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! 

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

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!                

On the Painting Desk: Return to the Frozen Horror!

The large box expansions for Heroquest definitely do not skimp on the miniatures.  I probably have enough miniatures now to play full-fledged wargames with them.  I know I can use them for skirmish wargaming.  I have plenty of Orcs, Undead, Ogres, Wolves, furniture, and other odds and ends.  These sets are also really useful for Fantasy RPGs too.  The downside of such large box sets full of goodies is that it takes me a while to paint them all up!  That brings us to today's post!  Look at that transition, what a professional!  

I got started on Frozen Horror and worked on the monsters and doors.  That left me to tackle the Mercenaries and the Big Bad himself.  The last batch took me about a weekend to complete.  This weekend I got started on the mercenaries that you can hire to help you get through the Quest.  It is not for the faint of heart.  

Before starting, I wished I had Wizards of Morcar because that also came with a bunch of mercs.  I wanted to get them all batch painted up together.  I am pretty good at batch painting, it makes sure they all fit in together, and would take out a big chunk of my Pile of Potential.  Too bad I have not been able to find Wizards of Morcar.  Hasbro/Avalon Hill sort of botched the release with their distributors and it came out before Christmas when it was not supposed to release until March.  Now, everyone seems sold out of it.  I really hope that Hasbro decides to re-release it, because I do not want another Rogue Heir type situation.  However, I get the sinking feeling that I may never see Wizards of Morcar available again.  Oh well.  I guess that gives me time to get the rest of my Heroquest expansions painted up and spend my money on other games. 

Anyway, I did my usual undercoating and the like.  What, you don't know what my method is yet?  Oh, their maybe some folks new to the blog?  Okay, I undercoated them with GW Grey Seer, gave them a dark Grey cheap acyrlic wash, and then drybrush them with cheap acrylic white.  This method really helps the SpeedPaints shine. 

  ^^^ That should give you an idea of what they look like when they are ready for paint.  

The keen eyed among you might notice a couple of Mercs from Jungle of Delthrak.  Yup, I am painting up the Man-Bear-Pig with this batch.  I will save the Dino for a palette cleanser when I work on the Frozen Horror himself. 

So, I got set to paint with my Mobile Painting Station.  In a surprise to no one, I am mostly using Armypainter Speedpaints, some regular Armypainter paints, cheap Acyrlic paints from a Bog Box Retailer, and the new SpeedPaint Markers.  I painted all the skin tones first using Barbarian Flesh, Monster Brown, Fair Maiden, and Tanned Flesh to give me a variety of skin tones.   

 It you know about how I batch-paint, I typically start with the boots and paint upwards from there. For boots, I used a combination of Hardend Leather, Sand Golem, and Crusader Skin.  I then went up to the pants and start painting lowest layer first so skin --> boots/shoes --> pants ---> shirts ---> Outerwear ---> armor ---> belts and straps ---> weapons and gear ---> and I save the fun of picking hair colors for last.  

I used a wide variety of colors for the clothing including Highlord Blue, Slaughter Red, Zealot Yellow, Orc Skin green, Fire Giant Orange, and some dark Purple color.  You know, all the classics.  I wanted each Mercs to look like an individual and be distinctive on the table.  These guys are not part of a military unit afterall.  This variety slowed me down a bit.  

I tried to stick to three main colors for metals.  First I have good luck with Graveyard Grey and Runic Grey for a non-Metal Metal look.  From there I also mixed in the occasional, Zealot Yellow,  Broadsword Silver or Hoplite Gold.   Those last two are from the metallic Speedpaint set. Since most of the metal in my Heroquest is not a true metallic I stuck with the non-metallics mostly.    

The Man-Bear-Pig I painted with a thinned Sand Golem, then a thinned Holy White.  From there I drybrushed Skeleton Bone from the non-speedpaint range.  I painted his claws Pallid Bone, eyes Blood Red, and his teeth cheap acrylic white.  I also painted the pads on his paws with Grim Black.  

