Heroscpae News!!!!

Wizards Wave 9 Press Release
Posted April 2nd, 2009 at 05:34 PM by truth

RENTON, Wash.—April 2, 2009—Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), today announced the upcoming release of a new expansion set for Heroscape®, the wildly popular build-and-battle miniatures game. Small Expansion set 9, Blackmoon’s Siege™, will be released in July 2009.

Blackmoon’s Siege features 24 brand new painted figures in a 4-pack assortment set. Braves and Brawlers, Dwarves and Repulsors, Dividers and Defenders, and Heroes of the Moon have all been summoned to battle. Designed to add strength to players’ armies, these warriors are ready to charge forward and take on any enemy that gets in their way.

Each pack includes painted figures and army cards and can be used with any Heroscape Master Set. In the coming months, fans can also look forward to another Heroscape release with the reprint of Wave 1, Malliddon's Prophecy™.

Heroscape: Release of Wave 9 Confirmed for Summer

I know this has been out for a while, I just got around to passing it on. Here is a post from December on Heroscapers:

I recently received an email from Paul Barclay, our lead contact at Wizards of the Coast. Paul had this to say:Wave 9 is confirmed for Summer 2009. There's no set release date yet, but given the current production schedule, I'd expect it in June or July. There's no guarantee of it being in WalMart, but they've been happy with how Wave 8 has performed so far this holiday season, so that’s looking promising too. And, to be clear, Wave 9 will come out no matter what happens with WalMart.Happy Christmas!

Thanks,Paul.

He also included a concept drawing of a marro figure that will appear in Wave 9.

Heroscape Wave 8 & Ticalla's Jungle Released 6/13

Just a reminder that Heroscape Wave 8 and the Ticalla Jungle set is set to be released tomorrow 6/13. Heroscapers was going to have a big release party today but all of us crashed the site trying to participate in it. That just goes to show the following Heroscape has and how much we have all been anticipating the next release. We are jonesing for some new figures.

HEROSCAPE NEWS - Win Wave 8 Before You Can Buy It!

Heroscapers.com is giving you a chance to win Heroscape Wave 8 a full two weeks before you buy it. They are also giving away a bunch of other stuff so head on over and check it out. You can get all the details here, good luck.

Heroscape Wave 8 Preview walves of Badru

Heroscpaers.com posted some previews of the Wolves of Badru that are going to be in Wave 8. You can get a good shot of the card here and the figures themselves here.

New Heroscapers.com

If you haven't been to Heroscapers.com for a while or have never been there click the link and head over to check it out. They have revamped the site, gave it a whole new look and whole bunch of new features. From what I can see a definite improvement. You can directly to this link for all the changes and updates.

Gen Con & Wizards of the Coast & Heroscape

Gen Con released their events list this past Sunday and for some reason there were no events listed by the big companies, WOTC, WizKids, Upper Deck, etc. There has been a lot of speculation why, the lawsuit against Gen Con by Lucas, the bankruptcy hearing, and others. What really sucks is that Heroscape events are included in the ones yet to be released. Here is a FAQ posted on Heroscapers from WOTC answering some of the questions we all have:

Here is a short FAQ on what’s happening with Wizards and Gen Con this year.

Q: Why are there no D&D or Wizards events on the schedule posted for Gen Con at www.gencon.com?

A: Wizards had not submitted a schedule of events by the Gen Con deadline. Since we hadn’t submitted our own schedule, none of our events are in the official Gen Con schedule at this time.

Q: Will Wizards attend Gen Con in 2008?

A: As you may be aware, Gen Con is currently in chapter 11 bankruptcy. Wizards’ plans relative to Gen Con are dependent on the course of proceedings in US bankruptcy court. While we hope to participate in Gen Con, we must await further proceedings in the bankruptcy matter before we are able to confirm our plans.

Q: You previously announced that [Living Forgotten Realms/D&D Miniatures Championship/any other event] would be at Gen Con. Is that still true?

A: We are committed to our specific programs, such as the launch of Living Forgotten Realms and the D&D Miniatures Championship. Those events will take place in some form. However, as we cannot make a general prediction about our relationship with Gen Con, we likewise can’t make any pronouncements yet about a specific program. Keep visiting www.wizards.com for the most up-to-date information about our events and programs.

Hope it clears up some questions for you.

Heroscpae Fans Rejoice!!!

That noise you hear is Heroscape fans celebrating all over the world. The two large expansion packs previewed at Gen Con last year, the Ticalla Jungle set and Aquilla’s Alliance, is going to be released this summer. They will be released the way they were originally intended as large expansion packs like The Road to the Forgotten Forest or Raknar’s Vision. The difference between these and past will be that there will be two terrain/common expansions to one hero’s expansion unlike the past expansions that had two heroes to one terrain/common. This was a huge sticking point with retailers and making the change got them back on board with some retailers. Even better news than that is that they are supposed to be released this summer before Gen Con. According to House Mouse Games the end of July. I guess that means I’ll be getting mine at Gen Con. You should be able to pick them up at your friendly local game or comic store. It is also rumored that Wave 8 will be out by the June 1. Wave 7 is available once again at Hasbrotoyshop.com. Get out there and snag you some extra Knights Templar so you don’t have to pick up a squad for $50 on Ebay. This is all good news since the last Heroscape release we had was the Swarm of the Marro Master Set way back in August. The only bad news is that Wal-Mart will more than likely not be carrying them at all. Not good for those of us who do not have a hobby shop close by and look to Wal-Mart as a main source for Heroscape. Toys-R-Us and Target will probably be the only chain stores that will be carrying them if they do.

With all this good Heroscape news I think I need to break out a game this weekend. The Gruts are getting antsy.

Herscape News - A New Master Set

If you are a Heroscape player you probably know that Wizards of the Coast has taken over the game from Hasbro. They are planning some new things and one of the things they are looking at is the possibility of a new Master Set. It seems Fans were not all that excited about the Swarm of the Marro Master Set. I have to agree with those players. I liked the variety you got in the Return of the Valkrie, not the alien invasion type feel from Swarm of the Marro. If you want to make your voice heard for the next set them head on over here and post. The Wizards of the Coast people want our input.

Heroscpae News - Desert Terrain Pack

Heroscapers has been talking to Wizards of the Coast about their plans for Heroscape. Looks like they are still planning on releasing waves in the same manner they have been which is cool. I really do not want to see blind boosters for Heroscape. That's one of the reasons I like the game so much. They want to get into hobby shops but know that master sets will not sell in them, so they are planning smaller terrain expansion packs like the Desert Terrain Pack. You can read the recent post here. Here is a picture of what the desert terrain may look like:

Wizards of the Coast Takes Charge of Heroscape

It's official WOTC is taking over Heroscape. Let's hope they don't mess with it to much. I would really hate for them to start doing upgraded versions of Heroscape. It would suck to be sitting down to play and have to decide are we playing Heroscape 1.0 or 2.0? The prospect of organized play is interesting, but isn't always a good thing. The only other thing to add is I hope they get some new waves out and quit teasing us. At least they gave us a preview of Wave 8, see it above. Here is the post from Heroscapers:

Wizards of the Coast is the world leader in hobby gaming, and a subsidiary of Hasbro. If you’ve ever been to a gaming convention, they are the guys with the gigantic booth swarming with game fans. They produce a number of massively popular games, including Magic the Gathering® and Dungeons and Dragons®
Monday, January the 21st I found myself on a conference call with a round table of Wizards executives. They setup this exclusive meeting for the sole purpose of answering any questions I have about Heroscape’s transfer over to Wizards of the Coast.
Already, dear heroscaper, your head is spinning with questions. You love every nuance of this game and are concerned about what this means for the future of Heroscape. Well the fine people at Wizards plan to interact with the fans that have gathered here on heroscapers.com and answer some of those questions directly. This interaction from those who will be working on Heroscape hearkens back to days of old when designers Craig VanNess and Rob Daviau spent time chatting with us on the forums of heroscape.net, the first ever Heroscape fan site.
Let me start by answering the burning questions you all have and then I’ll give you information on how you can interact with the Wizards staff on our forums.
The following are questions followed by answers provided directly from Wizards.
1. Is Wizards of the Coast taking over the Heroscape brand?Yes, we are excited to say that starting this spring the Heroscape brand will be fully operated by Wizards of the Coast.
2. When is this effective?The transition has already begun and will be complete by 4/1/08. Wizards is already working on future SKUs at this time.
3. Will there be changes to the current version of the game?No, there will be no changes to the way the game is played or packaged- it will continue to be a fixed, non-randomized purchase.
4. Will the game continue to be sold in places it was previously sold?Our goal is to make the game as widely-accessible to Heroscape players as possible. In addition to maintaining all of its current retail distribution in the mass market stores, Wizards will be actively working to bring the game to the hobby gaming market as well.
5.Will the retail price of the game change?Not at this time.
6. Will there be organized play for Heroscape?After the business has been fully-transitioned to Wizards of the Coast we will be exploring all of the opportunities that exist for the product. This evaluation will include exploring the demand for organized play within the Heroscape community.
7. What are the long-term plans for the brand?Wizards will be releasing Small Expansion Set 8 in the summer, a new Small Expansion Set in late 2008 and are exploring additional SKUs as well.
Our Take On the MoveHere at Heroscapers we are optimistic. Hasbro has long had some problems with distribution that Wizards may have solutions for. Hasbro thought they had a game for 8 year olds, Wizards will be targeting gamers of all ages. One of the very first things Wizards has done is reach out to us the fans gathered here at heroscapers.com and that gets them major props.
Heroscape is an aging game by Hasbro’s definition, putting a new and excited staff on the game could extend its life considerbly. Especially considering that Wizards has maintained a number of collectible games into a very long life.
Our current concerns at heroscapers deal with the fact that the current designers, including lead designer Craig VanNess will no longer be working on the game. The game has spent three glorious years under the guidance of Craig and we all are in love with his craftsmanship. The question is, will new designers be able to tune into the “spirit” of the game? Wizards has reassured me that they will continue to make use of an already long existing playtest group. Our hopes are that the playtest group consisting of hardcore fans of the game will be able to spot any problems and help to resolve them before product is released.
The people at Wizards are real people, our people. They love games and live to serve gamers. Their goal is not to ruin our favorite game. So concerned are they about meeting and exceeding our expectations that representatives of Wizards will be joining our forums to answer our questions personally and to get feedback on what we want to see in the future of Heroscape. I am setting up an OFFICIAL FEEDBACK THREAD. Visit it in the news section of the forums to communicate your thoughts.
I leave you with a quote that has inspired me to proceed with an optimistic view of the future of Heroscape. From the Senior Brand Manager at Wizards, Laura Tommervik: “We’re excited to bring to market new Heroscape products that meet and exceed the players’ expectations.”

Heroscape Event in Ohio

I'm posting this for my friends up in Ohio. I saw this over at the Heroscapers forum, since it's to cold to do anything outside go play some Heroscape.

I have talked my FLGS into hosting a Heroscape open play day on December 15th. I will have several maps set up, but you are welcome to bring your own. Play will start at 3:30 PM. Ivory Tower Games is located at 601 East Main in Lebanon. 513 228 2040.

Here is a map showing the location: http://maps.yahoo.com/maps_result?q1=601+E+Main+St+STE+B%2C+Lebanon%2C+OH++45036 I anticipate that most of the players will be fairly new or inexperienced, but all are welcome.

Massive Win-Chiu-Woo Giveaway!

If you did not get to go to Gen Con or the San Diego Comic Con then get over to the Heroscapers site. Here is your chance to get a Master Win-Chiu-Woo!! This is posted at Heroscapers.com:

Thanks to our good friends at Hasbro, Heroscapers.com presents the Massive Win-Chiu-Woo Giveaway! We are giving away a whopping 40 Master Woos straight into the hands of the fans. Master Win-Chiu-Woo was this year’s exclusive Comic-Con and Gen-Con giveaway and is very hard to get ahold of without paying big money on eBay.
How do I win? Well I’m glad you asked! If you are a site supporter, meaning you’ve given $5 or more to the site anytime in the past or do so before the contest ends, you can enter by replying to the forum post found HERE. 20 Master Woos will be given away to the much smaller pool of Site Supporters as a token of appreciation for your aid in keeping the site up and running.

If you are not a site supporter you can still win. Simply comment on this article. Site supporters can enter both the site supporter drawing and the open drawing.
Please if you’ve already gotten a hold of a Win-Chiu-Woo refrain from entering the contest so that we can be sure they all go out to those who are Wooless. Please if you’re just going to turn around and eBay it, we beg of you don’t enter.
NOTE: We can track if you’ve entered more than once under multiple names and doing so will disqualify you.
NOTE 2: Those outside the US are welcome to enter, however if you win I’ll have to ask that you pay for the shipping costs.

This is a great chance to get one, especially considering the cheapest I've seen one go on Ebay is $25. Look at promos and exclusives from previous years. You can't touch Sir Hawthorne for less than $100, Nerak the Glacian Swog Rider is in the $30 - $50 range and going up, the Black Onyx Vipers are going from $30 - $50 also. It's only a matter of time before Master Woo's price goes up.

Heroscape Replacement Figures

With all those miniatures it had to happen. I lost one of my Warriors of Ashra figures from Heroscape. I have been searching for a good replacement ever since. I found a couple that were OK but nothing that wowed me. I bought a Mage Knight Dungeons Starter the other day I won off Ebay. I bid on them every so often to get some new cool figures. I opened the starter and found the perfect replacement figure, Alsyn Vale. She looks like she belongs with the Warriors of Ashra. The paint scheme is different, but otherwise is a perfect match, except for the thong bare behind. I may have to keep my eyes open for more figures that look like they belong to Heroscape squads. This might be a good way to use multiple common squads but not have the same figures all over the board.

Free Heroscape Figure(s)!!!!

It has been confirmed that Toy R Us will be releasing a toy catalog October 28, and in it is an offer for free Heroscape figure(s). That is all that has been confirmed at this point. Rumor has it that this will be either an individual figure or a free booster when you purchase a master set. To bad they couldn't have done this for National Heroscape Day this Saturday.

National Heroscape Day!!!

Just a quick reminder, October 20 is National Heroscape Day. Even if you can't make it to an event, get some friends or family together to play a game. If you have never played pick up a set and play.