j_dean80 wrote:If these monsters came as original to HeroQuest or an expansion...what color would they be? . . .
That's from the OP to frame my point of view . . .
Spookyhappyfun wrote:. . . With that being said, here are my choices so far for groups, colors, and figures in those groups:
. . .
- (Misc.) Monsters - Black - Bugbear, Giant, Bear, Giant Wolf, Giant Bat, Giant Spider, Werewolf
- Ogres - Flesh - Ogre Warrior, Ogre Chieftain, Ogre Champion, Ogre Lord
- Ice - Powder Blue - Ice Gremlin, Polar Warbear, Yeti, Frozen Horror
- Wizard/Boss - Midnight Blue - Orc Shaman, High Mage, Necromancer, Storm Master, Elven Archmage, Terraptus, Zargon
Anyone have any thoughts on colors for the Misc. Monster group or Ogres? . . .
You may want to consider the purpose of color groups within the rules when deciding. To paraphrase p.9 of the Rules of Play and p.23 of the Instruction Booklet, if a monster can't be placed because all of its type is already on the gameboard, then a monster of the same color group is placed instead.
Within the Game System, the three monster colors (green, white, and gray) not only represent separately themed monsters, but also different combat power (weak greens/whites vs. strong grays) or mechanics (zero Mind Point whites vs. mind spell-vulnerable greens and mind-spell affected grays.) I'd say the original design of Hero Quest--seen in these three colors--is best observed by assigning a color to a group of monsters that reflects some kind of mechanics/power parameter in common. A common theme is desirable as well, but isn't always used to determine a color for a group (the light-blue group discussed below is an example.)
Goblin-King wrote:. . . Pretty much agree with knightkrawler except I lump all beasts into brown.
But what it comes down to with these "faction-less" creatures is which other models they would come packaged with in their expansion.
Traditionally monsters are all the same colors in any given expansion (mage of the Mirror being the exception, but that's because they reused the ogres from AtOh.
So a giant spider would be brown if it came with brown skaven, but it would be grey if it came with grey chaos creatures.
Relating the monsters within an expansion is an important factor in color choice, but not the only one. In the EQP, I'd say it's apparent that the Ogre color was separated from light-blue because of that monster's significantly higher challenge--it has even more Body Points than any Hero, after all.
Both AtOH and the BQP have two color groups as well. In AtOH, Ogre Warriors are red while the unique leaders (either variable or specifically noted BPs) are dark-gray. Neither color may be substituted across those two groups. The BQP has light blue--the same as EQP, and light gray for the Mercenaries (which was a new color for the reused Men-at-arms of WoM.) It makes sense game-mechanically to distinguish Mercenary color, as it is the only monster also used as a regular Hero ally.
While light-blue works thematically as a color group within each NA-exclusive expansion, it doesn't work well thematically between them. For later use, light-blue does serve to differentiate those diverse groups with higher-challenge, non-unique monsters, however. Some discretion is needed as this group contains a wide range of challenge between figures.
So after saying all that, here's my suggestions prioritizing mechanics but also considering theme:
- (Misc.) Monsters - Black - Bugbear (green or red-orange), Giant (dark-gray with Ogres), Bear (light blue), Giant Wolf (light-blue), Giant Bat (tan*), Giant Spider (tan), Werewolf (light-blue)
*see AHQ Skaven figures
You could always create a new color based on theme, but it would be more sound to also distinguish the group mechanically in some way. For instance, my suggested tan group is only a bit weaker in combat than green, so assigning zero Mind Points for these vermin would also be a good idea. A Giant Rat and/or Rat Swarm would also fit this profile well. Fill it out with a tan AHQ Skaven to serve as the tougher model and you have the weaker of two groups in a themed expansion.
- Ogres - Flesh - Ogre Warrior (red or dark-gray), Ogre Chieftain (dark-gray), Ogre Champion (dark-gray), Ogre Lord (dark-gray) Ogre of EQP (dark-gray)
By matching the EQP Ogre with the same dark gray color as the unique Ogres of the AtOH expansion, it's possible a thematic link was being observed. Or maybe the choice was merely one of aesthetics--the original dark-gray does look very cool for the bulky Ogre figures.
Either way, I'd say it is apparent that the NA and EU Ogres don't compliment well as a playable color group between editions. EU Ogres often have variable Body Points tracked with a Body Point track, while the EQP Ogre always has 10 Body Points. As the two separate editions of Hero Quest were marketed separately across the pond, I don't believe that it was even a concern of Hasbro to attempt to coordinate the two Body Point systems. If Phoenix's Body Points found here at the Inn's localization are adapted for the EU unique Ogres, the dark-greys can be managed as a single color group with discretion, however.
Spookyhappyfun wrote:. . . Also, I'm not sure where to put Chaos Dwarves. Grey/Chaos seems like a solid choice, but does anyone have any other ideas? . . .
I also like the Chaos Dwarves as gray. You
could go lava red-orange if you had some supporting high-challenge or fire-resistant monsters for the group. Hobgoblin slaves or a Bull Centaur come to mind, but HQ monsters needn't be restricted to Warhammer lore. For instance, Automatons, D&D Salamanders, or the the Manscorpion from Dragon Strike could also theme well. Maybe the Bugbears mentioned in your list could work as muscle/slaves instead.
Posted: February 26th, 2018, 4:06 pm