For hair colors, I stayed pretty conservative today.  These are not main characters, they are mooks!  I don't want them to hog the spotlight!  I mostly used Dark Wood, Sand Golem, Grim Black, Graveyard Grey, and one got Zealot yellow and another got Fire Giant Orange.  See if you can find them in the group photo! 

That left them with all their basecoats on.  They were looking pretty.  I gave them all an Armypainter Light Tone wash to fill in any gaps.  Once that was dry, I did any touch-ups or finishing touches.  For example, the Man-Bear-Pig I drybrushed some white on his chest.  Others I highlighted to bring the colors back up where they needed it.  

From there, I painted their bases Runic Grey and gave them the traditional Black Trim.  Once it warms up a bit more, I will spray them down with a protective coat.  Here is where the Mercs ended up.....

Boom!  In one day I had painted a dozen+ guys.  All that was left of this expansion was the Frozen Horror.  However, I decided to leave him for another weekend effort.  A dozen miniatures in a day is a respectable days work!  That means I have painted over 50+ Heroquest models this year.  

Sounds impressive but I still have to paint: 

- The Frozen Horror Himself

- Jungles of Delthrak

- Prophecy of Telor

- Spirit Queen's Torment

- G.I. Joe Heroscape 

Man, that is a lot of stuff to paint.  A bit daunting as I need to build and paint some Late Rome stuff for Osprey now too.   However, if I see Wizards of Morcar I am not waiting.  

Until next time! 

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

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!     

Wargame Design: Kitchen Table Games

In recent years, the idea of "Kitchen Table Games" have seen a surge in popularity.  What is a Kitchen Table Game you ask?  Well, it is a game that can be played on a smaller playing surface.  Notably a kitchen table that is about three-feet long and two-feet across.  Of course, this is a change from traditional wargames as they typically use 6x4 foot tables or larger. In today's world, getting access to such large tables can be problematic.  The rise of these smaller table games is a natural reaction to these problems.            

In my current "Mobile" situation the idea of Kitchen Table Games is much more appealing to me.  I no longer have access to my 8-foot by 4-foot table.  I have made a few smaller table games in my days, but I typically only go 3-feet by 3-feet as the smallest.  The realm of smaller board games is a new realm for me.  

Thinking about "Kitchen Table Games" leads me to speculate about a few ways to approach the "problem" of scaling down a game.  Many games have all ready tackled these ideas:

Odin's Ravens

1. Reduce the Size  

In this scenario, I mean reducing the actual size of the miniatures that you are using.  I.e. if you are playing a model-vs-model skirmish game instead of using 28mm models, you use 10mm models instead.  You keep the relative relationship of range to movement the same, just different, smaller, measurements.  

2. Reduce the Scale

Here, I am talking about reducing the scale of the battle.  I.e. instead of focusing on unit-vs-unit in the conflict you focus on model-vs-model.  Instead of warbands of 10-12 models, your reduce the scope down to 4 or fewer.  

For example, the game Doom 1490 has a tight focus on only a handful of models for a full game.  

3, Bathtub It

This is an old practice in wargaming where you modify the ground, unit, or even time scale to fit the scenarios. This can include telescoping, rubber banding, time-warping or other tricks to distort the size of the battlespace relative to reality in various ways.  

For example, the Portable Wargame makes use of this technique.  

4. Set Spaces

A technique where all games take place in the same general space.  This is typically some sort of arena like a gladiator game or sports game.  The arena can always be the same general size.  

For example, Heroquest always uses the same board for a variety of adventure types. 

An example of a set-size

5. Abstracting 

In this situation, you intentionally misrepresent the connection between factors on the table.  Such as the minimizing or changing the relationship between movement, range, and speed.  As you modify these relationships you can adjust the size of the table with such tricks.  

For example, Kill Team makes use of this technique to allow games in the Warhammer 40K universe in a small play area.

 

6. Scale of the Game fits the Reality

The final trick I can think about is to find a reality that fits the scale of the game.  This means choose a situation to play-out that only requires a small space.  Think of situation such as the gunfight at the OK Corral, a single samurai duel, or something similar in scope.  

