Gen Con Indianapolis marked fans’ first full introduction to the game that is redefining the collectible miniatures gaming industry. Hundreds of avid gamers were introduced to the World of Warcraft Miniatures Game at the Upper Deck booth, and a select few even got the chance to play in the world’s first tournaments. With a hot new promotional Bog Elemental and live sculpting by artist James Carter, the weekend was packed full of big Minis news for everyone in Indianapolis!

Pulling Back the Curtain

Ever since the game was announced in early 2008, World of Warcraft fans around the world have been waiting for what can only be described as the most anticipated collectible miniatures game of all time! With a small quantity of the first miniatures to come off the assembly line, Upper Deck’s Darkmoon Faire hosted four Preview Events over the course of Friday and Saturday of Gen Con. Each event gave 32 lucky participants the chance to play in a free tournament with two booster packs of finished minis and cards. Players who took a demo at the Upper Deck booth or printed out the downloadable demo here at WoWMinis.com were able to enter drawings for entrance into the events, which started at noon and 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.

After winning their “golden tickets,” players were ushered over to the tournament hall, where they received booster packs containing dice, character cards, Action Bar cards, UBase miniature bases, and, most importantly, the minis themselves. Each mini given out in the events featured an exclusive base labeling it as part of the weekend’s Preview Events, so these minis are sure to be big collectors’ items when the game officially launches in November!

In addition to getting to see the minis, players were lucky enough to try out several of the different maps at the event, from the dry wasteland of Tanaris to the frozen hills of Winterspring. With the new maps came new scenarios, demonstrating some of the exciting gameplay possibilities from the game’s easy-to-master rules and elegant engine. Players who had questions got immediate answers from the Miniatures R&D team, who were on-hand throughout the weekend either giving demos or keeping an eye on the Preview tournaments!

The Prizes Were . . . Epic!

Many of you saw Varimathras when we previewed him a while back, but the top two players of each flight got one better: they got to walk home with Varimathras and his cards!

In case you missed it, here’s an interview with the winners from the first event:

Making Mini Magic in the Exhibit Hall

In addition to the tournaments and demos, the Exhibit Hall hosted some other exciting features. Continuing the tradition of offering exclusive promotional minis, attendees who spent money at the Upper Deck booth were able to walk away with a special Bog Elemental miniature sporting a green base.

Sad you missed your chance to get one? Make sure to stop by the Upper Deck booth at the Penny Arcade Expo this coming weekend, and you’ll get an opportunity to walk away with a mini of your own!

Also on-hand was Upper Deck’s own James Carter, one of the crown jewels in the game’s sculpting stable. Not only was he able to answer questions about the process he goes through for each mini, but he also showed off his skills by doing a live sculpt of the legendary troll anti-hero Zul’jin! The one-armed troll witchdoctor will be released in a set due out next year, but thanks to James and his fast-working tools, we can all enjoy a glimpse of him right now!

  

If you missed out on one of our many stops this summer, don’t worry, because we still have a few more appearances before the conventions officially go into hibernation for the winter. We’ll be appearing at the Penny Arcade Expo on August 29–31, and again at BlizzCon on October 10–11!