On The Painting Desk: Prophecy of Telor about the Spirit Queen's Torment

 

I finished off the Frozen Horror so it is time for me to move onto my next set of expansions for Heroquest.  This time, I am going to tackle the miniatures found in the two "smaller" expansions, Prophecy of Telor and Spirit Queen's Torment.  These boxed sets came with alternate sculpts of the main enemies and a new hero each.  I all ready painted the new Heroes at the end of 2025.  

You may recall that these alternate enemy sculpts were new orcs with Hammers, alternate Abomination, some new Gobbos, female zombies, female mummies, sword-and-board skeletons, dread warriors with swords, a female Dread Sorcerer, and an alternate Gargoyle.  These minis were all also cast in transparent plastic.  Prophecy of Telor was an orange-red color, while Spirit Queen's Torment is a bluish-green.  Therefore, I hemmed and hawed about what I wanted to do with them.  Ultimately, I decided to just paint them up like normal minis for the game.  I think they will be more versatile and likely to see the table that way.  

So, that means the first step was to go ahead and get them undercoated!  Will my usual methods work with these transparent plastic figures?  To save time, and kill the suspense; the answer is Yes.  Yes it does.  Here they are after being sprayed in Grey Seer from GW, washed with dark grey wash, and drybrushed with cheap acrylic white.    

For my first painting session, I decided to start by painting all the Undead at once.  It did not matter which expansion they came from, I was going to paint them all together for ease and unity.  I was all ready concerned about matching with my previous minis, so no need to make it worse by splitting these up into smaller batches.  

The mummies are always where I start because they are super easy and you can build momentum quickly.  I painted their eyes Blood Red, any exposed flesh Malignant Green, and then their hair Graveyard Grey.  Then, I hit them with a Dark Wash.  All Undead get a Dark Wash to make them extra scary looking! 

Next were the Zombies.  I painted them Malignant Green flesh and then gave them a Green Tone ink wash.  From there it was simple to paint their dresses, belts, hair and gear.  I kept their hair Graveyard Grey or uncolored and just based.  Then, they got their Dark Wash and basing done.  

Finally, I did the skeletons and for these ladies (You can't really tell with Skeletons, and since almost everything else is a female version these must be too right!) I decided to go off the reservation with my usual paint scheme.  I decided to use Wizard Orb in order try to get a faded Bronze look to some of their gear.  I also used Fire Giant Orange for a rusted look on the metals.  The bones were of course Pallid Bone.  I also used Talos Bronze, and Copper from my Metallic Speedpaint set.  The final metal color was Graveyard grey.  These ladies took the longest, but they came out very different from my usual batch of skeletons.  Not sure my experiment worked 100%, but I will take it.  I never go back and re-paint a painted model!  

   So, after a day of effort, here is where the Undead ended up..... ooooh, scary! 

With the Undead finished, it was time to turn to the Greenskins for this effort. I had 4 goblins and 4 Orcs, all in the same pose.  I batch painted the Gobbos together and then the Orcs together the following weekend.  However, I swear these Orc models are cursed.  When I painted them up for Keller's Keep you may recall that I accidentally spray primed them instead of sealing them?  Well, this time I painted them all using Orc skin as the flesh tone, not realizing until I was done with the models that the flesh tone was supposed to be Malignant Green like the Goblins!  Arrrgggghhh!  Therefore, I went back and reprimed the fleshy bitz and repainted them.  I do not think it turned out that great, but they will blend in a bit better with thier fellows now.  

The Goblin gear I kept mostly Magic Blue and Runic Grey to blend in with the OG Goblins.  Weapons were Pallid Bone, Runic Grey, and Graveyard Grey.  The other assorted straps was either Hardened Leather or Crusader Skin.  The Orcs were pretty much all wearing Graveyard Grey armor which makes it look fierce and iron-like.  I also used some Runic Grey, Pallid Bone, and Graveyard Grey on the hammer's to make them distinct weapons too.  Their tabards were Blood Red, Magic Blue, Zealot Yellow, and Fire Giant Orange to help me tell them apart on the table if I need too.  

That was two weekends of painting down, and a hefty chunk of the models for Spirit Queen's Torment and Prophecy of Telor done.  These took about two weeks, and my painting total for the year is now hovering around 75+ models and they are all for Heroquest!       

Next time, I will get those Abominations and the Dread forces painted from these two supplements.  Once those are done, I will be at a cross-roads.  Do I keep on going on Heroquest, do I switch over to Late Romans, or do I paint up my Travel Battle game as a break?  Keep tuning in to find out! 

Until next time! 

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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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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: The Meathead Party - The Border Fort of In-Gulden

 

For a lark, I wanted to do something a bit different for Heroquest. By tradition, it is designed to be played with a Barbarian, Dwarf, Wizard, and Elf.  The Wizard and Elf and a bit more fragile but bring a bit of utility magic and healing, the Dwarf takes care of traps and tanks, and the Barbarian brings Body points and damage output.  The four work together to make a well-balanced team.  

With the release of several expansions, there were a number of new Heroes you can take for your Heroquest adventures.  Conveniently, I have them all and even painted them all up.  That means, instead of the O.G. 4, I can take a mix of new Heroes.  

