Lava-Yes or no?

[K/H_Addict]

do you like the lava terrain? I love it, and one other person in my playgroup does too. Everyone else hates it, so we don't use it much.

[LilNewbie]

Hot Lava Death! 'Nuff said.

:D

Newb.

[markwars]

What's not to like?

[K/H_Addict]

thats what i say. One just doesnt like it, and one says its too hard to get through it. I tell him to go around! he's like no! i hate lava don't use it!

[reapersaurus]

i think lava is VERY limited in gameplay (obviously).
Just good for making barriers on a map.

Lave afields, on the other hand, could be used very effectively on a map to enhance gameplay.

[markwars]

One just doesnt like it, and one says its too hard to get through it. I tell him to go around! he's like no! i hate lava don't use it!

Too hard to get through it? If he's going through Lava then he's not very smart. If he doesn't play with lava fields because they are too hard to get through then he is really lazy. I mean does he also build all of his maps without elevation? Is water out of the equation too? Since castles are tough to storm is he going to rule them out as well? :shock:

[K/H_Addict]

actually, he doesnt build fields. not often anyways. I build most of the maps we play on, so if there's lava, theres lave and he is SOL. You do bring in some good points that i will definately throw at him next time it comes up. Thank markwars!

[Su-Bak-Na]

I think it adds more straatigic thinking, because once you enter the lava area you need to have a way to get out before the roung ends, unless your trying to power up Krug. I also think it adds a nice look to the board.

Your friends probobly don't like it because they're afraid of loosing pieces.

My motto when playing Heroscape is "You have to risk some to win some."

[feekonea]

Ive got three lava sets and I love them, I wish the lava figs were about 80 points though.

[K/H_Addict]

the only way lava stops me is if it is late in the round or if it is molten lava. I will move a fig straight up to the lava, count the spaces and make sure that i dont end a round on a lava field space, and will find away around molten lava. it's not that hard

[markwars]

And if lava wasn't cool before, it certainly is now that we have Jotun.

[K/H_Addict]

another reason i like it. Jotun or the glyph of erland

[Dragonslayer]

I love glyphs placed on lava. Makes it nicely risky to use them if you have no lava-resistant units :twisted:

[K/H_Addict]

hmm...now, why didn't i think of that? Maybe i'll make a scenario to make people use the lava so they will learn to like it

[yagyuninja]

Your friends probobly don't like it because they're afraid of loosing pieces.

We've started telling first time players:

"Just so you know, everyone is going to die. So don't get too upset when you lose guys."

[Command-and-Conquer]

Maybe your friends are just intimidated by you K/H.

[player_of_volleyball]

i'm not intimadated by K/H. I just dont really like lava. I like elavation and i love water, i just dont like lava for some reason. Maybe its the almost instant kill idk.

[Command-and-Conquer]

It was supposed to be a joke. A really bad joke! :twisted:

[Roufus]

I got the bridge.
I got the lava.
All I need is the castle so I can finally make my BOWSERS CASTLE scenario!

[CornPuff]

Well, one of the 2 people I regularly play with doesnt like lava, so that means I don't like lava either :(

The only thing I find funny is what lava does to the look of teh map. You end up with maps that look geologically impossible. At least with only one HLD set, its hard to make viable looking landscapes with lava.

[jcb231]

Molten Lava is ideal for making barricades. It will be even cooler when the castles come out for making moats.

Lava field is nice if you use it strategically. I like to use it on high areas or shortcuts. That way it's a trade-off....you hold hte high ground, but you need to get off by the end or risk a hit. You take the shortcut instead of schlepping over the mountain, but you'd better devote enough markers to get across before the end of the round.

I also use both types under bridges instead of water sometimes.....makes the bridge more important.

[Taeblewalker]

Lava definitely is limited with only one set. Two are needed just to have a commensurate number of molten lava tiles as a Tundra set has ice tiles.

[GaryLASQ]

lava is great. both the molten kind and crusty kind.

it can make for some fun scenarios...like one of mine for example :)

Muspellgata Map (http://heroscape.glasq.com/maps/garylasq_map0200_muspellgata.htm)
Muspellgata Scenario (http://heroscape.glasq.com/maps/garylasq_map0201_muspellgata.htm)
the scenario is specifically designed for the Brunak Carry if you stop to think about it long enough...

[srmalloy]

Lava field is nice if you use it strategically. I like to use it on high areas or shortcuts. That way it's a trade-off....you hold hte high ground, but you need to get off by the end or risk a hit. You take the shortcut instead of schlepping over the mountain, but you'd better devote enough markers to get across before the end of the round.

