Heroquest: Prophecy of Telor- Hasbro/Avalon Hill

 

I did not take very good pictures of my copy before I started on the road.  Therefore, please take this publicity still from the creators for your viewing pleasure.  

That probably shows you what is in the box better than I can! However, I have made progress on painting it all up and will share some of that here as we go. 

This is one of the "smaller" expansions for Heroquest.  Therefore, much of what I said about Spirit Queen's Torment will apply to this box as well.  Keep in mind that ALL expansions are designed to be stand-alone with the Core set.  Therefore, these smaller boxes tend to use the miniatures and cards from the core set.... only more of them.  The main draw is the new Hero, the alternate sculpts for enemies, and the new Quests! 

So with that grab your companions, heft your long sword, and don your bracers for it is time to delve into this Quest Pack. 

Things I Like

The big draw for this box is the new Hero and the alternate enemy sculpts.  These had been Kickstarter exclusives but were released with this box to retail.  I think all of this content was part of the Kickstarter, so I am glad they allowed non-backers access to it.  I for one do not use Kickstarter and always wait for retail to see if something has legs to support.  Therefore, I would have been a bit sore if these NEVER came out. 

These enemy minis are the same as Spirit Queen's Torment with one big exception.  Instead of the cool alternate, female Dread Wizard you get an alternate Gargoyle or two.  One is the Warlock's demon-form and the other is a foe.

This boxed set also comes with some Orange, transparent dice.  I think with all the expansions I have now I can easily get a set of dice for all the players at the table.  No more passing dice between players for me! 

This Quest ties closely into the Core Quests.  Melor and his "lore" is a big component and the Talisman of Lore plays a large part in this Quest.  Players will need to have recovered it and still have it for this Quest to make sense.  I do not want to go into details in fear of spoiling it. 

Warlock and Demon-Form

Things I Did Not Like

There are a few new potions in the Alchemy Shop for this one.  Of note is the Potion of Magic, which allows you to recover up to 3 spells you have cast.  Wow, that is pretty helpful!  They also have a few variant healing potions, even to restore Mind Points.  There are also a couple of scrolls you can find, which are one use magic items.  However, not much new equipment, spells or potions in this one.  This is only a "small" expansion afterall.  

It also changes up what happens to Heroes when they reach 0 Body.  They do not die, but fall Unconscious.  Monsters can not loot their stuff, and it gives players a chance to recover the fallen with a healing potion.  This alters game play and the lose/win condition considerably and makes the game much easier.  If you want hard mode, stick with the OG death mechanics.    

This Quest plays with the idea of corruption from Dread Magic as the Players begin to gain access to Dread Magic from the Talisman of Lore.  However, as they gain these powers there is a cost.  I really like this concept a lot.  So, why is it in this section?  Well, because I want to see them do MORE with this mechanically.  After all, all Magic is corrupting even the "good" magic.  I would love to see them expand on this idea of expanding Magic options at a cost in future supplements.  This one is too small for such efforts.  Perhaps mechanics around creating scrolls or learning more spells that have a cost related to Mind Points?  Not sure, but I am sure the clever folks at Avalon Hill can figure something out.    

Again, you face a Villain a couple of times BUT it would be really nice to have a unique villain miniature.  I know, I know, this is a small supplement.  The enemy models we do get are cool, and they are cast in orange, clear plastic.  It has to do with a gimmick in the quest about a spirit bouncing between bodies, but honestly I think most of us are going to paint them up like normal foes to give them more versatility.  The Dread Warriors with swords especially can make good "mini-boss" style miniatures.  That is my plan anyway.  

Meh and Other Uncertainties

Like Spirit Queen's Torment the box art for this is smashing.  They have added some really cool foil effects and it shimmers as you turn it in the light.  It adds depth to the artwork as well.  It is a shame because I don't need all these cool boxes with cool art sitting around!  However, it is hard to toss it away because it looks the business!  

