Heroquest remake by Hasbro - The BIG discussion thread

[Kurgan]

Well let's just delete this entire thread since this is neither the place to discuss things about HASBRO/Avalon Hill. Let's just delete the entire website since it isnt the IP owner, and then we can all just converse on the Avalon Hill website instead. I can be extremely hyperbolic too.

I dont. I am not interested in a bastardized game wearing a D&D skinsuit. WotC has never made D&D now am i interest in the fake D&D. This is an HQ website, so lets keep the D&D crap and modern ideologies out of it... which is the key to the HQ 2020 debacle.

I agree they are two separate games. Several people here are fearful of encroachment by one upon the other and quality will suffer. We don't have much upon which to base those fears, other than the fact that some of the new staff designers have worked on D&D in the past, and accusations that they essentially put their own favorite user characters as "heroes" in the bonus unlocks. Until we see the content of the new quest packs, it's speculation, but yes they have HINTED that they are going to flesh out Orc history, and that has people (including myself) questioning what that will be and if it won't, in fact, "suck."

They're still using d6. The board is the same. The Hero stats are the same. The card categories are the same. Even the sample spells (from the new heroes only) have similar rules and conventions (except the "regain spell" thing, which only certain rare artifacts could do similar... such as using a spell twice in a single quest, or accumulating spell scrolls).

Nearly double the minis for half the price of 2 sets. and you get variants. I paid $50 for the extra minis, not just KK or RotWL. The quests are meaning less, as anyone can make there own, and have for 30 years. Only the new players who have never experienced HQ will have any real use for them, as many people have them already and played through them and can even before it releases since they are all free on HASBRO "rules" website.

I agree with you about preserving the "legacy" of classic Hero Quest for future generations with this new remake. You're right about the "bargain bin" of miniatures and the bottomless quest book which is the essence of Hero Quest. However where the quality is concerned, I dislike the weapon designs on several of the figures, and the Goblins look like they don't belong at all (similar to the Warlock figure). I don't particularly care for the World of Warcraft style of Orc, but it's one of the parts I dislike the least. I like that the female Barbarians and Dwarves look different, but the way they made the Elf and Wizard nearly identical seems off to me (and lazy, like they just shrank certain body parts and grew others in the 3d program).

The story being more important is a point well taken, but as far as story goes, they seem to have been pretty faithful so far, other than some unfortunate word substitutions (provoked, we presume from rights issues).

https://consumercare.hasbro.com/en-us/instructions?q=%2Fen-us%2Finstructions%2F&q=Hero+Quest&hsb_doc_search_button=SEARCH

To go back to the D&D, there is things called edition wars. This didnt exist much in HQ, because they were versions and not often did people get confused with NA/EU playing unless they physically moved from country to country to had to play a different country's version. D&D changes cause edition wars, those who will buy new product and those who dont. Those WotC has "thrown in the trash" as customers, and "those they want to try to get" as new customers.

I'm not sure how much time went between D&D editions, but HeroQuest for most people was just one thing (unless like you say, they moved continents) for three decades. It will just be "the original" and "the new one" and the gameplay is the same. That to me shows they are more alike than these versions where the rules are actually different (correct me if I'm wrong, I've read about how the classes and character races or whatever have been changed around drastically over the years).

"Hey I'm playing as the Bard tonight at Steve's" "Oh, so you are playing the new version" "No, yo, I'm was at Ye Olde Inn and they showed me how to create this guy for the original and he's way better now" "Okay, cool, I'll bring my banana."

HQ doesnt need that crap, mentality or attitude.

I agree. If it were up to me I'd have wanted a full GW compliant remake, with all of the expansions, that incorporated the material from all the local variants (maybe not the cardboard minis, sorry Brazil). Better even than that, how about a straight up reprint of the original in each locality (so the Brits get Morcar, the Japanese get Grimdead, and the Yanks and Canucks get Zargon, etc). But surely trademarks and copyrights would have prevented something like that (collectors can breath a sigh of relief)>

HQ is a game system with a few examples of play in the quest book. Then from there people can do what they want, which is explained in the rules when the quests run out. The problem again is like "D" says there, are they willing to make HQ and understand it? Whatever they do with the core game will temper the attitudes and minds of EVERYONE on either side of the political ideology spectrum.

