MINIATURE PACK: CALL OF DREAD discussion

[pfgamer]

Edited by HispZargon: Previous post subject "Call of Dread Figure Pack" has been replaced by "MINIATURE PACK: CALL OF DREAD discussion" to match with related threads of other previous launches by Avalon Hill.

I don't see this mentioned in any other thread here yet (so pardon me if I've missed it), but this morning I saw that this has suddenly appeared:

https://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-Gaming-He ... B0HC7LKCDN

Apparently it is only nine new figures sculpts--no cards, tiles, quests, etc.--that are intended to be used as boss monsters on the board for quests that don't already have a specialized figure for a particular character (such as Ulag and Skulmar).

A good idea, and at the SRP of $24.99, each figure would cost a little under $3.00, which is pretty good for today's prices.

The question is does the average player feel a need for generic boss figures?

[Foilfodder]

Not NEED, but desire...maybe. Alternate sculpts look good...love the crab claw on the Abomination.

I have so many minis from various other games, i usually dig one out from D&D Ashardalon or Zombicide Black Plague. For players with the older version of the game Etsy has many sellers with mini pack for the same purpose, as bosses. A thread here about what games have minis to match the original HeroQuest exists viewtopic.php?f=56&t=54

[The Admiral]

Yes, I certainly don't need this, but will almost certainly get it.

[lestodante]

The question is does the average player feel a need for generic boss figures?

Yes, many people asked for them. Although they have probably already defeated them and will not certainly go back to play the same expansion twice, just to feature the new boss miniature.
I like how they featured a classic Witch Lord, looking the same one painted by Les Edwards. Also, the zombie is clearly inspired by the one available in the 1989 box. The new abomination is also cool, having a lot of personality.
The Orc Shaman looks familiar to me, he is probably inspired by the one sculpted by Monstrous Encounters or the by Boris Nikolic's artwork:

https://www.deviantart.com/borisdigitalartist/art/Orc-Shaman-608580731

BorisNikolicOrcshaman.jpg

[HispaZargon]

My summary about this miniature pack:

It is not a bad product, nor expensive enought to be instantly hated, compared with prices of other previous releases like the Hero Collection boxes, so I am sure it will be very well sold. Even knowing this box does not bring any new lore to the game, by means of new cards or new quests, interested people and collectors will probably buy one or two boxes (like me), but the bad thing is this product was not the one actually expected and wished by most of the fans of the game (like me too), which was a new expansion campaign, as 'advanced' in latest GenCon by means of the new official quest The Return of the Witch Queen. in my humble opinion, the second option had fitted better in the most important board game event on earth, the Essen fair, than just announcing there a box with toys miniatures.

Fortunatelly, as I mentioned in my latest podcast on YouTube, I still think a new expansion around Kessandria and Grawshak characters will be leaked/announced very soon, hopefully on Lucca Games event, but the flame of HeroQuest has been again put in risk to be switched off even sooner than I think it deserves by means of this kind of easy commercialy-convenient product. If they wait too much for more quest pack releases...

[Malcadon]

I find this a great product, and I cant wait to get it.

While I know that many of us already have a ton of miniatures from a wide ranges of sources. It is also not lost on me that there are a number of Quest Pack that offer added miniatures with an “alt-sculpt” that can be used for special characters/monsters. Although, I find the translucent monsters from PoT and SQT are best used for special versions of basic monsters, such as the Spirit Riders and Doomguards. While a no-bells-and-whistles set, I really like the Call of Dread miniature pack as it offers much needed presentation for all the basic monster types (that is not the Mummy), and the ability to have a wider range of special monsters besides the same old Dread Sorcerer.

There are two major consideration no one is talking about where the new figures can really shine.

First, this can make for an indicator for Multi-Phase Enemies, where you swap miniatures to show that something is different about it. That is, you can re-write RotWL so that you use “Undead” for The Witch Lord to show when he is nearly invincible, and then replace him with “Skeleton” when he becomes weak and vulnerable to normal weapons.