The Warlock is interesting as she is a Halfling, allowing them canonically into the setting.  She also comes standard with a ranged attack of 2 dice, which gives her a utility to Hero groups right away.  In addition, she has three spells, the most notable is the Demon-Form spell which is like the Druid's Shape-shifter spell.  I am not sure how useful this spell will be at higher difficulty Quests, but it is pretty cool and evocative.  Honestly, I think I would have made the character an Elf child rather than a Halfling, allowing her to fit in really well thematically with this Quest, Mage in the Mirror, Spirit Queen's Torment, and Rise of the Dread Moon.  Halflings might give them someplace to go later, but they still do not have a Dwarf-centric expansion so.....   

Quest 3, the Great Stairwell is probably the stand-out quest for me as it cleverly uses the board to represent moving up through a tower.  I did something similar but on a different scale in my homebrew Shadow Across Harbortown Quest (Available to Patrons).  This is an interesting way to add a new "dimension" and a clever use of the board.  

I also enjoyed revisiting Melor's Maze to make this feel like a living and breathing world to get this adventure started.  A callback to the Core Quests if you will.        

Final Thoughts

I think I like this one better than Spirit Queen's Torment and would recommend this one before purchasing that one.  The Quests seems to fit together better and the story is much cooler.  I also think the Warlock is a better Hero than the Bard, but the Bard has its uses.  It builds off the events of the Core Quests, so would work anytime after finishing the Maze of Melar.  For one of the smaller expansions, this one does what it needs to do and gives you more quests to play and Zargon ideas of what else they can do with the core game system.  

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Heroquest: Wizards of Morcar- Hasbro/Avalon Hill

 

I did not think I was going to get my hands on this one.  It was supposed to be released in March of 2026, but due to some SNAFU many places got it and sold it out around Christmas of 2025.  That was three months early!  Therefore, when I started looking for it after finishing painting up Mage in the Mirror I could not find it!  I was concerned this was going to be a Rogue Heir situation, and it would never see the light of day again!  However, I managed to track it down at a smaller Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS)-style hobby store that happened to have a website.  I ordered it quick and it came within a couple of days, so I had it in my hands by the end of April 2026.  As a bonus, I also helped out someone's FLGS!       

Everyone says this is a re-release of an old Heroquest expansion from the OG version.  I believe them, but I never saw it.  I had never seen Against the Ogre Horde, Frozen Horror, or Mage in the Mirror either though.  I had only seen Kellar's Keep and Return of the Witchlord with my own eyes.  I am pretty sure I owned the OG Witchlord expansion.  However, despite being a re-release of the old version this time Avalon Hill made some updates by adding more quests to the quest book, and a few other tweaks.  Therefore, unlike some of the other expansions this one has new content in it.  

With this purchase, I have all the Heroquest sets except for the Rogue Heir and the Crypt of Perpetual Darkness.  I have a feeling that the Rogue Heir will never be available again, and I am not sure how much I need Crypt of Perpetual Darkness for one really "hawt" black dragon mini.  I am sure my magpie nature will compel me to get it one day.  However, for now I think I have all the heroes, quests, and monsters I could shake a stick at.  I am honestly wondering what they will be coming out with next!  

So, with that rambling pre-amble out of the way, are you ready to jump into a review of this expansion?  Okay, grab your broadsword, prepare Fires of Wrath, and Zargon open the door so we can get started! 

Things I Liked

Of course, I always like getting a lot of fun miniatures in my Heroquest expansions.  It is a big draw for me obviously.  Most of my fantasy collection now is thanks to Heroquest boxes.  I have so many now, that I keep joking I am going to be able to play BattleMasters!  Here we get a bunch of Mercs that act as friends and foes during the Quest.  These would make great units of soldiers in Battlemasters <wink>.   

Hasbro did not hold back on the named characters in this one and I am here for it!  We get a specialty Minotaur, the long-awaited Sir Ragnar, a bunch of enemy wizards, and some of their spell effects!  Sure, each wizard maybe for a handful of Quests but they are worth it.  They will see the table more than the Frozen Horror will!  Of course, there are also some new monsters too, and you have to love the Mimics... this time playing the part of a Dread Shifter.  We also get the female Wizard variant so all the main Heroes have a M/F version now.... except the Dwarf!  I really hope the next expansion is Dwarf focused.  Finally, you get the two big Golems too.  Good value in miniature pieces alone.  

