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Sipex
2010-12-22, 09:39 AM
So I thought I'd rave a bit about a product I just purchased from my local game shop. First off, this is only something recommended for those who like miniature, square grid based games (ie D&D 4th edition for example).

Recently, wizards has released several tile sets entitled the D&D Master Tile sets. Each set provides most if not all the tiles you'll ever need for a particular section. My chosen section was Wilderness (because getting outdoor tiles not set in the city is pretty difficult considering the amount of time the players spend in the wild).

First of all, the tiles all come packaged in a a thick, sturdy, wax box which has room for excess tiles as well (so, if you're like me, you'll have a place for all your tiles). Printed on the lid and bottom of this box are wilderness grids, so even the lid and bottom are playable pieces. The lid is about 1 inch high allowing you to represent elevation if you wish while the bottom is about 2-3inches high.

Inside are several double sided sheets of grid tiles waiting to be popped out and used. I don't have an exact count but I can almost guarantee, you will not need another wilderness based tile after this (unless you really need a rock of a particular shape or something).

Inside are three 8x8 grids to start things off. These grids have various things on them, most of them open field with a tree or two placed around but a couple allow for more. One has the entrance to an old tower complete with steps which could circle up to the next area; from what I understand this works with the tower based tile sets. In additon there are also large tiles for a cabin out in the wilderness, a camp site (with two tents and a fire) and a path going to a bridge which crosses over a small river.

Next we get to the smaller, yet still large tiles. I don't have sizes on hand (I'm at work and my tiles are at home) but there are various pieces from small ponds, cliffs (for terrain advantage), rock formations, forested area, steps leading down into a dungeon and more open field (if you need different sizes).

There's also more path tiles which fit together (straight shot, turns, rocky road), river tiles (straight and turns) and long trenches (on the back of roads and rivers).

From there you have some specialised tiles, like forest fire areas (of varying sizes which fit all the tree tiles if you wanted to run a fire type situaton) which are versatile enough that you can use them indoors too (if...say, you had a fire dungeon you were planning). There's also a 4x4 compass tile if you like specifying which way is which. It's double sided so you can have a straight NSEW axis or an angled one.

Finally there are a bunch of little detail tiles for extra use, additional trees of various sizes, a chest, horses, skeletons of horses (and one of a hill giant, oddly situational), more rocks, a wagon, a campfire and camping gear (for if your players get attacked at camp).

I'm very excited, no more home made, flimsy outdoor tiles for me :)

edit: Has anyone picked up any of the other sets? If so, how did you find them?

Grogmir
2010-12-22, 09:51 AM
i start investing in Tiles at the start of 4th ed. but I found them boring after a while - i was having to create the battles to fit the tiles. For me they are just not flexible enough.

So it was back to mats for me.

Sipex
2010-12-22, 09:53 AM
Oh yeah, I will agree there, it took me a while to adjust when I got my first tiles. I used to create battles and then have to create a ton of custom tiles to fit.

Now I find creative uses to my current tiles and create my battle terrain from there. It's not all that bad really, I have a lot of generic tiles now and taping black construction paper (or using spare D6s) work as excellent blockers.

edit: I should add that a lot of my preference for the tiles comes from the artwork which is something you trade off for. Either you have incredibly detailed tiles or you have the versatility of the battle mat.

By the way, the artwork is amazing. The tiles are anything but dull.

Grogmir
2010-12-22, 10:11 AM
Fellow Dwarf - i agree that they add something a mat cannot - they in themselves are not 'boring' - just having to set them up with it each time was - I only had a few sets though (not the recent collection) so I think with more choice that would be better.

I struggled with Random/PC induced encounters though - I would try and get a few tiles together put then just draw something out on the mat. I found myself doing this more and more often. So just went back...

I like them - but just not useable enough for me. I've ordered the Monster vault though - no more printing out Paper mini's! Which i'm rather looking forward too.

Sipex
2010-12-22, 11:07 AM
No more printing out paper minis?

What does the monster vault come with?

Grogmir
2010-12-22, 11:15 AM
I don't know the official term for them tbh.

but like - little markers / pogs for each creature in the MMs.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_to-VAezHXYw/TPgKk3tTnLI/AAAAAAAABLU/5J-Zscvza18/s1600/Monster%2BVault.JPG&imgrefurl=http://mydailystreamofthought.blogspot.com/&usg=__jMtvyJAgrUQkPwHPrishaplLZrU=&h=1385&w=1600&sz=408&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=ZW7A-9Fc7ECZiM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=148&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dmonster%2Bvault%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26 sa%3DN%26biw%3D1899%26bih%3D909%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=47&ei=EyMSTfaOEMyChQfxopG5Dg&oei=EyMSTfaOEMyChQfxopG5Dg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=78&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:0&tx=87&ty=63

they look ok (better than the Hero quest goblins I use for everything anyway)

- - -

But back to the tiles...