I also use both types under bridges instead of water sometimes.....makes the bridge more important.
I tried an experiment this evening, building a map where the bridge was lower than the surrounding terrain, partway down inside a gorge, where the bottom was lava and lava fields. Getting the height I wanted took a ton of tiles, but I feel pretty satisfied with the result. With troops having a height advantage over the ends of the bridge, it makes a scenario where control of both ends of the bridge is part of the victory conditions a little nastier.

http://members.cox.net/srmalloy/images/HeroScape/Chasm.jpg

[jdtenor]

I always use lava, I love lava, slows the game a little so I try to use as barriers or middle grounds

[Jandars_Hope]

cool map srmalloy! i like the lava terrain but my dad moans that he can't get through it properly even though i place rock pieces in between! I can't wait to get more lava sets!

[RobWeaver]

I don't use lava very often, and I don't think it's as useful an expansion as RttFF is. The road and the trees are great! I've only used the lava 2 or 3 times, except as extra pieces to build up a height. There aren't enough pieces in one set to build a very interesting field, although Searing Pass, on the official site, is a fun, pretty and easy map to build.

[Snotwalker 8000]

I think RobWeaver sums it up nicely... the lava expansion set just doesn't come with enough terrain to make it easy to use. If they had come with the standard 21 "liquid" tiles for the molten set, that would have greatly helped. Only coming with, what, 11 molten tiles, just isn't enough to create interesting rivers of lava or lava lakes.

Plus, the majority of the lava fields are in 7hex form, which aren't as amendable to creative landscaping. They should have come in more 3 or 2 hex shapes.

I think the lava is cool, and I own 2 sets, but I just don't use it very often... I don't want to fork out more money on another set or two, even though I would then probably have enough lava terrain to make better looking lava areas, because I'd rather spend the money on another RTTFF, or several more common expansion packs.... or of course, the new Tundra/Castle sets when they actually make an appearance in the stores. So far, Minneapolis, MN, is shooting blanks... :(

Plus, as others have mentioned, the Lava figs just suck. At 100 points, they are priced about 30 points too high. Even when used in battlefields with lava present. since their special lava throw ability is only 4 spaces, the enemy can just sit back out of range of the lava dudes and pick 'em off with 6 range attack units. They are probably the most worthless unit in the entire game. (heck, even Khosumet makes an occasioal appearance in my wolf armies at least!)

[noodles]

Hot Lava Death!!! (In my best RobD man-child voice). I have recently begun playing with it and I like it. If used right it can be sweet, cause choke points, and be sweet. 'Nuff said.

[vernz]

i like using lava it adds element to the playing field

[Nwojedi]

i dont' like it for the fact that it gives flying units too much advantage. They already have a huge advantage, Lava, just doubles that advantage point. You never have a reason to land in lava.

[srmalloy]

i dont' like it for the fact that it gives flying units too much advantage. They already have a huge advantage, Lava, just doubles that advantage point. You never have a reason to land in lava.
Make the lava more dangerous. Add a special scenario rule that lava is hot enough to have turbulence in the air over it, so that a flying character must roll the D20 for each lava hex they fly over; on a roll of 1-3, they lose control and fall into the lava (large creatures add one to the die roll, Huge creatures add two to the die roll). This makes expanses of lava more dangerous to cross, while not being excessively draconian.

[Roufus]

Cool idea!

[Agent Minivann]

Cool idea!

:rofl:

[LilNewbie]

You could title the scenario something like "Doom of Icarus". :D

Newb.

[CupidsArt]

I love the Hot Lava Death but I'm not really one to actually use it. My lava stuff hasn't even been out of it's bag since May 7th and before that early January.

I really liked it at first but at this point haven't really had a use for it. My eyes were more on the Roads and trees and now it's directed towards Tundra. I think it all comes down to what you as a player want, and I'd rather have snow, :)

[player_of_volleyball]

I love the Hot Lava Death but I'm not really one to actually use it. My lava stuff hasn't even been out of it's bag since May 7th and before that early January.

I really liked it at first but at this point haven't really had a use for it. My eyes were more on the Roads and trees and now it's directed towards Tundra. I think it all comes down to what you as a player want, and I'd rather have snow, :)

AAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNN

[jcb231]

Flying can be reduced over lava by simply making the lava field six or more spaces wide....that will stop most fliers from being able to get over it in one go.

As for the lava-men, they aren't worth drafting if there's not a lot of lava on the map.....I only draft them when there is enough of a lava obstacle that they can't simply be picked off...and when said lava obstacle is an area I really want to hold. So, they get play here and there in my games.

[K/H_Addict]

i want a snow set, but only to go with my lava, Has anyone else put glaciers in teh middle of a lava field?

[0rbital]

i want a snow set, but only to go with my lava, Has anyone else put glaciers in teh middle of a lava field?

