The Return of Heroscape

In November of 2010, I posted a sad goodbye to a game system that I'd not only collected & played, but also playtested. Hasbro chose to end the Heroscape line after releasing four master box sets, thirteen waves of figures, three boxes of large figures, a wave of flagbearers with custom dice, and four boxes of special terrain over six amazing years. 

Well, as Mark Twain once (purportedly) said, "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated." Because, unless Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast has manufactured the terrain out of some kind of special plastic that they can detonate by remote control and/or they've hired the Taelord & the Minions of Utgar to swoop down on game rooms 'round the world and steal back the stacks of miniatures, we can still play this wonderful game. (BTW, this would be the most effective use of Taelord & the Minions. In other news, Taelord & the Minions would make a great rock band name.)

And we did play... a lot. (I would like to issue an apology to Taelord the Kryie Warrior, who I've made fun for a very long time as an over-costed and relatively useless figure. It was Taelord & the Minions that helped me defeat my son's Gorillanator/Krav Maga army last night... as pictured here.)

In the summer of 2022 - nearly twelve years later - Hasbro began to hint that they were "getting the band back together" and reviving Heroscape. My initial excitement grew cold as the Avalon Hill/HasLab teams made a number of off-putting choices in their crowdfunding campaign: using Discord as the primary tool to release information, choosing to release the set as a single $250 Vanguard edition box, not giving a painted option (even for those willing to pay more), the garish day-glo color of the mini renderings (whether or not they would have looked like that in the end), focusing on faction groups rather than Valkyrie Generals, etc.

I fully admit that 'old skool' Heroscape players (like myself) probably had our $$ and painted minis expectations out of whack - in 2004, the original Master box (Rise of the Valkyrie) cost just $40 and you darn near needed a hand truck to get it out to your car. And I think that the attempted shift to "factions" as an organizing principle was in order to make entry for newbies easier - a noble goal.

That said, the crowdfunding campaign was unsuccessful... and Avalon Hill announced:

What’s next for HeroScape?

Our unfortunate answer is… nothing. As we said during the campaign if this project doesn’t meet its goal, we won’t be able to produce Age of Annihilation. That has not changed. HeroScape as a project will be shelved, and there are no current plans to attempt a resurrection at this time. The Avalon Hill team will refocus our efforts on the exciting games we currently have coming soon…

As I wrote that fall: "And with that, I truly thought that we could stick a fork in any more Heroscape."

I am so very glad I was wrong.

It was just seven months later that Renegade Game Studios announced a "licensing arrangement" with Avalon Hill/Hasbro to take the work that had been done on Heroscape and make this game system viable again. 

In October 0f 2023, Renegade hosted their first Heroscape livestream - introducing us to some of the team of folks who responsible for pulling a "Free Willy" and releasing Heroscape from captivity. (OK, that's a pretty weak metaphor/pop culture reference hybrid... my apologies.)

They dealt forthrightly with a number of questions:

• Yes, they are still working with the folks at Hasbro and have a positive established relationship there.
• They have all of the inherited stuff from Hasbro and are currently doing their due diligence.
• It was not 100% finished when it was turned over to the Renegade team… so there’s lots of work to do.
• The lore/story direction of Heroscape will be led by the Renegade team.
• They plan to use all of the content from the HasLab campaign – though likely not all of it on “day one”. (We'll talk about that more in a minute.)
• Yes, the game will be backwards compatible.
• There are no historical figures in the current waves.
• They will not be reprinting the ‘classic’ sculpts/figures.
• None of the molds still exist for the old stuff.
• However, personas from the past could reappear (there was a lot of hinting around about Raelin).

And, in a very classy move, they were honest about whether or not they could do painted figures. Simply put, they hadn't made the decision yet - but they were exploring options.

My reaction was very positive:

By the time Renegade’s new wave of Heroscape stuff hits the street, it will have been 20 years since Frank Branham emailed me and told me to head to the closest Wal-Mart with $40 in hand and pick up a copy of Rise of the Valkyrie (the first Heroscape Master Set). Over the next six years, I bought, traded for, and/or was given at least one of each release – and in many cases, multiples of certain figure and terrain packs. They currently reside in three rolling cases in my office closet – waiting for my boys to get home from college to set up some serious battles in my new game room.

I am smack dab in the center of ONE of the target audiences for Renegade’s new Heroscape material. Note: I said ONE of the target audiences – but for the game to be successful, they need to bring in a lot of new players who don’t have a deep connection to the game Hasbro released between 2004-2010.

