Well, fellow Heroscapers (and those who are fascinated by my obsession with this crazy miniatures combat system), it’s time once again to recap Renegade Games virtual “convention” (RenegadeCon) and the new information they revealed about the next wave of armies and terrain (due to be released in October 2025).

I’ll be covering both the reveals (thanks to Anais Morgan & Lee Houff) as well as the Heroscape Designer Roundtable (thanks to Anais, S. Rowan, Dyllan Fernandez, and Alex Davy) that were a part of the stream yesterday. (If you’d like to watch it for yourself – including a live playthrough, a paint clinic, and a short feature on Heroscape miniature design – head on over to the Renegade Game Studios YouTube channel.)

New Heroes & Squads

The good folks at Renegade call these ‘Army Expansions’ – and we’re looking forward to four boxes worth of figures this fall. This new story arc (following up on this summer’s Boiling Tension arc) introduces us to completely new areas of development as well as paying homage to classic Heroscape.

An aside: Heroscape originally was published by Hasbro from 2004-2010… and that era of figures is designated as “classic Heroscape”. A serious amount of development was put into reviving Heroscape by Avalon Hill (Hasbro) in 2022 that created all of the currently released figures in what is called “contemporary Heroscape”. When that effort did not crowdfund at a high enough level, it looked like my beloved game was truly done – but along came Renegade Game Studios to license the game from Hasbro… and the release in 2024 of the first big box of Heroscape stuff since 2010. Almost a year later, the contemporary is roaring along.

An aside to the aside: for those of you old ‘Scapers who’ve just crawled out from under a rock, the new stuff has excellent backward compatibility with the scads of “classic” figures we already have on our shelves.

OK, enough asiding – let’s get to the new stuff!

Crimson Widow & Dreadnoughts of Caraway Cavern

Bring on the pirate-y goodness! (Looking at these figures has me whistling “A Pirate’s Life for Me” – yes, I’m also a Disney Parks nut.) We didn’t get any pirates in “classic” Heroscape – so their appearance over the last year has been welcome.

The Crimson Widow is a pirate captain – and she has multiple abilities to help you create a pirate army:

• Hire Crew: she can give one unique squad in your army the Pirate class… thus triggering other benefits for them. (Frostclaw Paladins of the High Seas for the contemporary collectors? Krav Maga Agents with eyepatches for the classic folks? The possibilities are endless.)
• Pirate Commander: every Pirate figure gets a melee attack bump when she has an order marker on her card.
• Midnight Raid: a way to move pirate figures out of turn using your X order marker on the Crimson Widow.

The Dreadnoughts just look cool – and, thanks to two different bonding powers, they work really well with Pirate heroes and captains. They also use those big weapons to do potential extra damage, thanks to their Mortal Blow power.

Honestly, my first reaction to this box is the exact same thing I said to my close friend who finally decided to marry his longtime girlfriend – “It’s about time.” The pirate squads and heroes from the Age of Annihilation and Battle for the Wellspring needed a better captain to knit them into a fighting force… and my first looks at the Crimson Widow makes me think this box will do just that.

The unpainted box will be $40, while the painted box will be $60. Like all of these new releases for Embers of War, they will hit stores in October 2025.

Greatbow Archers and Scions of Icaria

These guys do NOT like each other – the giants were evidently the first to rise up against their dragon overlords. Taking out these wyrmlings is another step in freeing their people.

The Greatbow Archers are big figures (size 8 – think Knight Irene or Deathwalker 9000) with big bows – and a long range sniping ability that is highly effective at distance but much less useful as the enemy gets closer.

The Scions are not only nifty little dragons with a dangerous breath attack, they can also bond with archmages, kings, queens… and, of course, dragons. They are homages to the breath weapon dragons from classic Heroscape – Braxas, Nilfheim, and Mimring (the O.G. dragon from the original box set.) I’ve included a picture of them here so you can see. (They don’t usually hang out together, but they owed me a favor or two.)

For those who’ve been around the block with Heroscape, the Scions do look a little like the wyrmling dragons from the D&D-themed waves… but they have much better paint jobs. Especially the White Wyrmling, who looks like [a] I painted him, and [b] that the paint job consisted of dipping him in a bucket of white paint. (And, you’ll notice, the Scions are specifically designed to evoke the feel of their parent dragon.)

Both squads are common squads, meaning you can field more than one group of the Greatbow Archers or the Scions. I’d be happy with either squad x2 – four Archers would make a formidable defensive sniping force on a ridge or hill, and six Scions could form a solid core of a dragon-based army with their bonding powers.

The unpainted box will be $40, while the painted box will be $60. Like all of these new releases for Embers of War, they will hit stores in October 2025.

Krakenling & Gelryie Vanguards

For the first time, we’re seriously diving into (yes, I realize that’s a horrible pun) aquatic creatures – both with Krakenling and with the cousins to the Kryie warriors we know and love, the Gelryie Vanguards. (I hope I am not the only person reminded of the various kinds of Na’vi in the Avatar franchise.) Both of these are common squads – so you can have a LOT of Gelyrie making life difficult for your opponent(s). Both also have the Swim ability, allowing them to move normally through water spaces.