What I would love to get is the dungeon tiles on some form of Dungeon builder - just select which you want - add it - and then print out - that would give my the flexibility to create exact what I want - but also the nice effect the tiles create.

Otacon17
2010-12-22, 11:22 AM
My battle mat was getting pretty messed up, so I bought the Dungeon set a few days ago. Good stuff! Lots of nice, big dungeon floors, plus pools of water, tables and chairs, spider webs, a bookcase, portals... I'm quite happy with it. I might buy another one eventually, just to have multiples of some of the pieces (there's only one of most of the special tiles; for instance, there's only one spiderweb).

I've never had or used Dungeon Tiles before, but these seem like very high-quality products and I'm excited to use them in my game (testing them out tonight for the first time). I'm glad to hear the Wilderness tiles are good; I would've bought those instead of the Dungeon-based ones, but my local store was out of them.

Sipex
2010-12-22, 11:25 AM
Grogmir: Oh yeah! I know those. I have some from the 4th edition starter set! That said, it didn't come with a huge variety so I often find myself using goblin tokens as gnolls and the like.

This would be great though, I'll have to pick it up for myself.

Otacon: Yeah, I had to get mine ordered in as well. Good to hear the dungeon set is so useful though.

Kerrin
2010-12-22, 01:04 PM
No more printing out paper minis?

What does the monster vault come with?
The Monster Vault comes with two-sided, color, two-dimensional, cardboard counters for all of the creatures in the Monster Vault book (one side is for non-bloodied, and the other side has a redish/orange border for when the creature is bloodied).

They are sturdy cardboard and punch out cleanly.

The artwork is nice. My only VERY MINOR complaint is the same as many pieces of printed artwork (from any source) - some of it is too dark. I'm sure like lots of other printed artwork the original source artwork is perfect, but when mass printed it usually comes out a little darker than originally intended.

I'm happy with it though and am enjoying using the counters when I don't have minis handy.

Oh ... and to stay back on topic ... thank your for the review and discussion of the tiles! They're something I've looked at but have passed on so far, just relying on my trusty giant-sized pad of grid paper.

Sipex
2010-12-22, 01:06 PM
That's amazing! The ones I have feature different creatures on each side.

Question: How many of each monster does it come with? Just one? I ask because you run into situations where you fight monsters which naturally swarm (kobolds) and end up having 1/2 of them represented by other tokens.

byers2142
2010-12-22, 01:10 PM
My current FtF game's DM uses both the Monsters pack and the Tile Sets, and he really loves them. I'm a bit more ambivalent, because the one thing that using tiles does force on a game is a static background. I think if your group is pretty vanilla in their strategies (attack, defend, hide behind things, etc.) they're a great asset to have.

But if you have more, umm, creative (read: destructive) players the tiles can get in the way a bit because they're not fexible enough to, say, show that there are now holes here, here, and here in the walls and the river now flows this way instead of that. With dry erase maps, you can just redraw, so if you need to be ready for craziness I think they work better, but if you can be sure that things won't change much, the tiles are a huge time saver.

Sipex
2010-12-22, 01:12 PM
My players do punch holes in walls and we've dealt with it before (a blank piece of paper taped over the section of wall works well), but I've not dealt with them re-directing rivers. I imagine it would require the use of blue construction paper.

I'm not advocating these as 'catch all' solutions, they simply make life easier (plus they don't fly off when someone turns on a damned fan)

Kerrin
2010-12-22, 01:24 PM
Question: How many of each monster does it come with? Just one? I ask because you run into situations where you fight monsters which naturally swarm (kobolds) and end up having 1/2 of them represented by other tokens.
Some only have one counter (e.g. Purple Worm) while others have multiple numbered counters (e.g. Orc - don't know the exact number per creature due to being at work).

Depending on the encounters you run you might run out of Orc counters or you might want multiple Purple Worms, but overall I think they did a decent job given reasonable resources and price point.

Sipex
2010-12-22, 01:42 PM
Nono, that makes sense, I can hardly think of a situation which would require more than one purple worm.

It's the smart thing to do.

Also, if my tokens are any basis, you would then get 8 orcs.