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Heroscape

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Heroscape (sometimes HeroScape) is an expandable turn-based miniature wargaming system.

Game data

Miniatures wargame

The game designers were Craig Van Ness and Rob Daviau. This is the same company and designers who released HeroQuest and Battle Masters. The game is designed for 2 to 4 players ages 8 and older, though it can easily be adapted to more players, particularly if more than one master set is used.

The game is played using pre-painted miniature figure warriors on a board made from interlocking hex based tiles that allow for construction of a large variety of 3D playing boards.

There are two sets of rules. The basic rules allow for simpler games accessible to younger players. The advanced rules are designed for more experienced gamers but are still very simple compared to most wargames. Each figure or group of figures has a card, called an army card, with basic game statistics printed on one side and advanced game information on the other.

There are four types of army cards in the game; Unique Hero, Common Hero, Unique Squad and Common Squad. Hero cards are associated with a single figure and Squad cards are associated with a set of figures. In the Advanced Game, some Heroes require multiple wounds to eliminate them. Squad units are weaker than heroes and often have just one life point and thus die after sustaining a single wound. A player can have as many identical common cards as they like but only one of each unique card.

Master Set

The Master Set, also known as Rise of the Valkyrie is required to play the game. This set contains 30 pre-painted miniature figure warriors (all unique but a mixture of hero and squad), cards with the stats of the different warrior figures, a large amount of interlocking hex-based tile terrain, and the rule booklets, which include battlefield plans and scenarios for both basic and advanced games.

There are three versions of the Rise of the Valkyrie set available. The first edition is sought by some collectors mainly because it has sparkly translucent blue water tiles rather than solid blue ones in the second edition. The second edition is more common and has slightly different packaging, dice and revised rulebook but is otherwise identical to the first. An exclusive Walmart edition is identical to second edition but has three additional figures.

Multiple set purchases are common among keen players as the Master Set is the only way to obtain larger amounts of terrain tiles, which are generally used to build bigger battlefields.

Expansion sets

Expansion sets have been released regularly since the game debuted. As of February 2006, six series are available. The seventh series, Fortress of the ArchKyrie, is much anticipated by fans because it features a castle for use in the game. It is due to be released in June 2006, according to the official website.

The most common format of the expansion series is to release four different blister packs, each containing 3 - 7 figures. One pack in each series contains unique heroes, while the other three contain one or two common army squads. Most boosters contain extra terrain hexes. These blister pack expansions are sometimes refered to as the wave expansions, as opposed to the expansions which come in larger boxes.

Due to the way these expansions extend the game experience, some have referred to Heroscape as a collectible miniatures game (CMG) and compared it to games like Mage Knight and Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game. However, the designers of Heroscape have stressed repeatedly that the game is not collectible per se, because purchasers can see exactly what they are getting with every pack they buy. Also, Heroscape expansions are not intended to go permenantly out of print. This differs from the marketing tactic of CMG's, which rely on "blind purchase" (not knowing what you have until you've already purchased and opened the package) and limited availability to drive their sales.

A list of the expansions, roughly in order of release:

  • Mallidon's Prophecy (2004) — Also known as Wave 1 expansion, the Mallidon's Prophecy expansion series was released in December 2004. It contains 4 booster packs each with a new glyph as well as the normal 5 - 7 new figues and relevant unit cards for the new figures and new terrain piece.
    • Grut Orcs — 7 figures (4 Blade Grut Orcs, 3 Arrow Grut Orcs), 2 army cards, 2 two-hex tiles, 2 one-hex tiles, 1 glyph, 1 glyph card.
    • Snipers & Vipers — 7 figures (3 Venoc Vipers, 4 Omicrons Snipers), 2 two-hex tiles, 2 one-hex tiles, 2 army cards, 1 glyph, 1 glyph card.
    • The IX Roman Legion — 7 figures(4 Roman Legionnaires, 3 Roman Archers), 2 two-hex tiles, 2 one-hex tiles, 2 army cards, 1 glyph, 1 glyph card.
    • Heroes of Bleakwoode — 5 hero figures (Tornak, Venoc Warlord, Kelda the Kyrie Warrior and Marcus Decimus Gallus), 1 two-hex tile, 2 one-hex tiles, 5 army cards, 1 glyph, 1 glyph card.
  • Utgar's Rage (2005)
    • Drones & Minions — 6 figures (3 Marro Drones, 3 Minions of Utgar), 2 two-hex tiles, 2 army cards.
    • Knights & The Swog Rider — 5 figures (4 Knights of Weston, 1 Swog Rider), 2 two-hex tiles, 2 army cards.
    • Minute Men & Wolves — 7 figures(4 4th Massachussetts Line figures, 3 Anubian Wolves), 2 two-hex tiles, 2 army cards.
    • Heroes of Barrenspur — 4 hero figures (Khosumet the Darklord, Me-Burq-Sa, Krug, Sir Denrick), 2 two-hex tiles, 4 army cards.
  • Orm's Return (AKA Hyperion's Return) (2005)
    • The Heroes of Laur — 5 figures (Charos, Dund, Brunak, Deathwalker 8000, Su-Bak-Na), 5 army cards.
  • The Road to the Forgotten Forest (2005)
    • The Road to the Forgotten Forest — 1 figure (Dumutef Guard), 5 trees, 2 stone walls, 1 five-hex road tile, 8 one-hex road tiles, 8 two-hex road tiles, 1 army card, 1 game and scenario guide.
  • Jandar's Oath (2005)
    • Gorillas & Hounds — 6 figures (3 Marrden Hounds, 3 Gorillanators), terrain, 2 army cards.
    • Kilts & Commandos — 7 figures (3 Microcorp Agents, 4 MacDirk Warriors), terrain, 2 army cards.
    • Monks & Sentinels — 6 figures (3 Shaolin Monks, 3 Sentinels of Jandar), terrain, 2 army cards.
    • Heroes of Nostralund — 5 hero figures (Alastair MacDirk, Concan the Kyrie Warrior, Deathwalker 7000, Johnny 'Shotgun' Sullivan, Saylind the Kyrie Warrior), terrain, 5 army cards.
  • Volcarren Wasteland (2005)
    • Volcarren Wasteland — 3 figures (3 Obsidian Guards), 1 army card, 11 one-hex molten lava tiles, 5 one-hex lava field tiles, 5 two-hex lava field tiles, 4 seven-hex lava field tiles. This expansion is exclusively distributed through Toys "R" Us.
  • Zanafor's Discovery (2006)
    • Greeks & Vipers — 7 figures (4 Greeks, 3 Armoc Vipers), terrain, 2 army cards.
    • Lawmen & Samurai — 6 figures (Deadeye Dan, Guilty McCreech, James Murphy, 3 Tagawa Samurai), terrain, 4 army cards.
    • Heroes of Trollsford — 5 hero figures (Sudema, Valguard, Morsbane, Parmenio, Major X17), terrain, 5 army cards.
    • Soulborgs & Elves — 7 figures (4 Gladiatrons, 3 Aubrien Archers), terrain, 2 army cards.

Fan sites

Heroscape has developed an online fan-base. One of the most popular early fansites was Heroscape.net. Fans of the game, and even some of the game's designers, gathered in this community to discuss things such as game mechanics, new scenarios, rule variants and the latest rumors about upcoming expansions. Heroscape.net fell victim to copyright restrictions and was shut down.

HeroscapeHQ.com (HQ) was the site to which many of the Heroscape.net users moved. The administrators of this site watch copyright much more closely because of the issues which forced the closure of Heroscape.net. This site features downloadable fan-made modifications including some from the defunct Heroscape.net site.

Another fansite is HotLavaDeath.com the name of which is an in joke by one of the designers about the volcano-terrain expansion set.

External links


Further information

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