A thorough reexamination of Heroscape

[rouby44]

The purpose of this thread is to present a custom version of Heroscape, which features two, key rule modifications and a revised set of army cards that have been redesigned in light of the new rules.

First, the key rule changes are as follows:

1. Height advantage does not grant an extra attack die to normal, nonadjacent attacks; instead it grants one extra range.

2. Common squad figures cannot inflict more than one wound with a single, normal attack, except when special powers allow an exception. We have called this power Dire Strike X and Dire Shot X where X is the amount of wounds that can be inflicted in a single attack by units with that power. Common squads using a special attack (e.g., Romans, Zombies) can still inflict multiple wounds.

The purpose of both of these rules is to add balance to the metagame. As most Heroscape players know, the two most dominant forces in Heroscape from a metagaming perspective are ranged attacks and common squads. In my group, we have found that these two rule changes have led to a more balanced and enjoyable game.

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With these two new rules in place, we also set out to redesign and rebalance all of the Heroscape units. In doing this, we had several goals in mind:

1. Make virtually all units competitive.

2. Increase the variety of competitive army configurations by adding subtle synergies between more units and, when appropriate, scaffolding the prices of figures that can be substituted for one another (e.g., Human Champions).

3. Reduce the variability in the value of all units relative to their point-costs; in other words, boost weak units and nerf overly powerful units in some form or another.

4. Introduce desirable changes to the metagame, for instance, making defensive units more viable overall.

5. Reduce variance in units' performance overall.

Many of our revised cards closely resemble the official version. We often made only minor changes, such as a single stat value modification or adjustment of point-cost. For other units, we tweaked special powers to some extent. Other cards are custom in the truest sense, in that the card does not resemble the official version at all. Every change, though, we justified to ourselves based on one of the five overarching goals mentioned above.

These are just my group's idiosyncratic rules and Heroscape units. I'm happy if you like them and want to adopt some of them. I'm happy if you don't like them and love the official game as it is. And I'm happy if this post just gives you inspiration for one of your own customs. I respect players who prefer little to no customization of the game, but my friends and I prefer these changes for our own house games.

Also, there are virtually infinite ways that Heroscape units can be created, and several different alternatives might be equally valid for various reasons. I welcome any constructive comments and criticism, your own ideas for changes that enhance the balance of the game, notification of any typos or errors, etc.

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Aquilla

Sujoah

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Sujoah seemed a little overpriced...

Dund

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Dund as a predator kills two birds with one stone - fixing Dund and giving the Fyorlags another bonding option. Easy Prey idea was stolen from Jexik.

Venoc Warlord

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VW wants to work with the Fyorlags and MRT so bad that we just allowed him to bond with the Fyorlags. Frenzy Enhancement evolved into Scout Luck Enhancement thereby benefitting both the Fyorlags and MRT.

Fyorlag Spiders

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Compared to the other 40 point squads in the game, the spiders really didn't even compare. Even the 30-point Nagrubs were far and away better, so we lowered the cost to 30. We reduced the Fyorlag's move due to their new ability to bond with Venoc Warlord.

Mohican River Tribe

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Improved odds of Concealment ever so slightly and made triggering War Cry a little more feasible.

Axegrinders of the Burning Forge

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Darrak Ambershard

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Quasatch Hunters

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Einar

Ashigaru Yari

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Ashigaru Harquebus

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Kato Katsuro

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Tagawa Samurai Archers

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The TSA were modified to fill a sort of gap in our custom Heroscape roster - there were no common, ranged squads between 75 and 100 points. At 100 points, we have the Protectors of Ullar with 3 base attack and defense, but they also have flying. The TSA can achieve 3 base attack now, but don't fly, and so they fit nicely in that expensive common, ranged squad gap. Requiring a Disciplined Army means that they won't be overly used due to their higher-than-average attack.

Tagawa Samurai

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Shogun Loyalty helps the Samurais out with one of their biggest drawbacks, them all being unique squads. Tactical Switch 8 was given as a little extra lovin' for these 40-point a pop melee figures.

