Heroscape

Introduction/Topic
Heroscape is a simple and straight-forward miniatures game. The game is set-up in Valhalla, where a couple of Viking Gods "recruit" warriors from different ages to fight epic battles. Even if I wasn't sure in the beginning whether this mixture of Samurai Fighters and Dragons, Sci-Fi-Miniatures and WWII soldiers is appealing, I'm convinced now that the whole "Valhalla"-idea is a good premise for the game and definitely makes sense

Components
The Heroscape Master Set is a rather huge box, fully packed with components of good quality. First of all there are 30 prepainted plastic miniatures, coming in different sizes and offering a lot of detail. Really amazing are the terrain tiles (grass, lava, water, rock,...) giving you the possibility to build your own 3D terrain - and a different one for every battle

Gameplay
The rules are easy to understand and a lot of examples are added as well, which makes it also for beginners rather simple to start playing. Further there are basic rules and advanced rules, whereas the advanced rules are pretty standard miniature gaming rules - having all you need for exciting battles. You have stat cards for each miniature (or goup of miniatures) showing the respective special abilities and values for movement, range and so. As already known from a lot of other games combat is resolved by attack and defense dice (especially manufactured ones with skulls and shields), which is fast and effective

Conclusion
What I really like are the terrain tiles and the endless opportunities you have for using them, also the miniatures are pretty well done - and prepainted, which saves you some time. You might be put off by the genre mix, but if you take the idea of Valhalla into consideration it's okay I guess. In every case it's a great introduction to miniature gaming, as you don't need a long time to go through the rules and therefore can fully concentrate on fast and exciting battles, which are definitely a lot of fun.

Imagine the Greatest Battle of All Time, where all the warriors of history and fantasy converge on a battlefield that you design! Construct the customizable 3-D, interlocking-tile board with terrain and terrain accessories; the field and the battle will change with each game! Eliminate all your enemy's pieces to win. Your friends can bring their own armies to your battlefield, for endless excitement and gaming variety.

While there is an included rule book that offers up two game variations (one for players under 8 years of age), we like the boundless imagination of this game and the open-minded versatility of its imaginary protagonists. There is also a battlefield/scenario book that shows five battlefields and how to build them and offers up variation on game objectives. You can decide to make the winning goal opponent elimination, moving to a specific hex, protecting a figure on the board, or something else entirely.

What's In the Box
30 painted figures
8 24-hex tiles
10 3-hex tiles
2 2-hex tiles
26 1-hex tiles
21 water tiles
2 ruins
16 army cards
10 glyphs
24 wound markers
Grenade marker
16 order markers
10 attack dice
10 defense dice
A 10-sided die
Owner's sticker sheet
Round marker

2-4 players, 90 min
author: craig van ness, rob daviau, stephen baker
publisher: hasbro
category: miniatures, wargame

buy the game online @ fantasy-in.de or coolstuffinc.com

heroscape @ boardgamegeek.com
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