The Hired Hand [Mercenaries]

[drathe]

We all know there are many differences between the North American, and the Other Worldly version of HeroQuest. So it comes as no surprise that the rules for Mercenaries differs. However, in my opinion, neither version has a set of rules for Mercenaries that fits the game properly.

In the North American Version (NA) a Hero may hire as many Mercenaries as they can afford. A strange rule given the Barbarian Pack, which introduces the Mercenaries only provides six miniatures and only three of each interchangeable weapon. Especially when several quests call for certain Mercenaries to be villains in the quests to be controlled by Zargon. By the time a Hero reaches the Barbarian Quest pack (through traditional progression), they usually have acquired a small fortune of gold to spend, and can afford numerous Mercenaries. The Barbarian Pack, being a rather difficult adventure, would see a Hero hiring Mercenaries often.

In the European Version (EU) a Hero may only hire up to four Mercenaries. This seems to be a better option as it limits the number of hired Mercenaries, creating the possibility of more being available to each Hero and Zargon. Now, the EU edition has the Mercenaries introduced in the Wizards of Morcar quest pack (as well as the Advanced Edition), and provides a total of twelve Mercenaries for hire. Of the two versions, the EU limit of four each seems to be the way to go.

The EU rules also state that once a Hero receives the title of Champion, they may hire Mercenaries. In the EU edition, a Hero is awarded the Champion title once they successfully complete three quests. I find this to be a poor rule for several reasons. Not only are Mercenaries unnecessary when playing the game with EU rules due to the single body point, and lower quantity of monsters, but Mercenaries are introduced in the last pack of the traditional progression in the EU story line. Meaning a Hero should have been able to hire mercenaries since Quest Four of the Game System but were denied because Mercenaries don't come into play until WOM (unless one has the Advanced Edition game system, which doesn't include the rules for Mercenaries for hire, but includes the Miniatures for use in the Dark Company).

In the NA version, a Hero receives the title of Champion after they defeat of the Witch Lord. Meaning a Hero only needs to complete one quest, but more than likely has a dozen quests under their belt. Baker's or otherwise. As quest packs can be played out of the traditional order (I frown upon it) Heroes could begin hiring Mercenaries after they play through the Main System of quests. I myself prefer to play the quest pack in traditional progression, thus introduce the ability to hire Mercenaries once Heroes reach a quest pack with Mercenaries (WOM in my progression), and may do so henceforth.

A question of price arises when looking at both sets of rules. In the NA rules included with the Barbarian Pack, a Hero hires a Mercenary for one quest only. Meaning that a full fee must be paid for each quest a Hero wishes to hire a Mercenary. The EU rules differ to no surprise. A Hero pays a flat fee to hire a Mercenary, who will accompany a Hero throughout each quest as long as an additional commission of ten gold is paid to the Mercenary at the end of each quest.

So now I have some questions:

When should a Hero be allowed to hire Mercenaries?
(I vote when they reach a quest pack that has Mercenaries.)

How many Mercenaries can a Hero hire?
(I personally vote on a totally new rule of one each. Reasons: In most cases, Mercenary miniatures are limited. A higher number would result in too many miniatures crowding the game board, as well as lengthy turns for Hero players. A lower number means a Hero must think about which Mercenary may be best to hire rather than having one of each at their disposal.)

What should the cost of Mercenaries be?
(I could potentially swing either way on this one. I like the idea of having to pay an extra commission to keep a Mercenary on board for subsequent quests, but the price of continued use of a Mercenary is too minimal. Paying full price for each and every quest would drain a Hero's leather pouch quickly, as Mercenaries are expensive. Which means a Hero will need to search more vigilantly for treasure in order to rehire a Mercenary. Which I believe is the way I will probably go.)

Post Transfer from Old Forum - Original Post Date: Thursday February 28th, 2008 06:08pm

[Phoenix]

Well, my first encounter with the concept of mercenaries (Men-At-Arms) or whatever, was with the Wizards of Morcar QP. I like the idea of initial fee and retainer. I have had this same difficult thought/decision for some time. I finally made the following rules:

Mercenaries may be hired on a tiered basis. In my Advancement System, each Hero gains a new title as he completes Quests.

* Hero
* Champion
* Veteran
* Knight
* Legend

As each Title is attained, new opportunities/abilities/shoppes become available.

As for Mercenaries, a Hero cannot hire any Mercenaries. Champions may hire one (1) Mercenary and this increases incrementally until a Legend can hire four (4) Mercenaries.

Each Mercenary type has it's own Recruitment Fee and has a retainer fee of 10 Gold Coins.