Kozuke Samurai

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Shogun Loyalty helps the Samurais out with one of their biggest drawbacks, them all being unique squads.

Izumi Samurai

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As an Uncommon Squad, a player can draft up to 2 squads of the Izumi Samurai. Shogun Loyalty helps the Samurais out with one of their biggest drawbacks, them all being unique squads.

Hamamoto Taro

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Empress Kiova

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Einar Imperium

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Capuan Gladiators

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Probably the funnest squad to play in existence...

Retiarius

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Spartacus

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Anyone seen the Spartacus, Blood and Sand series - it's the greatest!

Shaolin Monks

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These guys seemed more historical than fantasy to us, and thus the general switch. Price reduced a bit.

Shiori

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Another cool 10-point option.

Ninjas of the Northern Wind

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Lots of love for these guys - Vanish replaces Disappearing Ninja so that it can trigger on special attacks. Steathwalk 3 to get them into battle with fewer OMs if you're willing to trade some deceptive power for it.

Gurei-Oni

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An extra defense die and Evil-Eye works on specials.

Guilty McCreech

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Improved Double Attack since he can't get an extra attack die from height anymore.

Roman Archers

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Class changed to soldier so that they can receive Marcus's Soldier Leadership.

Sacred Band

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We wanted to differentiate the Sacred Band from the Roman Legos a little bit more as well as give them a more defined roll as defenders. Though they have one more base stat than their Roman counterparts, they are stuck with a lackluster attack of 2 and are more restrictive to play due to Einar Warlord Bonding and Disciplined Army Movement Bonus.

Parmenio

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Changed in light of the new Sacred Band.

Valguard

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First Assault reduced to +2, but normal attack increased to 3. Bonds with the Tarn Viking Warriors (bel0w).

10th Regiment of Foot

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Point cost tweaked in light of first custom rule.

Jandar

4th Massachusetts Line

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Airborne Elite

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Point cost decreased in light of custom rule.

Concan

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Finn the Viking Champion

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Just a tad overpriced compared to some other bonding heroes.

Thorgrim the Viking Champion

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Just a tad overpriced compared to some other bonding heroes.

Tarn Viking Warriors

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Bond with Finn, Thorgrim, Eldgrim, and Valguard.

Zetacron

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8 range was kinda nuts on this guy.

Sir Gilbert

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Toned down a bit...

Sir Denrick

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A cool 50-point option if you need to squeeze another Champion into your army.

Sir Dupuis

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Melee-Q9...sorta. Very fun!

Sgt. Drake (SotM)

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Needed a little more bang for 170 points.

Sgt. Drake (RotV)

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Another Lob attack

Raelin (RotV)

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80 points? Seriously?

Omnicron Snipers

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Omnicron Drones (Repulsors)

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Nilfheim

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Kumiko

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Kelda

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Generally more effective. Still you have to question giving her more than an order marker or two per game.

Ullar

Ulginesh

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Point cost structure changed to allow for armies that aren't entirely Elf Wizards.

Acolarh

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Kyntela Gwyn

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Nerak-inspired.

Morsbane

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We felt like permanent Negation took some fun out of the game, so we made it more reliable but temporary.

Emirroon

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In our metagame, summoning isn't quite as powerful and Emirroon isn't needed as ,uch with the changes to Ulginesh, so he got a little boost.

Arkmer

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Boosted defense by 1 to compensate for lack of height giving an extra attack die.

Warriors of Ashra

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A squad besides the Deathreavers that can actually defend.

Syvarris

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Sonlen

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Just a bit overpriced.

Aubrien Archers

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The long-range archer squad.

Deadeye Dan

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Better watch out if you've got more than hero down to 1 life within 10 range of Dan.

Atlaga

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Protectors of Ullar

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Saylind

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Summoning made more reliable. Increased attack to 4.

Venoc Warlord

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Allowed to bond with the Fyorlag Spiders. Frenzy Enhancement changed to Scout Luck Enhancement.