They massively expand on the Wizard spell lists, and the spells of your foes too.  There are a lot of spells in this box.  Combined with the Elf spells and the OG spells and your spell-casting Heroes now have a lot of options.  Perhaps in the future, they will make a Scroll-making expansion similar to the Alchemy deck?  Maybe allow some Heroes to dabble in Dread magic but at some sort of corrupting cost.  I mean, a lot of these spells are begging to see more table time than the villains alone can give them!          

This expansion has my new favorite Treasure card..... Nothing.  They only give us one, but I really think they need to add about a dozen!  This should be the most common outcome of searching.  

Things I Did Not Like

The Quest books is.... stitched together.  It is not as cohesive as the other expansions.  They marked the OG Quests, so you can play those if you are just trying to recreate that OG experience.  However, I think if they would have stuck just with those it would have been a pretty thin expansion.  The extra Quests help bulk it out, even if they are a bit of a .... stretch.... sometimes and do not fit perfectly.  I mean Sir Ragnar is all over the place in the narrative.  

When I play, I hope the evil wizards last long enough for them to use some of the fun spells in their decks.  In my games so far, the bad guys die pretty fast.  They do not always get to use their fun toys and special tricks! 

Meh and Other Uncertainties

They added a "going to town" aspect.  I was wondering how long until they did something like this?  I mean, it was a part of many expansive Dungeon-crawler games like Shadows of Brimstone.  It gives another way for your Heroes to buff up between missions and earn extra abilities.  At this stage, Heroes might be pretty buff after doing their initial Quest, an expansion or two, and now this one.  They might not have much else to spend money on or things to do.  This gives them another avenue to expand.  Like most Heroquest expansions there are always questions about how much you can use this in other parts of the game since each one is designed to build off of the Core game and not necessarily cross-over with other Expansions.  This leaves good ideas kind of scattered across the expansions and left for Zargon's and their groups to figure out how to use as a cohesive whole.    

Final Thoughts   

I am super-glad I got a hold of this one.  The miniatures are worth the price of admission alone.  Getting some new rules and Quests is just a bonus.  I look forward to painting these all up.  Tons of new cards too.  A good value for the money and on par with some of the other large expansions for the game.  

If your group likes to use spell-caster and magic than this is a must buy.  If they are more Meat-head than Magic, then you can pass on it even though the "going to town" aspect is pretty useful for all.  This one really bulks out player and Zargon magic tricks!  That can be useful for your own homebrew Quests as well.     

Even if you do not play Heroquest this can be a really useful box for bulking out your Fantasy RPG miniature needs.  Spell effects, Mimics, Golems, and lots of NPCs/PC sculpts in those wizards and mercs.  More than enough models for a Frostgrave crew, Restless Swords game, or similar Fantasy skirmish gaming.       

Until next time! 

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On the Painting Desk: The Frozen Horror on the Road

 

The main goals on my painting desk for 2026 were my Heroquest expansions.  In order to get all the Heroes for my games, I splurged last year and picked up all the Expansions with Heroes.  This left me with a pretty hefty Pile of Potential to work through.  Before I could start working on my Late Roman project for Osprey I was going to need to clear this backlog out.  Early this year, I had managed to finish of Rise of the Dread Moon so now it was time to focus on The Frozen Horror expansion. 

This expansion was a snow themed adventure for the barbarian and his pals.  That was going to be a very different look from what the Elves looked like.  There were an assortment of winter themed minis and a number of human mercenaries to go in this set.  Before I began traveling, I was able to get them all base coated and stored away in my WIP bin.  

Not much to say about the undercoating process you do not all ready know.  Grey Seer undercoat GW spray, dark grey cheap acrylic wash, and then a dry brushing of cheap acrylic white to get them to this point.  I have had good results with this undercoat process for speedpaints.  The first minis I painted from this set were the Yeti.  They were a test of my mobile painting station. 

With the pre-amble out of the way, it was time to get going on the rest of the models.  

At this point I was Mobile.  On a nice sunny, spring day I pulled out the paints and decided to give painting a go, my first real time working in my new space.  I pulled out my WIP bin and decided to give my Polar War Bears a go.  I think we have all read or seen some version of the Golden Compass now, so you get the idea of what these guys are.  Interestingly, in this expansion they get the ability to attack twice!  Plus, they hit pretty hard too!  

