Hero Collection II: Rogue Heir of Elethorn (Oct-Dec '22)

[elvyler]

I don't think they'll have any other equipment listed on their card (helmet, bracers, etc...).

If I'm not mistaken, the Guardian Knights only listed on the card the equipment that came in the set with those two miniatures.

If the rogues are supposed to have another piece of armor equipped, it would make sense for the set to also come with the matching equipment card. The listings we are seeing only mention the dagger and bandolier equipment cards included.

[QorDaq]

Been discussing on BGG too.

It does look (to me) like the Attack strength is 1. Consistent with daggers. This could be good for throttling early power creep, as having a weaker starting weapon leaves room to upgrade.

Pure speculation here, but I hope the Bandoleer allows the Rogue to throw "Unlimited" Daggers during a Quest without having to worry about losing them after being thrown. So far (save for Spells, sort of), there is no ammunition tracking in RAW. So this would be a solid solution for allowing the Rogue to use their attack as needed.

Further, it'd be great if the Skills (or at least some of them) Allowed for special attacks with the Daggers. We'll see.

I also find it cool that, up until now, the only HQ species not tied to a specific character type was Human. Now with an apparent Elf Rogue, the implication is that should there be future Character Packs, they could show up as any of the existing (or new) species. I like that departure from the past.

Regardless, I'll wait and see how this all shapes up, but I'm very curious and will absolutely pick one up at retail when available. And yes, I am at least hopeful if not outright confidant that AH has learned their lesson about limited release products for HQ.

[Kurgan]

Rust only affects Helmets and Swords (but not artifacts).

I wonder what the source of his armor is? If he starts with built in armor somehow maybe he can still rank up to 5 defend dice? Or maybe one of his skills allows a temporary boost...?

Athelorn was the name of an Elven (?) realm in the prologue to the original HeroQuest, and it was changed to Elethorn for the remake, so presumably it had a place in Warhammer fantasy cartography originally.

[Kurgan]

Perhaps the Bandolier itself is a form of armor (rather than just a wearable gear holder) that grants +1 defend and maybe it can only be worn by a Rogue? Pure speculation on my part of course. It should say on the character/turn card itself what the starting armor actually is.

If the Bandolier is armor as well as a "bottomless bag of daggers" that would make some sense. Then again maybe it is not the Bandolier alone but has to be combined with at least one actual dagger to make it work? I guess there are many ways they could do it but a simple closeup on the card would answer it.

[AmalgamAsh]

Ash here.
Just got off the phone with Chris Nadeau about this. I can't believe it myself.

Here you go.
https://youtu.be/g9SJw6FEOA8

[QorDaq]

If the Rogue does in deed have 3 DD, I'm inclined to think that it's an innate ability as opposed to being from a starting armor piece, unless as you (Kurgan) suggest, that it is associated with the Bandoleer. I feel like that would be an odd design choice though. We do know it's not (currently) from an established armor-based equipment card.

I'm also not absolutely convinced (yet) that they do have 3 DD. The pictures, even the slightly larger one, is still pretty blurry. The Male Hero card looks like it "Could" be a 3, but the Female card could just as easily be a 2.

But again, if the Defense is 3, and it's associated with the Rogue's innate agile nature or something, it could be interesting for the future of new Character Packs, as the devs could be experimenting with ways to alter the recipe to expand options going forward.

Were that the case, I suspect we'll eventually see the Core Heroes out-powered over time. Which is already sort of happening anyway given that all new characters since the Pulse campaign have had three Ability/ Skill/ Spell cards. The Barbarian and the Dwarf start out strong, but the other characters can catch up with equipment. Still, the Barbarian's BP and the Dwarf's Trap abilities remain unique--but is that enough?

It's all interesting stuff to discuss.

[QorDaq]

Ash here.
Just got off the phone with Chris Nadeau about this. I can't believe it myself.

Here you go.
https://youtu.be/g9SJw6FEOA8

Nicely done sir. Kudos.

[Kurgan]

Nov 14th release date? Let me guess... that's a "pre-order" and we'll get the real thing 6-7 months later... which should place it after the Frozen Horror remake, assuming that rumored August-Sept release date was correct.


Or if as AA says, June 17th, for pre-order date and November for release... I'll believe it when I see it!

[Kurgan]

I think they should go ahead and just release a generic "Skills deck" for random draw use for the Barbarian and Dwarf (or any other heroes they want). Perhaps they could say every few quests they can increase, like maybe Champions get more.

[Kurgan]

Oops, I see you revealed more in the video, I should amend my post. Nice work Ash!