When Carl the Cleric was young, he enjoyed a miniatures game called Heroscape. At that time, I was not a big tabletop gamer or a DM, but I collected the games for him and we had fun playing.
As time went by and my interest in this hobby grew, Heroscape became one of my favorite games. There are just so many things to love about this game!
Basic Idea
The central idea in Heroscape is that each player controls squads of miniatures engaged in combat. These miniatures are a smash-up of characters from many different genres. You can choose from squads including classic fantasy characters, historical figures, science fiction characters, and superheroes. Each miniature is associated with a statistics card that includes a point value that you use to buy your teams.
What makes Heroscape really unique is the terrain. The game uses combat on a 3-D map built from hexagonal plastic interlocking tiles that stack. Terrain height implies different advantages and disadvantages.
The rulesbooks provide terrain maps for multiple scenarios with different objectives. There are tiles included for terrain such as grass, stone, lava, ice, sand,and water. Although putting together these maps can take some time, we view it as part of the fun of the experience.
Multiple Levels
There were many expansions available for Heroscape which really opens up the combinations you can make. Unfortunately, Hasbro stopped producing the game in 2010. They currently market a game “Magic: the Gathering – Arena of the Planeswalkers” which was loosely based on Heroscape, but it lacks most of the terrain pieces.
Reusing Components
Besides playing Heroscape itself, I have found ways to reuse the components in other games. I use the hex tiles from Heroscape to augment the terrain in the 5e campaigns I run.
At one point, a series of D&D-based Heroscape expansions were released that included great minis for use in RPGs. I’ve also used them in other board games.
Custom Squads
If you really enjoy Heroscape like I do, you can create custom squads yourself. An online forum Heroscapers.com contains miniature suggestions and player card files that you can use to create your own squads. I have made squads based on Harry Potter, Star Wars, LoTR, Guardians of the Galaxy, and even MLP. Miniatures were created using HeroClix, D&D miniatures, or small toys that were put on new bases to match the other Heroscape minis.
If you see a copy of Heroscape at your local garage sale or thrift shop, snatch it up. I guarantee you won’t regret it!
