Heroscape: Yet Another Love Letter

I know, I know… some of you are tired of reading my reviews that wax eloquently about my deep & abiding love for all things Heroscape. I apologize in advance – this isn’t going to be a substantial departure from my previous missives.

Once again, let me note for those of you who’ve been living under a gaming rock for 21 years that Heroscape is a miniatures skirmish combat game played on a board constructed out of plastic terrain pieces. Since the theme is a battle for dominance in world where the Valkyrie Generals can recruit warriors from multiple times & dimensions, there is a wild mixture of heroes & squads – aliens & Matrix guys & Braveheart & dragons & robots & kung fu monks & gorillas with guns, to name a few.

And it’s one of my favorite games…

What exactly did Renegade Game Studios release for Heroscape this spring?

There are six items in this wave (released TODAY, February 24!):

• Rising Tide: Knight Primus Adelbern & Ordo Borealis (Army Expansion)
• Rising Tide: Hellforge Mandukor (Army Expansion)
• Rising Tide: Sonlen & Halushia, Scion of the Wild (Army Expansion)
• The Swamps of Valhalla (Terrain Expansion)
• The Snow Fields of Valhalla (Terrain Expansion)
• Thyraxis Dragoon (Spring 2025 organized play promo figure)

The Rising Tide release has a second wave coming in April 2025 as well.

I’m new to Heroscape. Are these Wave 3 boxes a good way to get started playing?

Much like Wave 2, the Wave 3 army boxes are excellent additions to a Heroscape collection – but by themselves don’t contain enough figures to act as a starter set. The terrain boxes are a great way to expand your ability to build maps but don’t contain any figures. In addition, none of these releases come with order markers, battle dice, or rulebooks.

The Wave 1 releases (the Master Set & the Battle Box) are the place to start if you’re new to Heroscape. The Battle Box is an excellent “let’s see if I’ll like this” set with six unique characters and enough terrain (including Laur trees and wellspring water tiles) to give you the flavor of the bigger game system. The larger Master Set offers a great variety of figures (including the first squads of the new system) and possible scenarios.

My recommendation to new players: buy the Master Set & Battle Box, followed by the Lands of Valhalla terrain box to let you build bigger boards. From there, you’ll want to look at armies you want to fill out (polar bears, nudge, nudge) and other kinds of terrain you’re interested in.

An important note for both newbies and old skool Heroscape players: all of the heroes and squads in the Battle Box, Master Set, and Army Expansions (through Wave 3) are unique – meaning you cannot field more than one of them per army. This is a money saver for those of us who were used to buying 2-3 copies of each blister pack of squads in order to be able to field sufficient numbers of zombies or Blade Gruts or Granite Guardians.

Are these good purchases for those of us who’ve been collecting Heroscape for years?

This question is a little bit more up my alley. I own at least one (and often more than one) of everything from the original run of Heroscape (2004-2010) as well as Wave 1 and Wave 2 of the new era of ‘Scape.

While there are a number of classic Heroscape thematic groups that I enjoy – it’s always fun to field an elf army or a bunch of secret agent types with some Gorillanators – I’ve come to love the newest burgeoning group: the heavily armored polar bears. Knight Primus Adelbern & Ordo Borealis are perfect additions to the Frostclaw Paladins from the Age of Annihilation set… in fact, put all of them together and you have a nearly 500 point team that can both deal and absorb a lot of damage. The Ordo Borealis squad’s ranged capabilities combined with their slightly beefier hit points (for a squad) work really well when they, like Obi-Wan Kenobi, have the high ground. (My apologies for the gratuitous Star Wars prequel reference.)

The Hellforge Mandukor is an excellent addition to the Eisenek warriors introduced in late fall 2024. He/it (not sure?) combines nicely with the Iron Lich and the Necrotech Wraithriders. His Blast Furnace power means that he needs to keep away from his teammates – but he’s absolutely brutal against squads. (Thankfully, figures with Lava Resistance aren’t affected – so I’m wondering what a fight between him vs. Brunak & some Obsidian Guards would end up.)

The final set of figures for this February release in the Rising Tide arc contains two very interesting heroes: Halushia, Scion of the Wild and Sonlen (an elf archmage). Those of us who’ve played Heroscape for a long time have incredibly fond memories of the original Sonlen and the tiny dragon riding on his shoulder. As time has passed, Sonlen now rides dragons… and continues to fight for Ullar. His healing powers are beyond nifty – they can even be used if he flies over a friendly figure – and when he’s fighting in close combat, his dragon joins him in battle. Halushia is a centaur (well, the Heroscape lore folks call him a “Dryan”) who has a ride-by special attack that lets him plow through groups of enemies and inflict damage. He also is able to use the trees and bushes of Valhalla to reduce the defense of enemy figures when they are near them. Both are excellent additions to the Ullar cause.