Agreed. I can try to imagine scenarios where that would come up. If they said "Undead and Greenskins never fight on the same side" that would limit people who want to do that in their quests ("ehhhh... let's just cross out that sentence with my little red pencil here... done!"). They might make so many little changes that it would be a nightmare to play in the classic style. But I don't see that happening. I hope not anyway. It seems like they put minimal effort into this remake. They took minatures, many of which would have been perfectly at home in some totally different gaming environment (like Wizkidz Pathfinder, etc) and their effort was all on the coat of paint, with the text going through "find and replace" to change "Chaos" to "Dread" and "Fimir" to "Abomination" (much like "Morcar" was changed to "Zargon" and "eliminated" was change to "killed" and "passage" changed to "corridor" in the NA version).

This is uncalled for from HASBRO. They can produce the game, then make expansions for those who want them.

Agreed, but we are presuming the game is going to be sold beyond the fundraiser premiere, right? So what happens to all those unlocks? I would be all for making them seperate from the base product. I presume buying the "Heroic" set would exclude them automatically. And if they are making the female Heroes (and the male elf) "pulse exclusives" that implies a shop isn't going to carry them by default but just what's in the box.

I don't want to pay more for content that sucks. I guess saving me having to SEE it sitting there in the same package with the stuff I actually wanted seems annoying and wasteful, which is another reason I was trying to come up with creative uses for it, besides a chewtoy for the pooch, or something to weight down the garbage sack.

Orc Bard mess seems to be a expansion that they jsut weren't willing to sell in retail stores. It doesnt add new minis other than what is needed in the base game (as far as we know), so should have been an add-on. Technically it is, but this coming with the base game will set a precedent.

But it doesn't come with the Game System (Heroic) it comes with the Mythic (GS + KK & ROTWL). How that plays out if/when it reaches retail stores, is anyone's guess.

Well the book doesn't even include wheelchairs, but only "wheelchair access" in a dungeon...

How considerate! I'd just have them roll to see if they can lift their comrade over the step. Or better yet, use "heal body" to give them the ability to walk again.

There is nothing in the base game that doesn't allow people to change it, but the "forced changes" from forced ideologies, and anyone that disagrees has "wrong think", is the problem form these agendas pushers. people want HQ, not agendas. HQ isnt the place to "discuss your feelings about ethics and morals". HQ is a place where you "kill the bad monsters and save the world". None of this "Orcs are black people" critical race theory crap, because ORCS ARENT REAL. ORCS ARE FICTIONAL MADE UP CHARACTERS FOR THE GAME. The are symbols of fear, not a real world organization or people.

I never saw "Bright" but apparently it was poorly done. Agreed with the agenda pushing. Please, no more forum wars... you're preaching to the choir!

that lack of info is the problem, combined with recent events in D&D.

I agree, the fear is not coming from nowhere. Hopefully our fears in this case are unfounded. And the vocal complaints might make them think twice about committing to that path, since the same company owns both and COULD go there if they wanted to. Again hopefully not.

So it isnt about can old players keep playing the old rules, of course they can. Can new players play the old rules? of course they can even without owning the game since HASBRO has been providing them freely for years.

Which is great. If HeroQuest lapsed into a generic "dungeon game" with no name out of copyright, that would be kind of sad, but we'd build it up again into the thing we all remember and love. I'd rather it was shown proper love and respect by the people who own it now, agreed. I want a game I can be proud of, rather than have to apologize for.

The problem is how will the 2 games co-exist. will they be compatible across the NA market, or will they end up being competitive, and making the players have to fight over which edition to play.

"Steve, you may have called us together, and you may be using the 2021 edition, but we're playing by 1990 rules or I'm flipping this here table!"
"But guys... I just wanted to play as the Orc Bard!"
"there, there, don't cry, Ye Olde Inn has supplied us with some alternate rules that makes him kind of not suck, this guy Kurgan for example turned him into a former pirate turned cleric, crazy weirdo I know, but he did have one good idea there."
"Sniff, really? That's awesome, let's play!"

Again cant do anything for EU and other countries, because that is something HASBRO mucked up with this release being only NA modified rules. and those modifications we dont know about. "Orcs are misunderstood in the core game to support the bonus Orc Bard 'hero'." that could shake the foundations of the core game.

I'm glad it's being released in those territories, but I'm disappointed on their behalf that no effort is being made to "localize" it in that way. Instead, everybody is getting a hybrid version that uses the NA version as a base.