Second, you can now have Champions in the World’s End Tournament. So, if you want a team of Skeletons, you could have some basic Skeletons, an Archer or two, a Spirit Rider or two, and a special Skeleton Champion to lead them.

There are so many things you can use them for.

Here are my take on each of the figurines:

“Sorcerer” – A fine figure of an evil Dread Sorceress (or Witch) about to throw dark magic. A living alternative to the Dread Sorceress from SQT. This looks like it would be a fun paint project.

“Gargoyle” – This one looks OK. Not as retro as the Gargoyle from the Game System, or as menacing as the Gargoyle from PoT. Its one saving grace is that, with its arms up and wings inwards, it is way more compact than a standard Gargoyle. With three Statues in the game now, and a third Gargoyle figure, I can't think of a better way to punish my players with this iconic trap.

“Dread Warrior” – A simple figure with a small shield and a khopesh, and a less dramatic pose. There is enough features to suggest that it could also be an undead knight. It does not take up as much adjacent real estate as standard Dread Warriors. This is a fine looking Dread Warrior commander.

“Undead” – I love this! A great callback to The Return of the Witch Lord. While you are not getting a Mummy—being more of a Skeleton Sorcerer—its a great figure to have. While the default Dread Sorcerer is a fine Witch Lord-type figure by its own right, the bone color makes it clear that this is Undead, not Dread.

“Zombie” – My favorite! A callback to the OG box art and figure. Hell, I wish this was the default Zombie figure. I’ll love to paint that up.

“Skeleton” – Another great undead figure. This is clearly a Skeleton character not quite a sorcerer as the ‘Undead’ figure. It has a look of determination.

“Abomination” – Watch your iron with this one! It might make it rust! A much sought after miniature. Crab-claw, humanoid hand holding a poking-stick, and a big grin, ready to eat some land-food. There is a lot of charm with this one.

“Orc” – If you are looking for a big, strong “Orc Warlord” with a massive notched sword, you are out of luck! Instead, you are getting an “Ore Shaman”-type. This is a great figure to have.

“Goblin” – This is my least favorite as it looks like a female Goblin Archer from JoD and AtOH, but with a sling instead of a firebomb. As awesome as it to have Goblin Grenadiers, I feel that this figure would make for a better standard Goblin Archer.

[Kurgan]

The Abomination boss looks goofy and cartoony to me. I appreciate that he's in a classic HQ Fimir pose (with a turtle shell belt buckle/codpiece reminiscent of the "hubcap belly shield" the original wore). Classic zombie is a win, so is the Ork shaman (looks awesome, and he is jacked!). The female sorceress is mysterious but could have many uses. Skulmar looks badass... and remember, that guy was never officially brought to justice!

The other sculpts I love, especially the Witch Lord (and his skeletal guard). The lore scroll appears in five languages (and the mirror writing English used on the Joe Manganiello "Map" giveaway GM screen) and as Tess Hogan stated, was a way to get it into more markets faster without having to worry about translation. You use the minis however you like (the most obvious being standing in for named characters in existing quests and your own DIY homebrews). The "rosetta stone" seems to refer to a prophecy... is it the revival of the heroes, or some future story? Or is this "bad guy quest" where the defeated villians are becoming heroes, or maybe being treated as the protagonists? (Doug talked about how he wanted to give the other players more opportunities to play as the bad guys but it was unpopular).

Still, a "villains pack" is something we fans were asking for for ages, a "monster pack" was discussed with Lee on the CovertNerdPodcast years ago that I appeared on. The only problem now is the wait!

Fans will make the cards and abilities and homebrews. These will be cheaper (unless you're printing them yourself) and more durable than those etsy proxies you find these days.

[lestodante]

With this pack they are also giving to folk the chance to have their own Witch Lord boss, without displeaseng people who bought the Mythic Tier and still want to have their own exclusive miniature, as it happened with the first female Druid which is still an exclusive of the Mythic Tier Pack.
At this point I will not be surprised to se a Hero Pack as well, featuring classic heroes (no new cards needed) but with alternate poses or genre swapped and maybe a new Mentor figure and a new prisoned adventurer.

