Heroscape: Here Be Dragons… and Pirates… and Some Very Creepy Forest Dwellers

Posted on November 11, 2025 by Mark Jackson
Chris (upper right) and Braeden (lower left) contemplate how to defeat me. Only one of them was successful.

In the last couple of weeks, the newest story arc of Heroscape arrived – and thanks to the kindness of family and friends, the new stuff has been hitting the table and I’m looking forward to giving you the lowdown on it. I know many of you are looking for coverage of another magical land (aka Spiel Essen)… but Valhalla will have to do for now. (The team here at the Opinionated Gamers are writing up reviews as quickly as we can get to the new Essen stuff – just be patient!)

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 smattering of promo figures.

The Gelyrie Vanguards are NOT happy that Misarex is attacking their Krakenling friend.

Gelryie Vanguards

The Embers of War story arc brings a new Personality type – Unfathomable. It’s no surprise that these winged fish people (armed with tridents, no less) are the first to appear from the deep. They will not be the last.

The Gelyrie are a common squad – but ordering them can have a powerful effect on the rest of your army. Their “Tidal Advance” power enables each Fierce and Unfathomable figure you control one space per order marker on their card at the beginning of each round. (Don’t forget, the X order marker counts as an order marker for stuff like this!)

As befits creatures from the see, they do have the “Swim” power (they don’t stop movement in water spaces) and a really nifty power (“Defend the Deep”) that gives them +2 defense when they are on a water space or defending against an attack from a figure that has height advantage on them. On relatively flat battlefields, this is marginal – but since I like to build battlefields with lots of terrain, this amps up their value, even with their relatively small attack and defense values.

We found that two squads of Gelyrie made formidable opponents, especially when they were paired with another Unfathomable figure who you’ll meet in just a moment. I would not hesitate to bring them out on a board with lots of water and/or terrain variation. (And, yes, it does look like one of the Gelyrie warriors has a bit more catfish heritage than some of the others – and is wearing a metallic Devo hat.)

The unpainted versions of the Gelryie Vanguards and a Krakenling – impressive wash job from the Renegade team!

Krakenling

The other Unfathomable creature making an appearance for this release is the formidable Krakenling. Thanks to be a common hero, you can have more than one of these beauties as part of your army.

And they are a worthy addition to that hypothetical army. Their attack value of 4 and defense value of 5 (with three hit points) is impressive – and when you couple that with their “Flailing Tentacles” that allow them to attack three times in a turn, they turn downright scary. Thankfully for their opponents, the number of attacks they can make it reduced by one for each wound marker on them.

They also have a variety of movement powers:

  • Somewhat obviously, they can “Swim” (don’t have to stop movement on water)
  • They can “Warp Space” (use a portal to ‘teleport’ up to 4 spaces)
  • And they can “Eldritch Switch” spaces prior to attacking (switching spaces with an adjacent single-space figure)

There are a number of clever things you can do with this combination of firepower and slick movement abilities – including using the Switch power to remove opponents from glyphs before attacking them or diving into a crowd of enemies and hitting three of them in a single move. As their opponent, using ranged figures to wound them before they close to attack is vital.

Of course, Krakenlings imply the existence of a Kraken… and the Heroscape design folks at Renegade Game Studio have us taken care of. The Kraken (or at least his tentacles reaching through warp portals) is on the way next spring.

BTW, the Krakenling & four Gelyrie Vanguard figures come in a single box.

The Heroes of Arboreas… ready to take you on.
Haluchott is downright intimidating.

Haluchott, Corrupter of Beasts

The next five figures are all from the Heroes of Arboreas box – hence the title of this post referencing creepy forest dwellers. (OK, Chana isn’t creepy – but the other four certainly are.)

The largest figure is Haluchott – one of two “beast whisperer” heroes in this set and our first to “Command of the Wild” who follows Utgar. In her case, this power is supercharged, as she order two Small, Medium, OR Large Beasts she controls.

Additionally, there’s that freakishly large staff she’s carting around, which gives her a range 6 special attack IN ADDITION to her normal melee attack. Her defense of 4 is decent – but her “Calm the Beast” power gives her an extra two dice in defense against, you know, beasts.

There’s a temptation to run her into battle – but experience is showing us that she may be most effective on a high point (extra defense) on the edge of the battlefield, commanding her beast minions and zapping anything that gets close with her Staff of the Long Hand.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that her ominous mask is reminiscent of a key character in the wonderful graphic novel series Amulet. (If you haven’t read it, you are missing out. You should fix this ASAP.)

Two miniature figures of a beastly creature and a mystical being, set against a backdrop of green terrain pieces resembling foliage and rocks.
The Aquilla faithful – Girushia & Marachott

Marachott, Mind Whisperer

Marachott is a devotee of Aquilla and has the ability to command a single Small or Medium Beast. However, that isn’t the ultimate “it picked me up with its mind powers and shook me like a dog” ability Marachott possesses. That would be her Whisper which allows her to attempt to control a Unique Hero within two spaces of Marachott. On a d20 roll of 16+, she can take a turn with the controlled hero… and that hero can be a foe or a friendly (she gets +3 on the die roll to control a friendly hero).

