Heroscape: Well-Armed Crabs and a Serious Boost to Revna’s Army

Posted on July 29, 2025 by Mark Jackson

The release of the Boiling Tension figures for Heroscape covered May through July… with everything coming in ahead of schedule! That means that the releases I’ll be reviewing here have actually been available at retail since last Monday. The Air Marshall dropped back in May – and he was a cool enough figure to get his own review!

A quick reminder for those of you living under a (virtual) rock when it comes to board games: Heroscape is a miniatures skirmish combat game played on a board constructed out of (incredibly cool) plastic terrain pieces. (Seriously: folks who play with other minis systems have used this 3D terrain because it works so well.) Since the theme is a battle for dominance in world where the Valkyrie Generals can recruit warriors from multiple times & dimensions, there is a wild mixture of heroes & squads – aliens & Matrix guys & Braveheart & dragons & robots & kung fu monks & gorillas with guns, to name a few. More recently, the good folks at Renegade have added polar bears & space pirates, to name a few more. And it’s one of my favorite games…

With that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the four new figure sets… as well as some new terrain and a small pack that’s a big deal for new players/collectors.

But first, a trio of notes about the photos above. The two fine gentlemen I’m playing against are my adult sons – who have been playing Heroscape pretty much their entire lives and ran me over like an armadillo on a Texas highway during the game you see pictured. Additionally, the little plastic chips are how we mark starting areas. Finally, this is a slightly tweaked version of the most recent scenario released on the official Heroscape site – it’s a great scenario design and worth your time to try.

Scavorith, Lord of Ruin

As if the Hellforge Mandukor and the Iron Lich Viscerot weren’t intimidating/scary enough, here comes the Lord of Ruin. Seriously – Scavorith is another Eisenek horror that looks like a giant mechanical centipede with a gun in each… hand?! (Nightmare fuel.)

As with the rest of the Eisenek figures, Scavorith is under the Valkyrie General Revna – but his particular powers means he can operate separately of the other Eisenek (though he can benefit from the Iron Lich’s Vile Injection).

He has a “Double Burst” attack that allows him to make two ranged attacks (even at the same target!) as well as the ability to “Battle Surge” and take an extra turn. However, there’s a cost – if Scavorith doesn’t attack another figure during his second turn, he takes a wound.

I’m impressed with how much firepower the Lord of Ruin brings to the battlefield, though I am concerned that his height makes him an easy target for ranged creatures. (The Vorid Glidestrikers kept him pinging him in our last game.) For a large 2-hex figure, he is slim enough to fit through tighter gaps – but not nearly as maneuverable as the Necrotech Wraiths.

Imperator Kayne

After a long debate between my younger son & I on how to pronounce “Imperator” (according to the internet, I am correct), we actually put him into battle. While we didn’t use his “Stomp” power more than once (it allows him to wound a single small or medium figure one time during movement on a roll of 8+), his efficacy as a mobile gun platform is quite good. With a range of 5 coupled with his height, this Gatling gun toting woodland creature can hold forces at bay.

Much like Scavorith, Imperator Kayne doesn’t have any direct bonding with the other Vorid (woodland warrior) creatues – meaning he will work just fine in an army without other Vorid. However, watching a group of heavily armed rodents coming down a hill at you is a lot of fun.

Tannuki Tricksters

There are two boxes in this wave which feature common squads & heroes – meaning you can field more than one of them in a battle. (Up until this wave, all of the heroes & squads have been unique.) While I received a review copy of both those boxes, I also sprung for a second copy in order to give myself maximum flexibility with these figures.

The first box is animal themed – so we’ll start with the Tannuki Tricksters. (Tannuki are real animals who are described by the internet as “Japanese raccoon dogs”.) The Tricksters are exactly that – ninjas with bags full of stolen swag and a couple of special powers up their sleeves.

Their “Nage-Waza” power can push people away from them… or simply push them down to a lower level in order to get a better attack. “Tanuki Aruki” lets other small/medium Vorid or Ninja figures get some extra movement. Finally, like other ninja heroes, they can “Phantom Walk” – moving through enemy figures without taking leaving attacks.

Their ranged combat is helpful… but it’s really their speed combined with the Nage-Waza power that can help them thin the ranks for other smaller enemy figures. We haven’t tried them with other old skool ninja figures (like the Ninjas of the Northern Wind or Kumiiko or Otonashi) or even the promo figure of Shiori… but that bonding power could make them a great inexpensive (point-wise) addition to a ninja-based army.

Molten Crustaceans

There is another picture of the “lava crabs” farther down in the piece… but I would be remiss if I didn’t point you at the first thing my oldest son showed me when I sent him a picture of these beauties.

Anyway, meet the Molten Crustaceans – who are both larger figures than I thought they’d be and all armed with weaponry. This common squad is obviously “Lava Resistant” (which means they can’t be affected by Hellforge’s “Blast Furnace” power) in addition to dancing merrily along the new Lava terrain. They also generate molten rock (roll of 1-18) or lava (roll of 19-20) when they die due to their “Volcanic Carapace”.

