The Angry Teddy Bear

Krug is the closest that Heroscape has come to design perfection. From his sculpt to his personality, from his special powers to his class, from his price to his posture, from head to toe, Krug really stands out several years after his release. Why is that?

He is imposing, yet lovable. He's got a big, bulky sculpt and a wicked looking club for a sword, and yet, when you look at his big dumb face and sagging paunch, you get the feeling that he's just getting dragged along on this war because he's very suggestible. And really big. He's the Lennie Small of Heroscape.

Okay, so people think that he's cute for a brute. That's weird. What about gameplay?

When it comes to the left side of the card, his powers are rather elegant and work well together. Sure, we had already seen Double Attack with Syvarris, but combining that with Wounded smash for an exponential increase in raw threatening might was a stroke of design genius. As a Relentless Beast, he also gains bonding with Arrow Gruts and an attack bonus from the oft-neglected Khosumet, which helps make him a useful part of larger armies as well. This Troll certainly isn't an Island. (But if he were, he'd be one of those volcanic ones where everyone still likes to build resorts).

On the right side of the card, there's even more goodness. All of his raw power is kept in check by his five movement and one range. He's deadly, but there are ways to play around him. And at eight lives and three defense, there is ample room to get his Wounded Smash going, and yet, plenty of opportunity for people to feel like they're making progress in killing him, unlike the low-life, high-defense behemoth, Major Q9.

As an emergent property of his design, Krug helped early competitive Heroscape players realize the power of common ranged squads, despite not being one himself. They arose as one of the best ways to counter him. He may have single-handedly boosted Heroscape expansion sales to help create the game we know today, and there are still few figures which create as much tension and excitement as Krug continues to do nearly every time he hits the table.

Awesome job on Krug, early designers and playtesters!