For example, Blood on the Sands is a game of gladiator combat between 1-on-1 combatants.

The Games: Blood and Spectacles

7. Zoom In

Just zoom in real close to the action.  Maybe a huge battle is going on but the game is only interested in a small, close-up piece of the action.

For example. arguably this is how Warhammer 40K: 2nd Edition handles things.   

8.  Ready for the Close-up

Similar to the Zoom In, except all the action is intentionally up-close and tight.  The game has a very tight and focused view on just the action that it needs to see.  Everything is up close and personal, almost cinematic in focus.  

For example, a game like Warriors of Athena uses this trick to keep the play area small.   

Kill Team

Final Thoughts

This is just a general primer on tricks or tips that Wargame Designers can use to create some compelling or interesting Kitchen Table Games.  This can include a tight focus on realism or a much more cinematic approach.  This can include various tools to play with related to how you use The Designer's Triangle.  The key is deciding how you want to make your game fit the space limitations of a Kitchen Table and commit to the bit.  

Until next time! 

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

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!            

RPG Review: Scum and Villainy- Evil Hat Productions/Off Guard Games

 

It's no secret that I like to play narrative focused and cinematic games.  I have a preference for rules-lite.  Those are some of my biases that I want you to know about going into this RPG review.  Why would I tell you this?  Well, if you look at the cover you can see it is a Forged in the Dark role-playing game.  It is no accident that I am going to be interested in this game.  

Of course, I cut my teeth on the old West End Games Star Wars 2nd Edition.  I grew-up playing that as my sci-fi game of choice.  I should probably do a review on it some day even though it is not new.  I have also played Starfinder for straight Sci-fi games.  For a stretch, I have also played Palladium's Robotech system as well.  Finally, I have also played Green Ronin's The Expanse role-playing game.  I guess I am telling you all this to show my Bonafide's when it comes to sci-fi role-playing games.  I am not a rookie when it comes to this style of game. 

As an added bonus this a game that is about heists.  That makes sense, considering the source of this system is Blades in the Dark, which is a heist game.  I also have experience with heist games.  This is  mainly via Shadowrun.  However, I also have some experience with Noir games such as Hard City.  Therefore, I am familiar with this "less than savory characters" style games too.  In many ways, this one reminds me of the TV show Firefly.    

Therefore, you now know some of my bias going into this games.  You also know some of my history with RPGs of this type.  So, let's dig into this one shall we?  Time to fuel up, load the cargo, and get ready to blast through the blockade.  Does this game have what it takes to keep on flying?      

Things I Like

This game uses a Playbook system.  I tend to like those as it fills core "niche" with appropriate stuff.  However, they are typically choice one of these options which allows for a quick start.  The niche is often "fictionally appropriate" for the style of game being played.  This is a Star Wars/Firefly genre Space Opera.  Therefore, the core "playbooks" are: Mechanics, Muscles, Mystics, Pilots, Scoundrels, Speakers, and Stitches.  I think you can imagine which of your favorite characters fit in where.  

In addition to playbooks, there are a few "crew types" that help create an archetype for the stories you will be telling in a campaign.  These archetype ships set the tone of the table and adventures to come.  It is different being smugglers than bounty hunters than freedom fighters.  You might dabble in all of these, but ultimately the main draw is the archetype of the ship and crew.  

Dice mechanics are simple.  There is a small list of attributes from 0-4 dice.  These represent a dice pool that you roll for tests.  A highest dice as a 6 is a full success, 4-5 is a partial success, and 1-3 is a bad outcome.  No dice, then roll two and pick the lowest with no chance to crit.  Simple.  I like simple dice mechanics. 

The game discusses scene types with "On The Job", "Downtime", and "Free Play".  It gets into more details about types of Jobs and the Engagement roll to help speed up planning.  Therefore, players and GMs have an idea of what to expect from each part of the game.  

