Heroscape: Release the Kraken! (and a whole lot of other stuff)

Posted on May 29, 2026 by Mark Jackson

There’s been a veritable deluge of Heroscape over the past month and a half. The follow-up to the successful appearance of GI Joe (Go, Joe!) and Cobra in the realm of Valhalla is a wealth of new common squads and units as well as the long awaited appearance of the original Valkryie (Thormun) and his “friend”, the Kraken. Add in two brand new terrain sets, a return to a classic terrain set, and two promo figures that are fan service for us old skool Heroscape players… and then top it off with a really gorgeous sourcebook about all of the Age of Annihilation releases and lore. That leads to me writing a very long series of mini-reviews of all of this stuff – buckle in, kids!

We’ll start with the four releases made in April by Renegade Game Studios and the Heroscape team.

Chain Gruts & Ramosaur Rider Common Army Expansion

Almost from the beginning of Heroscape, there have been Gruts. The first to appear was Grimnak – a grut riding on a T-Rex-ish dinosaur in the original Rise of the Valkyrie master set. (For a long time, I made the mistake of thinking that the dino was named Grimnak – nope, it was the rider.) He was followed quickly by Blade Gruts and Arrow Gruts and a plethora of Swog Riders and other Orc warriors and hangers-on. (It’s possible to build a very effective Orc army in Heroscape.)

Interestingly, the Chain Gruts and Ramosaur Rider harken from the same planet (Grut) but from a later time period – thus giving them a steampunk vibe but having the same ferocity as their ancestors.

The four figure Chain Grut squad has a number of helpful special powers to bolster their effectiveness. Their Guild Boss Bonding lets an Orc or Volarak Champion take a turn when they are ordered. More importantly, their relatively weak attack (2 dice) is aided by their Chain Axe power, that lets them re-roll a single attack die that is not a skull. They also can use their Strong Arm ability to keep other figures from taking leaving attacks.

The biggest problem we’ve found so far is that they can get knocked around by bigger/tougher figures. Their defense is just OK (3 dice) and the focus of their powers is on attack.

The same holds true for the Ramosaur Rider. (According to the Tome of Annihilation, the riders name is Selak.) Though the defensive power is better (4 dice), the attack is equally weak unless he’s making a First Assault which gives him an extra attack die. (Basically, he benefits from charging and riding down his opponent.) Additionally, if there are an equal number of shields and skulls between the defense and attack roles, both the Ramosaur Rider and the defender take a wound due to his Headbutt power. With three life points, you can’t do that a bunch of times – but the threat of that power and the speed at which he moves (movement 7) still makes this figure a worthwhile addition to an army.

As I’ll note over and over through this review, these are both common units… meaning you can field multiple copies of them in an army.

Elites of Ullar & Ranoc Vipers Common Army Expansion

In the first expansion wave (22 years ago!), the Gruts were joined by the appearance of the Venoc Vipers and the Venoc Warlord. Over time, more Vipers appeared – including a set of Elite Onyx Vipers that could only be found at [checks notes] Wal-Mart. Yep, Wal-Mart.

Armed with stolen Marro weaponry, the newest serpent squad – the Ranoc Vipers – are the first ranged snakes to join the battles on Valhalla. Just as speedy and just as defensively challenged (defense of zero!) as their Venoc brothers-in-arms, the three Vipers do come equipped with some helpful special powers. They can hypnotize their adjacent opponents, reducing their defense value by one for every skull roll in their attack. Like all of the Vipers, they can Slither across water without stopping. Finally, their defensive value is increased by two when they are attacked by a non-adjacent figure.

In my experience, Viper-based armies need to strike quickly and do as much damage as possible, since they are unable to withstand attacks. Holding high ground helps their attack value (especially true for the ranged Ranoc Vipers) as well as bolster their defensive rolls.

