While a chunk of the gaming world (including a number of our writers here on the OG) were in Essen, Germany, scoping out 1k+ new games, the good folks at Renegade Game Studios were busy with their own online Renegade Con. (I’ll note that I think this is a good thing – the world of tabletop gaming is so big that a single event can’t contain it.)

One of the panels was of particular interest to me – and, since you’re reading this, likely you as well: the Heroscape: Meet the Team Panel. I’m a long-time fan of Heroscape – including some time as a playtester on a couple of waves of figures and the “hot lava death” terrain. 

Part One: In Which the Author Attempts to Give a Bit of Background on the Wonder Which Is Heroscape And What Has Transpired Prior to The Summer of 2023

Here’s how I describe Heroscape in my top 100 games listing (it’s #4, in case you’re curious):

Heroscape is the ultimate blending of board game & miniatures game… and, in a slick move that allowed them to make lots of cool figures, a great blending of genres, as all the characters are warriors sucked through time & space into the world of Heroscape. So, you’ve got Matrix guys & Braveheart & dragons & robots & kung fu monks & gorillas with guns… 

Game designer (and nice guy) Frank Branham described it well:

There’s a lot more here than just pretty bits – but it’s still easy to get lost in the “shock & awe” of the massive brick of terrain and the great figures. Undergirding that, however, is two solid game systems (basic & master), fast gameplay, a perfect sense of playing to its audience (throwing together LOTR, the Matrix, Viking hordes, dragons, the Terminator films), and the ability to create a wide variety of interesting scenarios.

This is what Duel of Ages or Epic Duels want to be when they grow up.

But, as always, all good things must come to an end – and after six years of releases, including four Master box sets, thirteen waves of small figures, three boxes of large figures, four boxes of special terrain, one set of flagbearers & dice, and a number of promo figures, Hasbro closed the book on Heroscape in 2010. 

Fast forward twelve years… and then Hasbro/Avalon Hill/HasLab began hinting about HeroScape: Age of Annihilation – first with social media posts and then by displaying figures at GenCon 2022. Information began to dribble out through Reddit posts and the AH Discord channels and Craig Van Ness – one of the original designers – was involved. Then in October 2022, the crowdfunding campaign went live. (You can see the crowdfunding site, with lots of pictures… it’s still there.) 

Reaction was mixed – even with an initial surge of folks willing to plop down $250 for Vanguard edition (essentially a new master set), the crowdfunding petered off as various questions cropped up about the cost, the fact that the miniatures were unpainted, the focus on fantasy/sci-fi elements to the exclusion of historical and/or trope-based figures, and the weird choices prior to (focusing exclusively on Discord to share details) and during (making major campaign changes 20 days into the effort when it became clear it wasn’t going to reach the goal.

In fairness, the long-time Heroscape players remember buying the initial master set for $40 in 2004… and the intervening 18 years did not make production less expensive nor reduce the cost of mass-producing painted figures. I’m afraid our expectations may have been out of whack – but I don’t think HasLab did a particularly good job of responding to those concerns in real time. One particular issue was the one-size-fits-all choice – spend $250 or get nothing. 

When the crowdfunding campaign was unsuccessful in attracting enough backers (HasLab’s goal was 8,000 backers – they ended the campaign in November 2020 with 4,300), Avalon Hill announced that they were done (for the time being) with Heroscape

What’s next for HeroScape?

Our unfortunate answer is… nothing. As we said during the campaign if this project doesn’t meet its goal, we won’t be able to produce Age of Annihilation. That has not changed. HeroScape as a project will be shelved, and there are no current plans to attempt a resurrection at this time. The Avalon Hill team will refocus our efforts on the exciting games we currently have coming soon…

And with that, I truly thought that we could stick a fork in any more HeroScape.

I was wrong.

Part Two: In Which the Author Finds A Phoenix Rising From the Ashes (In Other Words, Heroscape Lives!)

Just seven months later, the good folks at Renegade Game Studios dropped this bombshell:

Renegade Game Studios is excited to announce that they are finalizing expansion of their licensing relationship with Hasbro, a global leader in play, to produce the best-selling Heroscape tabletop game.