This gives you an idea of my painting space

I decided to use a watered down Crusader Skin on one bear, and Sand Golem on the other.  After that, I used a drybrush of cheap acylic white with a blast of Holy White speedpaints as well.  I used a dot of Grim Black of nose and eyes, and a dot of Blood Red for the tongue, and a spot of Pallid Bone for the teeth.  A surprising amount of detail on the face of a Warbear.  From there it was pretty standard suff.  I did use Absolution Green for the "fur" trim of the lighter bear.  For those following along at home, I use that color for Ogre hair, meaning that this guy had been killing Ogres and using their scalps as fur trim!  Turn around is fair play I guess.  For armor I used Runic Grey, Graveyard Grey, and Talos Bronze.  I have had good results with the greys for armor and they did not disappoint.  

            

From here, I packed them back up and let them dry overnight.  At this point, their basecoats were on and they were ready for a nice coat of Light Wash and then touch-ups and highlights.  Nothing too fancy.  Once done with those, I painted the bases with Runic Grey and then the traditional black trim to finish them up.  

Not a bad first effort at painting while on the road.  However, I still had things to paint for The Frozen Horror expansion.  After the Polar War Bears, it was time to get a bit more fiddly-foes.  I grabbed the Gremlins out.  These guys are really annoying because they do not do damage, but they DO steal your stuff!  Gross.  I wanted them to have the same skin tones as the Yetis I painted, so I went back to the Magic Blue and Holy White mix and three drops of thinner as their skin tone. 

I used a watered down Voidshield Blue as the base for their hair and beards.  I wanted them to look "icy".  From there, I painted over it with Holy White and then drybushed it with cheap acrylic White.  I did the same thing with their wands too.  The rest of the minis were standard natural colors like Hardened Leather, Pallid Bone, Crusader Skin, Runic Grey, Gravelord Grey, etc.  The details were mostly Golden Loot from the Metallic Speedpaint sets.  They were washed with a light wash and then touched up again.  The bases were the usual stuff of Runic Grey with a black rim.  

From there I had a few loose doors.  Two were ones I had missed from one of the Elven Sets, but I am not sure which one and it doesn't matter because I am painting them now.  The other two were snow and ice themed doors from The Frozen Horror.  The two sets of doors would require very different painting techniques to complete them.  I had two wooden ones and two iron ones.  Typically, one of those types is the start of the Quest while the other is an exit.  

For the Frozen doors, I used a Dark Wood for the planks, while for the Elf ones I used Sand Golem.  That tracked as all my Elf wood is Sand Golem paint.  The iron ones I used Broadsword Silver and for the Elf one I used Pallid Bone.  Again, my elf metal was always Pallid Bone so I was staying consistent.  Where the elf one was covered in vines, The Frozen Horror doors had icicles and snow on them.  

The elf doors were fairly straight forward using Magic Blue and Plasmatic Bolt for the runes and such.  The stone was Graveyard Grey and the vines were Malignant Green.  Give it all a Light Wash and they were done.

The frost and snow of the other doors required a different effort.  The runes were Magic Blue, this time with Markers.  The stone was Graveyard Grey.  The fixtures were Broadsword Silver from the Metallic Sets.  The snow and icicles I started with a Voidshield Blue wash.  Then, I painted over it with a light coat of Holy White.  Once dry, I drybrushed cheap white acrylic over it with a make-up brush.  I used watered down black to give the whole thing a dark wash.  

Final Thoughts

That feels like a good place to leave it for this post.  11 models painted is a good weekends work.  All that is left from this set is the Mercs and the big, bad himself.  I look forward to painting the Frozen Horror himself but I will probably save him for last.  

Until next time! 

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Heroquest: The Frozen Horror - Hasbro/Avalon HIll

 

For those closely following the development of Heroquest then this expansion is old news to you.  You probably all ready know all about it.  Heck, you may even own it at this point.  I am a bit behind.  I was trying to paint up my expansions as I went and holding off on the next until the earlier was painted.  Late in 2025 I threw that plan out the window.  Instead, I bought up all the expansions with Heroes in them.  That left me a bit of a Pile of Potential to work through for painting and reviewing.  