Her Staff of Curupiran is an awesome weapon – even though Marachott only has a single attack die, the staff adds two (2!) automatic skull results to her attacks.

The caveat here is her relatively weak defense (3) mitigated slightly by her six hit points. We’ve found her to be most effective when she’s guarded by other beefier figures when she’s pushed forward. I like the idea of getting her a bit of height to augment her defense and the power of her staff. The whisper power doesn’t hurt either, as she can use nearby allies to come to her aid.

Girushia, Grove Keeper

The Grove Keeper is a Dryan (like the previously referenced heroes in this box) devoted to Aquilla… with more foilage-specific powers. In other words, Girushia puts the “dru” in “druid”.

Specifically, Girushia can (just like Marachott) command a single Small or Medium beast. But the forest fun seriously begins with the “Wicked Thorns” power that potentially punishes Small or Medium figures for moving adjacent to the Grove Keeper. Those wicked thorns have “Reach” (the ability to increase range by a space with some limits) as well.

Finally, Girushia can use the “Gift of the Forest” to heal when they end a round adjacent to a tree or bush. Coupled with their 6 hit points, this makes the Grove Keeper an excellent blocker to protect objectives and/or glyphs next to forest-y stuff.

A close-up of two fantasy miniatures from the Heroscape game, featuring a winged creature with dragon-like features and a bipedal creature with elongated limbs, set against a colorful terrain backdrop.
The very welcome new beasts – Chana and Vrono

Vrono the Brambletooth

Honestly, one of the niftiest things about the Heroes of Arboreas box is the inclusion of two new beasts that makes the previously released “beast whisperer” heroes even more effective – both Ewashia and Raakchott texted the Renegade design team a bundle of heart emojis. (Not to mention the three other figures in the Arboreas box.)

The first of those beasts is Vrono – whose sole extra power is “Sharp Thorns” (which works much like the Grove Keepers’ Wicked Thorns). His relatively low hit points (3) and weaker attack (2) is offset by a low drafting cost… and his usefulness in occupying glyphs with his decent defense (4).

Chana the Zenithwing

The other new beast is Chana – a Stealth Flying bird (or bird-like – I’ll accept either answer) creature with mystical healing powers. Their “Renew 12” power lets them heal adjacent beasts or wizards IF they are in five clear sight spaces of a wizard. (I don’t think I pointed it out, but the three new “beast whisperers” in this box are all Wizards.)

The biggest problem we’ve had with Chana is keeping them alive long enough to use the healing power.

The Dreadnoughts of Caraway Cavern – Best. Pirate. Team. So. Far.

Dreadnoughts of Caraway Cavern

Back in the dark days after Hasbro shuttered the original Heroscape line, there was a lot of discussion about archetypes/tropes we were missing – both the “what might have been” from the Marvel line (Fantastic Four? Daredevil?) and the D&D line (where is my Gelatinous Cube, for crying out loud?) as well as stuff like Roman chariots or heroes & squads based out of African history and mythology.

And pirates.

Man, I wanted pirates – and with the Age of Annihilation, we got some: two squads and three heroes, along with a Captain who worked well with pirates. But I don’t believe we really had a way to make a pirate army sing until now.

Until the Dreadnoughts (and the Crimson Widow) showed up. The Dreadnoughts can be bonded to a Captain via “The Captain’s Way” – which increases their defense dice against non-adjacent attacks. Thanks to “Captain’s Orders”, they can activate a Captain or Pirate hero before they take a turn.

And, in a way that the previous pirate squads have not, their “Mortal Blow” attack ability lets them ‘explode’ dice based on the number of wounds created, potentially inflicting more wounds.

Plus they look so stinkin’ cool. (Esp. the dude with the giant club.)

Crimson Widow

If the Dreadnoughts are the best pirate squad (so far!), it’s not a surprise that the Crimson Widow is the best pirate captain so far. She’s got a solid attack (4) and 5 hit points – but her strengths are in her special powers.

She starts the game by using her “Hire Crew” power – which allows her to select a Unique Squad in her army and change their class to Pirate. If she has an order marker on her card, her “Pirate Commander” power gives every pirate you control +1 to their attack against adjacent figures. (Yes, that includes the “pirates” she just created by hiring them.) Finally, her “Midnight Raid” power lets her use an X marker on her card to move two pirate figures within six spaces of her.

We’ve had success with recruiting a pirate army with the Crimson Widow leading and Cornelius Breech (see below) acting as her backup. We’ve also had good results from her pumping up the various pirate squads in charging wave assaults.

Scions of Icaria

Three detailed dragon miniatures in different colors and poses on a blue background.
Braxas, Nilfheim, & Mimring get together every once in a while to swap war stories.

