Magic: Provides information on new spells, ranging from 0th level to 5th level, as well as several new magic items.
Monsters: Provides information on new monsters, including the Kruthik, Mad Slasher, Protectar, and Stonechild.
Stat Cards: Provides information on reading and understanding statistics cards, with respect both to roleplaying and skirmish.
Skirmish Rules: Provides information on the skirmish game, Including Command, Movement, Spells, and Terrain. Also provides rules on skirmish campaigns.
Mass Battle Rules: Presents rules for large scale action in which creatures fight together in large, regimented groups.
Random Dungeons: Shows how to turn miniatures' stat cards into a "dungeon deck" to generate random encounters.
Jonathan Tweet explained the initial goal behind the book: "The Miniatures Handbook and the D&D Miniatures line in general developed because we saw that miniatures were a big part of the D&D roleplaying experience. We wanted to support players who use miniatures in their games, as well as create easy-to-use miniatures for players who would like to use miniatures but don't. In addition, we built on the experience Wizards has with competitive games. Our D&D miniatures are designed to work in a roleplaying game, but we've also created a head-to-head skirmish system for fighting fast, tactical battles with them. The Miniatures Handbook, like the miniatures themselves, supports both roleplaying and head-to-head wargaming."[2]
Shannon Appelcline noted that the book got "somewhat mixed reviews" and that parts of the book "like the mass battle rules - which may have dated back, in part, all the way to Wizard's unpublished 'Military Order' book - were derided as not working well with the random nature of the miniatures. Still, the book probably served its purpose of cross-marketingDungeons & Dragons and the Miniatures game."[1]
