Against the Ogre Horde 2024 Remake Edition Suggestions

[Kurgan]

Including more Ogre warriors in the box (even if they're never called for in the quests) would seem like a natural enough move for AH at this point (see how they included extra elf figures in MOTM though they were not strictly needed). More to paint, and easy to use them as Mercs (especially if they came in two colors but even if they didn't...) and cheaper than providing alt designs. I highly suspect we'll see the MOTM design return as ONE of the orcs, but there's three more to consider for this set.

I kind of doubt they'll include specialized monster figures just for those note variant weapons, but I wouldn't be against it either. They already gave us the mother lode of variants from the Mythic in the SQT/POT re-releases that will come out next month ahead of any ATOH remake. Again, I wouldn't be against it, I'm just considering whether I think it's likely.

[Vorimir]

After the POT and SQT bluff I'm not expecting too much. I prefer to be surpised than dissappointed.

[Kurgan]

Understandable! I'm sure they've already been told by the European fans what they should include and taken that into account, still I'm curious to hear that info so I can speculate.

What if a Zero mind point hero doesn't just die or go unconscious... what if he becomes a Monster under Zargon's control (like the effects of "command" spell but no resistance?). Perhaps he stays that way unless another hero is able to raise his mind points above zero? (Get adjacent and administer a potion of restoration). Of course if you don't have one, you might have to kill your friend, which would be quite devastating to morale...

[Kurgan]

7x8 is the size of the huge tile. This is about the exact size of the box, it would be a tight squeeze with no space to spare on one side in the KK/ROTWL box. Probably better to have a bigger box in this case unless you made it a "puzzle piece" multi-part (or worse, folded) big tile.

[Aki]

I hope this is not a fake news! Ogre Horde is one of the best Quest Pack they ever made!

[wallydubbs]

I hope this is not a fake news! Ogre Horde is one of the best Quest Pack they ever made!

The best quest pack? Well storyline-wise it works, it introduces new monsters and the Quest Pack is tougher than KK & RotWL, but nowhere near as difficult as Frozen Horror. It's got a happy medium to it. The difficulty does increase as the quests go forward and it's suggested to play all the way through (no trips to the Armory or Alchemist Shop).

However on the flip side this quest pack offers no new artifacts, no new treasure cards and only has 3 Chaos Spells that require tokens instead of cards. The variable body-points mechanic was off-putting; There's also the infamous falling-block-trap in Quest 2 the Outer Caves that can prevent heroes from finishing the quest.

I suppose some people like the plunder and treasures the heroes acquire through-out quest pack instead of being given a reward at the end. Actually an epilogue is completely missing from this quest pack. So I might have some difficulty saying it's the best, but in terms of difficulty I'll give it to you, not too easy and not too difficult.

[Kurgan]

Yeah Frozen Horror and Mage of the Mirror were way too hard. We talked about this on the RantCast about how perhaps it was an attempted "correction" for those who felt the base quests were too easy. I think the difficulty is more due to a lack of playtesting (which was probably due to the franchise closing down, not allowing them the time to finish what they started... the draft notes betray many ideas that were left on the cutting room floor, some of which were half implemented in the game but without the necessary connecting mechanics to make it work).

Perhaps they imagined heroes who had plowed through 34 quests and had a huge pile of potions and artifacts, making them nigh unbeatable, hence the change to quests that were double or quadruple the length (requiring longer sessions to complete even if everyone is in a hurry). But the Solo quests were certainly broken, implying a scalable difficulty for brand new players that wasn't there, instead once more assuming a very powerful character that nevertheless was being supplied with basics he really wouldn't need except to sell for even more gold to buy even more potions. Solo quests had been done before in the Dave Morris novels, but they were necessarily light to account for the fact that the hero was alone, and in each of them an ally could be found to lighten the load.