You can get extra dice for a roll, but there are always a complication.  They call it a Devil's Bargain!  These can be used to shake things up and raise the stakes.  I can see a certain type of player never taking these, and another always taking them when offered. 

Things I Do Not Like

I rarely talk about lay-out of games, but I am not a fan of how this game is laid-out in the book.  It is not easy to use.  When I was making my character, I had a hard time finding key details.  I was surprised since this is a Playbook driven game yet simple things like "attributes" are buried in the character section without a clear heading name.  Just, not great editing and design.  I know, a bit petty but it made making a character a bit of a frustration. 

There was 12 Attributes, which I think is probably 4 too many.  Again, a bit nit-picky but there you go.  Often times your Playbook will give you a bonus in an Attribute.  There are only 7 Playbooks, so that is probably how many Attributes the game should have as well.  The intention is to give you an idea about how the PCs will approach a given scene, where sneaking across a hangar is played out mechanically different from sprinting across the same hangar.  However, I think a layer of abstraction would work fine here to cover both situations.      

Then there are three resistance rolls that are used in different situations.  Again, I think it is one too many.  Resistance rolls always succeed, but you take stress.  Stress is bad. Instead of damage, you take Stress when called upon to resist.  If your Stress reaches max, you start taking Trauma conditions.  These are more like Role-play notes with names like Paranoid and Cold.  Trauma conditions are permanent, but when you have 4 Trauma you are out of the game.  It looks like you start with 12 trauma, and can choose to take 2 to Push Your Luck.  I think this is too much Stress to start and not enough impact from Trauma.  Instead, if you play Trauma well you get XP bonus.  Play it bad and..... nothing really.     

Meh and Other Uncertainties

Clocks. It wouldn't be a Forged in the Dark system without clocks.  Clocks are a pretty handy and cool idea.  The GM determines how many times you can essentially pass or fail before consequences start to spiral.  Bad Outcomes and Partial successes can cause opposing clocks to move, and success and Crits can have good clocks move.  Pretty neat way to raise the tension, especially since you will want to make these clocks public.  So, why do I put them here?  Ultimately, I think you will have too many clocks going at a time, even in fairly mundane circumstance.  

I.e. a simple smash and grab would have a clock for the PCs to "Get into the Hide-out" and then "Get the loot", and "Escape Clean".  Various actions would help them or hinder, but on the other side you might have the opponents with "Detect Intruders", "Clean-out the Loot", and "Turn-the-Tables"  However, at the same time each PC may also have their own clocks running for various personal reason.  They can stack up fast and a tool to help make tracking and abstraction easier suddenly is not easy.  Doing a clock is easy and cool, but running 12 clocks can be tricky.    

In addition to the dice any individual has, you can boost dice by taking stress, taking a Devil's Bargain, Assists from others, and there are also shared Crew resources.  There are a lot of ways to boost your dice pool, with varying forms of consequences.  It means you can easily manage risk, with only a few options to make interesting complications.      

Ultimately, I think the game just uses too much jargon for things that do not need it.  The lay-out is all ready strained, so the amount of game specific Jargon just takes me out of the rules.  I am sure a great GM can make this all disappear; but a great GM can make any game great!  What about a mediocre or average GM?  I am not sure it can be done here, and I think the jargon and terms will get in the way of the narrative your table is telling.  

Final Thoughts

I really wanted to love these rules.  I had heard a lot of great things about them.  However, I am not sure they are for everyone.  I actually like them less than a standard Powered by the Apocalypse game.  They are slightly more complicated with nothing new to show for it.  The big idea is the Clocks compared to PbtA and I am not sure they deliver an enhanced experience that can not be captured with less book-keeping.   

Plus, I think the lay-out and jargon make this game easier to play than to read.  As a new player to a campaign, I did not find it easy or intuitive to grasp.  I also had a hard time finding what I was looking for in the book.  It was too abstract and too detailed at the same time for my tastes and in the wrong areas.    

