Heroscape: Age of Annihilation is here! Back it on Haslab!

[caps]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

I had the idea for war wizards, and they are the backbone of the faction. As I've said.

Craig suggested that we also have familiars to go with them, which I thought was brilliant, and now you're looking at some of them. As the "Designer's Notes" text indicates, familiars will be (with some limitations) mix & match with wizards.

This is a good example of how the work of the designer and the artist together is a two-way street. I had envisioned some more classic-looking familiars, and this sketch is typical of what came back to me for them, instead. These creatures are awesome, and I never would have dreamed of them, so I'm glad that the artist took liberties with what I had originally written down.

You're not doing anything to calm down my excitement levels for this faction.

Originally Posted by Anitar

Another faction (or several) forthcoming; another week of reveals (or several) forthcoming.

What faction(s) do y'all think will be next? We've gotten post-apocalyptic mad max pirates, death machines, nature mages... I'm guessing something historical in nature will be next.

[Dad_Scaper]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

You're not doing anything to calm down my excitement levels for this faction.

"You supposed more than really existed. But now suppose as much as you choose; give loose to your fancy, indulge your imagination in every possible flight which the subject will afford[.]" Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice, ch. 60.

[blast_shark]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

What faction(s) do y'all think will be next? We've gotten post-apocalyptic mad max pirates, death machines, nature mages... I'm guessing something historical in nature will be next.

I had an idea that there could be a faction of fae-folk-esque lesser beings native to Valhalla that were always around, but previously were able to avoid the conflict of the wellsprings. Now the Age of Annihilation has started and displaced them from their hidden peaceful dwellings and into the defense of their homelands.

Basically not-hobbits. Something like the Kithkin from Magic the Gathering.

[Tai-Pan]

How about some awesome looking Kyrie? Vydar, Valkrill and Aquilla Kyrie, for example?

"Tribal Wrath" - Zulus, Aborigines, Aztecs, Celts and another Native American Tribe (mounted with repeaters, please)

[Master Roshi]

Originally Posted by capsocrates

These are so cool and pretty! I can't wait to see the designs. What can you tell us @Dad_Scaper ?

Very cool designs!

[chas]

"Owl be seeing you in all the old familiar places."

I remember when I was young that Andre Norton had a SciFi series about a telepathic ranger type who could communicate with his animal companions. She had a lively style of representing their thought processes in his mind.

[Hahnarama]

Originally Posted by Grungebob

You gotta know somebody on the inside!

First Rule of Fight Club is to...... NOT TALK ABOUT FIGHT CLUB!

[Strack9]

Originally Posted by Strack9

I dig that three-eyes owl! I'd love if it was a familiar of some sort that could bond with its chosen wizard.

Originally Posted by Encarmine

. . . One essential key to the Dryan Lifeborne Order’s tactical prowess, is the Magi’s usage of Etheric Familiars to augment their already mystical powers . . .

Hooray!!! (WHOO-ray)

Multiple versions of the owl-ish in this latest concept art, in addition to the small 3-eyed basic one that was also in the last drawing. It's possible the medium, more morphed/grown/bat/horned/owl/monkey-tailed ones are just riffs on a theme to distill the artistic concept into the final more detailed large Horned Owl Griffin (Strigigriph??).

Of course it's also possible that we could get multiple versions?? where a wizard could choose a familiar for a game, from among different stages in it's development to fill different point gaps or perform different slightly different rolls along a theme? That would be cool too.

I'm gonna wildly speculate it's the latter where something like an owl is cheap and has no real attack, but can look at order markers, while the owl bat on the bottom can do an attack and maybe mess with or rearrange markers it can fly over. But if you choose the big guy, he's a main attacker type who can see the thoughts of those he attacks and can knock an order marker or two off with a high end 20-sider roll.

Same speculation for the teleporting fox. You might choose the cheap young version that can grab a glyph or tie someone down with adjacency, but teleports away when attacked and can't do any real damage, or you could choose the more expensive full grown one with the horns who can disengage or maybe even carry its controller across the battlefield and maul high value targets. Or maybe it gives its controller a vanish like ability in addition to itself by teleporting them out of danger too.

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

Dok also pointed out that he did, in fact, offer one doodle into the process.

Was it the smaller owl? The art seems kid of a different style. IDK, Maybe it's just shaded differently.

[Fuzzie Fuzz]

Originally Posted by chas

I'm trying to put three statements together:

1. They've been working on the new Scape for a year. (Mentioned when new Scape was announced).

2. They work two years ahead of production. (This last a recent note).

Doesn't this mean they have another year to go before we see anything come out? Or did Avalon Hill get things rolling a year before they created the War Council and brought them into the project?

3. Significant announcements--and by implication actual availability--"will be a matter of days and weeks, not years and months." (This mentioned somewhere between the two).

Hmmm... It doesn't add up for me! I doubt we have to wait a year before product becomes available. Do we? I hope this will be addressed sooner than that!

I'll be very (pleasantly!) surprised if we get new Heroscape products in our hands in under a year. If sculpts are still not final*, that means they haven't begun manufacturing the minis, so they need to finish those, get them to the factory, get at least one test run, print the full production run, get them packaged up, ship them to distributors, then to stores, and allow enough flex time in all that to allow for COVID to mess things up, plus all the standard delays you'd expect in a project like this.

I'd expect that "significant announcement" to be an announcement of a release date, more information on the format of the product, and so forth, but I'd expect the date itself to be many months away. My potentially pessimistic guess is they'll be targeting Fall 2023, with room to slip a little and still make the holidays next year.

But of course, I'll be thrilled if I'm wrong!

*Per this CVN quote:

Originally Posted by capsocrates

[Strack9]

Originally Posted by Fuzzie Fuzz

If sculpts are still not final*

I would imagine that at the very least the sculpts displayed at GenCon were final. Right? Or is the thought that they were one offs from a resin printer, or originals?

[Zeldarck]

Originally Posted by Strack9

I would imagine that at the very least the sculpts displayed at GenCon were final. Right? Or is the thought that they were one offs from a resin printer, or originals?

I think so and the fact CVN work on sole figure don't mean its the one which may release soon. As they said, they have stuff ready 2 year before the release

[skyknight]

I have to tell you all, the first time I got to work on Heroscape I was in my early thirties raising a family of five kids. I remember them helping me playtest and when the boxes arrived from Hasbro they would be almost beside themselves with excitement for what was in them.

This time it finds me in my late forties, 5 young grandkids later. I am absolutely thrilled for my kids to be able to open these boxes with my grandkids, build maps, fight the battle of all time, and watch an entire new generation of Scapers being born.

I know it seems cliche, but I am as excited for this as all of you. I cannot wait to see their faces when they play this set for the first time. Just the thought of many of our kids being fathers and mothers now and getting to go through this….it’s absolutely brilliant and exciting.