I am imaging the kids who grew up with Hulk Hogan being the bad guy, who didn't know he was once one of the biggest baby faces in the wrestling business, arguing with the truly old school fans who knew he was just going back to his roots. Imagine the shock and horror when it changed. But that's a different business, that thrives on swerves and swindles, I guess.

Silence. That is the problem. People are expressing their fears about the changes since HASBRO will say NOTHING other than what is present on the campaign's page, and the information stopped being produced on the announcement page (https://heroquest.avalonhill.com/en-us) as the marketing agency (https://twitter.com/heroquest/status/1324756678735253508 Khoros Marketing https://khoros.com/) just quit providing any and Pulse never gives any info on products through it until they start arriving at people's doors and word of mouth is how people learn info on the products from HASLabs/Pulse.

That could mean they are embarrassed by the changes and don't want to let us know about them until it's too late. Or it could mean there's nothing to talk about. Or it could mean they haven't really decided yet. But if they were going on board with the Woke brigade, surely they would be "proud" of their decision and would be "virtue signalling" to the public what those changes were, if they existed. But who knows what's really going on. I agree, the "fears" could be settled by just hashing it out with some text, much like they did for the three "new" Heroes, publishing the text content of those cards and design philosophy on their blog page.

People only have recent events for D&D to go on, since most of the "guest designers" are from the modern D&D crowd, and the producer/etc video seems like the 3 people answering the Q&A knew little and cared even less about HQ or what they were going to do to/with it.

Agreed. It's nothing against the fans who are expressing fears. It would be good of the company to be transparent about it. I guess they are under no obligation, but it is up to somebody to bite the bullet, take one for the team, and "unbox" their product before the rest of the buyers are disappointed.

Did you hear that? You have like 90 days to return the "unopened" box for a refund. So even if you bought the game through the pledge drive, and you are fearful now of crappy changes, wait until there's an unboxing video that shows the content.

Should I volunteer myself? With my luck, I'd probably be the last person on earth to receive my package and by then it will be too late. I have been honestly thinking about gifting it to a friend who doesn't have Hero Quest, these past few months, but haven't promised anything yet.

Edit: the thread is here to volunteer to help "unbox" and evaluate the new game...

[Kurgan]

SPECULATION.... IF the Q&A is anything to go by, it sounds as if they are going to put "Holy Water" from the EU edition in as a piece of equipment in the remake.

Now I don't agree with this (it ought to be a Treasure card), we could reasonably infer, I think that the "Alchemist's Shop" potions will ALSO be considered "Equipment" in this new version.

Here is my reasoning...

If they are not creating a new category of deck.. such as "Potions" ... and I don't imagine they are going to create a deck called "Alchemist's Shop" more than likely, since there is no "Armory menu board" but the EU convention of having "Equipment" cards for weapons, armor and the toolkit, and Holy Water and Potion of Speed are becoming "Equipment" then it would stand to reason there will be no "Alchemist's Shop" menu either, and these potions (which are shared by the two expansions Kellar's Keep and Return of the Witch Lord) will become Equipment cards as well.

Since Holy Water and Potion of Speed were Treasures before, will they be purchasable? How much will they cost in gold? I will probably mod my cards to make them Treasures again (and I use a Potions deck, which I could apply to the Alchemist Shop potions too). That is something to look for when evaluating the new release this fall.

How big are the cards and what is on them. Has any of the text changed? The idea that these items are purchasable and not limited in quantity by the number of cards available (also confirmed in the Q&A), that means in theory you could buy a bunch of Holy Water and clean house in ROTWL. You could buy a bunch of potions of speed and move quickly through corridors (not necessarily an advantage if you're not searching for traps before you move!). Unless they introduce some kind of limited quantity rule or make them unreasonably expensive.

Then again they could just leave off the gold value and make them Quest treasures (presumably they would have to modify the basic quests, because these items would only appear in the EU versions of KK/ROTWL/GS). So in other words, you produce the card when they search a certain area of a certain quest and at no other time.

It seems they're being pretty quiet, hence the need for an exhaustive, nitpicky unboxing.

[cynthialee]

it should obviously be equipment as you can just walk to the temple and get some next in between mission (I know there is no down time but we still allow shopping)

finding Holy Water as a treasure is a very unlikely and unreasonable request ... regardless of how it was set up the first time
any monster finding holy water from the human elf lands would likely pour it out

It is in it's rightful place as Equipment

[Shadzar]

it should obviously be equipment as you can just walk to the temple and get some next in between mission (I know there is no down time but we still allow shopping)

Of course there is no "downtime" because this is HeroQuest not D&D.