Originally proposed for relaunch in October 2022 by Avalon Hill on Hasbro Pulse’s crowdfunding platform, HasLab, fans shared an outpouring of support for the game’s revival. Now, the organizations have come together to usher in the long-awaited return of Heroscape for the hobby, mass, and specialty markets. Renegade will also partner with Hasbro Pulse to make Heroscape available to as wide an audience as possible.

Fans will get to experience classic elements of the game they love with all-new content, alongside the introduction of terrain packs, faction boxes, and more. Going forward, Renegade hopes to introduce new models in a variety of configurations and price points for both new and hardcore Heroscape players.

“Heroscape brought a lot of people into hobby gaming and to this day there is a robust and passionate community; we look forward to growing that community and continuing to offer new and exciting models for gamers to enjoy,” said Scott Gaeta, President and Publisher of Renegade Game Studios. “Additionally, we will be partnering with hobby stores to give Heroscape and its community of players the best home possible where they can make new friends and engage in exciting battles across Valhalla!”

Additionally, Renegade will provide online community and organized play support, including a future World Championship. Hobby stores can look forward to organized play and point of purchase support at launch.

“Fans have been clamoring for a revival of Heroscape, and we’ve heard you. That’s why we are tremendously excited to bring back and expand the beloved brand with the Renegade team, who are big fans themselves,” says Bradley Bowman, Licensing Director of Global Toys & Sporting Goods at Hasbro. “We’re celebrating this return alongside our fans, and look forward to offering existing players more ways to enjoy the game and introducing a whole new generation to Heroscape and its endless imaginative potential.”

And with that, the speculation began once again… with fans perusing the press release searching for textual clues like they were rabbinical scholars working over the Talmud. It seemed clear that Renegade would not make the same mistake as HasLab, acknowledging from the beginning a need for “a variety of configurations and price points” as well as hinting at “terrain boxes” and “faction boxes”. 

Part Three: In Which the Renegade Team Introduces Themselves and Gives The Rest of Us a Glimpse of What Might Be Around the Corner

The panel Renegade hosted on Saturday afternoon is well worth your time – but I’m still going to compile some choice bits and interesting information for those who don’t want to listen in on a 55 minute conversation about Heroscape and the game design process.

Five folks were on the panel:

• Scott Gaeta, the president & publisher of Renegade Game Studios
• Dan Bojanowski, Senior Producer
  • aka “the guy who helps his team navigate Renegade” and makes sure all the ducks are in a row
• Jeanne Torres, Creative Director
  • Responsible for artwork, graphic design, etc.
  • Has moved from the Hasbro-licensed games to head up Heroscape 
• Lea Houff, Associate Game Producer for Heroscape
  • Lee just recently came on the team and is 100% dedicated to Heroscape
  • Her background includes work on the Star Wars miniatures games at FFG/Asmodee, including Shatterpoint, Legion, and X-Wing
• S Rowan, Game Designer for Heroscape
  • Also a new hire, Rowan is leading the Heroscape design team
  • Her background includes work on Marvel: Crisis Protocol
• Note: both Rowan & Lee are long-time Heroscape fans/players
• Also named (but not on the livestream): Matt Hyra – Game Designer for Heroscape
  • Matt’s background includes a variety of designs: DC Comics Deckbuilding Game, World of Warcraft Miniatures Game, etc.

The team acknowledged that there’s a lot of goodwill and nostalgia about Heroscape – so decisions are made with multiple elements in mind:

• How do we please the long-time fans?
• How do we keep the integrity of the game intact?
• What does Heroscape look like now, 20 years down the road?

With those things in mind, they did confirm that they are working not simply to make a big single release but to create a living game and a “healthy line”. (A couple of times, they referred to “multiple waves”.) There will be a master set (with lots of terrain and lots of figures)… but there will also be a “starter set” with a lower price point to act as an entry point for new players and folks who can’t afford to jump straight into a master set.

Scott also noted that the Avalon Hill Heroscape team “went a little crazy” with their designs… giving the Renegade team a challenge to figure out how to make it work “because they are a little nuts.” (Scott then referenced ‘the blimp’ – which, I will grant, is conceptually cool but looks like a bear to produce as a figure.)