Not quite but I put ice and a volcano next to each other and mixed them together at the boundry in map #5 in my thread:
http://www.heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=1027&start=10

[jaques]

Whenever I make a map with lava, the lava field just ends up being a chunk of the map no one goes to. I need to try running lava down the middle, to see if that makes a difference.

But for now, I'm mostly disappointed. I have three sets, which is a lot of Obsidian Guards, and no one ever drafts them.

[0rbital]

My latest map I'm using Lava as a barrier but usually it's just scenery. I don't think I'll pay another $18 for a second set though.

[Agent Minivann]

I have two sets and I must say that it is a lot nicer to have two. It is much easier to make natural looking volcanoes with nice molten lava flows with two sets. I can understand the reluctance with the limited use in play, but worst case scenario it's a lot more tiles to build up height.

An option for using all the obsidian guards is to have them essentially be NPCs that follow a set of move/attack rules. This way they are in play without being drafted (and "wasting" points). Imagine a nice volcano centerpiece with some artifact to grab and a squad or three of obsidian guards lurking in the clouds of sulphur.

[srmalloy]

An option for using all the obsidian guards is to have them essentially be NPCs that follow a set of move/attack rules. This way they are in play without being drafted (and "wasting" points). Imagine a nice volcano centerpiece with some artifact to grab and a squad or three of obsidian guards lurking in the clouds of sulphur.
That's actually an interesting idea not just for the Obsidian Guards, but for general application. It's easy enough to define it for terrain-specific figures, but if a generalized set of rules could be defined for a 'universally hostile' force, that would add additional depth to a game.

For example, you could have a group of Dumuteff Guards who move around a critical bridge and attack anyone who gets close, or scatter a bunch of random glyphs around, with a neutral group of figures who will activate on the side the player who brings a Glyph of Brandar to the 'leader' figure of the neutral group, or on the side hostile to the first player who attacks them (in the case of spillover from AoE effects).

[jaques]

An option for using all the obsidian guards is to have them essentially be NPCs that follow a set of move/attack rules. This way they are in play without being drafted (and "wasting" points). Imagine a nice volcano centerpiece with some artifact to grab and a squad or three of obsidian guards lurking in the clouds of sulphur.
That's actually an interesting idea not just for the Obsidian Guards, but for general application. It's easy enough to define it for terrain-specific figures, but if a generalized set of rules could be defined for a 'universally hostile' force, that would add additional depth to a game.

For example, you could have a group of Dumuteff Guards who move around a critical bridge and attack anyone who gets close, or scatter a bunch of random glyphs around, with a neutral group of figures who will activate on the side the player who brings a Glyph of Brandar to the 'leader' figure of the neutral group, or on the side hostile to the first player who attacks them (in the case of spillover from AoE effects).

I'd actually thought of this for a scenario I was toying with called "Yeti hunt" that was based around being the team to kill the most Dzu-Teh in a map centered around tundra and glaciers. I guess it's just as good an idea (or better) for the lava.

A notion I had was to allow players to put order markers on the Dzu-Teh army card, with a restriction that you could never move a Dzu-Teh toward your own figures unless doing so allowed them to attack one of your opponent's figures.

Has anybody tried anything like that?

[jcb231]

We tried this recently.....

Four players, each with a roughly themed army...sci-fi, asia, medieval fantasy, or classical myth....armies were evened out by adjusting numbers of commons. There were also neutral characters that roamed various areas protecting glyphs and making those areas dangerous for everyone to travel.

PLAYER ONE: SCI-FI
-Omicrons
-Agent Carr
-Krav Maga Agents
-Major X17
-Major Q9
-DW9K
-DW8K
-Zettians
-Microcorp Agents
-Gorillinators
-DW7K
-Dund
-Gladiatrons
-AE
-Sgt. Drake


PLAYER TWO: MEDIEVAL FANTASY
-Arrow Gruts
-Blade Gruts
-Tornak
-Nerak
-Swog Riders
-Knights
-Sir Denrick
-Krug
-Concan
-Sentinels
-Grimnak
-Syvaris
-Aubrien Archers
-Morsbane
-Jotun


PLAYER THREE: CLASSICAL MYTH
-Parmenio
-Roman Legion
-Marcus
-Roman Archers
-Sacred Band
-Seduma
-Brunak
-Khosumet
-Dumutef Guards
-Anubian Wolves (the wolves and their buddies have an egyptian sort of look about them I think)
-Saylind (she has a very Greek goddess sort of look)
-Theracus


PLAYER FOUR: ASIA
-Monks
-Tagawa Samurai
-Izumi Samurai
-Braxas
-Nilfheim
-Charos
-Mimring
-Dzu-tehs
-Venoc Vipers (we decided these could be sort of dragon-like creatures)
-Armoc Vipers
-Elite Onyx Vipers
-Venoc Warlord