I have been running with Heroes Reborn for a few quests now.  They are a Wizard, a Dwarf, a Monk, and a Druid.  The Wizard and the Dwarf we know their roles.  The Druid brings magical support and healing, plus the Beast Form spell.  However, they are pretty squishy and not much of a fighter.  The Monk on the other hand is a great tank and damage dealer for low Body monsters thanks to her elemental powers.  This again leads to a rather balanced party.  

I will continue my more "serious" questing with Hope Reborn.  However, First Light seems to suggest that Mentor has not put all his eggs into one Heroic basket.  It seems to imply that Mentor is running more than one heroic band at once!  This gives me a chance to run a "less serious" group through the First Light scenario packs and see what happens.  

For this group, I am not going to balance it at all!  Instead, I want to go no magic and all Meatheads!  I am interested to see how they do with no access to healing.  Will they all die Quest 1 or will they soldier on all the way through?   

The Meatheads

This secondary adventuring band will be led by Sir Tryard.  A loyal knight of the Crown and a former squire of Sir Ragnar.  Sir Tryard has never much cared for magic and the threat of Dread that comes with it.  When asked by Mentor to lead a band of heroes, his one stipulation was that there would be none of the sorcerous ilk.    

My secondary group will be joined by the barbarian, Sonjah.  Hailing from the Northern Tribe oft called the Aetherkin.  She has come down from the mountains to answer Mentor's summons for aid.  She won the honor after a series of trials set forth by her people..... or so she claims.  No one wants to challenge her telling of events.     

Accompanying her is the strong and mostly silent Rageina the Berserker.  She seems to accompany Sonjah out of a sense of purpose.  Sonjah does not speak of how the two crossed paths.  Perhaps their meeting is the true reason they have answered Mentor's summons?  Sir Tryard had no interest in courtly gossip on the subject and is glad to have them join.  

Finally, they are also joined by the Dwarf Noble, Autius Argead.  Hailing from a rival family line to the Magonids, Autius has joined Mentor's adventuring party to prove the superiority of the Argeads to the Magonids.  Perhaps one day, the Argeads will supplant the Magonids as the heirs of the Dwarven Throne?  Until that day, Autius has come forth to stop the forces of Zargon and aid the King of Men.  

The Meatheads - Autius, Sir Tryard, Sonjah, and Rageina

Sir Ragnar's Spies

Sir Ragnar comes to Mentor looking for aid.  His scouts have failed to return from the Border Fort of In-Gulden.  He fears the worst but is unable to sally forth himself to investigate.  With Mentor's promise of aid he turns to his latest assets to assist the Kingdom.  

Sir Tryard is happy to assist Sir Ragnar.  Perhaps he can show his mettle to his former master?  With that, he calls together his team and gives them a briefing.  They gather their weapons and head out on the long trail from Mentor's tower to the Border of the Kingdom.

After a few days, the Border Fort of In-Gulden comes into view, strategically situated on a cliff side overlooking a winding road into untamed lands.  The banner of the King is no longer visible along the battlements.  The Meatheads exchange glances and fear the worst.

"Be Cautious," Sir Tryard intones.  Before leaving, in a private counsel Sir Ragnar gifted Sir Tryard with two potions of healing to help on this mission.  Tryard hands a Healing Potion to Autius and keeps one for himself.  He slams his helmet closed and takes up his sword, gesturing for the rest to follow him in.   

The Border Fort of In-Gulden

Sir Tryard is confident of his knowledge of these types of Border Forts.  This is not the first one he has been in.  His early days squiring were in just such a fort.  He leads the way in, and quickly finds and slays a goblin guard.  Sonjah goes down the opposite corridor and deals with a sentry there, while the others scramble in behind.  

However, Sir Tryard's confidence is quickly shaken with a mighty rubble and a wall of dust as the ceiling comes crashing down.  Rageina barely made it through in time!  Sonjah grabs her friend's hand and pulls her up.  Her ice blue eyes stare daggers into the Knight.  The entry was blocked.  A neat trick, and something the forces of Zargon had added.  

"I doubt that is the only trap Zargon's troops have added.  Be mindful," the knight intones. 

The group goes through a doorway and is soon greeted by more enemy foes.  They were moving to investigate, and when the Meat Heads opened the door caught them by surprise.  Sonjah rushed in, eager to finish them off quickly but found herself falling victim to a falling rock trap!  She failed to take Sir Tryard's advise.  However, the group quickly dispatched the foes.  

However, it was too late.  Sir Ragnar's scout was dead.  The barbarian rummaged through the body and found a note, that she handed over to Sir Tryard, "Your chief will want that."  

Autius points to the door, indicating more activity on the other side.  They are eager for battle... to eager as another falling rock trap hits Sonjah.  Orcs and Goblins leap at the intruders but are quickly cut down by the heroes flashing blades.  The Meat Heads take a moment to rest at the hearth and catch their breath. Autius said, "This place has more traps than a ratcatcher's convention."  

