There's no better end to the year than a regular review, I am saving that for tomorrow. Okay to be honest there are far better ends to any year, but as far as the hobby goes a review in which you can look back to goals achieved and ones to look forward to is pretty nice.
Noble son number 1 Arthur thinking about his next move
That said, this post will, yet again, concern itself with Heroquest or HQ for short. Somehow this little game sparked something in me. Whether it is my inner child that is chuffed to bits with being able to find a decent use for all those long forgotten minis lying around around, or the gamer in me that rejoices about at least 1 game a week at the school club.
Or even the collector, who is eagerly searching the net for bargains of Oldhammer figures to be used or the rare "true" HQ find like the illusive extensions. It seems that many gamers have been lucky finding the extensions in second hand shops in the UK. Well no-go for me! We do have those shops but there are no HQ games to be found there. So what? I hear you think, weeeell while you can download pretty much all the paper content of any thinkable extension for the game, it does not beat the feel of the original box and the figures in your hands. At this moment I am the proud owner of:
- 2 basic boxed games (the game-system) 1 at home and 1 at school.
- 1 Kellar's Keep extension
- 1 Return of the Witchking extension
- 1 Wizards of Morcar extension
- 1 Advanced Heroquest box set
- 2 x half box of classic Warhammer Quest
So yeah I would really like to get my grubby paws on any of the other extensions like Against the Ogre Hordes or the Barbarian- or Elf Quest packs. The prices those seem to go around for are ridiculous, go to Ebay and look for yourself. There are boxes tagged for $1200,- and I even saw a HQ stickeralbum go by, for which $5000,- was asked...that is waaaay beyond me to be sure!
Now on Friday December 22nd I hosted a major game at the school club for the pupils to enhance their characters and for me to try the rules out at a more skirmish- and out-of-the-Dungeon level. We have two "fellowships" at the club, one which we jokingly call the "Young Hounds" and the other, erm well... the "Old Dogs". Both were now playing on the same table with a more regular wargame scenic lay-out.
I had prepared briefings with personal goals and background stories for each member.
And yes I have Lord Kitchener and Lord Vader hanging next to each other in my classroom ;-) To recount the entire story that was played out and explain all outcomes would take too long so I won't do that here, but I do have some impressions of the game in progress. I didn't have much time to take many pics, what with trying to DM 8 people in at least 3 locations at once, but hey here they are.
The rules were basically those of the main game-system with some additions and small changes like instead of rolling 2d6 to see how many squares you can walk you now roll and walk that many inches. Simple enough.
So what did the adventurers gain in this Christmas Quest?
Well first up, everyone was awarded 10 gold pieces for each monster killed, with thanks from the local populace.
The Old Dogs:
Sir Olwyn of Farthingale (yeah I know ;-) achieved his main goal of freeing Farthingale of Wights and became it's lord. He also gained one Bodypoint.
Sir Skyrithm (for your information: the names were made up by the kids not me!) found a necklace which would have protected him from any magic used against him, but he sold it for 300 goldcoins. He also gained 1 BP.
Sir Jonas Paladin of the Order of the Lion was promoted to Commander in his order, for giving them the necklace he bought off Skyrithm. and also got an extra Bodypoint.
Baroness Blackwood was able to protect a lockingstone to a portal to the Warp and thus prevent a major Chaos incursion. Therefore she gained 1 Mindpoint, handy for all future spells.
The Young Hounds:
Dame Glacia of Clan Redwinter found a Dagger of Frost which functions as a Wand of Recall (i.e. you can use two spells each turn instead of 1)
Icicles, Guardian of the Power of Ice was able to acquire an henchmen for free.
Erofillios of the Rangers (again: I know!) gained a mind point but was also possessed by a Chaos Deamon which will manifest itself if, at the start of each following Quest he will roll a 1 on a D6.
Sir Hadrian rooted out the Chaos coven that had desecrated the Temple of Taal in Ardglass village. He then spent a turn in prayer before the altar and gained, yup you've guessed it, another BP.
Surprisingly both Glacia, Icicles and Erofillios turned to the Dark Side and became followers of the Dark Gods. This will make future Quests rather interesting...
These games at the school club really made for a highlight in the work-week as you can imagine. The kids all are so funny and really get into the thick of things without the whining that is so common in modern day youth.
So that's it for now, but I do hope that from this you have gleamed a bit of why I like this game so much. Although after so many weeks of DM-ing I would like to get some time in as a player as well ;-)
Cheers Sander