But I digress... I think we kind of agreed that these were middle difficulty... not "easy" but certainly on the level or above KK/ROTWL which seems fine. And padding the campaign out with three more quests seems just about right for a pack they want to be profitable compared to the others and not just a nostalgia piece for fans of the original version (it's like how it was so important to "fix" Frozen Horror and Mage of the Mirror... the former with "Into the Northlands" and the App and the latter in the box... for those global HQ fans who had never played it before). Those who pick this remake up are going to need a little bit of hand holding with the new mechanics, but my take is that if we could handle all those new mechanics with Rise of the Dread Moon (and I think we could) then this will be a breeze. Lunar Tokens, Reputation Tokens, Strangers, Disguises, ethereal monsters, special Mercenary rules... I think we can handle a few Ogre trackers and Dread spell tokens!


So visually I should have shown this in the last Rantcast Podcast video but the way the Ogre Horde spell tokens work.. where you're supposed to put them ON TOP of the character card can still work. I was thinking about how the character boards in the EU version are much taller than the NA boards. if you put 5 of those oval tokens on top of one (spread out, not stacked) there's plenty of room to spare. so each turn you remove one, etc. it works great. The NA boards are shorter rectangles (not perfect squares) but it still works. the Poker size Remake cards are a little more crowded but it can work there too (and if you prefer to stack them up, you could).
On the RantCast I admitted they wouldn't have to be the exact same shape and size. yes, there's the issue of fitting all the meaningful text on them (and having a supplemental card to explain them works too). I didn't consider the possibility that you could get the "best of both worlds" and use mini-cards (like those used in Gloomhaven) instead of cardboard tokens. but then I think whatever you use as long as it has some visual appeal and isn't too hard to lift off the table (even if you trim your fingernails with some regularity) it can work pretty much how it did in 1990.

[Vorimir]

If this is in a small box... I think its a bad start for new content. Seven ogres, the throne, maybe some doors. It shuold include the tilesz even the outdoors one.

[Aki]

I hope this is not a fake news! Ogre Horde is one of the best Quest Pack they ever made!

The best quest pack? Well storyline-wise it works, it introduces new monsters and the Quest Pack is tougher than KK & RotWL, but nowhere near as difficult as Frozen Horror. It's got a happy medium to it. The difficulty does increase as the quests go forward and it's suggested to play all the way through (no trips to the Armory or Alchemist Shop).

However on the flip side this quest pack offers no new artifacts, no new treasure cards and only has 3 Chaos Spells that require tokens instead of cards. The variable body-points mechanic was off-putting; There's also the infamous falling-block-trap in Quest 2 the Outer Caves that can prevent heroes from finishing the quest.

I suppose some people like the plunder and treasures the heroes acquire through-out quest pack instead of being given a reward at the end. Actually an epilogue is completely missing from this quest pack. So I might have some difficulty saying it's the best, but in terms of difficulty I'll give it to you, not too easy and not too difficult.

Consider for us Europeans is the first quest pack with monsters body points, some sort of chaos spells and the difficulty level is between the first two quest packs and Elf or Barbarian pack, so the playability is one of the greatest, unfortunately there are only 7 missions and no Artifacts or Special Treasure.......I hope Hasbro give to this expansion some little freshy updates in that way

[wallydubbs]

Consider for us Europeans is the first quest pack with monsters body points, some sort of chaos spells and the difficulty level is between the first two quest packs and Elf or Barbarian pack, so the playability is one of the greatest, unfortunately there are only 7 missions and no Artifacts or Special Treasure.......I hope Hasbro give to this expansion some little freshy updates in that way

As much as everybody hopes for some new/mixed content regarding Ogre Hoard, I'm feeling they're going to put in minimum effort here: We'll get the Ogre figurines, a few floor tiles, the Ogre Throne, the quest booklet but as much as I'm hoping i don't think we'll get new artifacts, a double doorway or new quests.
I really hope I'm wrong, but I don't want to get my hopes up.
The only factors I'm iffy about is the variable body points mechanic and Dread spells tokens. As much as I'd prefer them to get rid of the variable BP and tokens, it seems like something the might or might not do.