Elite Onyx Warlord

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Another option for the Armoc Vipers to bond with.

Armoc Vipers

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Cost reduced.

Jotun

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Cost reduced.

Moriko

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Often, one of the main problems with non-bonding, non-ranged-multi-attacking heroes is that they don't get enough attacks out of an order marker. Shadowstep gets Moriko into the thick of things without having to spend a lot of OMs just moving her.

Utgar

Anubian Wolves

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Retained a little bit of their original flavor, yet added a new twist with the Unleashed Fury bonus when attacking figures without unrevealed OMs. Credit Jexik for inspiring the idea.

Wolves of Badru

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Pounce is considered an adjacent attack.

Khosumet the Darklord

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Dumutef Guard

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Another Darklord option.

Sir Hawthorne

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Perfect Darklord.

Arrow Gruts

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Brunak

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Class changed to Beast.

Nerak

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Point cost increased slightly, given the new bonding option in the Arrow Gruts and improvements to Orc faction.

Grimnak

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Can now bond with Arrow Gruts.

Tornak

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Can now bond with Arrow Gruts.

Swog Rider

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Can now bond with Heavy or Blade Gruts

Heavy Gruts

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You can now activate any 4 figures whether they are Heavy or Blade Gruts. This power was put in mainly to add more flexibility to army configurations.

Ornak

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Rechets of Bogdan

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Just made Iskra a lot cooler.

Marro Warriors

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Water Strength given in compensation for lack of height granting attack die.

Marro Stingers

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Marro Raiders (Drudge)

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Marro Dividers

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Divider Genesis allows you to save start zone spaces when drafting several squads of these guys.

Marro Drones

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Help bring Marro Warlords into the picture more (see new version of Grok Rider). Best strategy is to Hive Swarm until their numbers dwindle, then begin to bond.

Kee-Mo-Ga (Kee-Mo-Shi)

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Another neat Hivelord option. This is an example of that point-cost scaffolding I mentioned earlier.

Grok Rider

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A neat Warlord to bond with Romans or Marro Drones.

Marrden Hounds

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The biggest problem with these guys was the start zone limitation - Wild Arrival solves that.

Marro Hive

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Basically buys you some start zone space, allowing the Marro faction to be the big swarming faction in the game.

Wo-Sa-Ga

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Tul-Bak-Ra

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A Wildcard. Drafted only in Marro squad swarm armies.

Su-Bak-Na

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A ranged option for the Hivelords.

Runa

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The anti-Raelin.

Shades of Bleakewood

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Another highly defensive squad.

Taelord

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Price reduction.

Zettian Guards

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We really wanted to make these guys work as a 2-man squad without adding Deathwalker Bonding. Went through tons of revisions, none to our liking. In the end, we're satisfied with the 3-figure version.

Warden 816

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Sits in the start zone most of the game, leading the Zettians (or Nagrubs or both!), and is scary in a clean-up hero versus clean-up hero situation.

Deathwalker 9000

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Targeting a space for Explosion Special Attack is a vast improvement to DW9k's viability. Deathwalk 2 helps the Deathwalker/Zettian/Warden faction stay efficient despite lack of bonding.

Deathwalker 8000

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Rapid Fire was neat as a special, but it hurt so bad when you failed the first attack. Changed to two attacks of 3 to improve variance. Deathwalk 2 helps the Deathwalker/Zettian/Warden faction stay efficient despite lack of bonding.

Deathwalker 7000

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A fun filler for the Deathwalker bunch.

Deathstalkers

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Turned into a highly defensive unit. Start zone restriction keeps them in check.

Deathreavers

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Now you don't have to hate your opponent when he drafts these guys.

Deepwyrm Drow

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The whole Drow faction was designed as a cohesive army core. Check out how they all function together!

Estivara

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The whole Drow faction was designed as a cohesive army core. Check out how they all function together!

Pelloth

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The whole Drow faction was designed as a cohesive army core. Check out how they all function together!

