The (Second) Best Thing

Gather around the fire, bold adventurer...

 

The best thing about Heroquest, naturally, is Heroquest. But when the thick enamel paints are still holding strong on your figures, and the cardboard furniture is looking shabby, the second best thing is the 30-year reboot of Heroquest!

This version was done outside the aegis of Games Workshop, so some copyright tweaks were necessary. Most noticeably, the Fimir have become large fish-creatures called Abominations.

Fortunately, you can't copyright an orc. These guys have more variety than the original 'hold weapon above head' and their designs owes more to World of Warcraft than Warhammer.

The goblins retain their impish charm, although I wouldn't turn your back on any of them.

The Dread Warriors (formerly Chaos) didn't get the memo about varying the poses, so I gave them different coloured cloaks instead.

The undead selection were my favourites of the bad guys bunch - simple, yet characterful (and you also can't copyright the human skeleton).

In terms of miniature, these are soft rubbery plastic, so not as nice to work with as the original pieces, even if some of their designs have become more exciting. They're definitely gaming pieces, rather than models for painting, so I felt less guilty about racing through them and skipping the occasional highlight.

Although I did add tartan trousers to one of the zombies, so I clearly wasn't taking route one on all the models.

The gargoyle was something of a cop-out - I could have tried those vivid colours on the box art (I certainly did with his original version), but settled for a drybrush and a bit of OSL on the eyes.

The questing heroes did get a bit more attention, and the Barbarian is probably my favourite (look at the musk-u-lar-ity...).

The Dwarf was fun, but there's not much too him other than a big beard and a big axe (with Dwarfs, is there ever anything else?)

The Elf was probably the lamest model in the original set, and they've kept that tradition going here. Indistinct armour and cloak, a short sword and a few potions and that's about it.

There's an argument to be made for the Wizard being slightly lacklustre - he's certainly the most two-dimensional (in the fine old style), but with plenty of robes for colours and freehand, I like him.

The quality of the models may be debateable, but the furniture is a big improvement. Away with the hybrid of plastic and cardboard, these are all sold, hefty plastic to fill the dungeons.

The doors alone are a big hit with me - I hated the flimsy cardboard ones that had to be swapped out for empty sockets when opened. These are proper solid doorways and arches for adventuring!

I remember the original altar had wickedly-sharp impaling candlesticks. These are safer, alas.

The torture rack has already been put to good use when my young dungeoneers improvised during a quest and started torturing captive goblins for information.

It was during the painting of the apothecary desk that it dawned on me how much effort I was putting into these random game pieces. Loved every minute of it, though. I must be getting old.

The bookcases similarly received an unnecessary amount of attention on the dustjackets and titles of their tomes.

Speaking of attention, I did enjoy the sigils on the shields of the weapons rack matching up to the heroic and evil dice faces. I can't remember if they did that on the original one (I never bothered to paint it).

Fortunately, the rest of the scenery was basic wood, with a few fixtures, so a wash and drybrush would see me on the home straight.

In terms of gameplay, the quests seem identical to the original Heroquest, so they're as good (or bad) as you remember. The creature stats have been tweaked to make them more of a challenge, and there are some minor rules adjustments and a bigger variety of equipment cards.

We've started to play through the quests as a family and they make for an entertaining 60-90 minutes. There is a reliance on the player controlling the monsters not to go all-out to spoil the heroes' fun, but that's just standard good manners for DMing.

All in all, I'd still recommend it. It's cracking fun, the pieces and paraphernalia bring the dungeon to life, and it's a gently on-ramp to D&D play for the family.