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We Leave The Dead On The Field

Posted February 6th, 2010 at 05:33 PM by Sylvano the Wasabus
Yes, yes, I read the rule books long ago, and I think it recommends removing dead figures. Their bases are kind of big, and they do get in the way. But it didn’t seem right, to me and my sons. And so we stopped cleaning up the bodies.

At first we were amazed at the carcasses. They make a map of where the action happened, where it moved to next and where each figure fell. Like a crime scene. We all play favorites and each spot where our number one hero dropped was somehow…. Sacred.

Once we played a massive battle- the scenario was simple- one side had to move ten refugees across the board, and the other side had to stop them. The refugees were guarded by troops and there were many mounted figures. (We have a lot of custom horses and other mounts). The attackers swooped in on Isengarde Wolves- nasty mounts with biting mouths- and the destruction began. The piles of bodies became so large that it impeded movement. Figures began to gain height advantages by standing on the dead. Living heroes were surrounded by rings of corpses. It was like real historical battles I’ve read about.

The attacking raiders lost the scenario, because nine out of ten refugees made it across- but at a cost of many lives.

My boys and I sat and stared at the death and destruction on the board. We like our figures, heck, we even love some of them. That one scenario taught us an unforgettable lesson about the reality of war and fighting. People die. Your favourite people die. Good people give their lives for others. And then their bodies rot and decompose and those people are gone forever. What a terrible waste. My boys suddenly realized how awful it all can be. It is sometimes necessary, and it is certainly glorified everywhere you turn. But there was no glory in those deaths, for us.

Enter the necromancers. We have a custom forest, Bleakwoode, where the dead hang out. One of my sons customed a figure that raises the dead on the field. We made little white fabric surcoats that fit over their heads to show they are undead. Now they look like little ghosts. (I’m much intrigued by the zombies- however I have never seen them available. I imagine they are something similar). The necromancer has a 20d chance to raise the dead- but only one chance per body. The untried lay face up, the failed-to-rise face down.
We’ve decided that the undead can’t be raised either (we’re developing quite a troop of skeletons).
The dead are then divided into three groups (cards), depending on their stats. Those with movement as their highest stat number become Skelly scouts. Those with range, Skeleton Archers, and those with attack or defense, Skeleton warriors. The figures are assigned to corresponding cards, with new stats. (the undead generally aren’t the best). The necromancers can attempt to raise any deceased unit on the field, friend or foe.

The arms race we call “making customs” began to respond. A custom Lion had a special called “devour”, where he ate/mauled the corpse so much it was unraisable. A carrion feeder called Ushra Longo swallows corpses and then uses them later to heal its own wounds.

We also have a really big minotaur named Ragnorok. He has a nasty special called “horn throw”, where he hooks the dead (or living) with his horns and gives them a toss. The dead have become projectiles.

We tend to play creatively too- and after debate (and consensus) sometimes dead (especially large ones) are dragged over to small streams and used as bridges. Sometimes they are piled to make LOS blockers and bunkers. And nastiest of all- thrown into lava as temporary bridges, before they burn up.

We leave our dead on the field, because every war game isn’t just an orgy of death. It’s about life too. It’s about recognizing what was lost, and what was won and what the price for it all was.

My name, Sylvano the Wasabus, is the name of a figure that survived game after game against impossible odds. He was made by my middle son when he was 7. He became an inspiration to my children- because he never gave up, he always tried hard, - and sure he fell many times too, but they learned something important from that. You don’t always succeed. The important part is trying. Sylvano really was a hero.

I have described Heroscape to uninitiated friends as being like chess, but with a wider selection of playable figures and locales. But generally chessmen are not mourned. Heroscape is somehow something so much more…. And for my family, not only do we love playing it, but it’s teaching us things I couldn’t have foreseen.
Total Comments 14

Comments

Old
EternalThanos86's Avatar
Probably the best of the blog posts you have written thus far.
Posted February 6th, 2010 at 06:26 PM by EternalThanos86 EternalThanos86 is offline
Old
tom's Avatar
Great blog post! I especially love this paragraph.