Be nice if people finally learned that.

Heroquest comes with a system for what can be done between quests for any that actually learn to paly the game called HEroQuest.

What Happens Between Quests?

As a Hero, your starting Body and Mind Points are automatically restored once you have successfully completed the Quest and have returned safely to the stairway. All spells are then returned to the Wizard and the Elf.

Finally, you may now visit the Armory and purchase new weapons and armor with the gold coins you have accumulated.

with KK and RotWL, they should put the new item rules into the main game on how to buy things that came into future products like Elf and Barbarian quests, as well the new trap types to update the rules for common ground, that would mean some more things naturally get added to the "Armoury", that are not treasure items or the basic gear that was only in NA version, as they are merging NA/EU versions into 1 game many believe.

SPECULATION.... IF the Q&A is anything to go by, it sounds as if they are going to put "Holy Water" from the EU edition in as a piece of equipment in the remake.

It seems they're being pretty quiet, hence the need for an exhaustive, nitpicky unboxing.

All those potions from later sets, and maybe Holy Water should exist in the main game to bring it up to date finally since 30 years 8 expansions came out with ramshackle rules for each expansion to maybe finally convert them to one system for other people to build on for their home games. As mentioned above, the Armoury could be expanded to include the barbarian and elf potions and even add some for dwarf and wizard that never got quest packs per say.

Yes an unboxing needs to happen. I will be opening one copy, but have no way to get pictures of it to put online. i could only offer text lists of things found inside the box. That will leave me with 1 unopened copy of Mythic tier, just in case.

I suspect after looking at the income per min, the quality of the minis will drop, i am just hoping they are are still plastic minis (not 2d standees), as that is what i want the furniture, since i can use ANY mini on a 1-inch grid map for monsters.

All the Wayne Reynolds 3.x D&D style, and GW 90s era chaos "spiky bits" all over every mini will likely get toned down in the end to prevent costs to overrun on that excess plastic for production runs, and i think the minis will end up looking more simple like the original HQ ones for the majority of things, except maybe he heroes will get the special attention and extra details.

Might piss many people off that bought for the exact minis, but it did say something along the lines of "concept design, final product may vary". While i dont like the new rack that much, as a mini it seems safer than the old one as fewer appendages to break off like an Sorcerer's Tables candles.

I am fine with general additions to the armoury as that isnt a lot of stuff, and it could be tiered easily by cost so newer stuff that may make the game "easier" is gated at a higher cost to purchase, and a limit to the number of consumables, such as the quest packs indicated. It would allow people to make their own quest and have that baseline within the game to go on how to design new items.

That is the big thing about a game system. you need to have it simple enough at the core, with little bits that people can glimpse how something works, to let them expand it to make their own game at their own table. When they add too much, they start dictating the direction and complexity that must be included, that hurts something like HQ. We already have board games you cant easily change, they are the Gloomhaven, and such, meant to be played as-is.

[Kurgan]

it should obviously be equipment as you can just walk to the temple and get some next in between mission (I know there is no down time but we still allow shopping)

And I've already talked about how, to me, you're buying the fancy bottle, or donating to the chapel that allows you to obtain the blessing etc. I am speculating that they'll be selling it like an Alchemist shop potion.

finding Holy Water as a treasure is a very unlikely and unreasonable request ... regardless of how it was set up the first time
any monster finding holy water from the human elf lands would likely pour it out

Fair point, though if you were an undead monster, would you want to get too close to something that dangerous?! My thought is that they stock all kinds of potions that can help the Heroes, and they do take precautions, by hiding them in chests which are guarded (and often boobytrapped). Additionally, the actual Holy Water card does indicate it is "neglected" as in misplaced. The monsters didn't realize it was left behind or didn't know what they had. They probably pillaged a monastery or killed some pious traveler and dumped all the stuff in the room, and missed it.

We don't always have to assume that potions are neatly labeled and carefully placed in convenient places. That's why you have to search...

It is in it's rightful place as Equipment

I am not so much against the idea of shoehorning Holy Water, Potions and other items (that weren't part of the original Equipment Deck or listed on the Armory), so much as missing their absence in the Treasure pile.