I think the Ranoc Vipers would probably be at their best with two squads of Ranocs…

The other squad in this set is the Elites of Ullar. This trio of Kyrie warriors can both give and take damage (2 life points, 3 attack & defense) but the real value here is how they act as support to unique Ullar Kyrie heroes. (If you’re wondering, there are two Ullar Kyrie from old school ‘Scape, as well as two newer Ullar Kyrie from the recent expansions.) The Elites have a Blade Dance power that buffs the attack of unique Ullar Kyrie when the target is also engaged with an Elite. Their Ullar’s Pact power allows an unengaged Kryie figure to move when an Elite has received a wound.

The Elites are a specialized team – as I mentioned, I think their key role is supporting other Kryie, especially Ullar Kyrie. That said, those two life points means they aren’t always an easy kill.

Again, both of these squads are Commons.

The Urban Landscape of Valhalla Terrain Expansion

The previous two boxes of common squads were released in April… along with two terrain boxes. The Urban Landscape box contains both asphalt and concrete hexes as well as two Fortified Walls. The terrain works perfectly with the Marvel Heroscape set from back in the day as well as the Rumble at the Rift Battle Box released earlier this year as the base G.I. Joe set.

While I have a number of ideas about how to incorporate this terrain into some very odd maps, the main use for this box will be for those who’ve invested in the G.I. Joe and Cobra figures in order to give greater play space and variety for those battles.

The Forests of Valhalla Terrain Expansion

The second of the two terrain boxes is a return to the classic trees from the Road to the Forgotten Forest expansion. The six trees blend perfectly with “old skool” trees and offer a number of ways to create cover and add interest to your battle maps.

The road part of Forgotten Forest is now in a separate box… but it’s nice to see this arboreal element available to new players.

With that, let’s turn our attention to the cornucopia of things released in May 2026 that act as a grand exclamation point ending for the Age of Annihilation.

Revenants of Revna & Nuckelavee Common Army Expansion

Each army box in these two waves is dedicated to a troops of a particular Valkryie general – in this case, Revna and her undead minions. (Well, at least one of them is a demon… so there’s that.)

The Revenants of Revna squad are three undead Kyrie harvested by Revna from other Valkyrie generals – one of the Minions of Utgar, one of the Sentinels of Jandar, and one of the Einar Imperium. These fast-moving (movement 6) spirits have Stealth Flying, enabling them to swoop into the perfect battle position. They can also be empowered (+1 attack) by the Blood for Blood sacrifice of another Revna hero and they have Occult Bonding to give Revna heroes an extra turn.

Honestly, I didn’t have much luck with this team in my first game with them – but as a long-time Heroscape fan/collector/obsessive, I loved the callout to the old squads. I think I’ll use them as a defensive gap filler rather than an attacking strike force next time.

In the same box is the horrific demon Nuckelavee – a disgusting fusion of horse and man that is surprisingly beefy for its relatively low army point cost (50). With a solid attack (3) and defense (4) and an impressive speed (7!), this scourge is a freakish threat. It also has a special attack – Withering Breath – that is buffed by each wound on the Nuckelavee. Finally, it benefits from the ability to Subsume Souls – the first time the Nuckelavee destroys a figure each turn, it regains a hit point.

The low cost means fielding multiple of these nightmare horrors is doable – and I’d hate to face a crew of them. (You can do that because both the Revenants and the Nuckelavee are commons.) The main downside is the size of the monstrosity makes it an easy target for ranged attacks.

Skordyre Soldiers Common Army Expansion

A more recent addition to Heroscape lore is the appearance of various Skordyre insectoids. This common army box adds to the horrors of the Oathbound Phalanx and the Festering Honor Guard with one squad and three heroes hailing from Arboreas.

The Skordyre Infantry is a classic Heroscape trope – a common squad whose powers work best if you have multiple squads of the same type. (See: Zombies of Morridan) Their Pheromone Coordination bonds them to a pair of common Skordyre or Insect heroes… alternately, they can bond to a single unique hero of the same types. Death is simply a way to move other common Skordyre or Insect figures thanks to their Teeming power. And their Insectoid Swarm adds to their attack value when they attack en masse.

