Heroquest remake by Hasbro - The BIG discussion thread

[Kurgan]

Reaper Bones miniatures are a bit bendy (not super bending and the "Black" series ones are even less bendy, more like plastic army men or dinosaurs you'd get at the grocery store if you remember those).
Unless you are flexing and bending them in your hands to an extreme degree, you shouldn't have a problem with the paint cracking and flaking, especially if you apply a varnish overcoat. They paint well. A good thing to do when you get your miniature out of the package is to rinse in soap and water (I use an old soft toothbrush to give it a once over). You may also prefer to dip it in boiling (or near boiling) water, to straighten out any bent pieces and let air dry and cool. Then paint like you normally would. I don't prime, I just paint (and let dry, paint, etc) until it looks right to me but I am by no means an expert painter.

The super bendy "Fantasy Creatures (Monsters, etc) Tube" type minis I have not tried to paint and you might have more trouble with those. I imagine these will be more similar to Reaper Bones and some other lines as far as soft plastic. These are made to be paintable.

[StevO]

While it may not be the most popular view here, I am actually looking forward to the Orc Bard belting out some lewd shanties. Often times one of my favorite parts of well established fantasy is when the characters travel to new areas or realms and have their assumptions challenged. I could totally see the Orc Bard sailing in from a distant land where the Orcs aren't traditional villains. That doesn't contradict or change the existing lore of this setting, so much as simply showcasing that it may not be the norm everywhere.

I know that many of the vocal folks on here seem to dislike the Orc Bard, buy perhaps it might be too bold to say "the majority". I am really hoping we get that hero, and I consider it unlikely that I'm alone in that. But to each their own.

I can clearly see that this is a treasured game and property to many of you. And any change to the game seems inherently wrong. But even though some ascetics and details may change in this release we are still getting brand new copies of Heroquest at a reasonable price (mythic tier comes to less than $2 a mini by my math)! I missed out on the game the first time around cause there was no way my family could afford it. So I for one am very excited and grateful that Hasbro is taking the time to remake this. At long last I get to play it myself and with my daughter.

This will allow a whole new generation to experience the excitement, wonder, and fun that you have enjoyed for decades. And that is no small thing.

[lestodante]

They need to give us more on these new Quest packs other than the title if they expect us to get excited about them though...

The same for me.... but not for a lot of other people it seems!

[Pancho]

While it may not be the most popular view here, I am actually looking forward to the Orc Bard belting out some lewd shanties. Often times one of my favorite parts of well established fantasy is when the characters travel to new areas or realms and have their assumptions challenged. I could totally see the Orc Bard sailing in from a distant land where the Orcs aren't traditional villains. That doesn't contradict or change the existing lore of this setting, so much as simply showcasing that it may not be the norm everywhere.

I know that many of the vocal folks on here seem to dislike the Orc Bard, buy perhaps it might be too bold to say "the majority". I am really hoping we get that hero, and I consider it unlikely that I'm alone in that. But to each their own.

I can clearly see that this is a treasured game and property to many of you. And any change to the game seems inherently wrong. But even though some ascetics and details may change in this release we are still getting brand new copies of Heroquest at a reasonable price (mythic tier comes to less than $2 a mini by my math)! I missed out on the game the first time around cause there was no way my family could afford it. So I for one am very excited and grateful that Hasbro is taking the time to remake this. At long last I get to play it myself and with my daughter.

This will allow a whole new generation to experience the excitement, wonder, and fun that you have enjoyed for decades. And that is no small thing.

Interesting viewpoint. I can agree with some of your points. The problem though i think is that the Orc Bard doesn’t just represent a Hero, he is supposed to represent an entire Hero class. If one of the traditional four Heroes perished, it was no problem to find a replacement of the same class for the next quest, and still maintain narrative immersion. Not so with an orc bard. I can just about buy into the idea of a single orc bard if I turn large parts of my brain off, but not an entire glut of them roaming the Empire.
The best explanation is that the new designers didn’t play Heroquest and are not really familiar with what the Heroes are supposed to represent, nor the world they appear in. They just put their own narrow preferences in, rather than spending the time to even think about what a Hero class actually means.
We can all respectfully disagree on this though. The new release can still be an overall good thing, even if some elements of it are silly.

[Kurgan]

You see, the Pirate ship was loaded with Orc Bards... refugees from the Orcish realms being fed up with the usual slaughter and pillage by their kin (who treated them as outcasts and freaks)... they set sail for more "heroic" lands...?