So, let's not waste a ton of time and just get into it then.  First off, this is a re-release of an older Heroquest expansion.  As such, Hasbro/Avalon Hill pretty much kept the original content in these expansions but updated the miniatures that went with them.  I appreciate that, but in the past has led to some odd wording or contradictory rules in the various expansions.  We will have to see if that is the case in this expansion as well.  

So, let us heft our broad sword, don our fur-lined loincloth, and gird our loins and get into this review. 

Things I Liked

Well, first off I wanted the Female Barbarian sculpt.  I have been interested in getting all the heroes and their alternate sculpts.  I like to have an inclusive party and my family likes female versions of factions, armies, and individual heroes.  Amazingly, they want representation on the game board!  Who would have thought!   Therefore, I was excited and happy to get this model for them.  I made sure to get it painted up right away.  Mechanically, it is no different than the core barbarian.  However, aesthetics matter too.   

I think this was the first expansion to make use of Mercenaries.  It is an indication that the game is getting much tougher when they started to include additional non-heroes you could add to your retinue to help soak damage and spread the damage output.  There are four types that broadly align with the types found in the Rise of the Dread Moon expansions.  These are a mix of models and represent scouts, crossbow folks, halberdiers, and great swords.  

Like Mage in the Mirror this expansion has a handful of solo adventures for the Barbarians.  This allow them to pick-up some special gear.  Like the Elf special missions, this could be a good way to get a single Hero "up-to-speed" after a death.  

The Frozen Horror gets its own special miniature!  Yeah!  Like I said, I wish they would have done it for the Return of the Witchlord, especially as some of those named baddies also get name checked in other Quests.  However, here Hasbro/Avalon Hill have done us a solid and made the Frozen Horror in miniature form!  

Things I Do Not Like

Hasbro/Avalon Hill try to build each boxed set as a stand-alone effort.  I.e. you only need the core game rules to use them.  Therefore, the new magic cards and others are mostly either duplicates or unique to the Frozen Horror.  There is not going to be a ton of utility for some of them in other adventures.  However, new equipment and board tiles are always useful for homebrew as well.   

I did not need the Blue and White themed character sheets.  However, I keep my characters on the App instead of on paper.  However, if you use paper maybe you have gone through a lot of Heroes?  Seemed like that could have been used for something cooler, but I am not sure what. 

There are some rules clarifications that you can find in other expansions at this point.  However, as mentioned they assume you only have the core rules for these expansions. 

Meh and Other Uncertainties

This expansion comes with another set of dice.  I am okay with this as you can then have a set for Zargon and a set for the Players.  Less passing of dice and faster game play with extra sets.  Plus, if you have other expansions you will reach a point where all the players will have their own set of dice.  Not sure I like that the made the movement dice blue as they are often referred in the rules as "red dice" but I doubt people playing Heroquest will get hung-up on that.   

This is a difficult Quest Pack.  It is for hardened adventurers.  The exact location of this Quest in relation to others is kind of fuzzy, but it seems likely to be after Keller's Keep and Return of the Witchlord.  That means the monsters had to be tougher, the traps more deadly, and the number of foes greater.  I think they manage to make it very, very difficult.  Therefore, this is not a Quest pack to be taken lightly!  It is so tough, they made the Mercenaries mechanic to help you out!  

How exactly do they make this harder?  First, the new monster have a lot of special effects that are tough.  Yetis can hug you, warbears attack twice, and gremlins steal your stuff.  There are a variety of traps including instant death situations.  There is a Fog room that voids your attacks on a bad roll, icicles that fall while you are fighting, and ice slide traps.  There are some tough wandering monsters too.  I will say, this Questpack does a lot to try to make you feel like you are in an Ice and Snow-soaked environment.  A good change from the usual dungeon exploration.      

Final Thoughts

As always, this is a great expansion to the core gameplay.  However, this one does not seem to be as "essential" as an expansion like Rise of the Dread Moon or Against the Ogre Horde.  The main add is the Mercenary rules, but you can now find those in other expansions now.  That said, I think it is still a good value for money with a lot of solid minis that could see use in a variety of games.  Frozen Horror expands on the Heroquest world and adds interesting, unique elements but they maybe too niche for many players and Zargons.  

Until next time! 