To get full effectiveness from this squad, you’re really going to need at least two copies of this expansion box.

The box also contains three Hive soldiers, each bred/engineered with special powers:

  • The Spitting Hive Solider has Corrosive Bile, which reduces the defense value of a target after you attack it.
  • The Lurking Hive Soldier who can hide using Concealment (a dice roll to avoid non-adjacent attacks) and can freely Disengage without taking leaving attacks.
  • The Bursting Hive Soldier is the insect version of Deathwalker 7000 – he’s able to combine his Acid Sacs with a Coward’s Reward to turn disengaging into a potential suicide bomb.

The three common soldiers are all relatively inexpensive to field (30 points) and each are effective in certain types of scenarios. (Examples: Bursting Hive Soldier is perfect when facing armies with a number of squads… while the Lurking Hive Soldier is well-suited for sitting on glyphs.)

Upgraded Necrotech Reavers Common Army Expansion

The Necrotech Reavers are the survivors of the destruction of their planet – and survivors of the experiments that created the Eisenek. We’ve seen Eisenek before in the service of Revna – the Hellforge Mandukor, the Iron Lich Viscerot, the Necrotech Wraithriders. But the Upgraded Reavers were left behind and forced to scavenge parts and tech to keep themselves alive.

Each box contains six figures in three different sculpts – and enough of the alternate tech parts to turn each of them into a particular type of Reaver. You can also field them as a common squad. (This is the first time we’ve had interchangeable parts for Heroscape figures – I’m hoping it won’t be the last!)

Here are the three Reaver common hero types:

  • Nectrotech Geistfire – his Unstable Blaster allows him to attack at range 6 – but it also has a 25% chance of wounding him as well.
  • Necrotech Ghastblade – he can make a Wild Spin Special Attack that hits all adjacent figures – even those on your side.
  • Necrotech Ghoulgrip – his Cyberclaw keeps small and medium figures from disengaging with him… and his Melee Defense adds +1 to his defense value when being attacked by an adjacent figure.

The Reavers squad uses the Necrotic Network to give another Eisenek hero a turn. Additionally, the Scavenged Parts ability allows you to replace a squad figure with a destroyed common medium Eisenek hero. (In other words, an Upgraded Necrotech.)

Much like the Hive soldiers, the specific special powers of each Upgraded Necrotech need to be used wisely. Both the Ghastblade and the Ghoulgrip will be effective against squad figures as opposed to taking on larger heroes.

Thormun & Kraken Army Expansion

Yes, I put the Kraken and Thormun closer to the end on purpose. I wanted you to read about the rest of the cool stuff as well. (If you skipped down to this entry, I’d still suggest you take a look at the rest of the boxes – come on, people… the Kraken needs enemies to drag down to the briny depths!)

Without delving deeply into the history of Valhalla, it’s important to note that Thormun was the first Valkyrie (aka “the first Kyrie to drink from a Wellspring”) and now deeply regrets that choice and discovery. In this box, you get two different versions of Thormun:

  • the secretive admiral of the Crimson Fleet pirates who is undercutting the Valkryie generals
  • the Empowered and enraged warrior who is attempting to destroy the Wellsprings and send all of the warriors back to the rightful time & place

Both versions use the same figure but different army cards.

Thormun, Empowered is only used in a “boss battle” scenario – a one vs. many special event included in this expansion box. Due to being One With the Void, he can warp across the map using the power glyphs. The Eldritch Overload allows him to make an extra attack if he’s close to a power glyph – but it wounds him as well.

Both versions of Thormun have Flying and are the Pirate King – meaning they qualify as having four classes: Admiral, Captain, Pirate, and King. No surprise – this allows for pretty awesome bonding to happen.

“Regular” Thormun is no slouch. He has 3 additional command markers to use on his Ragtag Armada… but it requires that he use them on three different affiliations in a round. (Affiliations are which Valkyrie General you serve.) He is also a Swashbuckler, giving him a second adjacent attack at +2 attack value.