[Kurgan]

Yeah the gargoyle and abomination designs are both deliberately trying to take up less space on the board (crowding or being top heavy were problems with past designs) while still seeming big and threatening (and still both single base monsters). The stone golem constructs in WOM remake showed we can have a monster that is very tall.

Like with First Light, they are listening carefully to fan requests and fine tuning the experience to be closer to our preferences. I'm glad this thing exists, as much as I'm with those who say I would have liked a page of suggestions or some ability cards, maybe a mummy monster in there.

But the list of Mythic exclusive characters is shrinking with each release...

We've gotten alternate sculpts of all the sex swaps of the four heroes except the Dwarf female (unless you count the Explorer), the Druid, all of the unlock tier alternate monsters, including the Dragon and the Warlock and Bard, Sir Ragnar... and even the limited run guardian knight.

What's left... Mentor?


And this villains pack may incentivize people to revisit some old quests. I for one am excited to battle the Witch Lord again with this new mini. As an owner of the Mythic set, I can now give him a costume change!

[pfgamer]

I don't know that I completely agree with HispaZargon's opinion that this kind of product risks Heroquest's future, because I think it is even more important to new players and might boost sales in that group.

I think this makes it an especially important pack for players that are new to the game (who don't have access to any Mythic Tier exclusives or non-HQ figures) to get alongside the GS/First Light, KK & RotWL.

I also agree with Malcadon's suggestions of the kind of characters the figures in the pack can work well for.

Although these figures can obviously be used to represent any special or unique foe of their types for a given quest--as befits the standard HQ method of doing things--it almost seems like some of them were initially designed with the purpose of representing certain unusual enemies from the Game System, Kellar's Keep, and Return of the Witch Lord quest books.

Here's how some of them could best be used from the start:

"Orc" = Grak from GS Quest 6, "Legacy of the Orc Warlord," since this figure closely matches Grak, who is listed as "an extra tough-looking orc who holds a staff exactly like the one described in the armory" and that he "also wears a Wizard's Cloak," and knows 3 Dread spells.

"Dread Warrior" = Dread Warrior marked with a C from GS Quest 11, "Bastion of Dread;" this unnamed Dread Warrior is the one who has Orc's Bane, and though there's no indication he's supposed to be fighting with that weapon (even his stats are standard) using this figure would show that there's something different about this Dread Warrior. (Also, this figure could be used for the Dread Warrior General Abraxus from the First Light quest book.)

"Abomination" = Abomination marked with a B from KK Quest 4, "The Dwarven Forge;" if you decide it would be a good idea to tip the players off to the fact that there's something special about this abomination (that it can cast Rust 3 times) this would be a good figure to use (perhaps its "Dread Claw" allows it to cast Dread spells?).

"Gargoyle" = Bellthor, RotWL Quest 5, "The Gate of Bellthor;" again, although there's nothing that indicates Bellthor would look different from any other gargoyle, using this figure would immediately suggest to the players that this gargoyle is a unique character.

"Skeleton" = Skullmar, from RotWL Quest 7, "The Forgotten Legion;" there's no description of Skullmar anywhere in RotWL, so this figure could easily be used for him.

"Sorcerer" = Kessandria, RotWL Quest 9, "The Last Gate;" whether one assumes she is or isn't, there's no mention of Kessandria actually being undead in RotWL, so this figure could reasonably be used for her. (Additionally, this figure would be good for the "Witch Hands" from the First Light quest book.)

"Undead" = the Witch Lord (obviously) from GS Quests 12 "Barak Tor--Barrow of the Witch Lord" & 13 "Return to Barak Tor", and RotWL Quests 6, "Halls of the Dead" & 10, "The Court of the Witch Lord."

Unfortunately the zombie and goblin Call of Dread figures don't seem to have similar fitting specific uses to begin with, but maybe if another Dread Figure pack is produced in the future they'll include a zombie in wizardly attire that could work well for Wardoz from GS Quest 7.

I also really hope they'll come out with an obvious "orc warlord" figure to represent orc leaders like Ulag from GS Quest 3, and Ograk from KK Quest 7.