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Heroquest: Rise of the Dread Moon- Hasbro/Avalon Hill

 

I have been slowly buying up Heroquest expansions, reviewing them, painting them up, and then moving onto the next.  In late 2025, I disrupted this approach and decided to just go ahead and get a whole bunch of the expansions all at once, mostly so I could round out my collection of heroes. That means, I have several expansions that are sitting and waiting for me to review and paint this year.  At the time of writing, the only one I do not have is the Wizards of Morcar.  That means there is a lot more Heroquest content coming up in 2026.  This may please or annoy you, but my backlog is my backlog!  

That brings us to today's entry.  Rise of the Dread Moon is one of the first expansions that is all new content.  It is no longer the only new content, but this one kicked it off.  Therefore, it is intentionally designed to build from the OG campaign in the core rulebook.  So, let's grab our Potions of Healing, hoist our shields, sharpen our weapons, and prepare our spells.  Time to go a Reviewing......

Things I Like

This is a big expansion with a lot of cards, miniatures, and cardboard.  Plus, it has a new set of quests and monsters too.  This is a chunky boy! 

I am very happy to add the Knight to our group of heroes.  He seems a natural fit into a fantasy game, and indeed Knights are referenced at the end of Kellar's Keep.  Therefore, it makes sense that they would become more involved as a hero after the O.G. Quests.  This guy's main thing is defense in the way that the Barbarian is offense.  He has the highest starting defense score of all the heroes. In addition, he has three cards of special rules that emphasize helping others and defense.  I got mine all painted up at the end of 2025.....

I like the addition of a few new enemies.  The first is an Elven Archer.  This adds some more ranged combat foes which is an interesting challenge for heroes compared to the usual melee foes.  The second is Ethereal monsters that can move through walls and can pop-up and attack.  Plus, they are hard to kill as they are not hit with a Skull, but a Black Shield!  Finally, Cultists have some interesting abilities to cast Dread Spells that work better the more of them there are.  Good new challenges that are not just harder stat blocks for the heroes to face off against.        

Not every quest in this booklet assumes that you leave to town in-between quests.  They are linked together.  This is not the first time they have used this idea, but in other expansions you could still go shopping and heal up.  Not so in Rise of the Dread Moon.  Instead, they provided something called a Hide-out that is an alchemy table, some gear, and a chance to randomly heal up.  This is a good mechanic to make resource attrition much more of an issue and increase the threat of the quests but still allow for updates in game.   

Things I Do Not Like

This expansion really hinders Mind Points as an alternate way to attack Heroes.  It is very clear that if Mind Points go to zero, the Hero does not die.  Instead, they become "shocked" which reduces them to 1 red die, 1 attack dice, and 2 defense dice.  Incidentally, unarmed Heroes also have 1 attack dice and 2 defense dice too.  This muddies the water from previous expansions and as a Zargon, you will want to be clear how you plan on dealing with Mind Points in any given session or campaign.  I could see different expansions using different rules in this area. 

The Alchemy Deck is a cool and great idea.  However, it seems to only apply to this expansion?  It is unclear how this will work in say.... Jungles of Delthrak or Against the Ogre Horde.  Are we supposed to assume that all special rules in an expansion only apply to that expansion or across the board, or only going forward in the "timeline"?  Again, Zargon will need to decide how he wants to approach this.    

This really needed a Sir Ragnar miniature.  He is a key NPC in this booklet, and they do not have a unique miniature for him.  This is something that Hasbro/Avalon Hill have been very inconsistent on.  In some expansions, they offer unique villain miniatures and in others they do not.  For example, in Return of the Witch Lord there is no Witch Lord.  However, in Mage in the Mirror they have an awesome evil Queen mini.  I honestly think they should make a "Named NPC" expansion with minis and cards for each of the big bads they have.  

Meh and Other Uncertainties

There are other new rules for smoke bombs, caltrops, and unknown mercenaries.  I am rather ambivalent about these.  I love the Mercs miniatures, BUT the concept of Mercs I am more torn on.  It is basically a indication that the Quest are much harder and they are having a tough time keeping difficulty up but still balancing the game.  

Also, connected specifically to the Quests are Disguises, Strangers, and Reputation.  Again, it does not seem like these apply to Heroquest games in general and only apply to this specific expansion and set of quests.  I think they are interesting concepts and new things you can add into your own Quests.    

