It is time to embark on a great quest, a quest for Heroes! A Heroquest!
I packed up my Core Set of Heroquest and took it to my families' for the Holidays. However, it never got put on the table. We were too busy and never got to play it. It happens. However, when I got home I figured it was about time for the game to hit the table. I had downloaded the App, and decided to give it a whirl solo. I think you lose a lot when you do it solo, as some of the "RPG-Lite" gets left behind. However, I tried to inject a bit of it into my gameplay where I could.
My Heroes!
Speaking of that, I decided to use the Original Heroes for my warband. I could have added the Druid but I chose not to. Maybe next playthrough? They call themselves The Fellowship of Destiny.
They are ostensibly led by Allathura of the Green. An Elf from the ancient kingdoms, her people have stood against evil countless times before. Now, her people have sent her to defend the realms of the freefolk once more.
From the ancient Dwarf halls comes Hamilcar Margos. A fierce warrior and renowned tinkerer. The cousin of the son-in-law of the Thane, he has been tasked with upholding the honor of his people. His task is to cut down his foes and make sure that foul machines and traps do not harm his fellows.
The wizard Aerlin of the Moonlight is said to possess a natural talent for elemental magic that could one day rival Mentor himself. However, Aerlin is patient, and cautious in his ways. Mentor has the utmost faith in the lad when it comes to defending the realm from magical threats and Dread magic.
Lastly, the Fellowship is joined by No-nak from the North. His people owe fealty to the King, and have defended the Northern Approaches for decades. He is strong of back and swole of arm. No-nak often solves his problems with violence!
Together, Mentor has dubbed them the Fellowship of Destiny. After years of training, Mentor has one final task for his students. They must hunt down the foul Gargoyle Varag in Fellmarg's Tomb.
The Trial
The first quest is a bit notorious for being difficult because it uses ALL the monsters and the heroes only have their starting gear. It is so notorious, that Avalon Hill/Hasbro released a new beginning quest. However, the App just starts with The Trial, so I did too! In my review, I also talked a bit about using some House Rules for movement, but I just decided to play it straight.
Right away, in the first room Allathura ran into a wandering monster! It leapt from the shadows and attacked! However, after an initial surprise she was quickly able to dispatch the foul minion of Varag!
Despite the lack of traps or secret doors in the first dungeon, I liked to keep Hamilcar in the lead. He is resilient enough to handle most things, and then No-nak could maneuver tactically to deal with it. I made the right choices and found Fellmarg's tomb pretty quickly. However, the Mummies protecting the tomb and Fellmarg's undead spirit really were a tough nut for me to crack. A powerful fire ball from Aerlin was needed to finish the job. Afterwards, I needed to boost up Hamilcar and No-Nak with magic from the others.
Thankfully, we found a Potion of Defense. We opened a door and ran into an Abomination. This thing was a tough nut to crack as well. Hamilcar and No-Nak had it boxed in, but were failing to put it down. Thankfully, No-nak had Rock Skin and the Potion of Defense so managed to avoid further serious injury despite the prolonged combat.
Allathusa of the Green led the way to the center room. There, the Fellowship of Destiny discovered Varag! However, he was not alone! A powerful Dread Warrior was in counsel with him! Allathusa quickly hit the armored monster with a Sleep spell and then she and Hamilcar closed in. No-nak took out one of Varag's orc Henchman, but only after a devastating flurry of attacks injured him.
Varag sensed weakness and pressed in on No-nak. Allathura and Hamilcar looked on in horror as the Gargoyle tore into No-nak with fury. A fatal bite to the jugular from the Gargoyle finished off the barbarian hero. HIs body fell, his sword slipping from his hand.
Per the rules, when a hero falls with a fellow hero in the room the equipment goes to the other heroes. However, I was unsure if that meant that Hamilcar could use the Barbarians broadsword or not. I decided that he could not use it.
A summoned Genie from Aerlin dealt a vital blow to Varag, but the beast yet lived. Enraged by the death of his comrade, Hamilcar threw himself at the Gargoyle with a rage. His short sword stabbing and probing into the cracks of the beast. Varag bellowed a last time before cracking and crumbling into pieces.