NEUTRAL DANGER ONE: The Outlaws (patrolled a sandy, rocky area near two valuable glyphs)
-Johnny Shotgun
-Deadeye Dan
-James Murphy
-Guilty McCreech

NEUTRAL DANGER TWO: The Vikings (patrolled a rocky, snowy area atop the map's best high points, near various glyphs)
-Finn
-Thor
-Vikings
-Valguard
-Raelin

NEUTRAL DANGER THREE: The Hellspawn (in a volcano, around the best glyph horde of the game)
-Obsidian Guards
-Marrden Hounds
-Taelord
-Minions

NEUTRAL DANGER FOUR: The Highland Raiders (around the hills leading to the mountains)
-MacDirk Warriors
-Alastair MacDirk


NOT PLAYED:
-4th Mass
-Kelda
-Me-Burq-Sa
-Su-bak-na
-Ne-gok-sa
-Marro Warriors
-Marro Drones



I'm thinking we'll have to try it again after the new stuff comes out.....I would add the Ninjas and new Samurai to the ASIA army, the Gladiators and Amazons to the CLASSICAL army, and the Blastatrons, Cyber-Wolves and new Agents to the SCI-FI army, I think. Probably would leave the Steel Rats out of it.

See if you can guess who won!

[Agent Minivann]

That souns pretty cool, jcb. I think right after I posted this I saw on the main page the thing about a 1 on 1 with UPC controlling the yeti's and obsidian guards in the middle as something just like this. It would maybe be a good idea to get a thread going about NPC type rules. (ducks in case there already is one, and I haven't found it by searching yet)








PS, did the Sci Fi team or the Asia team win?

[Snotwalker 8000]

I'm guessing Sci-Fi

[Riggler]

I havne't popped for the lava sets yet b/c TRU nearby has several and has for a while. they are still keeping them on top shelf where it takes a tall ladder to get to. I don't think anyone else knows they are there.

So I'm using my limited resources to gobble up anything that hits the shelves that I don't have. When that's no longer the case I'll pop for two lavas eventually. Or if they start to run low.

I've played lava before, and wasn't really that impressed. But if nothing else it will allow you to build elevation.

[jcb231]

That souns pretty cool, jcb. I think right after I posted this I saw on the main page the thing about a 1 on 1 with UPC controlling the yeti's and obsidian guards in the middle as something just like this. It would maybe be a good idea to get a thread going about NPC type rules. (ducks in case there already is one, and I haven't found it by searching yet)

PS, did the Sci Fi team or the Asia team win?


The final ranking, despite us all thinking Sci-Fi would rush to victory, was this:

4th place: Classical Mythology
3rd place: Sci-Fi
2nd place: Medieval Fantasy
1st place: Asia

A bit of a surprise....the asia player just really broke out some good tactics I think. Sci-Fi went down because the other three players ganged up on him....we viewed him as the big dog. We took him out pretty fast because he rolled poorly on a lot of the big soulborgs.

As for neutral rules, we played that the neutral characters could not leave their designated map areas, and automatically moved towards and attacked anyone that came in range. If there were multiple targets in range, they ganged up on the biggest threat first. As players were eliminated, they took over neutral forces in order to give them something to do and make the threat level go up.

[jcb231]

I havne't popped for the lava sets yet b/c TRU nearby has several and has for a while. they are still keeping them on top shelf where it takes a tall ladder to get to. I don't think anyone else knows they are there.

So I'm using my limited resources to gobble up anything that hits the shelves that I don't have. When that's no longer the case I'll pop for two lavas eventually. Or if they start to run low.

I've played lava before, and wasn't really that impressed. But if nothing else it will allow you to build elevation.

I heartily recommend buying on-line....then you don't need to wait for shelf-stockers.

[Ugly-Caco]

I voted no because there are no lava glaciers on it! BWAHAHAHA!

[markwars]

Ancient thread alert! :shock:

[Eclipse]

Raise the dead!

And they do have Lava Glaciers. They're called "Water Tiles".

[Baconsteak]

I usually just use the lava fields as scenery, we don't use the rules that they do damage, they just look good around molten lava (which does carry its full 'kill you' rules).

Since we ease up on the rules I usually try and make those areas challenging in design regarding height and lines of sight. A glyph or something makes it worth considering going in there, but you know it'll be a little messy getting through.

That said I have 3 lava sets and would like more to really make a volcano or lava wasteland region of the map more interesting.

[champrjk]

I really like the lava too. It can add a more challanging game effect. For instince I like to make the middle of the map lava some times so that the only way to the other side is to cross the lava field. :neener: