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Flashback Friday - Heroscape - Love it or Hate it? Do You Still Play It?

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15 Feb 2019 01:44 #292333 by ubarose
So do you have a plastic tub of Heroscape at...

Love it or hate it? Do you still play it?

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15 Feb 2019 04:14 #292334 by Matt Thrower
I've never played Heroscape and to be honest it's never really appealed. I'm not fond of multi-genre time-travel stuff in any kind of media, and building the scenery looks a pain.

That said, about the only real gaming regret I have is not buying a starter set for something like £5 when they were being flogged off in the toy store after one Christmas. I just didn't have space to store it at the time. Would be worth a small fortune now.
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15 Feb 2019 04:32 #292336 by Whoshim
It has been one of my favorite games since I picked it up back in 2004. I haven't played it as much (starting a family made things like that difficult), but with the boys getting into the place where they can play it without assistance, I look forward to breaking it out.

I used to have a lot more than now, but I sold down to just the starter plus the first (and maybe second) expansion. The amount of cards and figures put off new players and made setup a bit of a chore. The base stuff has a great mix.

Also, I have some 40k stuff that we have made some test cards for. I love the flexibility of the Heroscape system and how easy it is to create new things for it.

I love it because it is always a fun time with a story to tell after. I enjoy brain burning games and high level competition, but I also just love having fun with this game.
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15 Feb 2019 05:44 #292338 by Shellhead
I only played Heroscape once. Even with six of us working quickly, it took way too long to assemble before we could start playing. That part was more like playing with Legos than setting up a boardgame. The actual gameplay was too simple, with minimal consideration for tactics, and one of the units in our game seemed overpowered for its cost, making for a relatively short and uneven fight. Then there was the takedown, which only took half as long as the long setup. We were playing a game shop, so we couldn't just push the game off to the side and let the owner put it away later.

I didn't like Heroscape, but I don't think it's a bad game. I would have loved it if I was still a kid. But as an adult gamer with more limited free time, Heroscape was too much setup for too little game.

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15 Feb 2019 07:12 #292339 by bendgar
I love building the landscape but I find the game rather blah.

I am at the point where I just want to get rid of my tub but I don't want to separate it out for ebay. I may just craigslist it. Does anyone passing through have a dollar amount that I should aim for? Base set with double terrain + Swamp Land? + 55 unit expansions.

Thanks.

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15 Feb 2019 08:06 #292340 by Sagrilarus
I love every part of this one. Damn near perfect game.
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15 Feb 2019 08:24 - 15 Feb 2019 08:41 #292341 by Jexik
I've already essentially written enough to get a masters' degree in Heroscape studies. (Just look up Jexik on the biggest fan site). It's a far deeper game than you guys realize, but in order to get there you need to play 1v1 tournament-style games. An individual multiplayer game might be a light diversion, but 5 hour tournament days at GenCon or in Iowa or Texas used to be another matter entirely. They still have a cult tournament following and are making customs. The fan website, heroscapers.com, likely has traffic that dwarfs this site. At least back a few years ago when I was still doing the PHG podcast, Colby openly admitted that his old HS fansite was getting way more traffic than his company website.

I enjoy the eye candy, but I'm actually with Matt in thinking that the entire plot and story were ridiculous and pretty stupid. I read the rulebook and thought it was not gonna be for me. But the gameplay hooked me, and we immediately bought expansions that night, right around my 22nd birthday. It got me back into board games, and Ameritrash in particular. If it weren't for Heroscape, I wouldn't be here, and neither would Plaid Hat Games. John Clowdus of Small Box Games was also a huge fan and got some of his start making customs for it.

The sad coda to the Heroscape love song is that I hardly get to play now after I moved out of my bro castle and into a smaller apartment, even though I have a kid who's just the right age to play it now. Even further, much of the plastic terrain has become hard and brittle; you have to be careful not to break it when you take it apart. I downsized significantly a couple years ago, but I've still got a lot. Hardly get a chance to play it, but I do try to make it out to a big heroscape tournament once every year or so.

Would some kind of longer Heroscape retrospective piece be of interest to people here? Although really Sag put it best.
Last edit: 15 Feb 2019 08:41 by Jexik.
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15 Feb 2019 08:44 #292344 by charlest
I really like Heroscape but I've never owned it and only played on small collections. I think if I had a huge collection of it, it would be the type of game I'd absolutely love and list among my favorites.

Craig Van Ness recently mentioned in an email that he was big into 40k at the time and what he was trying to do with Heroscape was to bring that type of game into a more accessible line. Boardgame it up a bit if you will. Thought that was interesting.
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15 Feb 2019 08:45 #292345 by Jackwraith

Jexik wrote: Would some kind of longer Heroscape retrospective piece be of interest to people here?


Yes.
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15 Feb 2019 08:53 #292346 by Vysetron
I was in school when Heroscape was a thing and at the perfect age demographic for it, but never even played. My go-to mass market game of that era was Battleball which I loved and still own.

I'd like to give it a try someday but it's looking increasingly unlikely. Definitely not looking to own though. Don't want a game that requires a tub.
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15 Feb 2019 09:04 #292349 by repoman
One of the best times I've ever had was playing in a Herpscape tournament a friend had at his house with a small group he invited. It was a round robin affair and we each played 5 matches or so. It was years ago now but, man, that was a good day.

I owned a lot of it at one time but sold it away when I needed money. It was a bitch to store.

I did pull some customs off that heroscape fan site. It was a bunch of Star Wars characters which I bought minis for off the Internet. They were super cool.

So, I've not played in long time but I'd jump at the chance to play it at any time.
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15 Feb 2019 09:39 - 15 Feb 2019 09:54 #292353 by Sagrilarus
I'm on a real keyboard now so I'll go into a little more detail.

First -- Heroscape may be cheaper now than it has ever been, save for a few of the expansions. If you're willing to purchase used you can get starter sets for $70 and a LOT of the expansions for about forty cents on the dollar of their original purchase price. There's a lot of Heroscape out there if you're interested. I've had several parents contact me in the last year asking how to get it, and I've been able to find eBay and one local deal that were kick-ass for about $100.

For those of you whining about setup time -- quit being so damn picky. One guy can set up a basic board in about five minutes. Throw something together and play. The myth of "it takes forever to set up" is BS. Four guys can put together a decent map in about a minute.

Army building is simple too, either give people a point total or just wing it and come up with something you like. Play all-reptiles or all-Romans or something. Just go. And it doesn't really matter all the much if the armies are unbalanced, because you just work that in. If someone's getting slaughtered you give them reinforcements from their side of the board or give them a few extra hit points.

One guy overpowered . . . it's kind of like Magic. Sometimes you just need to figure out how to crack a particular egg. I'll tell you what, at tournaments I love to play big Sgt Drake Alexander, and my opponents love it because they get to score so many points when they hit him. I have a blast going in head-first, they have a blast beating him up.

Don't like the theme . . . well, the game has 31 themes so I'll grant you that you'll almost assuredly not like one of them. Goddamned samurais. They always show up and ruin things!

Not very deep . . . Ho boy! There can be some serious shit going on on the board. It all depends on how you want to play.

But I'll tell you what, the reason I absolutely still endorse Heroscape over all other games is this -- it's just fun to uncork with. You can play it with kids (who enjoy it on three or four different levels) or with your buds, who can drink beer and throw pretzels at each other when things don't go their way. It's just an over-the-top kind of play where can you put on stupid accents and scream and yell and cut deals and backstab and just have a grand old time. A dynamite team game as well, where you can have three on each side of the field rushing into the center to attack each other.

I'll link my ancient article on a session -- therewillbe.games/blogs-by-members/803-h...d-steel-and-cleavage but there's been five or six on the site. It's well worth your time to find and read them. I bumped into a couple when I googled mine. Part of the reason I love the game is embodied in the approach of that article, which is about as sober as a leprechaun on March 18th. Just let loose and let whatever your army is carry you away.

I'm of the opinion that this game will get reprinted in some form or another. I think it would be up for it already were it not for Hasbro camping on the existing IP such as it is. If Heroscape 2.0 went up for Kickstarter I'd wager it could set a record for funding. There's still a lot you could do with the game.


One of the best times I've ever had was playing in a Herpescape tournament a friend had at his house with a small group he invited. It was a round robin affair and we each played 5 matches or so. It was years ago now but, man, that was a good day.

One of my best gaming experiences ever was an evening when my wife and daughter were gone, and my buddy Kyle showed up with his son to play. Me and my three boys, him and his one. We played (this is with young kids mind you) until 1am, which was about four hours past bedtime. The boys still remind me of that night and how damn good a time it was.
Last edit: 15 Feb 2019 09:54 by Sagrilarus.
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15 Feb 2019 10:33 #292357 by NeonPeon
I played it once. I had fun. The end.

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15 Feb 2019 10:46 #292359 by Jexik

Jackwraith wrote:

Jexik wrote: Would some kind of longer Heroscape retrospective piece be of interest to people here?


Yes.


therewillbe.games/blogs-by-members/6462-...-battle-for-all-time

Maybe not super polished, and a bit more personal than I had expected, but it's hard to separate myself from discussion of a game that likely altered my life trajectory, at least a little.
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15 Feb 2019 11:55 #292369 by jeb
Played it for the first time in a few years (barring the MtG Arena one) about a month ago and it was fucking great. Building the scenario is fun and playing is fun. It looks so goddamned good. And I only have MARVEL and the VALKYRIE base games!

As mini games go, it is magnificently approachable.

Silver Surfer OP OP
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