With that, Allathura led Hamilcar and Aerlin back to the surface and safety. There Mentor listened to the tale of the death of No-nak and shook his head with grief. Perhaps he had been too hasty in sending the Fellowship of Destiny into Fellmarg's Tomb. Thankfully, there was another warrior Mentor knew he could call on to help the Fellowship.
Since I had heard how difficult this dungeon could be, I did not open every door, or try to find every treasure chest. After getting jumped by wandering monsters twice in a row, I became a bit more careful about how I searched for treasure too. Therefore, I don't think I found everything or recovered all the loot that I could have. After killing Varag, I pretty much just hoofed it out. Hamilcar was low on health, as was Allathura. The Fellowship did not have enough left in the tank to keep exploring.
The Rescue of Sir Ragnar?
After the disappointing results of the Trial, Mentor searched the land and found another who could replace No-nak. In the North Tribes, he discovered another champion, Neowulf..... just Neowulf. He was a man of action, and skilled with a blade. Mentor gifted him No-nak's Broadsword so he could carry on the fallen champions legacy.
After several weeks of training with Allathura, Hamilcar, and Aerlin a messenger came to Mentor. Sir Ragnar, an old friend of Mentor's and an advisor to Prince Magnus; had been kidnapped by an Ork warlord; Ulag. There was a reward for finding and freeing Sir Ragmar. Mentor's magic led him to the man's where-abouts, and the Fellowship of Destiny was ready to descend into the dungeons to free Sir. Ragnar and claim the reward!
Soon after entering Ulag's prison, the Fellowship was confronted by Goblin sentries. Aerlin was caught out in the open by a pair, and used Move Through Rock to escape back to the safety of his sword wielding friends.
I made the right choices in which way to go, and soon found myself looking through a secret door that was guarded by an Abomination! It struck hard and fast, causing some serious damage and refusing to be killed. However, it didn't have much room to maneuver and eventually the Fellowship's numbers proved decisive.
Oh boy! Our first secret door! I kept Hamilcar looking for Traps pretty regularly, and Allathursa found the secret door. I also had better luck with Treasure this round, finding a few coins and gems here and there. It did not take us long to find Sir Ragnar.
What I did not expect was that to trigger every Orc and Gobbo in the place to come running for us! The Fellowship quickly set-up a defensive perimeter at a doorway. It was sort of like the battle of Balin's Tomb as Goblins and Orcs pressed forward only to be cut down by the Fellowship waiting on the other side. The Rock Skin spell paid off again, making Beowulf tough to injure in the initial waves of attackers. Neowulf tended to soak the attack, while Allathura dealt the killing blow. A few times Aerlin had to step in and clear out an Ork or two with a spell.
I think this encountered showed some of the limitations of the Apps AI. The greenskins pretty much just kept trying to walk into my meatgrinder. Then, they got ground up! I think if I was playing Zargon, I would have made a checker board up the double wide hallway, where I could maybe let my numbers play to an advantage. I mean, the Fellowship had to get Sir Ragnar up those stairs! If you let them get closer to the center room, you can also attack from both sides.
Anyway, I mistimed the end a bit. I let Sir Ragnar get off the board before I opened a chest or two. Hopefully not getting some of the loot on this board won't be too much of a hinderance. The reward from Prince Magnus will help my guys become a bit more survivable or murderous next adventure!
Despite the meatgrinder at the end, this adventure was not as dangerous or deadly. Neowulf needed a healing spell, but he was also taking the brunt of the attack waves. I still had one in reserve, even though a lot of my Fellowship was down 2 to 3 Body points from starting.
Sir Ragnar embraced his old friend Mentor when the Fellowship led him back into the world of the light. Mentor escorted him back to Prince Magnus' court, and returned with the reward for the Fellowship.
Final Thoughts
Well, it was great fun getting the game I have painstakingly been painting out on the table. That is always good for the motivation. The App has some pluses and minus' to using for solo-play. The exploration is maintained, it is easy to track, and it automates enemy attacks. However, the AI component is not amazing. However, I will give it credit that the enemies do use hit-and-run attacks and are not afraid to maneuver, I just don't think its post deployment moves are always great and it can be baited.
We will have to see how my own Solo-campaign progresses. I don't think this will stop me from trying to find a few folks to play a campaign with. You just lose some of the charm of a game like this via solo-play. Half the fun is how the players react, what they say, their attempts at role-play, and listening to them strategize how to open a door.
Until next time!
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