Now I did remove Holy Water from my "Lone Monster" deck, because I do think it would seem odd for a monster, especially an undead one... to be carrying Holy Water on their person (on their way to throw it out or to ask the Chaos Warrior in charge what it is and what to do with it??). And if the monster did know what they had, would they hand it over willingly to the enemy (unless they were defecting/deserting at that moment)? I like the Parley cards that say the monster drops it in haste, or as they run away you notice it, rather than the Orc just handed it to you out of respect.

So there's only 4 potions in the KK/ROTWL Alchemist's Shop (Battle, Restoration, Dexterity and Venom Antidote). Maybe they figured that, plus the Potion of Speed, wouldn't be worth creating a new artwork cardback for (forming a new deck called "Potions" or "Alchemist's Shop")?

Then again, they could add Potion of Defense, Heroic Brew, and Potion of Strength in there too, and while that's a pretty slim deck (9 at most, unless they added multiples), we now have a "Character" (?) or "Hero" (?) deck that only includes 12 cards... AND the EU artifacts deck had only 5 cards while NA had 8, and the Monster deck also only has 8 cards. Every deck doesn't have to be big.

There's a lot of unknowns when it comes to the new material. I just think if they're going to re-introduce material from the EU version, it would be natural to put them into the same category unless there was a really good reason to do otherwise.

They're giving us the handaxe again (not sure about the Spear). I wonder if that will be lost when thrown like the dagger, as it was in the EU edition.

[Kurgan]

All those potions from later sets, and maybe Holy Water should exist in the main game to bring it up to date finally since 30 years 8 expansions came out with ramshackle rules for each expansion to maybe finally convert them to one system for other people to build on for their home games. As mentioned above, the Armoury could be expanded to include the barbarian and elf potions and even add some for dwarf and wizard that never got quest packs per say.

Yes an unboxing needs to happen. I will be opening one copy, but have no way to get pictures of it to put online. i could only offer text lists of things found inside the box. That will leave me with 1 unopened copy of Mythic tier, just in case.

I suspect after looking at the income per min, the quality of the minis will drop, i am just hoping they are are still plastic minis (not 2d standees), as that is what i want the furniture, since i can use ANY mini on a 1-inch grid map for monsters.

All the Wayne Reynolds 3.x D&D style, and GW 90s era chaos "spiky bits" all over every mini will likely get toned down in the end to prevent costs to overrun on that excess plastic for production runs, and i think the minis will end up looking more simple like the original HQ ones for the majority of things, except maybe he heroes will get the special attention and extra details.

Might piss many people off that bought for the exact minis, but it did say something along the lines of "concept design, final product may vary". While i dont like the new rack that much, as a mini it seems safer than the old one as fewer appendages to break off like an Sorcerer's Tables candles.[/

I am fine with general additions to the armoury as that isnt a lot of stuff, and it could be tiered easily by cost so newer stuff that may make the game "easier" is gated at a higher cost to purchase, and a limit to the number of consumables, such as the quest packs indicated. It would allow people to make their own quest and have that baseline within the game to go on how to design new items.

I can add you to the list in the "Unboxing volunteers" thread. If you don't have a digital camera or camera phone, it would still be helpful to post text descriptions of the text, dimensions, etc. of the components, so we could use the help if you want to!

As far as the plastic used by the miniatures, during the Q&A sessions they did display a sample (I think it was the Dwarf) and it had a slight rubbery quality to it, which reminds me of the Reaper Bones miniatures line. If that's the case, then breakage should not be an issue. Sure, a kid or pet could chew off the little bits, but if you are trying to modify a Reaper bones (plastic, "Legends" are their metal equivalents) mini, you really need a scissors or razor blade. I've dropped their minis and stepped on them by accident with no pieces ever breaking off (bending, sure... but dipping in boiling water and re-posing as it cools fixes that).

That is the big thing about a game system. you need to have it simple enough at the core, with little bits that people can glimpse how something works, to let them expand it to make their own game at their own table. When they add too much, they start dictating the direction and complexity that must be included, that hurts something like HQ. We already have board games you cant easily change, they are the Gloomhaven, and such, meant to be played as-is.

I wouldn't worry too much. Simply adding MORE potions, spells, weapons, etc. (more of the same) doesn't really make the game any more complex. Introducing brand new spells (as they did in the public playtest of the three new heroes) and artifacts with new effects could cause balance issues, unless they are tied explicitly to new quests designed around them, which may be the case (as opposed to intending them to be used in the classic quests).

