Magic: the Gathering Strategy Board Game

[GeneralRolando]

Those are interesting map designs. ALL the Underdark sets. I too think that map design is changing radically with the introduction of summoning. I think it allows for more interesting map areas that one player might have access to while the other doesn't immediately. Makes map building more free-form I think.

Anyway, some concerns I have is how with the base set of AoP is that there seem to be no heroes other than the planeswalkers. So what does that say to the viability of summoning heroes instead of squads? Is Heroscape solely a squad based game now? Probably not, but then what about even sub-summoning? Summoning Iskra then her Ratchets of Bogdan? lol. Maybe instead of a die roll, that ability requires mana instead. I don't know how mana plays into the game yet but considering how vital it is to magic I'm sure it wasn't ignored. I'm sure there might be SOME heroes released later. Some of the bigger cards in magic certainly shouldn't be squads.

[dra(gon)]

ok i got 1 copie from amazon 63 $ ink shipping to germany.

my thoughts....
card with spells ok, i loved heroscape because it had not card to play.
but these guys und womana are wizzards so they know about spells.


for me is the game like mage wars. wizzards in a arena try to kill the other ^^


on the first look of the monsters that were transparent, i find it so cool.
that this seems spiritual monsters not physic.
but the green and white units seems physical with no paint job.
it would be cooler if some planet walker could be beast tamer.


i wished the game would be more about cast one monster than units. abd than fight multi others creatures. like infe 4th harry potter movie.


for an exampel a spiritual dragon against three rock trolls.
and that a wizzard could kill that dragon easier than the sommon monsters. XD

[G1shark]

Just wondering but can a Planeswalker summon another Planeswalker? since heroes can be summoned and Planeswalkers are heroes, if so that would be pretty broken.

[obfuscatedhippo]

Originally Posted by G1shark

Just wondering but can a Planeswalker summon another Planeswalker? since heroes can be summoned and Planeswalkers are heroes, if so that would be pretty broken.

Only non-Planeswalker figures can be placed in Reserve (for summoning).

[Colorcrayons]

Ninjaed

What obfuscated hippo said.

[AMIS]

Originally Posted by Colorcrayons

Agreed.

I beleive the best way to look at Planeswalker summoning, is as if they were mobile APC's that can deploy troops within 5 spaces.

Planeswalker summoning almost seems to equal general summoning. Hmmm...

[TheFace]

Boy, I'll tell you what, I've lurked on Heroscapers for some time, and now that this game is here I decided to finally register. I'm so thrilled to see the ruleset brought back even with modifications. The reason that I loved HS in the first place is that it reminded me of the ease of entry in tactics RPGs like Shining Force on the Sega Genesis.

I honestly love the "defeat the Planeswalker" victory condition, something that is not abnormal in these minis games.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how summoning impacts strategy as things move forward. I never did more than play 'Scape with my wife or friends at the kitchen table, so digging into something a little more strategic now will be awesome.

[GeneralRolando]

You my friend are my new favorite person ^^^^^ Shining Force is my all time favorite video game!

It will definitely change the dynamic of the system a lot. Could be great and could be terrible, hard to be sure yet. It's not a system that's quite as fine tuned as, say, Summoner Wars with the assassination win condition. With as much space as you have that's available to move around in, I fear that it will just become a game of "snipe-the-commander." I'm hoping that there are some defensive strategies and interesting overcomes for them, but until I get my own copy, I just don't see it.

[nate the dawg]

Originally Posted by TheFace

I honestly love the "defeat the Planeswalker" victory condition, something that is not abnormal in these minis games.

It's worth noting that the above victory condition is specific to the 1v1 scenario in the rulebook, but it's not true for every match.

Unless I misread it at game night last night, losing your Planeswalker means that you may no longer draw cards from your library or play them from your hand - though 'hidden' enchantments that you'd already placed on your army cards will still trigger.

EDIT: Oh, and my gaming group has already decided to shelve those silly boards that came with the game and just build 'Scape maps for it from now on.

[Yodaking]

With the game being won when the opponents plainswalker is killed, do the squads that came with the game have much for ranged attacks? Summoning up a 4 figure ranged squad from Classic Heroscape might be unbalanced if the game is designed around mostly 3 figure melee combat. Simply shooting over the opponents screen and attacking the plainswalker directly seems like a quick and easy victory.

[TheFace]

Originally Posted by GeneralRolando

You my friend are my new favorite person ^^^^^ Shining Force is my all time favorite video game!

It will definitely change the dynamic of the system a lot. Could be great and could be terrible, hard to be sure yet. It's not a system that's quite as fine tuned as, say, Summoner Wars with the assassination win condition. With as much space as you have that's available to move around in, I fear that it will just become a game of "snipe-the-commander." I'm hoping that there are some defensive strategies and interesting overcomes for them, but until I get my own copy, I just don't see it.

I would say that the cardplay certainly helps. It's definitely different, but you can play quite defensively with your Planeswalker and each has some interesting abilities that help them. Nissa can move out of the fray. Chandra can focus damage through her summoned creatures and do her bidding from afar. Etc.

And HOW GOOD is Shining Force? Still holds up!

[Confred]

The cards remind me of Battles of Westeros. In that game, you have order markers and a hand of cards. If a figure is within command range of your Unique Hero, you may use a card on it. If your commons stray too far, you may still use your order markers, but you lose that card flexibility.