That said, I am glad I have read it and played it.  There are really good ideas here, I just am not satisfied with how it all goes together.  I can see others who would absolutely adore this game, and I won't turn down future games.  However, it is also not my favorite either.      

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

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!   

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! 

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

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!    

             

  

Wargame Design: Game Over Man!

My thanks to the Delta Vector blog for getting me to think about this aspect of Wargames.  I have dealt with some pretty esoteric parts of wargame design; deployment, terrain placement, weapon ranges, rules lay-out, etc.  However, I had not spent too much time thinking about how a game should end.  Most of my thinking had been.... ahem..... front-loaded?  I was thinking a lot more about pre-game, game set-up and the game play itself.  It I thought about the end of the game it was normally in the realm of Campaign elements.  Therefore, when I read Evil Monkeigh's post about how to end a wargame I was struck by what an obvious miss it was on my part.  

The Classic Ending

You used to know a movie was over when a black title card flashed up with The End written in white on it.  As things developed, this title card was often accompanied by a musical flourish.  Then, it evolved into putting The End over a picture or final shot of the film itself.  These are all examples of the "classic" ending.  

Wargames also have these types of "classic endings" as well.  By far, the most commonly seen version of the Classic Wargame ending is using a Turn Sequence to dictate when the active part of the wargame was over.  This would then lead to calculating the winner.  Typically, you won the game if your side completed their primary mission objective while denying the opponent their objective.  In the old days, often the players did not know each others objectives!

The calculation looked a little something like this: 

- Did Force A achieve X.Y. and Z?  Did Force B achieve 1,2, 3?  If Yes to both = Draw

- Did Force A achieve more of X, Y, and Z than Force B achieved 1, 2, 3?  If Yes = Win for A, Loss for B

- Did Force A achieve fewer of X,Y, and Z than Force B achieved of 1, 2, 3?  If Yes = Win for B, Loss for A

- Did Force A fail to achieve X, Y, and Z and Force B failed to achieve 1,2, 3?  If Yes = Draw  

A rather simple formula.  However, many gamers found such methods unsatisfactory.  What if both sides failed to achieve their objective but Force A managed to rout more of Force B?  Shouldn't that count for something? 

Therefore, the classic "Ending" has some limitations even though I still find it very compelling and relevant.  

Many Historical games use this method.  Off the top of my head, I am thinking about Blucher from Sam Mustafa. 

The Ultimate Ending

The cleanest method is often the simplest.  I refer to this as the Ultimate Ending.  The side that wins is the one that defeats the entire enemy force.  This is the "Table Your Foe" style ending.  Force A still has models represented on the board while Force B no longer has any miniatures present due to death, routing, or other reasons.  The winner is clear and obvious to all.  

Of course, this type of ending has its own issues.  First off, such an end to a game is very limited in scope.  Objectives and other considerations do not matter.  All that matters is eliminating the opposing force as quickly and easily as possible.  The replayability of such games gets low very fast.  I find games that rely on the Ultimate Ending often also lead to becoming "solved" much quicker because the only factor is finding the units that deliver the most kill while avoiding death themselves.     

Sir Robin Endings

A varient of the Ultimate Ending.  The difference is that instead of actually killing/eliminating all of the enemy force you just make them fallback or run-away!  However, such endings also lead to the same problems as the Ultimate Ending.     

For example, a game like Necromunda with a Bottle Test uses this method.  

Victory Points

This is a bit like the "Classic Ending" in the sense that at the end of the game it is not always obvious immediately who won.  There is a "final phase" where players have to do some math to find out who won.  Often times, you gain Victory Points by completing tasks like destroying a certain unit, holding a bit of territory, or a unit not being routed.  

This is a versatile system as the designer can assign different Victory Points for achieving certain key details.  This also allows the use of primary and secondary objectives of varying points.  It can also connect the "value" of a unit to the number of Victory Points gained or lost from the unit's destruction.  Finally, Victory Points are a great way to create a structured and competitive approach to a game.  The major downside is that victory is not always obvious at the end of the game, and requires Math to know for sure.  

For example, many GW games use this method. 