Holy Water is a bit different than your regular potions, because it is explicitly used "instead of attacking." The closest thing to it are the NA exclusive "Spell Scrolls" (which are treated as Artifacts, even though at times you're prompted to draw one randomly, which has lead modders to create "spell scroll" decks expressly for this purpose).

[Shadzar]

I can add you to the list in the "Unboxing volunteers" thread. If you don't have a digital camera or camera phone, it would still be helpful to post text descriptions of the text, dimensions, etc. of the components, so we could use the help if you want to!

We will see as time nears for it what effects COVID have had on my ability to even use the internet.

everything including minis is stated "subject to change", so we dont know if the dwarf sent out by some random advertising company is actual end product or not, but the designs we know are said to be concepts.

I am not worried about them adding too much to the armoury in terms of equipment, i WANT them to add base rules for new items and things for people to have a baseline. like the potions from Elf/Barbarian quests they should be in the rules to make it a "game system" so people have concepts of what to change and where to add or remove things. This would go a long way to make quest building more understandable for newer players so they arent making quests that just turn into Gauntlet the video game... "Elf shot the food!".

[Shadzar]

Also this video of the "card game" that mysteriously appear leads to worry about not only the minis, but the furniture and even dice in the board game.


Are they going to give giant plastic blocks with stickers for the board game?

[Kurgan]

Love the gauntlet reference. I didn't know you were sick, but if so, I wish you a speedy recovery!

I'm sure they'll explain the new stuff. A clarification about potion and/or spell stacking effects would be useful, though I imagine those with strong opinions will just do what they were going to do anyway.

It sounds to me like the "unlocks" will all be written into the new Quests. After all, Heroic Tier people won't be getting those, so why would they be concerned about whether the Orc Bard using the Amulet of Ridiculousness can really freeze both the adjacent Orc and the Skeleton while jumping over two pit traps at the same time? If its an item you can buy, chances are it will just be included in the Mythic pack, and so you can then apply it to your Game System, or bring it over to your friend's session where he only has the Heroic set.

That "Rogar's Hall" quest (which we don't know is even included with the Mythic Tier or is a stand-alone freebie) says random artifacts, so that would change based on what you have, but it's a small thing.

If their goal was truly to "unify" and "smooth out" the rules between different versions, that would be interesting, but so far it seems they haven't said anything like that. It sounds like they're just tweaking the bugs out of the NA edition.

Then again, the introduction of the missing EU elements seems to suggest the unification theory. I wouldn't make too much of it until we get more evidence, however.

Re: the dwarf miniature. It is probably the first one done. The guy who was giving us the (unfunded, so cancelled) "Dragon" quest book, showed a model on Twitter that looked to me like some kind of resin 3d print.

I think the guy who had the youtube video and got the painted dwarf mentioned that the dice were resin printed, so maybe all of the stuff he got were proofs like that. But in the Q&A session it wasn't a painted mini, and was made of some kind of pliable rubbery plastic, because he was able to bend it in his hands (without it breaking) similar, to me, to the Reaper Bones minis. If you've ever handled these, they are not so soft as those "fantasy monsters tube" (or fantasy creatures, etc) rubber toys you can get on ebay.

They're not quite so rigid as the plastic bags full of dinosaurs (or army men or cowboys and indians) that we used to get as kids at the grocery store in the 1980s (today these are found in dollar stores, though sometimes in the corner impulse buys of the toy section in big box retail stores like Target or Walmart, especially around Christmas). The latter rigid plastic is what Reaper uses for their "Black" series (it's a darker gray than the white they use in the "Bones" series). So from the visual I would think these are closest to the bones figures and those will bend pretty easily. The "Black" figures will bend and if you really try hard you could probably induce stress marks on the plastic (easily covered with paint), but that is different than the stiff plastic used by the classic Heroquest miniatures (the type of plastic used by most board games here in America as opposed to the painted wood used in past generations).

So it should be possible to modify these figures with a knife or clippers (if anything I'd want to modify the bases), but we shouldn't have to worry about pieces just snapping off during play, even if one kid chucks his barbarian at the other across the table (which would be a real concern with resin prints, and even some metal figures).

[Daedalus]

A nice bonus about the new plastic is that the candles will be less likely to snap off from their holders.