I do have some requests of the Renegade team:

• more polar bears, please
• more Eisenek (we’re not quite at the point where you can field an entire Eisenek team)
• more beasts (Halushia is the third figure that can control small & medium beasts… but so far there are only the two beasts from the Battle for the Wellspring box)
• more classic characters in new forms (for example, what does Agent Carr look like now?! Or Taelord?)

Are the new terrain pieces worth it?

Now, let’s talk about the terrain boxes. Both the Swamps of Valhalla and the Snowfields of Valhalla add terrain types that will be new to recent converts – but are “old skool” to those of who’ve been playing a while. Swamp terrain originally appeared in the Swarm of the Marro big box while snow & ice came in the Thaelenk Tundra sets. Both sets contain a large amount of “thin” terrain (swamp water & ice) – including some in the new 3 hex configuration (which I like a lot). Both sets also have two “obstacles” – two snow-dusted evergreens for the snowfields and two red-leafed bushes for the swamp. This is also the first time we’ve had 24 hex snow pieces, which makes it much easier to create large snow-filled boards.

While I wish there had been a bit more terrain pieces in each box (and more trees & bushes!), I get that putting a larger set together would have hiked the price to an unacceptable level. As it is, new players who want to build swampy or snow-filled boards will need to spring for a second box.

For long-time players, the terrain pieces generally match the same pieces from the original game – with the exception of the ice pieces. Hold on – I’m not actually complaining about this. I like the old ice pieces but I think the new ones work well and are not a glaring change from the original Tundra sets.

“Old” ice on the left, “new” ice on the right.

How are the scenarios in the various sets?

There are no new scenarios in the boxes for this release.

How does the future of Heroscape look to you?

I’m still very excited about all the new stuff… and it’s causing us to bring out the older stuff as well & create massive battles (and a great deal of fun)!

• We continue to expose new players to Heroscape… and the response is overwhelmingly positive. (A few of them have even started collecting ‘Scape themselves.)
• The second part of the Rising Tide story arc is only a couple of months away – which includes three more army boxes and an official paint set.
• Renegade continues to support in-store and competitive play with organized play sets, the excellent Battle Network site, and a series of very cool promo figures.
• Keep an eye open – I’ve covered the RenegadeCon release and the info dump about this summer’s Heroscape offerings (the story arc is “Boiling Tensions”).

As noted above, I received review copies of the new Heroscape material – Wave 1, Wave 2, and Wave 3. Back in the day, 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 60 year old Mark. But I still have it hanging in my closet.)

This post originally appeared on the Opinionated Gamers site.

Finite Disappointment and Infinite Hope

I'm not the first to notice the jarring juxtaposition of celebrating the life & work of Martin Luther King Jr. on the same day as the inauguration of Donald Trump. I've written extensively about my concerns & fears about Mr. Trump's fitness for public office and his "moneychangers in the Temple" attitude toward the Christian faith. 

Let me share some thoughts on this day and what it means to those of us who claim a faith in Jesus Christ.

• "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." (MLK Jr)
• It may be difficult to hear those words over the noise of inauguration news coverage, but there is justice. It just may not be on my timeline - or in my lifetime. 
• "When the righteous are in authority and become great, the people rejoice; But when the wicked man rules, the people groan and sigh." (Proverbs 29:2 AMP)
• "Again, my loved ones, do not seek revenge; instead, allow God’s wrath to make sure justice is served. Turn it over to Him. For the Scriptures say, “Revenge is Mine. I will settle all scores.” (Romans 12:19 VOICE)
• You are not the first person of faith to cry out to God and wonder why injustice prevails...
• "How long, Lord, must I call for help and You do not listen or cry out to You about violence and You do not save? Why do You force me to look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me. Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates. This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges. For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted." (Habakkuk 1:2-4 HCSB)
• I found myself drawn to the book of Habakkuk this weekend - which is not unusual throughout my life. His struggles with evil and injustice - and how God chooses to deal with those things in real time - echo the battle in my own heart & mind.
• In 2020, I wrote the following words which ring true this morning: "The fact that I can't see how God is working in the world does not mean God has stopped working in our lives."
• Praying for our political leadership is not simply "God bless 'em" - there is Biblical precedent for accountability and justice.
• "The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live." (1 Timothy 2:1-3 MSG)
• "What sorrow awaits the unjust judges and those who issue unfair laws. They deprive the poor of justice and deny the rights of the needy among my people." (Isaiah 10:1-2 NLT)
• "Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows." (Isaiah 1:17 NLT)
• Whether you are mourning or celebrating today, your obligation as a follower of Christ is to do justice... to live out the path set before us in Scripture.
• "...people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8 NLT)

I'll let Martin have the final word today...

