For the past few years, Renegade Games has leaned heavily into their connections to G.I. Joe, Transformers, and My Little Pony. They’ve created RPGs and deck builders for each. However, after gaining control of the Avalon Hill (and Wizards of the Coast) backlog of boardgames, they have proceeded to re-release many classics – particularly the Risk and Axis & Allies lines of lightweight wargames. Recently, Renegade has started to mix and match their IPs to create an entirely new hybrid product. 2025 sees a G.I. Joe version of Axis & Allies and a Transformers version of RoboRally. There’s a new Axis & Allies set in North Africa and reprints of Nexus Ops, Risk 2210 and Risk Godstorm. Of course, all of the above is a moot point for many, as the one and only thing of importance in the Renegade booth was the display (and even games on offer) of the resurrected Heroscape line.

If you’re like me, the most important part of the Renegade booth was the Heroscape displays. Let’s start out with those, then. The strategy seems to be to reach out to both ends of the spectrum – hard core enthusiasts and gamers who have never played before. There’s a slimmed down box of figures and terrain perfect for new players to go one on one as well as a new big-box version full of units and terrain  for collectors and those who want to commit to the game. The first wave also includes a set of trees and plants to flesh out one’s game landscape. It appears that additional sets will operate in a similar manner. Some featuring new tiles and landscape while others are focused on new combat figures. Look for Wave 2 releases in October, with others following in 2025.

The base set in all its glory. Age of Annihilation Master Set (premium, painted edition in the photo.) For sale at Gen Con and releasing at the end of the month.

Battle for the Wellspring is a smaller set with fewer pieces that can serve as a much less expensive foray into the Heroscape universe. Of course, the pieces are also unique so collectors will be picking this up as well.

Plants and more plants, when you just have to hide behind something. The Grove at Lair’s Edge Terrain Expansion is also part of that Wave 1 – end of August release.

For those poor folks who weren’t able to buy and/or play (count me in) games at the convention there were no less than TWO promos to be had.

Sgt. Drake Alexander came free with a Heroscape purchase.

Shiori was given out to people who attended a gameplay event.

Thankfully, both promos will eventually be available for purchase at the Renegade web store.

October will see additional Heroscape releases:

Some nice techno-undead in both painted and unpainted.

Winged warriors for your every need. 

And buckets of terrain tiles to get those games up onto higher elevations.

And your low-lying areas can be suitably flooded using water tiles.

Releases continue into 2025 with a Rising Tide story arc.

Some armored polar bear military and snowy trees hint at an arctic theme… 

Robo Rally Transformers

A Transformers brand of RoboRally is now available. It has most of what you would expect out of a RoboRally game. However, one new feature is the ability of ones’ robots to transform during the game.

G.I. Joe Battle for the Arctic Circle

Set in the G.I. Joe universe, this game is loosely based on the Axis & Allies game system. Players control areas to earn money to spend on units to contest control for more areas. If you are familiar with Axis & Allies there are a few notable differences. First, the game is played on a hexagonal map of the north pole. There are two sides with two leaders on each side. There are only two land units (troop and tank-ish), airplanes, and two naval units (destroyer and carrier.) The units for each side are slightly different – most have the same stats but they usually have some small thematic bonus rule. One side’s planes are more powerful but the other side’s planes can land almost anywhere. 

Nexus Ops

I’m extremely excited about this release as I think of Nexus Ops as the best incarnation of a fast-playing Axis and Allies game. This reprint keeps the neon-fluorescent blacklight-glowing pieces of the original game, but also contains the alternative rules set from the Fantasy Flight release. If you’re unfamiliar with the game, it’s like Axis & Allies in terms of gaining money to spend on different styles of troops. These are used to explore and claim spaces on a hexagonal map. The central spire can only be occupied by a dragon but it awards some nice bonuses so there’s a fun king of the hill vibe that goes on as well. Rather than a straight territory fight, players earn points for combat and other goals (provided by cards) throughout the game. Having the largest army or the one with the most area isn’t going to guarantee a win if another player is good at finishing their goal cards. As a result, it has much of what I like in Axis & Allies (strategizing on which troops to purchase) but plays quite quickly. If I recall correctly, it can be played in two teams or in a free for all.

Risk 2210 A.D.

It may be because it was the first of the “new-Risk” series, but Risk 2210 A.D. is my favorite one of the bunch. It is the standard Risk game but changed up by adding in leaders. Each player may recruit up to four leaders that represent land, sea, lunar, and nuclear combat. After recruiting the sea or lunar leaders, a player can begin to colonize those areas. Leaders also add a bonus to combat when present. When it is time to draw cards, players can draw from decks of cards unique to each leader. These cards have powerful effects, typically themed to the leader. The nuke-leader has particularly powerful cards but they are pretty indiscriminate in their damage. The game is not set up as a conquer-everything but lasts for a set number of turns.

Risk Godstorm

Risk Godstorm is out this fall (October.) It is very much a sequel to 2210 with similar Risk+leaders cards, etc… I recall enjoying it and I know of others who prefer it over 2210 but I didn’t keep Risk Godstorm in my collection, as there are many similarities.

Axis & Allies North Africa

This is the big Axis & Allies deal. There was a poll of A&A players to see what zone of combat they wanted to see and North Africa was right up top. The US and UK go up against Italy and Germany. New units include scout cars, trucks, multiple styles of tanks, and anti-tank guns.

A&A Bling

Gamers wanting to take their A&A games to the next level can buy custom dice and/or custom money chips built just for the game. There’s also a huge neoprene map (not shown) that works with the A&A Anniversary edition of the game.

Battle for the Deep

Next spring (March 2025) sees a new fantasy-nautical game using the Axis & Allies rules, although details were rather sparse beyond the display.

Ezra and Nehemiah

Making a left turn into biblical territory, Renegade Games Studios has put out Ezra and Nehemiah. This has players managing cards and resources to build up the Jewish temple and the wall around Jerusalem after the exile. It plays 1-4 players (there’s a solo mode) and has a bit of a snowball feel as players’ options grow as the game progresses over three weeks. Anyone with a passing interest in Jewish history or the Old Testament will find some of the goals and mechanisms interesting.

The Search for UAPs

In partnership with Bezier Games, this reimplementation of The Search for Planet X will be arriving in February 2025. 1-5 Players are astronomy enthusiasts trying to learn about the universe by looking for UAPs – unidentified anomalous phenomena (stuff that is not what is expected.) Like the original, there’s a strong deduction component. The game’s central board is made of several concentric circles that can rotate, changing what and where can be explored. 

So, that’s a lot of stuff for just one company. Unfortunately for my pocketbook, Renegade is really doing a great job of reviving old classics (especially dudes-on-a-map ones) and blending them into their powerhouse of IP agreements.  I feel like I should be the first to make a prediction… I, for one, am looking forward to the upcoming My Little Pony Heroscape Expansion*… Put your comments below as to which faction they should belong.

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*No one at Renegade confirmed or denied that there is an upcoming My Little Pony expansion to Heroscape. I suppose they might have done either one if I would have actually asked. Be realistic, if Heroscape can include figures from history alongside robots and Dungeons & Dragons, it’s only a few more steps to get to Transformers, Power Rangers, G.I. Joe, and one could hope, My Little Pony.