Feedback on my purchases, please! What should I keep/switch

[Pygon]

I currently own and will keep:

* 1 Valkyrie Master Set
* 1 Swarm of the Marro
* 1 Castle Expansion
* 1 Orm's return (still awaiting its arrival)

....

Today I ran out and hunted for after Xmas deals and got the following:

* 1 Marvel HeroScape (50% at Target, $12.48 )
* 1 Castle Expansion (Meijer's, $15.50, snagged the last one)
* 1 Volcarren set at Toys R' Us (full price, $18.50)
* Small Expansion: 1 Zombie Horde (about $10 each)
* Small Expansion: 1 Heroes of Trollsford
* Small Expansion: 1 Lawmen and Samurai
* Small Expansion: 1 Gladiators and Agents
* Small Expansion: 1 Warriors and Soulborgs

Still sitting on the shelves at one of the Wal-marts are:
* Shades and Orcs (2 packs left)
* Minute Men and Wolves (1 pack left)

Toys R' Us had Jandarr Flag Bearers for $12.99, but I didn't reall want to spend full price on one figure.

For the most part, I'd like feedback on the Volcarren set and the small expansions I picked up. Which should I keep or switch for the remaining small expansions? Are the Orcs and Soulshades or Minute Men and Wolves any good?

I'm only asking because I'd rather not open them if they won't really get used, and I'm kind of suffering from buyer's shock!

Thanks for any advice!

[Kahrma]

Just my opinion -

I'd keep the terrain packs. Both "Orcs and Shades" and "Minutemen and Wolves" are common packs, and not nearly as effective or fun without owning at least two of each. I'd work on buying the common squads that interest you when you can afford to buy multiples at one time.

The only exception, would be the castle expansions - if you only have one RotV masterset, I doubt you'll be able to use two castle expansions. If I were going to return one purchase - I would return one of the two castle sets.

[Fatespuppet]

The minute men and wolves seems to be a favorite of a lot of folks here, but I agree that 2 is much more favorable. I'm a fan of the Shades, so I say 2 of those is good.

At those prices it seems a shame to return the castle set, but having only one is tough with only the two master sets. Still, it's a great set to have multiples of if you plan on being as hooked as most here are.

[Sherman Davies]

I agree that the extra castle set could be returned; try playing with the one you've already got and see if it's enough for now.

Also, I don't own the lava set myself and don't have a lot of interest in it, so if it were me I would return it (since you got it at full price) in exchange for a couple of those WalMart packs. I'm assuming that you could get two of those packs for what you spent on the Volcarren set, given what I hear about WalMart's prices and the possibility that they're on sale now to boot.

[Pygon]

Thanks for the feedback so far.

Problem is, I tried setting up a few scenarios with the castle set and imagined I might want a map with two castles, or maybe a very large wall system. And I doubt I'd be able to get it for that price again.

I also wouldn't mind setting up a volcano-like area using the lava pieces (it would mostly be terrain from other sets with the lava pieces for the stream and immediate area). Otherwise it might just be a single area of the map with something that the players might need to retrieve, or a center area that they have to cross to get to each other.

I glanced through the stats for the small expansions and like aspects for most of them.

I hate wanting stuff If I returned all the small expansions, I'd cut my spending in half, but I might get bored with the master set figures.

I glanced through the boards but didn't see a poll-like comparison of all existing small expansions. Does anything like that exist here? I saw the sticky for the unit discussion index, I was just wondering if there's a long list with an approval level or something.

[Cavalier]

Check out Spider_Poison's Unit Rankings, widely considered the definative unit comparison tool.

[Pygon]

Super, that helps a lot, thank you!

[ej]

Oooo. A poll. Neat idea!

In all seriousness, the only thing I recall seeing here that would help as far as the quality of the packs are concerned are the power rankings. http://www.heroscapers.com/community...ead.php?t=6171 They're sorted according to grade (some units didn't study).

If you're not familiar with every pack, this collection guide may be useful to you. http://heroscapers.com/community/showthread.php?t=13259

[Pygon]

Based on that very nice thread, the preference of the packs I have access to go as follows:

1. Warriors and Soulborgs (A-)
2. Minute Men and Wolves* (B+)
3. Zombie Horde (B)
4. Lawmen and Samurai (B-)
5. Shades and Orcs* (B-)
6. Gladiators and Agents (C)
7. Heroes of Trollsford (C-, oy, was THAT a bad choice... all "bad" ones.)

* Didn't buy

I'll probably trade the Heroes of Trollsford out for the Minute Men and Wolves, if I decide to not return anything.

Sadly, the Orm's return I scored for a great price didn't have great grades either. Curse you, Raknar's Vision!

I read the books on the doubtful units, and there are still situations where they are fun and interesting to use, so I'm torn. This all takes me back to my Magic the Gathering days, where we all might have thought a card was cool and fun, but it turned out that it actually sucks. I remember having more fun discovering what cards do instead of optimizing a "proper" deck build. But once you know the right way to build a deck, you don't go back. I suspect the same will happen with HeroScape. Shame.

[bigkat]

Some of the figures with lower grades can still be fun to play with. I got Heroes of Trollsford a little while ago and like it a lot. It might be a little harder to win with them when compared to other units, but if a crazy mummy lady that turns people to stone seems more fun to you than a higher graded figure, then I'd go with the mummy.

[Pygon]

Exactly - that's part of what makes it so hard to choose. *cries*

[bigkat]

Originally Posted by Pygon

Are the Orcs and Soulshades or Minute Men and Wolves any good?

I think the orcs and shades would go well with what you currently have. Your games probably have a good deal of unique heroes, so the shades should have a lot of targets to go after. With the orcs, you'll have units that can bond with Grimnak, so he'll be more effective.

I think having 2 sets of orcs and shades would be more fun than single sets of 2 different common squad packs.