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 courtesy of their “Cleave to the Mighty” power. And they are a common squad, so you can have a bundch of little dragons running about the board.

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.)

Each of the Scions gets their own “Draconic Breath” special attack… but the target has to be at range 4 or less AND within 3 clear sight spaces the Liege they chose to “cleave to”. Not optimal – but better than nothing.

A display of four different dragon miniatures, each with unique colors and styles, including a white dragon, a blue dragon, a black dragon, and a red dragon, all set on circular bases against a blue background.
Old skool Wyrmlings, hanging out and complaining about their inadequate paint jobs.

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.)

Greatbow Archers

I don’t know that I can properly convey the size of this common squad – both their physical presence AND their impact on the battlefield. These two archers are large figures (size 8) which means they do make tempting targets for other ranged figures. However, their speed of 6 and range of 7 makes it possible for them to clamber up to a high point and rain arrows down on their enemies.

That’s especially dangerous for enemies who are far away due to the Greatbow Archers “Longshot Specialist” ability. If the archer has not moved, they add 1 to their attack against figures at range 4-6 and 2 to their attack at range 7+. (Yes, yes… you are right, my friends. The Glyph of Ivor with the +4 range buff makes this squad a complete nightmare.)

I literally have no complaints about this common squad… unless I’m playing against them. Then, I have a lot of complaints. I’m Karen from Valhalla with all my whining as my squads get treated like pincushions.

Sonlen is trying to clear the club-bearing Dreadnought off of an important glyph.

Roads & Bridges

There are two terrain expansions in this wave… the first of which is The Roads of Valhalla. It includes two five space bridges along with the low walls that make up the sides of the bridge and a number of single space road pieces.

Since units who start and remain on roads for their entire movement gain an additional 3 movement points, their placement on the board can change incentives and direct the flow of a battle. They are particularly helpful when building larger maps to make it easier for the battle to be joined.

I do wish there had been two space road pieces in the set… but I’m glad this is out there for newer Heroscape players to enjoy.

Ruins

The Ruins of Valhalla expands your ability to build walls and archways – and through the addition of three-sided pillars, you can vary the design of your ruins. As you can see in the picture above, there is also the ability to stack ruin pieces to create more interesting visuals (and hiding places).

My wish here was for an extra archway or two – but this is a welcome addition to the ruin pieces found in the Age of Annihilation Master Set.

Extra Credit: Promo Figures

Four new promo figures joined the shelves in my game room in the last few months…

  • Cornelius Breech, The Derelict Prince
    • A bonus for charging in attack and the ability to step in for a wounded (or dead!) Captain makes him a helpful reinforcement figure.
  • Decker the Burrowbreaker
    • We haven’t got Decker to the table yet, but his drill attack and ability to burrow underground are pretty dang cool. Additionally, he’s giving off serious “I escaped from the old Ravensburger ‘Mole in the Hole’ game and I’m righteously ticked off about it” vibes.
  • Deflectatron
    • Primarily a defensive figure – I’m always glad to have more Vydar Soulborg figures. It’s also nice to have someone else for Warden 816 to buff.
  • Major Q11
    • My favorite new promo figure – Q11 is a beast with multiple ranged attacks, a sweet spillover melee attack, and excellent defense and attack numbers. If you’re going to spring for a single figure, Q11 is the way to go.

Decker is unpainted as shipped – the rest of the promo figures listed here were painted.

Closing Thoughts

This was the first time I’ve seen the unpainted squads IRL (“in real life”) and I was more impressed than I thought I would be. The quality of the sculpts is excellent (painted or unpainted)… but the wash makes the details stand out nicely. For those who are trying to save some precious gaming cash, the unpainted figures are a great idea.

Alternately, those with a steadier hand than I can paint these figures – and can do so to match the army cards (thanks to the paint guides provided on the Renegade Game Studios site) or be wildly creative. (My favorite creative paint job so far is someone who turned the Frostclaw Paladins into Care Bears.)

For those of you who (like me) are acquiring the painted figures, I have some suggestions about which box(es) to grab if cash is short:

  • For folks who don’t have a lot of Heroscape stuff pre-Renegade, either the pirate box (Crimson Widow and the Dreadnoughts) or the Heroes of Arboreas box really dovetails nicely with the previously released Renegade sets.
  • For us ‘old skool’ Heroscapers, the combination of the Scions & the Greatbow Archers feels like a natural fit – nostalgia and some serious ranged firepower.
  • Finally, if you’ve been eyeing the upcoming Shores of Valhalla terrain expansion, the Krakenling and Gelyrie is a natural fit.

Honestly, I’m really pleased with all four figure boxes – they’re splendid. The terrain boxes (Ruins and Roads) are both solid, though it’s difficult for an ‘old skool’ ‘Scaper to compare the Roads box to the original Road to the Forgotten Forest set. (Yes, that was two decades ago… I get it.)

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, the fantastic character design, 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?

I received review copies of the new Heroscape material from Renegade Game Studios. 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 for Hasbro. (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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