So, please take my reactions and suggestions that follow with a rather large grain of salt – I’m speaking as somebody who left this up in his game room for weeks while my sons, their best friend, and I played a 6000 points per side epic battle most afternoons after school. 

I’m really happy about the multiple packaging options… I think that was one of the most grievous errors with the crowdfunding campaign.

I get that painted figures are going to be a stretch – I hope that there is an option to get painted figures, as I’d like them to blend with all the figures I already have. But, I understand if that’s not possible.

My wish list for “historical/trope” figures: pirates, cavemen (let one of them ride a wooly mammoth!), post-apocalyptic biker gangs, skeletons, Mouse Guard-ish heroes, and bear cavalry.

In general, I think Renegade’s approach has a better chance for both short-term and long-term success.

 

In March of this year (2024), the actual details of Wave 1 (yes, there are waves!) of the new Heroscape era were shared on a livestream from the Renegade team. There would be a Master Set (entitled Age of Annhilation) as well as a smaller "intro" Battle Box (entitled Battle for the Wellspring) and the first of a series of Terrain System boxes, The Grove at Laur's Edge. 

Most importantly for those of with (a) a large Heroscape collection, and (b) the miniature painting skills of a 4 year old with anger issues, they announced that Renegade is releasing "premium paint" versions of each box with figures. 

Here's the wild thing about these new boxes - they are using the same basic character designs from the failed Avalon Hill/HasLab crowdfunding attempt. I wasn't the best reporter with this initial reveal - I didn't even realize it. (It took a comment from one of our readers at the Opinionated Gamers site to point it out.)

Let me see if I can show why I didn't recognize this fact. (I'll use my favorite squad from the Wave 1 releases, the Frostclaw Paladins.)

In the first picture (from the crowdfunding campaign), the figures are both a single color AND rendered where the back left mini is very difficult to see and the front left mini is lit so he's difficult to figure out. (Yes, I know that those were digital concept art.) In the second picture, not only are the minis painted, but they are positioned where it's easier to see each of the figures. 

Additionally, the rollout from Renegade included a developed website with character bios and army cards - making it easier to see the connections to what had gone before and the nifty new ideas that the both Avalon Hill and Renegade has been working on. (Well, and a way to preorder the new stuff - which only makes sense.)

In other news from the March event, the team let us know that any promos created (two were specifically mentioned - Sgt. Drake & Shiori) would not be exclusive. Promo figures will always eventually be available through Renegade's online store. 

In June 2024 (ahem, last Friday - to be exact), Renegade hosted yet another livestream to showcase the Wave 2 releases. This wave focuses on Army Expansions (two of them) and Terrain System boxes (two of these as well). The Army boxes (under the sub-title Revna's Rebuke) include the Kryie Warriors box and the Iron Lich Viscerot & Necrotech Wraithriders box. The Terrain System boxes are the Lands of Valhalla (filled with - no surprise here - a lot more land tiles) and the Waters of Valhalla (more water tiles).

I wrote about this last weekend:

I honestly don’t know what I expected from Wave 2. Back in the day, the first follow-up to the original Master set (Rise of the Valkyrie) was a set of 4 figure boosters, followed the next year by the first large figures box and the first terrain box. That’s not the direction Renegade has chosen to go – but I can’t say I blame them for avoiding the blister pack booster system.

What seemed like a good idea back in 2004 – three packs of mostly common squad figures and a pack of unique heroes in each release – meant that collectors/players picked up multiple copies of the common squads and only a single copy of the hero pack. That left stores – both big box and FLGSs – with extra stock of a single pack. In big box store cases, some inventory systems confused those remaining packs as stock, thus meaning they didn’t reorder. For FLGSs, it was inventory that ate up shelf space and overhead.

All of the figures in Revna’s Rebuke (both boxes) are unique heroes or squads – that means you don’t need multiple boxes as you can’t field multiple copies of these heroes/squads in an army. No leftover blister packs; no wondering how many packs will I really need to field an awesome [fill in the blank] fighting force. (I am still looking for second packs of Ashigaru spearmen and riflemen… but any time I’ve found them, I haven’t been willing to plunk down that much cash.)

I think that this direction is a long-term good idea. The terrain expansions are going to be excellent for newer players – access to big chunks of terrain without being scalped on the secondary market for stuff from 20 years ago. (Did I mention this year is the 20th anniversary of Heroscape? More on that in a minute.) The army expansions will add to wave 1 releases… but also connect nicely to the older figures/armies that those of us who’ve been playing most or all of those two decades can get behind.