I have some interesting thoughts about using them as blockers to slow quick-moving advances – or, better yet, to have them land on glyphs with the intention of their death rendering the glyph dangerous to anyone else who occupies the space. Good times.

The raccoon dog ninjas and lava crabs come in the same box… and yes, I’m glad I have two sets of each of them.

Grave Grim

The second box of common heroes/squads takes a darker tone with two more recruits for Revna. The first is the ominous omen of the Grave Grim – here to spread terror and push forward those who’ve shuffled off this mortal coil into battle.

That’s right, with his “Guide of the Dead” power, the Grim can move up to 6 small/medium/large Undead or Eisenek figures up to three spaces each. There’s no sightline or distance limitations – which makes this a hefty power. (I ran him with Eiseneks and the Revna Acolytes, which proved to work quite well. He’d be wonderful with a Zombies of Morridan army – basically putting rocket shoes on the shambling undead.)

He also has a “Harrowing Presence” which projects a 3 space bubble that reduces 20-sided die roll powers.

Having two of them worked well – but with only two lives, you need to protect them from, say, Vorid Glidestrikers who float down to do them harm. (Sigh. Should have planned better.)

Revna Acolytes

Speaking of undead figures that the Grave Grim can move, here’s the undeniably creepy trio of Revna Acolytes. Now, let’s get the bad news out of the way first – they are weak (1 hit point), and their attack/defense numbers are easily blocked or easily overcome (2 dice each).

On the other hand, if they are adjacent to a Revna hero using normal attack or defense, that hero can reroll a single die, thanks to the “Hero Worship” of the Acolytes. And death is not final for them – they can be “Risen by Revna” – one figure at the start of each round adjacent to a Revna hero.

I’ve found them the most help in supporting other Revna heroes – and coupled with the Grim’s ability to move them into adjacent positions, that’s not that difficult to make happen.

Glyph Pack

One of the two releases in this wave is the Glyph Pack which brings back 16 regular glyphs from the “old skool” version of Heroscape as well as 16 treasure glyphs (from the D&D era of Heroscape). There’s one new glyph – the Bolt of the Witherwood (treasure glyph) – as well.

For those of us who played & collected back in the day, this is mostly a repeat. But for newer players, it’s wonderful to get all of these glyphs in one pack, giving you options in board creation (including the ability to create “adventures” using the treasure glyphs).

For those who want to know, the only “missing” glyphs are the Mysterious Item and Object of Power artifacts from the Marvel Heroscape set. (Not a big loss.) I do wish that the color artwork versions of Brandar, Dagmar, Rannvieg, and Mitonsoul were in there (along with color versions of the Age of Annihilation-specific glyphs: Yadulka, Quillivon, Haukeland, Felaron, and the Xenethrax Vines.

Lava Fields

The final release is a new version of another long-gone terrain pack – this time, it’s the Lava Fields. (“Hot lava death!!!”) As one of the groups that playtested Volcarren Wasteland back in the day, it’s really fun to see this come back into existence – and this time with lava formations.

And two 24 hex “base” pieces… which is great, but we still need more lava resistant figures (besides the well-armed crabs) to be able to fully use this terrain box. (There are a number of “old skool” lava resistant figures out there – and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with creating your own treasure or house rule that protects a hero from lava effects.)

The picture above is one solution – combine lava and molten rock as blocking/obstacle terrain and use regular rock to “bridge” over it. (As we move forward into the next wave, we’ll be getting roads and bridges – having a Bridge Over Troubled Lava is an excellent choice.) We’ve also used it to clog up the center of a map (volcano? lava pool?), forcing heroes and squads to the outside edges instead of simply converging on the middle.

Be creative – this is another tool in your world-building toolbox!

Extra Credit: GenCon Later This Week

I won’t be at GenCon – but for anyone who is going, there’s a full slate of Heroscape events and merch available. Want to know more? Check out this link.

Closing Thoughts

I’m happy to have common squads & heroes back – but I also appreciate that Renegade isn’t overloading us with commons. I’m also happy to see interesting figure designs (like Imperator Kayne & Scavorith) that don’t look like anything we’ve seen before in the battles of Valhalla.

That said, I’m still hoping for more lava resistant figures as well as polar bears riding some sort of steed. (I suggest motorcycles.) I’d take some tiny Eisenek machines along with a few more small & medium-sized beasts to help out the druidic/elemental summoner types. And I’d like the Age of Annihilation glyphs with artwork like those in the glyph pack.

Obviously, these new boxes are not where you should start if you’re just jumping into Heroscape and the battles of Valhalla… but I’m impressed with the creativity in each set and their usefulness in gameplay.

Want to read more Heroscape coverage from the OG?

How about some stuff I wrote back in the day about Heroscape for my personal blog?

As noted above, I received review copies of the new Heroscape material – Wave 1, Wave 2, and Wave 3. Back in the day, I did receive 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 61 year old Mark. But I still have it hanging in my closet.)

About Mark Jackson

follower of Jesus, husband, father, pastor, boardgamer, writer, Legomaniac, Disneyphile, voted most likely to have the same Christmas wish list at age 60 as he did at age 6
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