Rowan shared that playtesting is ongoing… both initial internal playtesting and a wider playtester pool as figures are closer to “finished”. She also shared their process for designing new figures from scratch – which is actually a series of questions/factors to consider:

• Starts with where we think the world of Heroscape is going to head
  • We’ve already established the foreboding omen of naming the newest production “Age of Annihilation” 
  • So, whatever figure we’re designing is something that one of the Kyrie generals thought it was a good idea to bring into Vahalla during this age
• Which worlds did they come from?
• Which general made this decision?
• What type of figure do we want to make?
• How do we make sure it’s balanced in the game system…
  • … and at the same time, how do we make sure it brings something interesting/fun/cool to the game?
• What type of niche will this figure fit into?
• Can we get the rules to this figure on an army card?

They also let us know that you can apply to be a playtester – here’s the link! 

With all of that shared, Scott began answering questions from the chat…

• Yes, they are still working with the folks at Hasbro and have a positive established relationship there
• They have all of the inherited stuff from Hasbro and are currently doing their due diligence.
  • It was not 100% finished when it was turned over to the Renegade team… so there’s lots of work to do.
• The lore/story direction of Heroscape will be led by the Renegade team.
• They plan to use all of the content from the HasLab campaign – though likely not all of it on “day one”.
• Yes, the game will be backwards compatible.
• There are no historical figures in the current waves.
• There are approximately 70 figures in the Age of Annihilation wave set.
• They have not made a decision on whether the figures will be painted or unpainted.
  • Scott reminded us that “it’s not 2003 anymore” but that they are exploring options with factories.
• They will not be reprinting the ‘classic’ sculpts/figures.
  • None of the molds still exist for the old stuff.
  • However, personas from the past could reappear (there was a lot of hinting around about Raelin).
• Organized play will launch with the game…
  • …but with that said, they understand that the large majority of players will never play in a tournament, so the focus is on creating a fun game that is supported by tournament play.
  • They also suggested that there will be multiple tournament formats – allowing players (like me!) with lots of ‘classic’ Heroscape to play with those figures, but also formats that focus on the new material that will be much easier to access.

The current plan is to reveal MUCH more detail in the first quarter of 2024… specifically about Wave One. (And, yes, the mention of Wave One does mean that there are multiple waves being planned.) Scott was clear with the assembled folks who wanted more details: “we’re not going to tell you things until they’re ready.”

Finally – the game will release in 2024.

In closing, they reminded us to sign up for the Heroscape newsletter and that the best way to interact with the team members was through the Renegade Discord.

Part Four: In Which the Author Returns To React To All the News and Gives Himself Permission to Dream a Bit

By the time Renegade’s new wave of Heroscape stuff hits the street, it will have been 20 years since Frank Branham emailed me and told me to head to the closest Wal-Mart with $40 in hand and pick up a copy of Rise of the Valkyrie (the first Heroscape Master Set). Over the next six years, I bought, traded for, and/or was given at least one of each release – and in many cases, multiples of certain figure and terrain packs. They currently reside in three rolling cases in my office closet – waiting for my boys to get home from college to set up some serious battles in my new game room.

I am smack dab in the center of ONE of the target audiences for Renegade’s new Heroscape material. Note: I said ONE of the target audiences – but for the game to be successful, they need to bring in a lot of new players who don’t have a deep connection to the game Hasbro released between 2004-2010.

So, please take my reactions and suggestions that follow with a rather large grain of salt – I’m speaking as somebody who left this up in his game room for weeks while my sons, their best friend, and I played a 6000 points per side epic battle most afternoons after school.

• I’m really happy about the multiple packaging options… I think that was one of the most grievous errors with the crowdfunding campaign.
• I get that painted figures are going to be a stretch – I hope that there is an option to get painted figures, as I’d like them to blend with all the figures I already have. But, I understand if that’s not possible.
• My wish list for “historical/trope” figures: pirates,cavemen (let one of them ride a wooly mammoth!), post-apocalyptic biker gangs, skeletons, Mouse Guard-ish heroes, and bear cavalry, 
• I’m hoping they’ll work to fix the appearance of the walls from the Age of Annihilation set so they match better with the walls from the original game. 
• I do agree with Dan… I think the Hellforge Mandukor is a pretty awesome looking figure.
• In general, I think Renegade’s approach has a better chance for both short-term and long-term success.

All photos in this article are from the HasLab Age of Annihilation crowdfunding or the author’s personal collection.