The Gelyrie Vanguards two specific powers make them key potential allies in an army based on swarming the other player:

• Tidal Advance: At the start of each round, you may move each Fierce or Unfathomable figure one space for each order marker on the Vanguards card.
• Defend the Deep: They are +2 defense when in water or when being attacked by a player with height advantage.

The Krakenling is a single large figure with the ability to warp move up to 4 spaces, switch places with an adjacent figure at the end of its move, and attack three times(!) due to its Flailing Tentacles. (Thankfully for those fighting this overgrown sea snail, he loses 1 attack for each wound he has.)

Maps with lots of water (which I often make) will increase the power and usefulness of these figures… not that they’re weaklings on a map with less wetness.

The unpainted box will be $40, while the painted box will be $60. Like all of these new releases for Embers of War, they will hit stores in October 2025.

Heroes of Arboreas

This collection of four Dryan wizards (kind of like druids only with some very weird twists) and a Zenithwing is the final army expansion box… and each of these unique heroes has particular powers that slot into many different armies:

Marachott, Mind Whisperer can command familiars (small or medium sized Beasts), pound the everloving heck out enemies with her staff (+2 for normal attacks), or attempt to mold the minds of others to take over them for a turn. Marachott has a definite look/vibe that Raakchott, Steward of Death (from the Age of Annihilation Master Set) is rocking as well.

Haluchott, Corrupter of Beasts also can control beasts (small, medium, or large), use her staff for an extra ranged attack (in addition to a normal melee attack), defend against attacks by Beasts… and, if all else fails, fly. To be more specific, levitate – take a look at her figure! She’s also wearing a very creepy mask, which may end up in my nightmares soon.

Vrono the Brambletooth is a small figure – but has an interesting defense. His Sharp Thorns can potentially reduce the melee attacks of other players… and even possibly wound them.

Girushia, Grove Keeper also has the ability to command familiars as well as a thorn defense like Vrono – but that is not where his powers end. He can use his vines to Reach enemies with melee attacks and he can receive the Gift of the Forest – healing when he ends his turn next to a tree or bush. Girushia also has evidently been taking yoga classes based on his figure’s pose.

Finally, Chana the Zenithwing is a small Beast (who can thus be a familiar for many of these wizards as well as previous releases) and has the ability to potentially heal friendly wizards and beasts.

While I’m glad to see another beast (since we have a number of figures who have command power with them), I still think we need more. There are currently three small/medium Beasts in the game that I am aware of… and Haluchott is the only one who control large Beasts, which includes only Swog Riders and Ice Troll Beserkers from classic Heroscape.

The unpainted box will be $50, while the painted box will be $70. Like all of these new releases for Embers of War, they will hit stores in October 2025.

New Terrain

I had pretty serious questions about the new wall terrain not matching the old ruins terrain from the Rise of the Valkyrie master set – I now freely admit I was wrong. The new terrain system for ruins has more flexibility and works even when you simply the wall bases as pillars.

The new box has a lot more pieces – and the Renegade team was clear that it is stackable, so you’ll be able to do some very interesting things with it visually.

The ruins box will be $70. Like all of these new releases for Embers of War, they will hit stores in October 2025.

I actually own three road sets from classic Heroscape, so you’d think I’d be done with getting more. You’d be wrong – having two more bridges (take the 5 hex road tile and put the walls on either side of it – instant bridge!) will allow me to make even more complicated and interesting monster maps for those days when we want to play 1000 point armies.

I do miss that we aren’t getting more trees in the box (like the original Road to the Forgotten Forest) – but that released literally two decades ago. Production costs are a whole different animal now.

The roads box will be $50. Like all of these new releases for Embers of War, they will hit stores in October 2025.

New Extra Stuff

I don’t need another dice tray – but I’m tempted. The interior has a map of Valhalla and the bottom has an embossed Heroscape logo. Throw in the high-end dice and I’m hooked.

Yes, this makes me wish we’d get more flagbearers. Or, as I’ve requested before, a flag bear. (Help me build my polar bear army, Renegade!)

The dice tray/dice set will be $30. Like all of these new releases for Embers of War, they will hit stores in October 2025.

You can never have too many Soulborgs… especially if they’re good at defense and they are common figures. Deflectatrons drop in (like the Vorid flyers or the Airborne Elite) and have a pretty nifty Magnetic Deflector Shield power.

They will be available as a pre-order bonus (see the graphic above) and/or as the Organized Play figure for events in October/November 2025.

Raelin the Kyrie Warrior is the Organized Play figure for August & September 2025… evidently she’s now freed from the cursed necklace that made her work for Utgar and she’s ready to get revenge.

For those who’ve been at this a while, the answer is yes, there are a lot of Raelin figures (this is #4). The only other figure close to that is Sgt. Drake (who has 3).

Preorders are now open for all of these at the Renegade Game Studios site.

Heroscape Game Designers Roundtable

I appreciate the roundtable discussion from Anais, Alex, Dyllan, and Rowan – the insights into Heroscape design and their love for the game system are both interesting and give me a lot of hope for future development of this game I love.

