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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Review: Travel Battles- Perry Miniatures

Now that I have a restricted gaming space, it seemed like a good time to take a closer look at this title from Perry Miniatures.  This might be the "Ultimate" Kitchen Table Game.  The entire Hook to this game is that it is a full-sized wargame that can be played in a confined space.  In this case, the authors claim the game was to be played on a train ride, written in the 90's!  It was a homebrew mini board and miniature armies.  They have a picture of the original proto-type in the back of the rules pamphlet.  

The box is about the size of a laptop case, and comes with the terrain board in two plates, a red vs blue army of identical 8mm minis, bases, and a few pieces of terrain to help finalize forests and built -up areas.  There is a short rules pamphlet, just a few pages really.  There are four dice; two red and two blue d6s.  Finally, the box comes with foam as you are expected to use this box to carry the game around to travel with.  It even has a helpful little plastic handle!      

I watched a video on this one and that is what encouraged me to pick it up.  I would give you the link, but it has been lost to my terrible memory.   I recall seeing this game when it first came out, but it slipped out of my mind until now.  I was not interested in something like this at that time, but eventually the right time came.  

So gather your Brigades, heft your big furry hat, and mount up on your horse because it is time to march forth into the smoke and get into this box.....   

Things That I Liked

The rules are literally 6 small-pages long.  However, they still manage to put a lot of variety into the unit types!  There is an artillery unit, Heavy Cavalry, Light Cavalry, Infantry, Guards Infantry, and Commanders.  There is small but significant differences in these unit types.

Each army is made up of a matching force.  However, how you organize it is up to you.  Each player has 3 Brigade Commanders.  Each of them controls a Brigade, but the composition of that Brigade is mostly up to you!  You can make them small or large, you can mix your units how you wish.  There are some examples in the rules.  This allows the players some Strategic choices prior to the battle that will impact the tactical elements of the game.  

The boards are rather clever too.  There are two plates of equal size with pre-formed terrain on them.  In addition, they are divided into grids.  As part of deployment, each player takes out one of the two plates.  They then roll a d6 to determine which side of the plate faces them.  The plates are designed to fit together no matter which sides touch.  This gives a surprising amount of variation and replayability.  

Artillery is the only unit that can fire.  It has a range of 6 grid spaces, however the number of Grid spaces away is what you need to hit the target.  You can also fire over intervening units if it is placed on a higher hill.  Nice.  

All fighting is done between units that are in adjacent grid spaces, even diagonally.  There is also organic support methods in the rules as well.  However, in a fight each player rolls one or two attack dice and the defender rolls a dice.  There are also other special rules that may impact this.  However, it is pretty simple.  If the results are the same, draw.  If one wins by 1 the other unit is pushed back 1 and turned around.  If the winner is by 2, the unit is pushed back to the back of the table and turned around, it is routing.  If the winner is by 3 the unit is simply removed as destroyed.  Turned around units can not move or fight until they are turned back in the appropriate phase of the game.  

Things I Do Not Like

The pamphlet has a few lines about how to paint up the terrain and forces.  Nothing elaborate.  However, I wish I had read them earlier!  Apparently, they claim you do not need to undercoat them before painting!  D'oh.... too late.  I undercoated them with Grey Seer spray.

Deployment alternates by brigade.  The game is IGOUGO.  You roll Initiative and the winner gets to move all his units, fire with his cannon, fight, and rally any units.  Then the second player does the same.  I would have preferred some alternating Brigade activations by phase.... but this game is so quick that it may work fine with IGOUGO.      

Like most Horse and Musket games, there are a lot of If This Than That rules.  This is normal, because such fighting was very paper-rock-scissor focused.  Therefore, these rules are what allow for Tactical Gameplay.  Things like infantry in Square get an additional dice when fighting cavalry, but suffer +1 to damage rolls if hit by artillery.  If you play a lot of this period it makes sense.  However, if you don't you will want to keep the rules pamphlet handy, thankfully it is only 6 pages with a how-to assembly guide and painting guide included!  

Meh and Other Uncertainties

This is a Horse and Musket game, so follows some of the Tropes associate with those types of games.  Cavalry move fast, infantry is slow and steady, cannons shoot far.  Of note, only the artillery has any ranged attacks, with the rest only fighting when they come into contact.  The winner of the game is the one that can eliminate two out of the three brigades you start with.  If you have played Horse and Musket before, such rules are par for the course.  

Units can move forward, backward, straight, sideways, or even diagonally.  Roads give bonuses if you start and end your move on them.  All units in a Brigade have to be touching grids in order to move. Only one unit per grid space, except infantry that can double up, which has advantages and disadvantages.  Infantry can even form square by placing them horizontally.   

Deployment is by Brigade.  Each unit is 1 grid square, and the Brigade must all be touching another Brigade member, and each Brigade must touch their commander somehow.  Commanders can not fight, and units that are not connected to their Brigade can not move.  Brigades are placed up to two gird spaces onto the board, automatically this creates a layered attack and reserves for a game.  If you deploy poorly, you will not be able to reinforce your attacks and defenses.        

Final Thoughts

I love a nice, simple ruleset.  Much of the "crunch" of the rules has to be abstracted but this covers the 4Ms easily.  Even better it also captures the feel of the period the game is trying to capture.  The rules are pretty simple but have some depth to them for tactical gameplay.  I see them as the bare minimum needed to play a game of this type in this period.  I see no reason why someone could not play this game "scaled up" to 28mm minis on a full-sized table if they wanted to.   

The real innovation here is the terrain plates and the grids and how these are used to create replayability.  When you combine the identical armies with build-your-own Brigades it adds even further options.  I look forward to playing this "on-the-road" with my wife.  She is not familiar with the tropes or styles of this type of game, so I am wondering how quickly she will pick it up.  

Lastly, I have undercoated all the pieces and hope to have it painted up and assembled very soon.  

Until next time!  

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Blood and Spectacles Patreon! 

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