The group continued, and this time Rageina opened a door a triggered an alarm.  Orc guards came rushing from across the fort to deal with the intruders.  Sir Tryard and Autius moved to cut them off, while Rageina and Sonjah dealt with the greenskins in front of them.  

The danger is quickly dealt with, but their presence in the fort was now known.  They had to move quickly, and the group tried to pick-up its pace.  Stealth was mostly abandoned now as they rushed to find the scouts.  A scream heralded their approach and they opened a door just in time to see a scout slump to the floor at the clawed hands of a pair of abominations.  

Sir Tryard moved quickly to the next room to try and rescue any remaining scouts.  Behind him Sonjah and Autius fought a desperate battle with the onrushing abominations.  The knight flung open the next door, to see he was again too late!  The scout was on the floor, dead.  Looming over him was a warrior in massive red armor, a huge, bloody halberd in his hand, "I am Shal-da, warrior of Queen Kassandria.  I challenge you knight!"  The word "knight" came out as a hiss.  Sir Tryard did not even notice the orc warriors with his challenger.  

"I accept you challenge." With that the two engaged in a furious fight at the threshold as the Orcs jeered the Hero and cheered on their champion.  

It was an epic duel as the Dread Warrior was a skilled opponent.  He had earned his place by his Queen's side.  He battered and pummeled Sir Tryard, using his longer reach to push the knight out of the doorway.  Sir Tryard was injured and being pushed back.  However, he heard the war-shout of Sonjah!  The barbarian cared not for honor, duels, and challenges.  The point of fighting was to win.  She rushed the Dread Warrior from behind, and her broadsword found a weak spot in his red armor.  Her blade sunk home, as the Warrior's mighty Halberd clattered to the ground.

"Is this what your King calls honor?" Shal-Da gurgled before slumping to the ground.  Sir Tryard did not have time to think about the finer points of chivalric combat as the Orcs stormed out and attacked as well.  Autius and Sonjah jumped in to hold back the tide with Rageina following up.  There was one Scout potentially left alive and Sir Tryard intended to find them.  

As Sir Tryard rushed ahead Rageina and Autius confirmed that the two scouts they had found were dead.  In the process, Autius found a secret door that led into a secret tomb.  He was accosted by skeleton guards, and a shout for aid brought Sonjah.  Together they cleared the crypt.  Sonjah easily opened the sarcophagus and was pleased to see the glint of gold inside!  

Rageina also found important information in the room of her fallen scout.  She took the paper with the Kingdom's strange writing on it.  Sire Tryard would want to see that.  Plus, inside a chest she also found a pile of plunder!  Her search revealed a secret door, and on the other side was a secret stairway.  

During this search, Autius was ambushed by a goblin who was hiding in a cupboard.  The critter charged at him with a terrified hiss!  He was to startled and out of position to respond and it gave him a serious wound.  However, Rageina stepped in and finished it with mighty swing.  

"Nothing worse than closet goblins," she mumbled. 

Tryard broke into another room, and his shouts of alarm brought Rageina running to his aid.  They quickly dispatched the Orc and Goblin guards.  The rest of the group came up as they burst into what Sir Tryard was positive was the last guard house to be cleared.  Again, they were too late.  The scout had been killed by Zargon's allies.  He rushed in to do battle, along with Sonjah.  However, she fell into a pit.  Despite the challenges the battle was short lived.  

With the last scout's fate secured, Sir Tryard took a moment to assess the situation.  His party was bruised and bleeding.  However, they were still trapped in the fort.  With this moment of respite, Rageina gave him the note from the desk; important intel for Sir Ragnar.  She also said, "I found a way out." 

"By all means, show us the way m'lady." 

The Berserker wrinkled her nose at such words, but easily led the party to the secret stairway.  

Conclusion

Well, the Meathead Party managed to survive their foray into the border fort of In-Gulden.  They did take some bad injuries with Autius at 1, Sonjah at 2, Rageina at 3, and Sir Tryard at 3.  However, for not having any spell-casters they did okay.  I might have to try something like this again but with only the Warlock, Bard, Wizard, and Druid?  I doubt it would end as well.  

The group made a lot of money on this one, netting something like 555 gold, two Healing potions, and a Potion of Defense.  With all this loot, they should be able to arm up nicely for the next few adventures in First Light.    Someone really needs a Battle Axe for this group. 

They did still tend to find traps the hard way, but Autius managed to disarm two or three during the adventure.  The Meatheads were just too eager to get into melee and ran into the traps head first.  However, the decision-making process for this band of Meatheads was a bit different than with a normal spread of heroes.  You knew that each of them could handle themselves on their own, so getting split up was easier.  Sadly, I did not even get to try to use any of the Knight or Berserkers special abilities out.   

The battle between the Knight and the Dread Warrior was pretty epic.  A duel that went several rounds as Sonjah and Autius were tied up with a pair of Abominations.  It was the highlight of the adventure for me.  Too bad that was somewhere in the mid-point of the mission rather than the end.     

I wonder what Hope Reborn is up to these days?  Maybe we will find out soon?  

Until next time! 

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Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

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Check out the latest publications and contact me at our Blood and Spectacles website

Or purchase all out games at the Blood and Spectacles Publishing Wargames Vault Page!