D&D: Onslaught is both a pricey collectible and a miniatures skirmish game

polygon.com:

Dungeons & Dragons: Onslaught is two things at once. The first part is a tactical skirmish board game. The other half is about collecting miniatures. Either of those things — a board game or collectible figures — are nonissues on their own and would be easy to write about here. It’s that D&D: Onslaught is both at once that complicates matters, and that may muddy its appeal.

As a board game, Onslaught is a self-contained, two-player, scenario-based skirmish game based on 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons combat rules. It features pre-painted miniatures, a double-sided map, and 20-sided dice. Each player controls a party of adventurers in tactical battles against an opponent’s adventuring team and enemy monsters.

Obviously Onslaught isn’t meant to replace D&D. As Alex Davy, director of miniatures gaming at WizKids, told Polygon, Onslaught was designed as a “fun, fast, and urgent” way to experience a specific part of D&D — specifically, the experience of combat and being big damn heroes.

Onslaught’s rules pare down 5e’s combat into a “balance of crunchy tactics and accessibility,” Davy said, that’s “weighted toward success.” There are no damage rolls (every successful attack deals a set amount of damage) and every attack is made with advantage (rolling two d20s and choosing the higher). The monsters that populate the scenarios automatically hit and deal damage based on rules laid out in the scenario — they don’t roll to attack. There are no skills or abilities to track. Even initiative is streamlined thanks to a deck of numbered cards.

Everything you need to know about your characters fits on an index card-sized character card. The card gives you attack options, reactions, critical hit effects, and all your stats. Each