This Quest clearly works best after you have played the OG Quests, Mage in the Mirror, and now this one.  That means your Heroes might be pretty buff at this point.  This is not an easy campaign and it ties in closely with the stories from those previous quests. However, in this one the Heroes are not welcome visitors and instead must infiltrate the city.  This concept is cool, but it is a bit odd as they did help the Queen in earlier adventures.  Therefore, the Elven guards you kill?  Best not to swell on it friend, but the blurb in the back assures us they were corrupted by Zargon's power.    

The first quest makes us of some water rules.  This is not the first supplement with water, but this one focuses on waterways moving to drains.  I think these waterway rules are more like wading through a sewer rather than swimming or underwater details.  I like them better than some of the rules in Spirit Queen's Torment.  

Final Thoughts

This is a lot.  This is an expansion for a successful party of Heroes.  It turns some of the dynamics of the game on its head with the disguises, strangers, reputation, and the whole concept of the Quests.  This leans into the idea that the Heroes are not truly agents of the state, and much more "black ops" than we have seen,  These guys are Mentor's hired guns and the campaign highlights it.

This expansion adds a lot of ideas and stuff.  It is not entirely clear how these updates should apply in other expansions, BUT they are great tools for Zargons to put in their tool box for their own homebrews.  There are also a lot of new cards and miniatures too.  Overall, there is a lot of value in this box even though it is one of the thicker and more expensive expansions.        

Until next.... oh.... wait..... you probably want to see all the miniatures in this set before we call an end to this review huh?  

Until next time! 

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Heroquest: Spirit Queen's Torment - Hasbro/Avalon Hill

 

I have been slowly purchasing and painting my way through all of Hasbro/Avalon Hills dungeon delving boardgame; Heroquest.  Faithful readers will know I have also been playing through a solo-campaign as well.  

Today, I will be looking at the small expansion Spirit Queen's Torment: 

Wow, take a look at that snazzy cover.  That is some impressive looking box art!  This is a Quest Pack similar in size to Kellar's Keep or Return of the Witchlord.  However, unlike those other packs I am pretty sure this is all new content!  It is not a reprint! 

This box comes with a few things.  The main draw is that it has a bunch of new miniatures, that are variant sculpts of some core monsters.  However, since they are all spirits they are cast in a transparent blue-green plastic.  There is also a few new cards, some ghostly looking combat dice, and a new Quest pack!  Of course, the big draw is a new Hero to add to your Hall of Heroes!   So, grab your broadsword, prepare Fires of Wrath, and let's delve into this Quest!  

Things I Liked

I was pretty excited for the variant sculpts in this package.  I like getting extra monsters and I liked that they look different from the original sets.  However, I was torn about how to paint them.  Should I just prime them and paint them up like regular versions of the OG models, or should I lean in and paint them all ghostly and spirit-like?  I am leaning towards just the regular look to boost my variety BUT I do like the idea of painting them all ghostly.  What do you think?  

You get variant sculpts of the skeleton, an Orc with a two-handed hammer, a female zombie, abominations, goblins, female mummies, a Dread Warrior, and a female Dread Sorcerer.  I like some of these variants more than others.  I really like the new Skeleton with sword and board and think those could make some excellent mini-boss minis for Return of the Witchlord.  The Orc with the two-handed Hammer is also super cool and full of character.  I am also a big fan of the Sword and Board Dread Warrior as he looks very dynamic.  The Female Dread Wizard is also super sweet!  The rest are fine, but do not stand-out beyond the OG enemies in the core box.      

I am always happy to add a new Hero to the mix.  I know some people give the Bard gak because he is an Orc and because he is a Bard, but I think the two combined really puts some people off.  Sure, I would have liked a more "traditional" Bard model too.  Those are available from Reaper and Wizkids if you want I guess.  

However, the bard makes a statement that not all Orcs fight for Zargon and are trying to sidestep that whole silly debate about inherently evil races in games.  A topic I have no interest in getting into either. 