Drow Chainfighter

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The whole Drow faction was designed as a cohesive army core. Check out how they all function together!

Vydar

Otonashi

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A fun filler for any army.

Nakita Agents

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Krav Maga Agents

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Agent Skahen

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Made cheaper so that she wasn't so similar to the KMA.

Agent Carr

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James Murphy

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Major Q9

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Major Q10

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Other minor custom rules:

1. Figures that do not start the game on the board (e.g., Airborne Elite, Marro Dividers) do not count towards the 24-space start zone restriction.

2. When any small or medium figure you control on a shadow space is targeted for an attack from a non-adjacent opponent, you may roll the 20-sided die. If you roll 13 or higher, the targeted figure no longer has any visible hit zones for the duration of the targeting figure’s turn.*

*Shadow tiles do not grant extra defense dice.

[Lamaclown]

Wow! It looks like you and your friends have been busy.
There is a lot to see. I rather like the few I have looked at so far.

Has your group been playing with these modified units for a while or are these pretty new?

I look forward to getting the opportunity to look through the rest and maybe even play a few of them. Thanks for sharing.

[rouby44]

Originally Posted by Lamaclown

Wow! It looks like you and your friends have been busy.
There is a lot to see. I rather like the few I have looked at so far.

Has your group been playing with these modified units for a while or are these pretty new?

I look forward to getting the opportunity to look through the rest and maybe even play a few of them. Thanks for sharing.

There's a pretty even split between units that we've played the way that they are presented in this thread and units that are relatively recently designed and still need playtesting. If you'd like any comments on a specific unit, let me know.

We have played dozens of games with the two custom rules though (change to nonadjacent attacks with height advantage; common squads can only inflict one wound). These really have made a lot more types of units viable.

Thanks for you comments. Hope you find something worth using in your own games here.

[gorthan313]

A lot of your customs ARE improvements, save for a few, namely the Anubian Wolves. For one thing, they NOW have a greater chance to COMPLETELY fail, and Khosumet's Unleashed Fury Enhancement is not NEARLY as helpful. Granted, they don't kill one of their own when they fail, but Khosumet was the perfect insurance package against that ever happening.
Maybe not for you, but one of the big selling points for me with the Anubians was the sizeable amount of dice they could be throwing.
The other case I found where units dropped in quality was with the Gladiators you modified. For one thing(And this may be just me) I personally would never be able to remember the new abilities for the Capuans. Sparty was great IMO as he was. Sparty's abilities helped the Gladiators out a lot.
I like the drop in cost idea for Retarius, but I'm not so crazy about the drop in attack.


I hope I don't sound too nitpicky and/or annoying, but I just found those cases to be drops in unit quality. I do appreciate you putting these up here, man!

[Geryon]

Ok for Anubian Wolves I can see where you are coming from, it would seem that not being able to throw 9 dice sometimes is a nerf for them. But you gotta see how they function now. They Bond to a Darklord now, like the Badrus. You also have to look at the newly made Darklords who aid them, such as Sir Hawthorne and Dumutef Guards.
As for their attack being a big nerf, it really isn't so much. Instead of only throwing Unleashed Fury once, you throw it for every Wolf that is about to attack. They are usually gonna have 3 attack and 4 defense, BUT if they are attacking someone who has no unrevealed OrderMarkers, they add 4 to that roll to give substantially better chance to have 4 or 5 attack. Now add to that the ability to bond with the new, tougher Khousumet who has the +1 attack bonus for them for adjacency, plus Khous has Scent of Blood to get 2 free moves for every Wolf wound scored to get him close to the action. Anubians are also only ever allowed to score ONE wound on a Hero anyways, so it is not so great to roll tons and tons of dice.

For the Gladiators, yeah they are radically different. I personally don't like in official scape how Glads basically can not be played without the very expensive Spartacus. Also, it is hard to make mixed armies that consist of things other than Gladiators without hurting your gladiator builds in said armies(for games 600 points or less anyways)
I feel like now they are a really fun melee unit to play that can fit into many different builds. Spart has the new multi attack special for some cool variety, and Retiarius' net ability is passive and can be activated without an order marker. Very cool.