Better yet, Jordan & Lee confirmed that Renegade has Heroscape releases planned out into early 2026… and they’ll be revealing Wave 3 in October!

OK, Great... How Do I Get My Hands On This Wonderful Stuff?!

Pre-orders for both Wave 1 and Wave 2 of Heroscape are currently open at Renegade Game Studios' webstore. Please remember that mixing both Wave 1 & Wave 2 boxes into the same order will mean they will not ship until October 2024 (shipping date for Wave 2).

The street date (aka "when will Wave 1 show up in your friendly local game store [FLGS]") is August 29th. Pre-order should arrive in early-to-mid-August. Orders placed to be picked up at GenCon are available as well.

Wave 1 pre-orders will also receive the Sgt. Drake promo figure as a part of their order.

Really important fact I don't want anyone to miss: Heroscape terrain & figures can be used with other boxes & sets - both current and past. 

WAVE ONE

The Battle for the Wellspring Battle Box has 6 figures as well as 31 terrain pieces (including a Wellspring water tile), 2 Laur trees, and a single glyph... and all the material (dice, wound markers, etc.) needed to play Heroscape. Four scenarios are included in the box. 

• Unpainted set (figures will have wash to highlight detail): $45
• Premium painted set: $65

The Age of Annihilation Master Set has 20 figures as well as 23 Laur wall terrain pieces, 74 terrain pieces, and 11 glyphs... and all the material (dice, wound markers, etc.) needed to play Heroscape. Nine scenarios are included in the set.

• Unpainted set (figures will have wash to highlight detail): $125
• Premium painted set: $225

The Grove at Laur's Edge Terrain System has 3 Laur trees plus 6 Laur underbrush pieces as well as a set-up guide. A Heroscape Master Set or Battle Box is required to be able to use this expansion.

• No figures, so a single price point: $50

WAVE TWO

The Kryie Warriors Army Expansion has 5 Kryie Warrior figures as well as their army cards. A Heroscape Master Set or Battle Box is required to be able to use this expansion

• Unpainted set (figures will have wash to highlight detail): $45
• Premium painted set: $65

The Iron Lich Viscerot & Necrotech Wraithfriders Army Expansion has 4 figures (the huge Iron Lich mini and the Necrotech Wraithriders squad) as well as their army cards. A Heroscape Master Set or Battle Box is required to be able to use this expansion

• Unpainted set (figures will have wash to highlight detail): $45
• Premium painted set: $65

The Lands of Valhalla Terrain System has 63 terrain pieces for use in building battle maps... including the first 24-hex sand pieces produced for the Heroscape line. A Heroscape Master Set or Battle Box is required to be able to use this expansion.

• No figures, so a single price point: $70

The Waters of Valhalla Terrain System has 24 single hex water terrain pieces, 6 wellspring terrain pieces, and 5 3-hex water terrain pieces for use in building battle maps. A Heroscape Master Set or Battle Box is required to be able to use this expansion.

• No figures, so a single price point: $30

Some final thoughts:

• There is an unboxing video available now... thanks to RenegadeCon last week.
• The link goes straight to the part of the video with Heroscape stuff.
• The hosts are relentlessly cheerful... but the unboxing is still cool. 
• There is also a painting guide video... again, thanks to RenegadeCon.
• While I applaud their effort, there are not enough videos in the world to make up for my complete lack of miniature painting skills.
• I really don't write much about the plans for organized play (since I'm not really a tournament guy)... but there's an impressive amount of organized play support coming for Heroscape.
• The best place to keep up with information about the game and the upcoming releases is https://renegadegamestudios.com/heroscape-home. Of course, you can access the webshop that way... but there are also pictures and information about each of the figures. In the future, even more resources will be available through the site.

OK, I've typed long enough. Time for me to get back to building a huge 2v2 battle map I'm tentatively naming "Swamp & Thunder Road".

I have not received a review copy of any of the new Heroscape material - I just really love the game and am incredibly excited to see it back in print. I did receive some promo figures, a couple of Volcarren Wasteland boxes, and a wave of figures as a "thank you" for my work as a playtester. (I also received a very cool Heroscape T-shirt which fit 42 year old Mark but isn't as kind to nearly 60 year old Mark. But I still have it hanging in my closet.)