D&D Heroscape Battle Report?!

Some of you may wonder why I’ve been less vocal than I used to be in the numerous speculation threads surrounding D&D Heroscape. When I do butt in, I usually say something cryptic, like, “if Wave 9 and 10 are any indicator, I expect more good stuff out of MS3, Wave 11, and Wave 12.” Now I’m breaking my silence. I don’t expect more good stuff. I know that there’ll be more good stuff, because I’ve played it. It’s a blast and a half.

Earlier this year, I was brought on to help playtest new Heroscape stuff. A lot of people are worried that the new figures won’t fit well with existing Heroscape units, or that it’s not staying true to its roots. The designers and I thought it might be cool if I gave you a taste of the kind of thing you might be expecting out of the figures you’ll find in the new master set.

Skirmish at Steam Alley

My friend “Kang” and I played an upcoming scenario which uses standard terrain- lava, jungle, swamp, and the SotM glyphs. It’s sort of like a capture the flag scenario, with the good guys trying to protect a glyph for a set number of rounds, while some Obsidian-led Utgar forces try to take it.

Here are the armies:

"Kang"
Darrak Ambershard
Erevan Sunshadow
Ana Karithos
Tandros Kreel
2x Axegrinders of Burning Forge

Jexik
Pelloth
3x Deepwyrm Drow
1x Feral Troll
1x Obsidian Guards

Kang’s forces win initiative. He opens by sending his Darrak and his Axegrinders forward to defend the glyph. Three of my Drow skulk forward. Tandros steps forward to help protect his allies, yet one dwarf was not close to him as a sneaky drow kills one Axegrinder and attempts to hide. However, Erevan Sunshadow blasts him with fire, roasting him alive... well dead.

Kang takes this brief respite as a chance to move yet more dwarves up to protect the glyph. My Drow near the edges of the map take the other glyphs, revealing common and unique attack. Tandros Kreel shows his versatility by adjusting his position and firing an arrow at an approaching Deepwyrm Drow, but unfortunately he was unable to hit him. Two more dwarves then fell to drow steel. In a flurry, Erevan Sunshadow fires off two quick bursts of flame, but only manages to seriously injure his first target. With an evil laugh, Pelloth finishes the job, killing his own warrior with a twisted incantation that causes him to explode in a cloud of spiders; in the ensuing chaos, the Axegrinder protecting the stone and Tandros each suffer injury, although Tandros rolls with the punches just fine.

Pressing his advantage, Kang attacks with his dwarves. Thanks to his newly found Axegrinder allies, Darrak manages to backstab a drow, killing him with ease, followed by more attacks from the fighters from Feylund. The Feral Troll then burst towards the glyph, but Tandros taunts the troll directing the monster’s attention to him and he easily defends the Troll’s attack. Then Ana moves forward, maintaining a spell which can aid her teammates against the forces of evil. This helps Tandros defend yet another assault from the Troll. Erevan turns his attention to the troll, burning him slightly. Pelloth uses his wand to kill yet another dwarf, this time without incurring any losses to his own forces.

Darrak Ambershard and the dwarves take advantage of the distraction that the other heroes have made with the troll and beat him soundly, within an inch of his life. Pelloth explodes yet another drow and two more dwarves. Darrak and the remaining dwarves finish off the troll before he gets a chance to regenerate.

For a few successive turns, the remaining Deepwyrm drow and Erevan kept missing each other, but eventually even more dropped. The Obsidian Guards, who had been tacitly observing the combat, unsure of their new allegiance to the drow, stepped forward, but it was too late. Pelloth had seen enough. He gathered up the remnants of his forces - just three of his original nine Drow warriors, and retreated.

The Heroes and their new allies had won. This time...