World of Warcraft gets Miniatures Game

By Robert Purchese Published 8 February, 2008

Bit of a coincidence. Perhaps.

Upper Deck has decided to make a tabletop version of World of Warcraft, where you play with little lead figures that you paint up in your attic.

It will be the first time Upper Deck - which makes the trading card game - has entered the market, which has been dominated by Games Workshop for so long.

Which should result in a little more rivalry between World of Warcraft and upcoming EA Mythic game Warhammer Online.

Characters range from orc boss Thrall to community favourite Leeroy Jenkins, and each will be created by industry veteran Studio McVey.

The rules are just like its virtual counterpart, too - you tackle dungeons in groups of five and fill action bars with skills and abilities.

You can even buy raid sets to team up with your friends to conquer. Onyxia is the first of these, and she will behave either automatically - presumably going through her three phases (impressed with my knowledge) - or you can pilot her and mix things up a bit.

Upper Deck has plans to do big events like a Darkmoon Faire tournament, as well as both National and World Championship competitions.

Head over to the official site for more.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (25) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Benno #1 4 years ago

    lol thats sooo cool!

  • TheDudesRug #2 4 years ago

    Let's do this.

  • MightyMouse #3 4 years ago

    I suspect she'll do more deep breaths in the tabletop version.

    Kill me, kill me now.

  • sanctusmortis #4 4 years ago

    Studio McVey as in Mike McVey's studio, ie an ex-GW staffer working on their rival? That happens way too often...

  • viper_h #5 4 years ago

    What's the point of this exactly?

    Can't you just... Play WoW?

  • Stoatboy #6 4 years ago

    LEEEEEROY!

  • chudders #7 4 years ago

    Miniature glod farmer? How will that work?

  • Moz #8 4 years ago

    This is hardly a rival to Warhammer!

    First the EG artcle is wrong if you fallow the link you'll see that they are pre-painted minis.

    Secondly the description of the game makes it sound more like Hero Quest then Warhammer.

    Could be worth while for a bit of fun from time to time but no rival to Warhammer or 40K

  • node #9 4 years ago

    Agree with Moz, they do look a bit pants being pre-painted, though GW is stupid for not thinking of this first. They really do need to do more than just milk Warhammer and 40K and watch their share price plummet accordingly.

    And yes, THAT Mike McVey.

  • Rirekon #10 4 years ago

    Given the level of support they've provided for the TCG I'm more than a little sceptical of this, though in fairness the TCG is actually pretty good.

  • thegamesthething #11 4 years ago

    "WoW® Minis figures have a level of detail that's unmatched by any other product on the market."

    Their admen must have sniffed too much superglue. Unless they mean the market for WoW figures.

  • FunkyRenegade #12 4 years ago

    I feel horiffically geeky for actually liking the look of this.

  • rhinoxious #13 4 years ago

    Games Workshop own this market, and there's no space for anyone else except for a few small hobby companies on the very fringes.

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #14 4 years ago

    Seeing as tabletop gaming isn't as huge as TCGs are thought of and going up againest the biggy would be a bad idea even if they tried it, heroclix and pokemon (and on some level Yugioh) attemped to breach into the market and it barely got noticed.

    Anyway this seems like 'Hero WoW' and seeing as the WoW board game already is rediculusly expencive, so I think this would be too.. Like everything else to do with WoW, only die hard fans will pick it up, all the rest will keep to the MMO

  • warcraftminis #15 4 years ago

    I've created a fansite to support the release of WarCraft Minis and it can be seen at http://WarCraftMinis.com. There is little original content here so far, but this domain will be the place for WarCraft Miniature fans to share their photos, stories, and everything WoW Miniatures Game!

  • Moz #16 4 years ago

    @node "They really do need to do more than just milk Warhammer and 40K and watch their share price plummet accordingly. "

    Well for starters they have Lord of the Rings, and Black library.

    Not to mention that there are already several pre-painted minis games out there by other company that have varying success (Including a Halo game). Plus a couple of other build and paint mini games companies that are very popular just not in public view as much as GW.

    This really isn't going to faze GW in the slightest

  • Krun #17 4 years ago

    So, they nick the warhammer fantasy designs make a little computer game and 10 years(or so) later they come back and challenge the people they stole the designs from. Brilliant.

    Of course the market needs some competition as Warhammer have owned the market for far too long. Although I'm amazed it's still popular enough to survive. I used to play with miniatures when they were better looking than 8 bit computer graphics and rolling dice was easier than loading a game off tape.

  • FortysixterUK #18 4 years ago

    OMFG !!!!
    I an such a l05er for liking the look if this.

    I am such a mug, if its collectable I bloody collect it...I can see it now, I'll resist for a few months, then splurge a stupid amount of cash ( and they will be costly, I reckon £5.99 each for standard figures and £14.99 for the bosses) and buy them all in one go.

    Then I'll have to put another shelf up to house them around the warcraft shrine that my PC has become.

    Sodding trading cards was my last sin. Or maybe the latest line of DC figures. Or maybe the strat guides. Or art card collections. or the artbooks.

    I'm so sad. BUT I LOVE IT.

  • FortysixterUK #19 4 years ago

    OMFG !!!!
    I an such a l05er for liking the look if this.

    I am such a mug, if its collectable I bloody collect it...I can see it now, I'll resist for a few months, then splurge a stupid amount of cash ( and they will be costly, I reckon £5.99 each for standard figures and £14.99 for the bosses) and buy them all in one go.

    Then I'll have to put another shelf up to house them around the warcraft shrine that my PC has become.

    Sodding trading cards was my last sin. Or maybe the latest line of DC figures. Or maybe the strat guides. Or art card collections. or the artbooks.

    I'm so sad. BUT I LOVE IT.

  • Snuffb0t #20 4 years ago

    Did somebody say revenue stream?

  • GordonCaladan #21 4 years ago

    Heresey. Call the Witchhunters.

  • jamespo #22 4 years ago

    all that disposable income that a wife/girlfriend doesn't soak up must go somewhere I suppose

  • BigJonno #23 4 years ago

    This isn't the same thing as Warhammer, not by a long shot. The wargames market and the collectable mini market don't have as much crossover as you'd think. The style of game is completely different too. This could be a big success without putting a dent in GW's profits.

  • Fyzzu #24 4 years ago

    As has been said, this looks more like Hero Quest or Warhammer Quest, the latter of which was pretty awesome. I admit that this is somewhat tempting, though...

  • pyroxian #25 4 years ago

    This looks like it's more aimed at the same market as Wizkid's Heroclix etc, which has been selling loads in the last few years.

    It'll probably be about £10 for a starter and £5 for a booster containing around 4 figures.