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

It's Still Personal: Mark's Five & Dime Games for 2024

Hey, campers... I may have stopped collecting the Five & Dime stats for everyone else - but I haven't stopped collecting my own!

Here's my own personal Five & Dime list (the games I played 5+ and 10+ times in 2024).

As always, I include only face-to-face games and games played with human opponents over apps/online. What that means is that games that I play only solo via an app or website (examples: Next Station: London, Ascension, Draft & Write Records, etc.) are not counted. (All three of those would be 50+ plays if I did.)

Games with an asterisk [*] were on my Five & Dime list last year. Each asterisk indicates another year... and each plus sign indicates five years! Believe it or not, there's actually one game that has been on this list for 14 years [++****].

If you're curious, here's the games that have been on my Five & Dime list for 5+ years

• Race for the Galaxy (14 years)
• 7 Wonders (9 years)
• Jump Drive (7 years)
• Unmatched: Batlle of Legends (5 years)

Dollars

• Memoir '44 143 **

Dimes

• 7 Wonders: Architects 21 **
• Heroscape 21 
• Race for the Galaxy 19 ++****
  
• Legendary: A Marvel Deck-Building Game 17 *
• River Valley Glassworks 16
• Unmatched: Battle of Legends 15 +
• Wild Tiled West 15
• Let's Go To Japan 14
• The Red Dragon Inn 14 *
• New Frontiers 13
• Path of Civilization 13
• Terraforming Mars 13
• Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar 12
• Faraway 11
• Jump Drive 11 +**
• Can't Stop 10 ****
• Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale 10
• Distilled 10
• Heat: Pedal to the Metal 10 **
• Stonespine Architects 10

Nickels

• Captain Flip 8
• Dune: Imperium 8 ***
• Lockup: A Roll Player Tale 7
• Lost Ruins of Arnak 7
• Pirates of Maracaibo 7
• 7 Wonders 6 +****
• A Gentle Rain 6
• Ancient Knowledge 6
• Dead Reckoning 6 **
• Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters 6
• Minigolf Designer 6 ***
• NEOM 6
• The Artemis Project 6
• Ark Nova 5 **
• Dungeonquest 5
• Everdell 5 **
• Fast Food Franchise 5
• Final Girl 5
• Imperium: Classics/Legends/Horizons 5
• Next Station: London 5
• Pioneer Rails 5
• Return to Dark Tower 5 **
• Roll Player Adventures 5
• Super Mega Lucky Box 5
• The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth 5
• Ticket to Ride 5
• Twilight Inscription 5
• Voidfall 5
• Xia: Legends of a Drift System 5

Just Missed (with 4 plays)

A caret [^] denotes that they were on the Five & Dime list last year... and a pound sign [#] marks games I'm pretty sure will return in 2024. A dollar sign [$] indicates that the game was on the "Just Missed" list last year.

• 52 Realms: Adventures
• Blueprints of Mad King Ludwig
• Clank! Catacombs ^#
• DC Comics Deck-Building Game ^
• Draft & Write Records
• Fantastic Factories
• It's a Wonderful World ^
• Monumental
• Mountains out of Molehills
• Scribbly Gum
• The Taverns of Tiefenthal
• Thunder Road: Vendetta ^#

After All These Years

These are games that fell off the list... after years of repeated play. I felt compelled to say a few words at their passing.

• Res Arcana
• My primary opponent graduated college and is working on a masters degree.
• Sentinels of the Multiverse: Definitive Edition
• This is really about the boys not being at home any more... since I don't own this edition.
• Terraforming Mars: Ares Expedition
• As much as I enjoy this mash-up of Terraforming Mars & Race for the Galaxy, I'd rather play the original board game and my game room is set up to make that easier to do.
• Trails of Tucana
• Lots of good roll/flip'n'writes out there now... this one just got crowded out this year.