If you look at the abilities of the Bard, he is an interesting cat.  First off, he has three spells that he can cast, a sleep spell, a boost spell, and a healing spell.  The main benefit of the Healing spell is that it impacts all the models within the room!  Statswise, he is no great shakes.  I would class him as an elf-alternate as he is not that tanky or that stabby.  It is his special abilities that set him apart from the other Hero concepts, and even those are a bit of existing spells slightly re-jigged for the Bard.  Many people overlook his Rapier though, which is two attack dice that can be used Diagonally.  This makes his a pretty powerful support unit.  I am glad to have a new Hero type.   

Things I Do Not Like

Let's talk a bit about the Quest.  Overall, I like the new Quest.  It takes the characters through a few different locations and has 12 new adventures.  Some of these take place in a sunken temple, which is a super cool idea!  However, the main challenge of fighting in water is quickly overcome; first by an enchantment and secondly by quickly finding magic items that remove the danger of underwater combat.  I am sad that they did not do more with this amazing concept.  

I also really like a concept in the final battle where you can either defeat the Spirit Queen in combat OR break the enchantment Zargon has over her.  Great idea.  However, in the end it doesn't really matter too much if you beat the Spirit Queen to death with a stick or help her break her brainwashing.  The result is the same game wise.  I think a greater reward for breaking the enchantment would be cooler, since that is a harder option and one that feels much more "heroic".  

This Quest also looks like it was written before the rules for Mind Points and Shock were formalized in other Quest Packs.  Therefore, there are some levels of the Quest with an emphasis on Mind Points being attacked and whittled away but it is never really clear what happens.  I think the assumption in this Quest is that 0 Mind points = Dead.  However, Shock rules from later Quest Packs just reduce a hero to 1 Attack, 2 Defense dice instead.  I think there maybe a level or two where only Mind Points are targeted so Zargon will have to decide if 0 Mind Points = Dead or just in Shock.  

Finally, there is a pair of "good" orc NPCs in the Quest.  One is a scout sent ahead and makes sense.  I mean not all Orcs are evil or work for Zargon.  This guy is just from an allied orc tribe or something.  However, the turncoat Orc guard is a tougher nut to crack.  At one point in a quest, you have to search  out this turncoat Orc to progress, but they are just another Orc. The Heroes might just kill them outright accidentally, and that leads the Quest into a bit of an odd place.  Plus, how many of the other Orcs you have slaughtered are actually decent folks just conscripted into Zargon's army?  Best not to dwell on it friend, because that way leads to insanity! 

Again, I am overall happy for the Quests and like what they have done with the story overall; but there are a few niggling details that keep getting in my way so I can not LOVE IT! 

I am pretty sure, this Quest Pack was designed to make use of the contents of the Core box and not add a lot of new stuff.  The new Magic cards are repeats of ones that are all ready available for the most part.  

Meh and Other Uncertainties    

The greenish- translucent dice are cool!  More dice are fun so each player can have their own set.  I think I have three sets now?  Core, First Light, and these?   I need two more sets.  I think the Prophecy of Telor has another set, but I do not recall more being in Frozen Horror or Jungles of Delthrak.  I am sure someone can correct me if I am wrong.  

I am not 100% sure where this fits in with the overall story line of Heroquest.  Should you play it after Kellar's Keep, Return of the Witchlord., and before Mage in the Mirror or Rise of the Dread Moon?  Where does Against the Ogres fit in?  I am not 100% sure but I am 100% sure that there are a lot of different opinions on the topic online.  I see a situation where after the Core set, the players have to choose between Kellar's Keep or Return of the Witchlord., then when they complete their choice get to choose between this and Prophecy of Telor, then go onto Mage, Ogre, or Frozen Horror.    

I am pretty confident, this quest was designed to make use of what was in the Core box and not expand too much from there.  In the Quest itself, it asks you to use Gargoyle or other Core models to represent things in the quest.  For example, the Spirit Queen is recommended to use a Gargoyle model.  However, this set has a really cool Female Dread Wizard that would be a great Model for the Spirit Queen!  In addition, there are not really any new magical items or board tiles.  For a small expansion that is fine, but definitely demonstrates why there are small and large expansions in this range.  

When I picked this up, I also got Rise of the Dread Moon so I am sure I will be reviewing that soon too.  Keep your eyes on this space for when that drops.  I will also probably have a post about painting the contents of this box up later next year too.  Once I decide how I want to paint them up that is.  

Until next time! 

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