The things I like most about Heroscape...

The thing I like most about Heroscape is...

(why do I feel like I'm writing a second grade essay?)

... that so many of the elements that make up the game are a culmination of favorites from my childhood.

• Action Figures: Much of my childhood was spent playing with little plastic figures. From GI Joe to Star Wars, He-Man to TMNT, and just about everything in between. While I never crossed over the characters from one universe to another (that was blasphemy, really. Boba Fett versus Tomax and Xamot?! 'Ells no!), I loved the characters, theme, and story behind them all. I also appreciated the look of the characters, and the visual nuances which made the figures their own self.

All of this is in Heroscape, too. A myriad of characters, each with their own story and style. And the figures are some of the best prepaints on the market! I don't even mind the mixing genres. Spiderman vs. the dragon Braxas? 'Ells yes! And as someone mentioned earlier in this thread, I do love opening up the new sets almost as much as I enjoyed opening up a new action figure.

• Roleplaying Games: Much of my teen years were spent role-playing. AD&D, TSR Marvel, Robotech, TMNT, and even games my friends and I would come up with on our own. Playing different characters we created in different universes and dimensions, interacting with one another, and fighting it out while trying to achieve objectives in the adventure. And most of all, rolling the dice with anticipation that should I not make this role, I would be crushed under the foot of a dragon and pray that the beast didn't take out our cleric with his next attack!

So much of these scenarios and situations are relived through out battles in Heroscape. Building up a map as the environment of play, assembling characters of different strengths and weaknesses. Then maneuvering this army around, making choices sometimes tactical and sometimes maniacal. And also, the rolling of the dice! That twinge you feel as you let them fall and wait for them to at last come to rest to see the outcome. Just as in RPG's, the HS dice are at times kind, yet can be just as brutal.

• Comic Books: Stories and characters aside, as each has been mentioned above, I was (and still am) infatuated by comic book art. The style and colors, compostion and lines, shadows and highlights, all coming together on page or poster to evoke powerful imagery surging with intensity, emotion, and action.

The visual style of Heroscape very much appeals to me. The colors and shapes, the poses and paints of the figures, the design of the army cards, and even the packaging art! All are very well done and, in my opinion, really help add to the overall impact and quality of the game.

• Video Games: Growing up, I played a LOT of video games. Atari, Intellivision, Coleco, and arcade. My Commodore64 had well over 500 games thanks to several of my friends ability to copy disks. I do still play video games today, though not as frequently.

Through the old systems and now the current gen consoles, two factors always stood out to me which made a game great, or made it complete garbage. The mechanics of game play, and the ease of which you were able to pick up the game and play. The game could have the most incredible graphics. But if the controls weren't there, neither was the fun.

So too are the game mechanics of Heroscape. You can explain the game in 15 minutes to get someone playing. Combat is intuitive and simple, as is movement through the several terrain types available. Special powers and attacks are easy to understand and use. And the use of order markers help add to the games strategy without being difficult to implement. There is even a 'Rookie' setting with the rules of the Basic Game.

And don't even get me started on the replay value.

I could go on, but I think the above examples best explain why I can't enough of this game.

I will end with the most important facet of the game, however. One which is tied into all of the above elements, as well. Heroscape is best enjoyed with other people. Just as I used to play GI Joe with my cousin around the corner from where I lived, role-played with my junior high and high school friends, collected, traded, and read comics with them as well, and have spent many an hour playing Deathmatch and CTF games online, Heroscape is a social game! I often say that some of the worst Heroscape games I've had are the most fun games I've played. This is because of the people I've had the opportunity to game with. Either locally, down south in SoCal, my stint in Arizona and the great group there, or enjoying the relationships developed on .NET, HQ.com, and now here on Heroscapers.com. If not for the people I play and discuss this game with, I would very well have left Valhalla long ago.

VIVA LA HEROSCAPE!

[ORIGINALLY POSTED IN THE FORUMS]