I’m just going to cover some highlights – and likely paraphrase (but hopefully not completely misquote) them as they responded to a variety of questions.

How do you chose which unit archetypes to make for each set?

Rowan walked us through the narrowing process – from productions constraints to product specifications to choosing to build off the work of the Age of Annihilation design team, there are a number of factors that come into play. They shared that one of those elements is adding more common squads/heroes for each general – and then building heroes that complement those common units. Additionally, the team takes into account a mixture of aesthetic look/vibe as well as mixing the familiar while breaking new ground.

How did you decide which dragons are part of the Scions… and who is your favorite Heroscape dragon?

Dyllan let us know that creating the Scions was a blast. He share what he called a “fun art direction moment” wanting to capture the insufferable youth of dragon royalty. Since the design of the squad specified a breath weapon, the three dragons with breath weapons were the best inspiration. The team also worked to make sure all the little details of the big dragons (see above) made it into the offspring versions.

Both Dyllan & Rowan picked Charos as their favorite dragon – with Rowan calling Charos “my bane and my beloved” after fighting against and with Charos so many times. Alex chose Braxas.

Nobody asked me what my favorite Heroscape dragon is – that would have to be Nilfheim. (Dyllan noted that Nilfheim’s sculpt has a very “come at me, bro” kind of look – he’s not wrong.)

The three designers all used the word “squiggliness” to talk about the dragons. I’m not sure what this word means but the designers know what each other is talking about, so I guess that’s enough.

What is the planned balance between unique & common squads?

Alex shared this is a tricky question. Common squads start with a ton of advantages. Their flexibility to move any figure of that group (not constricted by a single army card) is pretty tough. They have to be careful to not overwhelm unique figures with waves of common squads.

Another design element is creating “standalone” commons (that can work in a variety of armies) versus bonding to particular unique heroes. (They hinted that there is something coming down the line in this vein for the Vorids.)

Who is your favorite design from this story arc?

The team was obviously excited by the Gelyrie. Alex talked about the Tidal Advance power and the cool sculpts, while Dyllan mentioned that the “cool fish guys” could be a huge help to a swarm army.

Rowan favored the Greatbow Archers, noting that it took a while to get the power balance right on these figures.

As they talked more about the Gelyrie, Anais asked them if the existence of the Krakenling imply the existence of a larger Kraken. There was a lot of non-committal hand gestures and smiles. Release the Kraken already, y’all!

What inspired the gellray?

Rowan shared that the team wanted a swarm figure and that they wanted to bring a new aspect to Valhalla. There hasn’t been a lot done with water-based figures and the addition of Wellsprings makes that even more interesting.

Alex talked about their work with the lore council – a group of folks who are steeped in Heroscape lore (writers/creators/designers) that assist with story decisions. The choice to bring in pirates led naturally to more water-based creatures.

How do you decide about the number of figures in a squad?

Dyllan walked us through the basics – since more figures give more activations per order marker, squads with more figures need to be weaker and/or cost more per figure. OTOH, a two figure squad needs to punch above its weight (examples: Greatbow Archers and Tannuki Tricksters). Bonding also plays a role in costing and number of figures.

Alex then shared that “Heroscape math is really complicated.” When he first came to the team, he looked at the synergy web for the figures and thought it looked like this (seriously, he actually flashed this picture on the screen):

He continued on to note that it was a fun challenge to see the cascading effects of giving particular classes or power to a character.

Are there any hidden details/fun facts about figures in this wave?

Dyllam told us that “tiny Braxas” in the Scions had a simple piece of art direction – the woman yelling at cat meme. Rowan reminded us that the new Raelin figure looks a lot like the life-size Raelin that they bring to conventions – “Never waste a sculpt.”

What are your goals for shaping the contemporary meta? Any long-term goals for the gameplay that you want to see in contemporary?

Rowan shared that the designers want to keep the heart and soul of the Heroscape line. Essentially, they want to keep the hero in Heroscape. It’s important that unique heroes have a viable space to exist in the game as characters are an important part of Heroscape. Part of that is avoiding the power creep/spiral. 

Dyllan shared about wanting a good balance of unique & common heroes and squads. He also teased things coming that will complement what has already been released as they are looking to build a variety of competitive armies with different archetypes (swarm, all heroes, synergistic bonding melee, Kyrie, etc.)

Alex closed by reminding all of us that this team is “picking up the baton” – that a lot of groundwork was laid with classic HS and the AH designs and they are not finished with supporting that stuff. Addtionally, they are working to create contemporary equivalents to the connections to classic Heroscape without simply reprinting older figures.

Post-Credits Scene

At the very end of the day, Renegade Game Studios teased that the Age of Annihilation is almost complete… and that summer 2026 will begin the Secrets of the Citadel. (My guess – since all we got was a text screen – is that we’ll get a Master box plus a new version of the Fortress terrain expansion.)

A reminder: I’ve received review copies of the new Heroscape material. Back in the day, I also received some promo figures, a couple of Volcarren Wasteland boxes, and a wave of figures as a “thank you” for my work as a playtester. (I also received a very cool Heroscape T-shirt which fit 42 year old Mark but isn’t as kind to 60 year old Mark. But I still have it hanging in my closet.)