Or this Bard is such a revolutionary, and so charismatic, that he's traveling the countryside, fearlessly winning others to his cause. Other Orcs have heard his rebel song, and are trampling their Chaos party badges underfoot, donning the feathered cap of his free-wheeling, swashbuckling, kinder-gentler-approach-to-life (or at least kill for a more just cause) movement! In response, the wicked Zargon has increased the rations and spoil shares for his footsoldiers (and also doubled the penalties for desertion, which means he brings you back from the dead in order to execute you a second time).

I don't know, but I agree with what you're saying about an entire Heroic Class. I agreed with those who said these new Heroes are probably better served as NPCs (or Mercenaries) you find along the way or as characters for one off solo quests.

The new release can still be an overall good thing, even if some elements of it are silly.

Well said, Pancho.

[ajjohnsen]

For me none of the new Hero's seem interesting enough to take the spot of any of the 4 originals. I would only predict them being used if I played with more than 4 Heros. All the mechanics are basically the same with them as well, 3 spells with the ability to regain the better one; it's just not what we'd hoped for in brand new Hero classes in a new version with Stephen Baker involved...

The "designers" I'm afraid to say didn't do much designing and more so made their DnD character a Heroquest Hero and had someone else draw up the mechanics

[Oftkilted]

For me none of the new Hero's seem interesting enough to take the spot of any of the 4 originals. I would only predict them being used if I played with more than 4 Heros. All the mechanics are basically the same with them as well, 3 spells with the ability to regain the better one; it's just not what we'd hoped for in brand new Hero classes in a new version with Stephen Baker involved...

The "designers" I'm afraid to say didn't do much designing and more so made their DnD character a Heroquest Hero and had someone else draw up the mechanics

I’m not sold on that take.

The elf is a “jack of all trades” kind of character. They’re neither all Fighter or all Wizard. The other three characters (Warlock/Druid/Bard) are similar. They’re neither all fighter or all Wizard. The Barbarian and the dwarf are definitely fighter classes. At the upper end they both have access to similar weapons and equipment.

Can you always run it with the four “basic” classes? Sure. But there have been player created classes for a very long time ... and there’s non-standard classes that have been posted here on Ye Olde Inn since before 2010...

[Vakarian]

Apparently there’s a gaming company in Basingstoke that sells magic cards and collectibles named “Firestorm Cards” that’s offering to do parcel forwarding for buyers in Europe

Looks like you have to buy from Zavvi first and put in Firestorm Cards as delivery address. Have spent a week fighting with Zavvi trying to get copies to Denmark via a mail forwarding address and they cancelled my orders and deleted my account immediately. They will only send to UK residential addresses

Talked with the guy behind Firestorm Cards who told that you don't buy the game from Zavvi and get it shipped to him. You pay directly to Firestorm Cards and they will then order it from Zavvi.

[Oftkilted]

Day 1: $1,000,000 (actually hit 1 million 30min before 24 hours)
Day 2: $267,000 in Sales
Day 3: $151,000 in Sales
Day 4: $102,000 in Sales
Day 5: $65,000 in Sales
Day 6: $52,500 in Sales
Day 7: $39,698 in Sales
Day 8: $43,647 in Sales
Day 9: $38,097 in Sales
Day 10: $34,048 in Sales
Day 11: $26,248 in Sales
Day 12: $24,049 in Sales
Day 13: $21,848 in Sales
Day 14: $20,448 in Sales
Day 15: $15,799 in Sales
Day 16: $19,899 in Sales
Day 17: $134,741 in Sales
Day 18: $25,445 in Sales
Day 19: $19,599 in Sales
Day 20: $17,949 in Sales
Day 21: $15,399 in Sales
Day 22: $14,049 in Sales
Day 23: $198,837 in Sales Total sales as of Day 23: $2,347,191

Day 24: ?
Day 25: ?
Day 26: (total for 24, 25 and 26 = $53,809) to total at $2,401,000
Day 27: $17,836 in Sales Total of $2,418,836 as of 7pm GMT-4
Day 28: $14,899 in sales Total of $2,433,735 as of 7pm GMT-4
Day 29: $63,646 in sales Total of $2,497,381 as of 8:15PM
Day 30: $46,297 in sales Total of $2,543,678 as of 8:25PM
Day 31: $18,049 in sales Total of $2,561,727 as of 8:25PM
Day 32: $17,848 in sales Total of $2,579,575 as of 8:25PM GMT -4
Day 33: $12,950 in sales Total of $2,592,525 as of 8:25PM
Day 34: $16,646 in sales Total of $2,609,171 as of 8:25PM
Day 35: $20,801 in sales Total of $2,629,972 as of 8:25PM
Day 36: $28,648 in sales Total of $2,658,620 as of 8:25PM
Day 37: $97,943 in sales Total of $2,756,563 as of 8:25PM
Day 38: $36,447 in sales Total of $2,793,010 as of 8:49pm
Day 39: $30,398 in sales total of $2,823,408 as of 8:25PM
Day 40: $46,197 in sales total of $2,869,605 Pledged as of 8:25PM
Day 41: $76,495 in sales total of $2,946,100 pledged as of 8:25PM

The sales trend rose to a moving average of ~$57.5K/Day over the past 5 days (since the 36th.)
8 Day average ~$44K/Day (counting from the 33rd)
There are ~4 Days left in the campaign.