Quote:
We tend to play creatively too- and after debate (and consensus) sometimes dead (especially large ones) are dragged over to small streams and used as bridges. Sometimes they are piled to make LOS blockers and bunkers. And nastiest of all- thrown into lava as temporary bridges, before they burn up.
Posted February 6th, 2010 at 07:53 PM by tom tom is offline
Old
Whoever gave you the Site Supporter tag so you could write these blogs is a genius. :wink:
Posted February 6th, 2010 at 09:33 PM by Onacara Onacara is offline
Old
The Wall's Avatar
I'm going to do this in my next game.
Posted February 6th, 2010 at 11:09 PM by The Wall The Wall is offline
Old
chas's Avatar
Great post! You can also give a +1 Defense against ranged attacks for hiding behind a corpse (see the movie Gods and Generals about Fredericksburg). I've done this in my 54mm Civil War games, where the body piles reach epic proportions!
Posted February 7th, 2010 at 07:33 AM by chas chas is offline
Old
Pickledpie's Avatar
It would also be cool if you could take the bases off the dead.
Posted February 7th, 2010 at 07:59 AM by Pickledpie Pickledpie is offline
Old
Einar's puppy's Avatar
I do this all of the time in Chess, but I normally allow figures to pass through corpses and such. I'm totally doing this next heroscape game though. This is a great idea. I'm not one for making customs really (I only play heroscape, so I have no other minis to use as figures) but the resurection idea is great.
Posted February 7th, 2010 at 09:51 AM by Einar's puppy Einar's puppy is offline
Old
Spartacus Maximus's Avatar
Your Posts get better and better
Posted February 7th, 2010 at 07:20 PM by Spartacus Maximus Spartacus Maximus is offline
Old
kolakoski's Avatar

. . . [Speechless]

I am so impressed! What you have managed to create for your kids is wonderful. How much time do you/your kids invest in Heroscape each week? I fear that if I went half as far as you, I'd become a hopeless couch potato!
Posted February 8th, 2010 at 01:45 PM by kolakoski kolakoski is offline
Old
You and your sons have an excellent gifts for creative ideas.
I'm not too fond of customs myself, for me it slows down the game due to the "debates".
Your scenario's are impresive and it's great to hear you can debate, decide and move on with the game.
Posted February 9th, 2010 at 01:27 PM by AMIS AMIS is offline
Old
Shadow Marro's Avatar
GREAT idea, and GREAT blog, i'll try that in my next game!
Posted February 10th, 2010 at 11:01 AM by Shadow Marro Shadow Marro is offline
Old
Lord AndraK's Avatar
Love the idea!
I'd been using the ladders as bridges before but ...
corpses sounds much more my style!
Posted February 12th, 2010 at 05:48 AM by Lord AndraK Lord AndraK is offline
Old
BassistofDoom's Avatar
Wow! You've turned heroscape the game into heroscape the world, where it teaches lessons and lets you use the massive amount of creativity you and your family obviously possess. I hope that there are other scapers like you who take the game to a whole new level.
Posted February 15th, 2010 at 08:22 PM by BassistofDoom BassistofDoom is offline
Old
lxnrhinners's Avatar
This is a really cool idea. Glad I'm not the only one who thought of this idea...
http://www.heroscapers.com/community...30#post1015230


One idea that you could use is have larger beasty figures eat smaller corpses to remove health.

Another concept you brought up is how some figures maul a corpse so much that it can't be ressurected. Maybe you also want to introduce Gore markers, where you place wound markers on the field instead of the figure if the figure is no longer intact (ripped apart, blown up, splattered, etc.). Very gruesome, I know--but hey, I'm sure it happens in real life. Not sure what the rules would be for spaces with gore--maybe can move through, but 2 movement used per space?
Posted February 17th, 2010 at 01:50 AM by lxnrhinners lxnrhinners is offline
 
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