die roll. A tension filled lead up to a successful critical hit and the player pumped a fist and exclaimed, “That was tense.” No, that’s wizard chess….err, I mean D&D.
As always, I played a game of Onslaught with fellow CBY contributor Jimmy Gaspero. Here’s what he thought…
“Everyone knows the greatest enemy in D&D is scheduling, so what’s a party to do when not everyone can make it to game night or you just don’t have the time for a full session? You break out D&D Onslaught and battle it out, hoping that whichever 5th edition deity you pray to will bless your dice. I’ve played Onslaught a handful of times now and really enjoy it. The characters are fun, the game pieces are cool, and there’s a lot of replayability. It’s also a great way to teach the mechanics of D&D to someone that wants to start playing, but wants to ease into the role-playing aspect of D&D.”
If you like the theme of this game, Jimmy has a few recommendations
Quests Aside! by Brian Schirmer and Elena Gogou from Vault Comics. A written interview can be found here!
When the Blood Has Dried by Gary Maloney from Mad Cave Studios. Listen to our CCC Podcast episode here!
SIDEQUEST by Grant Stoye from Scout Comics. Listen to our CCC Podcast episode here!