Bonus:
Mercenary Advancement

Once a Hero has recruited/retained a specific Mercenary for 5 consecutive Quests (w/o the Mercenary dying), that Mercenary becomes a Master Mercenary. This Master Mercenary has improved abilities (i.e.; higher BP, higher attack, special abilities, etc.). The Master Mercenary has a higher recruitment fee and retainer fee. Limitation: There can only be one of each type of Master Mercenary (Crossbowman, Halberdier, Scout and Swordsman).

Recruitment Fee / Retainer Fee
Crossbowman - 75 / 10
Halberdier - 75 / 10
Scout - 50 / 10
Swordsman - 100 / 10
M. Crossbowman - 150 / 50
M. Halberdier - 150 / 50
M. Scout - 100 / 50
M. Swordsman - 200 / 50

This of course is just the way I play. To each his own. Typically, my player's are too greedy to blow gold on Mercs. Usually, they will have a really tough Quest and almost die. The next Quest, they get smart and hire a merc, but then one of the following happens:
- The Merc dies within the first couple of turns
- The Quest is so easy, that the Merc doesn't do anything
- The hiring Hero forgets all about the Merc and never makes a single attack.
They usually then let the Merc go for next Quest and inevitably regret it.

It's actually kind of amusing.

Post Transfer from Old Forum - Original Post Date: Thursday February 28th, 2008 08:51pm

[drathe]

I've never had a group go through WOM. And only half-way through BQP. In BQP no one hired any Mercenaries in their quests (first three solo you can't hire mercenaries anyway), so I have no experience with them. My current group of Heroes are mostly new and the rest only slightly familiar with the game. I want to try your advancement rules one day, but on a group that has more play experience. It looks like a great way to heighten the game for experienced players that may be bored with the standard rules once playing the game often. Such as your game with Zep and friends.

As of now, I'll just wait and see how it goes first. I may not get to the point where Mercenary rules will apply anyway. There are still plenty of quests ahead for my current group as it stands now.

Post Transfer from Old Forum - Original Post Date: Thursday February 28th, 2008 09:06pm

[drathe]

For my own game, I'm thinking of either bumping the Hiring or Mercenaries down to Against the Ogre Horde, since Wizards of Morcar already has a lot of new additions to it. Ogre Horde seems lacking, so this might be a good starting point. Or I might save the Mercs for WM and just use the Combat Cards made by Ron, Gerwin and Jacob. I still have five more quests to decide.

[sadkitchen]

I know this doesn't exactly fit in this thread but it's the closest I could find without making a new one.
When examining the Mercenaries's statistics their defense dice are not accurate when compared to their pictures.

The Crossbowman rolls 3 defense dice - The picture shows Plate Armor (4) and a Helmet (+1) so he should have 5.
The Haliberdier also rolls 3 defense dice and is equipped the same so should have 5.
The Scout is listed at 3 again - But is picuted with Plate (4), Helmet (+1), and Shield (+1) for a total of 6. (Plus how does he move 9 while wearing plate?)
The Swordsman is listed at 4 - and with Plate (4) and Helmet (+1) should also be at 5.

Is there any given reasons that their defense dice are so wrong?

-SadKitchen

[drathe]

Pictures are just that... pictures. The Dwarf is pictured with a Helmet and Axe, but has neither to start.

[Big Bene]

As drathe said, pictures (and miniatures, for that) have nothing to do with rules. But still, for atmoshere, I like to think the mercenaries really look as they are depicted. But they are mercenaries, not heroes. Heroes are exceptional. They have more defense dice to begin with - normally two, even when unequipped. This means a plate mail (4) really only adds two. "Normal" people would have zero to start with, so plate mail (2) plus helmet (1) would be three.

[Ethica]

But they only have a breast plate not full plate armour. Maybe they have a base defence of 1, then +1 for helmet and +1 for the breast plate, that makes 3. The scout should have 4 defence and the swordsman can have 4 defence; his base defence is 2 because he can defend well with his sword.

[Jaguar69]

I don't think the pictures are supposed to be taken litrally as a representation of thier attributes, thats why the attributes are actually written on the cards! Having them look as they do is just a way to give them a HQ feel but not making them look like the Heroes, who in the original miniatures wear no armour (except the dwarf, but as drathe said doesn't start with this equipment).

If you wanted to go with litrall picture attributes, you would have to give the mercs only 1-2 BP as they would be too powerful in defence for hired hands rather than Heroes (I can't remember how many they have as standard, maybe it is 1-2? )

[sadkitchen]

I stand informed.
Also one other question. Can the US crossbowman attack melee? and with how many dice?
To Jaguar69 the Mercs have 2 BP in the NA rules and 1 in all others.

-SadKitchen