Adiken, the makers of Nin Gonost, have the guts to compete in the competitive market of fantasy miniatures. The question is, do they have the game? The starter set for Nin Gonost, Dungeon Clash, will let you try the smaller version of the game for a very reasonable price before you dive head-first into a brand new (and fairly expensive) game.

The Miniatures

There are a variety of miniatures in Dungeon Clash. For forty dollars, you get nine miniatures, including three heroes, four orcs, an orc leader, and the impressively frightening half-troll.

The sculpts on the heroes are sadly a little plain. They are thoroughly adequate, mind you – these are not unattractive miniatures – but they do not set themselves apart all that well. You could get the same quality from many other manufacturers. The Sir Galwen figure might be more impressive if he were not a little two-dimensional in his stance, and Kurtz the bowman is almost interchangeable with nearly any other bowman figure out there. Rogan the dwarf is a pretty cool sculpt, though – his two swinging axes are very dynamic.

The bad guys, on the other hand, are very cool. The four orcs – two sword fighters and two archers – are distinctive and memorable. They have great poses and beg to be used, just to have these cool miniatures on the table. The orc leader, Rorgursh, holds a mighty sword over his head and a very cool bullwhip in his other hand.

But the real star of Dungeon Clash, and easily the best miniature in the package, is the half-troll. This enormous figure has a long trident that has to be seen to be believed, and his ferocious appearance will make you want to recruit him every chance you get.

The figures have a fairly good amount of flash, and require considerable trimming before painting. While their bases are not all as flat as I might like, they come with very nice bases that work extremely well, eliminating the need to file down the bottom of the miniatures. The only figure without a plastic base is the half-troll, whose large base is supposed to support him. Mine did not, but rather than go after him with a file, I made a base out of black foamcore board. It’s working great, and I love being able to put that giant monster out to battle the other figures.

Other Parts

Dungeon Clash is not long on game pieces. It’s really almost just a collection of miniatures, with enough other stuff to play a game. The exception to this is the handful of specialized dice. There are 25 unique dice that make playing Nin Gonost or Dungeon Clash a very different game from anything you have seen before. These dice are very attractive and really add a cool, tactile factor.

Each figure in Nin Gonost or Dungeon Clash comes with a character card, about the size of a playing card. These cards have very nice art on them and a bunch of numbers used to play. The design is good, but not exceptional. They get the job done, and they look nice.

Aside from figures, cards, and dice, Dungeon Clash also comes with a printed dungeon and a single page of quick start rules. The dungeon printout is a little bland, and the rules are do not even try to be attractive. They tell you the rules, and that’s about it.

The Game

Aside from very nice miniatures, the main reason to try Dungeon Clash is the extraordinarily original battle concept. Rather than have standard skill checks, each player rolls color-coded dice to determine their success in battle. When two warriors face off in melee, each rolls a die of the color noted on his character card. Modifications improve the type of die rolled, which explains why you need 25 dice to play the game. Better dice have higher numbers on them, which gives a statistical advantage to the better fighter without removing any chance of success from the weaker.

Each character in Dungeon Clash has a number of actions that can be used for moving and attacking. By using actions to concentrate or move into better position, archers can be deadly opponents. Fighters can use their action points to maneuver around their foes, though most do not have enough action points to do the clichéd effect of taking turns running around each other to attack from the back.

When combat starts, each melee brawler rolls his appropriate die. The higher roller hits the lower, and must then determine damage. The difference between the two rolls is added to the winner’s damage value, and if this is over the loser’s resistance number, the loser is vanquished.

The neat element added to this game is the concept of the fate die. This clear die has a star on one side and is otherwise blank. The die is rolled with every attack or defense roll, and rolling fate can save a warrior from otherwise certain death, or deal that critical blow that drops an opponent with a single well-aimed attack.

There are a few problems at this point. First, there are no hit points – if a character takes enough damage to die, he is gone, and if not, the hit doesn’t count. This can make fighting a relatively tedious affair, if both fighters are evenly matched. Second, the very brief rules do not describe how to perform turn order or initiative. These two factors make the game feel fairly arbitrary and underdeveloped.

Summary and Observations

The miniatures in Dungeon Clash are nice, and the bad guys are great. The half-troll is a fantastic figure, and if all you got was a box full of minis, this would still be a good purchase.

The game is not as great. As an introduction to Nin Gonost, Dungeon Clash feels like an excuse to sell a box of minis and dice. The full rules for Nin Gonost are lengthy and deep, and these basic rules are undeveloped and incomplete. They do allow a player to get a feel for the theory of Nin Gonost, but they don’t deliver a particularly strategic or fun game.

All told, Dungeon Clash is a good value. The game is not particularly awesome, but the figures are worth more than the total cost of the package. If you intend to play Nin Gonost, or if you already do, Dungeon Clash is a no-brainer – the additional dice, figures and character cards will add to the game immensely. Even if you never intend to play Nin Gonost, the miniatures in Dungeon Clash, especially the half-troll, make a great buy.

You can learn more about Dungeon Clash, and see close-ups of some of the figures, at www.adiken.com .

Style: 4 – Great figures for the bad guys and cool dice.

Substance: 2 – Buy Dungeon Clash for the minis or spare dice. Don’t buy it for the game.

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