Craig Van Ness Q&A Thread

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by Leaf_It

I can't believe I never noticed this thread existed. Craig, thank you so much for making my favorite table top game of all time.

Craig, I'm currently looking to try and have custom combat dice made for Aquilla, and Valkrill, because they never got flag bearers. I know you don't work with WotC, or Hasbro anymore, but do you have any suggestions on how to get approval to use the Heroscape dice symbols legally? Any help with this at all would awesome. If I can get the go ahead to do it legally, I'd send you your own set of the dice if you were interested.

What did you personally think of the addition, and theme for the general Valkrill?

Leaf_It,
You could reach out to WOTC or Hasbro about using the logo. Worse they can say is no.

At the time Utgar had plenty of army cards. I think introducing another evil character was a good idea.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by Dr.Goomonkey

Why are there eleven molten lava tiles? Did nobody think that 10 or 12 would've made more sense?

Dr.Goomonkey,
I do not recall. I am not sure why 10 or 12 would be better.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by chaoserver

First of all, even if you cant answer my questions- Thank you for the great game. Heroscape has ruined gaming for me in the best possible way, since now if a game doesn't have amazing, varied, pre-painted minis and strategic rules that are also extremely simple to grasp, and therefore teach- its hard for the game to hold up!

I read through the thread, and dont think you've answered these. If you cant answer or go into too much detail, I understand, of course.

First, storywise, was there somewhere you're disappointed we didn't get? Marro uprising etc. ?

When I turned Heroscape over to Wotc, the story was in good shape, mainly because Colby was writing it. As far as somewhere we didn't get- it would have been nice to have an animated show...one that followed the journal.

Originally Posted by chaoserver

Second, are there any specific units you are particularly disappointed we didn't get to? Something like Cyprien's Cavalry.

We were working on growing many of the armies. One thing we also were looking to do was grow the offerings from the different time periods. More rev war cards. More WWII cards. We had some american civil war sketched up. More cowboys. More medieval cards.

Originally Posted by chaoserver

Third, when designing units, how much did you account for multiplayer? A unit like Runa which is terrible in 1v1, but creates fun scenarios as soon as there are free for alls going on make me suspect it plays a factor.

Yes, certain units are much better in multiplayer. We always kept an eye on this. I always liked Theracus.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by Oliver Upshaw

Craig, did the Heroscape Design Team ever get a direct acknowledgement from Higher that shipping two Orm's Return for every Road to the Forgotten Forest was a mistake. I know that it was reversed in later printings and large expansions, but I was just wondering if you guys got a direct statement from someone that they understood what a mistake that turned out to be.

Yes, we knew that was a mistake. We recommended 2 of the forest pack for every one big figure pack. Somethings are under your control and some are not. Players buy more of the expansions that could be repeat purchase items.

[Leaf_It]

Originally Posted by Craig Van Ness

Leaf_It,
You could reach out to WOTC or Hasbro about using the logo. Worse they can say is no.

At the time Utgar had plenty of army cards. I think introducing another evil character was a good idea.

Oh I have reached out several times. The answer was always no.

[Johngee]

Originally Posted by Craig Van Ness

Yes, we knew that was a mistake. We recommended 2 of the forest pack for every one big figure pack. Somethings are under your control and some are not. Players buy more of the expansions that could be repeat purchase items.

There seems to have been a similar mistake made with the release of Common Squads and Unique Heroes. Once Squad-Scape caught on as a strategy, everyone wanted multiples of the commons and maybe some of us bought a second pack of the heroes. I can remember seeing several heroes packs still on the store shelves or finding them in the Clearance aisle when all of the 'good' common squad packs were long gone.


I always felt that the figure distribution in the expansion Waves was poorly handled. For example, I personally purchased ten packs of 4th Mass and 10th Reg for reenacting Revolutionary War era scenarios, but in the process, I also obtained ten sets of Anubian and Badru wolves that I did not want - five of each would have been sufficient, hehehe.


In hindsight do you think that the British Red Coats and Colonial Militia squads should have been packaged with two Unique or Uncommon heroes such as a Captain/Lieutenant and Quartermaster/Sergeant accompany them instead of the wolves? Perhaps even a second squad of sharpshooters or rangers that were related thematically? And I mean this question as a pattern for all of the production runs, i.e. (IMHO) Taelord and Runa should have been packaged with the Minions of Utgar, etc.

[gamjuven]

It seems like Heroscape really drew from Viking mythology. Whose decision was that? I'm not complaining, Vikings are awesome, but I was just thinking about how many Viking references there are in the game and they are all over the place, from the faction names, to various units.

[Dark_Stranger]

Allow me to be the billionth person to thank you for helping to create one of my favorite games bar none.
And I have to ask...who first came up with the concept for the Marro? They're my all-time favorites.

[Taeblewalker]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

And I, conversely, feel justified in viewing some of the D&D units as the best that Heroscape has to offer.

The Phantom Knights and Fen Hydra are perfect examples, IMO.

[Astroking112]

This is the first thread over two pages long that I have read in its entirety. Thank you for not only designing a game that so fantastically captures imagination and brings out the inner child in us, Craig, but also even half a decade later taking the time to come and be a part of the community that you made possible.

While I have my doubts as to the ease of reacquiring the HeroScape license (let alone the patents for things like the brilliant terrain) or efficiently making a profit now that Arena of the Planeswalkers has proven that corners can be cut and people will still buy it (I doubt Hasbro is keen on going back to the expansive terrain fields and painted minis, or even letting someone else compete with their new product), the simple fact that you want to do it is reassuring and inspires a glimmer of hope. I wish you the best of luck in getting Soaring Rhino off the ground so that you can eventually build up the resources to accomplish this. How are things looking for the company now? I saw that the Kickstarter failed, but it seems that production has continued nonetheless and expansions are under development?

Also, was there ever an end to the war planned as some form of closure (even if it was just for Sergeant Drake getting home), or was it envisioned as an endless story? After finding the journals and other bits of lore from Valhalla, I have to say that it's gotten me hooked, and I bemoan the little content available for Aquilla and Valkrill.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by Jexik

Order Markers are brilliant. They probably lent the game to squadscape a bit, but also open up the potential for initiative switches and tense moments late in a close game that had easier order marker choices earlier in the game.

Q: What games do typically you play with your friends and family when it's not something you're testing or designing?

Lately we have been playing a bunch of our own games. Jeff and I played Clank in Space, the new Splendor expansion and the Godfather at Gen Con. Those were fun.

We also played Stuffed Fables at Gen Con. It was a blast! I can tell there are hours and hours of fun packed into this game. The story is pretty amazing and you play out the story in quick sessions. Boardgame + Choose your own adventure book = pretty awseome!

My family enjoys lighter games too, like 10 days in the USA (great for 2 players), it's like Racko with a map. My family really liked the DC deck building game for a while. We like Machi Koro. There are so many fun games.

[Craig Van Ness]

Originally Posted by wriggz

So, I just have to ask. What is the Deal with Hatamoto Taro? After seeing the proto-type card, it really seems like the official card is way overpriced. Can you comment on this at all?

And as far as the Star Wars and Marvel expansions we never got, Looking at the D&D stuff that were designed by super fans who became designers, I think the C3G and HoSS stuff would be as good as we could have expected to get. I think we are just lucky that Star Wars minis and Heroclix were a thing.

The Hatamoto question reminds me of the questions I used to get about Taelord. Hatamoto is better when you are fielding giant themed armies, like 800 points. It is much easier to come out with new cards that help weaker cards.