Great work on the cards Rouby they look great.

[rouby44]

Originally Posted by gorthan313

A lot of your customs ARE improvements, save for a few, namely the Anubian Wolves. For one thing, they NOW have a greater chance to COMPLETELY fail, and Khosumet's Unleashed Fury Enhancement is not NEARLY as helpful. Granted, they don't kill one of their own when they fail, but Khosumet was the perfect insurance package against that ever happening.
Maybe not for you, but one of the big selling points for me with the Anubians was the sizeable amount of dice they could be throwing.
The other case I found where units dropped in quality was with the Gladiators you modified. For one thing(And this may be just me) I personally would never be able to remember the new abilities for the Capuans. Sparty was great IMO as he was. Sparty's abilities helped the Gladiators out a lot.
I like the drop in cost idea for Retarius, but I'm not so crazy about the drop in attack.


I hope I don't sound too nitpicky and/or annoying, but I just found those cases to be drops in unit quality. I do appreciate you putting these up here, man!

Looks like Geryon already beat me to the punch in explaining the rationale behind those squads, but I'll add my two cents.

At first glance the Anubians might look worse than the official version, but you have to consider that they now bond to some pretty decent heroes in the new Khosumet, Sir Hawthorne, and Dumutef Guards.

With Khosumet in your army, the Anubians have the following:
15% chance of 2 attack
85% chance of at least 3 attack
35% chance of at least 4 attack
15% chance of at least 5 attack
Average attack dice = 3.35

With Khosumet in your army and against a target with no unrevealed OMs:
45% chance of at least 3 attack
55% chance of at least 4 attack
35% chance of at least 5 attack
Average attack dice = 3.9

So you can see that with only Khosumet, their attack is still above average, and when attacking a target with no unrevealed order markers, their average attack is almost 4, which is pretty good considering that they bond and have solid move and defense stats.

Like I mentioned in the first post, one of the goals was to reduce the variance in how units perform. The official Anubians are definitely a high variance squad, so making them less extreme was definitely a goal in the new design. With the current version of Unleashed Fury they are still an offensively minded squad, but much more consistent and reliable.

As for the Gladiators, I have to say don't knock 'em till you try them. Their abilities aren't much more complex than several official abilities. They have bonding. They have the same Tactical Switch ability that the new Warforged have, except that it requires a die roll so it's not automatic. And they have the Flanking Assault, which might seem wordy, but visually on a Heroscape map it's pretty plain to see.

Anyways, I hope that something in here inspires you. Thanks for your comments.

[Takanuva]

I really like this, I'll have to try them in a game sometimes. I'm just wondering though, does the +1 range for height work on 1 range figures?

[yagyuninja]

This is like...a whole different game. Man alive, that is a lot of modification.

[rouby44]

Originally Posted by Takanuva

I really like this, I'll have to try them in a game sometimes. I'm just wondering though, does the +1 range for height work on 1 range figures?

Nope, should have clarified that. It only works for figures who have ranges greater than 1. The one exception I can think of is the Axegrinders when they use their Throwing Axe power.

Hope you enjoy!

[gorthan313]

Ahh....I see.

Also, I don't quite get why the Hive isn't an uncommon hero.


BTW: I like the life increase for Khosumet! I may actually use that one!

[Kroz]

You should keep a +1 attack for height advantage for adjacent attacks...you really do have an advantage attacking when higher than your opponent where as that advantage for ranged is in the range not the power.

[Devil's Advocate]

I really dislike your trying to minimize the figures who have potential for high Variance. Some of the most memorable Heroscape moments are the times when something rare but strong happens to swing a game.

-Rolling a 20 to auto kill their Q9 with Deadeye Dan or Morsbane is something that the person will recall for a long time. Or take Kee Mo Shi, the part that makes her so fun is the 10% minimum chance to permanently steal a figure.

By altering their powers yeah they are now more reliable but also less memorable to play.