Overall the numbers are continuing their upward trend over the past 5 and 8 days.

The next unlock is the $3M goal for the Orc Bard hero and quest book is ~$54K away (or ~360 Copies of Mythic Tier)

To hit the 3.2M stretch goal for the alternate abomination sculpts would require ~$254K or ~$63.5K/day. (Or ~1693 more copies of Mythic tier)

To reach the 4M stretch goal (and the dragon!) would require $1,053,900 or an average of ~$263K/day over the next 4 days. (Or ~7027 total copies of Mythic Tier)

[Zenithfleet]

For me none of the new Hero's seem interesting enough to take the spot of any of the 4 originals. I would only predict them being used if I played with more than 4 Heros. All the mechanics are basically the same with them as well, 3 spells with the ability to regain the better one; it's just not what we'd hoped for in brand new Hero classes in a new version with Stephen Baker involved...

The "designers" I'm afraid to say didn't do much designing and more so made their DnD character a Heroquest Hero and had someone else draw up the mechanics

I’m not sold on that take.

The elf is a “jack of all trades” kind of character. They’re neither all Fighter or all Wizard. The other three characters (Warlock/Druid/Bard) are similar. They’re neither all fighter or all Wizard. The Barbarian and the dwarf are definitely fighter classes. At the upper end they both have access to similar weapons and equipment.

Can you always run it with the four “basic” classes? Sure. But there have been player created classes for a very long time ... and there’s non-standard classes that have been posted here on Ye Olde Inn since before 2010...

If it were up to me you would all have to drive backwards on Tuesdays I'd have gone back to the (probable) inspiration for HeroQuest: old-school 80s D&D, specifically Basic D&D. Then created new Heroes based on that.

Barbarian = Basic D&D Fighter (1d8 hit points)
Dwarf = Basic D&D Dwarf (good at finding traps; apparently in the prototype of HQ the Dwarf was good at finding secret doors too)
Elf = Basic D&D Elf (always has magic and is a decent fighter, 1d6 hit points)
Wizard = Basic D&D Magic-user (one use of each spell per adventure/day, can't use most weapons or armour, 1d4 hit points)

They were given a Warhammer coat of paint, but they're D&Disms at heart. Which is where Warhammer got its start too.

Note that in Basic D&D (which derives from original 1st ed D&D), the races were also classes, so you didn't have Elf Fighters or Dwarf Rogues or anything like that. The Dwarf in HQ isn't a 'fighter class'--he's a Dwarf. All Dwarves were good fighters with trap-finding talents in Basic. All Elves were decent fighters with spell-casting ability in Basic. And so on. The 'Fighter' class was assumed to be human. If you wanted to be a Dwarf fighter, you were just a Dwarf.

So, for new Heroes, given that this new Hasbroquest is more obviously set in D&D Land, I'd have had a look at the other three 'basic' Basic classes: Cleric, Thief and Halfling.

A Halfling could start with a Bow since they were good shots in Basic. They were also hard to hit due to their size and the way they could blend in (at least outdoors), so
maybe they would defend on skulls rather than shields, or similar. I'd probably give them low BP to balance them out, say 4 BP, since they'll be attacking at range anyway.

A Cleric could have healing magic, and/or the power to scare away / destroy Undead. (In Warhammer he'd have been a Warrior Priest.) 5 MP, 5 BP and two sets of Cleric-only spells could be a good slot for him/her.

Not sure how best to represent a Thief in HQ. They were always a bit complicated (and had wonky rules). Possibly better at avoiding damage from traps if sprung, some
kind of ability to sneak up on monsters, and the like. Maybe taking advantage of any furniture in the room. And/or some ability related to Treasure searches, like ignoring
trap cards?

But Wizards of the Coast seems to want to pretend Basic never existed.

I agree with others that these new stretch-goal Heroes look more like they asked artists to invent their own D&D characters, rather than come up with new Hero classes that fit the others.