Sadly, I haven’t gotten Thormun (or the special “end of the world” scenario) to the table yet – but I have plans to do so next week!

In one of the weirder (and smarter) choices made by the Heroscape design team, the Kraken is NOT a hero – but a unique squad of tentacles shooting out of Warp Space. It also moves in the same way (using warp space) with a movement of 4.

The Kraken does not start on the battlefield. When you reveal an order marker on a Unique or Unfathomable hero, you can place 1 tentacle/figure on an empty space next to that hero. (Destroyed tentacles cannot be resurrected.) Once per round, you can take a turn with the Kraken instead of taking a turn with Unique or Unfathomable hero.

The issue with the Kraken is power creep. One giant tentacle that can warp into position is frustrating… five is a downright nightmare. Big time defensive tip: don’t let the Kraken get into that position!

The Shores of Valhalla Terrain Expansion

If you’ve got pirates (and, as noted above, a Pirate King!), you need a pirate ship. Or at least the remnants of a pirate ship. And it would be nice if it had wooden planking and rope ladders and cannons.

The ‘Scape design team checks ALL of those boxes with this terrain expansion. While it’s probably the least flexible expansion in terms of building new maps (due to the very ship-like nature of the three large ship pieces), it still offers so many ways to utilize these elements in various scenarios.

And it looks gorgeous on the table. (Most of the pictures above were taken on a Shores battlefield.)

Wood pieces can be used as decking (which is treated normally) or road (which gives an additional 3 spaces if staying completely on road spaces). The rope ladders allow small and medium figures to climb or descend, counting the rope ladder as 1 space of elevation.

Cannons cannot be moved – well, unless you design a scenario that says otherwise. They are obstacles (so a figure can’t share a space with a cannon). Cannons can be fired – they are a range 8 attack 3 explosion 1 attack made by a figure adjacent to the cannon.

I’m not sure that this is a necessary terrain expansion for casual players – but for those folks who have gone down the Heroscape rabbit hole, it’s a must buy.

Tome of Annihilation

Finally, the Heroscape team did something I longed for back in the days of “old skool” ‘Scape – they wrote a history book.

But the Tome is more than a collection of Heroscape lore… it’s also a compendium on all of the Renegade Game Studios character releases… and a collection of the various battle maps and scenarios from Age of Annihilation.

For the casual player who simply picks armies and throws down in deathmatches, this isn’t a big deal. For someone like me who has a couple of reams of printed Heroscape scenarios and who has been intrigued by the backstories hinted at in rulebooks and box backs and online postings, this is delightful.

Promo Figures

There are two promo figures available from the April and May waves:

  • Syvarris (April) – an Elven archer with a huge range (9!) and an awesome power. Volley Unto Himself lets him reduce his range to 6 to get two attacks or to 3 to get three attacks.
  • Agent Carr (May) – Agent Carr is a secret agent super-hero with Sword of Reckoning (+4 attack against adjacent figures)… and he’s riding Dund, whose Crippling Glance can remove order markers and allows Agent Carr to Disengage without taking a leaving attack.

Both of these promos are serious original Heroscape callbacks – both Syvarris & Agent Carr were in the first Master Set and Dund appeared in a later expansion wave.

Final Thoughts

That’s a LOT of Heroscape in a short period of time. I should know – I received the two shipments within three weeks of each other. For many of you, that will mean making decisions about what you want to get now and what you want to wait on.

Here’s my recommendation for casual players:

  • Thormun and the Kraken are the first choice. They are both unique and offer some truly impressive figures and powers.
  • I think the Revenants/Nuckelavee and/or the Upgraded Necrotech boxes work well as single boxes – though having more of them wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.
  • Of the terrain boxes, the Forest is the most flexible in its use.

For more serious collectors, you’ll want to pick up one of everything and probably double the Skordyre and Gruts boxes.

I will note that my younger son has been picking up the unpainted sets and painting them – he’s been very positive about the quality of the Heroscape paint sets and the paint guides provided by Renegade.

OK, enough reviewing. Time to go set up a map and do battle!

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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