Time is the Enemy Ending

In the Classic type of ending a game ends when a certain number of turns are completed by both players.  They have an equal chance to do all the things in each turn.  In this type of ending, the game length is not set by arbitrary turn limits.  Instead, it is set by a hard time limit.  I.e. the game will end after 1 hour of play.  No matter what is going on at that point, the game ends.  

This type of end is surprisingly common in tournament style play.  The game rules may state 6 turns total, but a tournament may not have time for all 6 turns to be played out fully.  This can lead to a strange "run-out-the-clock" type of strategy by players.  The other flaw is that at the end, the winner is still not obvious and you need to use a VP or Classic If This Than This winning condition for the winner.  

Grab the Loot 

In these types of games, the board is scattered with objectives that have to be grabbed and moved off the board.  The team that moves the most loot off the board is the winner.  On the upside, it is typically obvious who the winner is at the end of the game, especially if you have uneven loot markers.  On the downside, I have played games like this where no one interacted or fought with each other as they were too busy grabbing loot.  

The obvious example of this is Frostgrave and the other Grave style games.    

Hit Your Marks

A variant to the Grab the Loot, except the loot does not move.  The models have to sit on it all game and score at the end.  Many of the same advantages and disadvantages as the above.  However, with uneven Marks to grab there is always an incentive to fight over one.  

For example, the Batman: Miniature Game by Knight Models used this method of sitting on objectives to score points.  

Doom Clock

The game has a limit to how long it will go, but the turn limit is not set.  It is instead based on the actions of the players.  As certain key actions happen, it raises the Friction for the battle.  Once it hits a limit the clock has run out.  This ends the game or triggers and end game turn.  This could be individualized doom clocks for each force OR a game-wide Doom Clock.  When the Doom Clock is reached the game ends.  

This approach means player action dictates the end-of-the-game trigger.  They can "manage" the clock based on their needs in the game.  On the downside, there is more to track and a greater chance of error in triggering the end state when needed.

For example, individual Doom Clocks are represented really well by Battlegroup.  Each force has a breakpoint, and as they take damage they draw a random chit with the total of these chits adding up to their break points.  When the break point is hit, that force has broken and is the loser.  

For a more unified Doom Clock a game like 1490 Doom fits the bill.  All players are constrained by the rising flood waters.  It rises and players need to react to the end of the game looming closer and closer. 

Combinations

Of course, many games use a variety of combinations of these techniques, even in the same game!  The end state maybe scenario specific.  By using various end states, the game can increase its replayability by changing up what it takes to win from game to game.  Not every game has a "universal" win condition.  The downside is that such differentiated win conditions mean that winning is an If This Than That rules interaction.     

For example, I am thinking of the various scenarios all have different end of game victory conditions in Wars of the Republic

Final Thoughts

Like all decisions in game design, the choice of how a game ends and who wins and loses should flow from a simple decision.  Which method does what the designer wants it to do?  This needs to flow from the designer's POV of the game and their Design Goals.

Win conditions will "teach" your players how they should be playing the game.  How to win will influence the tactics of the game.  These tactics will then impact the "feel" of game play.  Therefore, win conditions are a critical part in making sure that your game "does what you want it to do!".  

For example, Under the Martian Yoke is designed to be a survival horror wargame.  The sense of things spirally out of control is intended to heighten the tension while playing the game.  A Doom Clock is a natural fit for this type of game.  Meanwhile a game like Wars of the Republic which is intended to give historical--ish outcomes needs to be able to mirror the results of scenarios from the historical record; and therefore a more mixed approach might be needed to cover that breadth of outcomes.

In wargame design, the end can have a strong influence on the beginning and middle of the experience.  Therefore, be intentional about what win conditions you wish to use in your core rule and scenario designs. 

Until next time! 

Become a Patron and get access to all the cool stuff, a peak behind the curtain of Blood and Spectacles, and early-access to playtest games!  

Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

You can follow Blood and Spectacles Facebook page or Instagram for more fun! 

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!