It all started with the blurry “shelf photo” from the 2006 Toy Fair. I think Erik at About.com took the photo and it made its way onto Heroscapers.com. Tons of speculation followed, some of which was accurate. Turns out that it wasn’t just the photo quality that was suspect, but the figure quality as well. Figure quality is important to me – if Heroscape had been made with chits instead of minis I wouldn’t be playing Heroscape, in fact I probably wouldn't be doing any gaming since Heroscape got me back into gaming. That is why I discuss figure quality with Heroscape, it is an important part of the gaming experience. So read on about wave 5.

I think that wave 5 may have been the wave that convinced retailers to stop carrying Heroscape. Wave 5 was the first expansion to be released to stores in a timely manner and in sufficient quantities. Actually the quantities were too sufficient. Wave 5 came out in the summer of 2006 (I think) and still has multiple packages sitting on store shelves. I think some of this glut may have been caused by the plastic composition not being approved by the European Union as the EU symbol is blacked out on the bottom of my packages – of course this is speculation on my part.

Wave 5 also suffered from having the worst sculpts and paint jobs of any Heroscape product released to date . The Nakita agents are just terrible and the other figures are not that much better. Compare this wave to the bar raising wave 6 or the something like Sonlen from the Swarm of the Marro master set and you’ll see a HUGE difference. The set also contained 2 unique packages; Gladiators and Agents, and Ninjas and Samurai. The gamers only need 1 of each unique package and the pre-teen boy market is not interested in Nakita Agents like they are Ninjas. Result – multiple packages of Nakitas/Gladiators still sitting on shelves. Note: 2008's Gencon exclusive is a Nakita repaint so some of these sets may be purchased by players who cannot get the exclusive.

Wave 5 was dramatically different from all other waves because it contained three unique squads. An aside about Heroscape, I really like how the designers established unique and common heroes and unique and common squads. Anybody who has played with common figures knows that the strength of the common is that you can field multiples of them. And commons have certain inherent resistances to powers like Mindshackle. Unique heroes are typically more durable, low cost elves excluded, and have greater resistance to items like Acid Breath or Stare Of Stone. That leaves the unique squads nestled somewhere in between. Certain unique squads such as the Krav Mega Agents or Airborne Elite will always have their place in the game but unique squads do fall too quickly to squad killing powers. I think the designers eventually recognized this and with the Aquilla’s Alliance package created a hero that treated common and unique squads differently. I wish Acid Breath and Grimnak’s Chomp gave unique squads a resistance between unique heroes and common squads. With three unique squads in this package this issue becomes more prevalent.

All of the wave 5 packages contain 2 double hex snow tiles. The snow tiles are the cheapest to produce and while nice to get in the package they are really not necessary. Hopefully you feel the extra tiles are not necessary either since wave 8 doesn’t include tiles and Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) has announced that future waves won’t contain tiles.



Ninjas and Samurai:

Ninjas



Figures - The Ninjas of the Northern Wind look like Ninjas should. They are clad all in black except for eye slits on two figures and a face opening on the other. I think they are molded in black so the only paint applied is to the face areas but I’m not sure on this. One has a very dynamic crouching pose with his sword thrust upward. A female ninja with a black clad ponytail stands on guard with her sword at the ready. The last ninja stands defiantly with fists clenched and a sheathed sword. This is also the most detailed sculpt with climbing rope across his chest and a dagger on his forearm – nice touches.

Stats – the ninjas have a good movement of 6. As melee combatants the ninja have one range, no shuriken or other ranged weapon for these guys. With 4 attack dice the ninjas hit hard, and with their movement and other abilities (below) they should be able to get the first melee strike. Three defense is not much and would lead to the ninja falling quickly were it not for their Disappearing Ninja ability (below). As squad figures the ninjas have one life each and the squad cost is 110. The Ninja are a unique squad so you will only be fielding one squad in you army.

Abilities – the Ninja possess both GHOST WALK, the ability to move through other figures, and DISENGAGE - the ability to leave a melee scrum without taking a parting shot from the opponent. These two abilities plus 6 movement should enable the ninjas to gain height advantage and/or possible strike at an opponent’s support figures, i.e. Raelin. Later waves have combined these two abilities as Phantom Walk.

The Ninja’s greatest asset is the ability to avoid damage using the DISAPPEARING NINJA ability. This ability can be activated when the Ninjas are attacked with a normal attack, whether adjacent or ranged. When attacked and at least one skull is rolled you can roll the 20 sided die and on a 12 or higher the Ninja can avoid damage by disappearing and reappearing in a space within 4 legal movement spaces. The Ninja cannot appear adjacent to an enemy figure. If you fail the 20 sided roll you can still roll defense dice normally. This ability is negated by the Cyber Claw ability possessed by Gladiatrons and Major X17.

Play – The Ninja have the same problem all unique squads have as detailed above. The Ninjas are also vulnerable to special attacks – in a tournament my Brunak absolutely demolished my opponent’s Ninjas with Blood Hungry special attack. That being said, the Ninja do possess the ability to hit HARD with four attack dice that can easily be increased to five. And if you’re facing normal attacks some good rolling on the D20 will allow the Ninjas to dominate! While I don’t field the Ninja often I do feel they are exciting characters to play. I give the Ninjas out of

Kozuke Samurai



Figures – The Kozuke Samurai are dressed in a deep blue and silver theme. This scheme doesn’t work for me for two reasons: the colors are not very vibrant and the scheme is unfortunately reminiscent of my 0-16 record holding Lions . The figures are also accented with some bronze, powder blue and dark brown colors on boots, belts, and other attire. One Samurai holds two swords apart and looks very much like a figure that would use Charging Assault. The other two Samurai are in more guarded poses which may befit the muted counter strike but do not evoke images of a charging assault. These figures are of adequate quality but leave something to be desired, especially on my pony tailed Samurai that has a powder blue mouth and chin.

Stats - the Kozuke Samurai have an average movement of 5, but this can be modified (see abilities below). The sword wielding Samurai are obviously melee warriors so the range is one. With 5 attack dice the Samurai can bang, and their abilities are designed to give them the first strike. Three defense is weak for a Samurai so expect to lose these guys quickly unless you have a Raelin and/or Hatamoro Toro boost handy. As squad figures the Samurai have one life each and the squad cost is 100. Another unique squad.

Abilities – The Kozuke can perform a CHARGING ASSAULT. This allows the Kozuke to move three additional spaces if they end their movement adjacent to an enemy and providing they are not engaged when starting their charge. This additional move is cumulative with any terrain/glyph bonuses.

Like other Samurai the Kozuke have COUNTER STRIKE. When rolling defense against a normal adjacent attack excess shields count as unblockable hits.

Play – The Kozuke are very similar to the Ninjas in that they are fun to play but they are fragile. Three defense will not hold up long so look to get a Raelin or Hatomoro Toro boost. If you have terrain with a decent amount of road you can use the Kozuke to surprise an opponent with an 11 space movement and three attacks of five each can do some major damage. These Samurais can also be used with the wave 8 Daimyo, Kato Katsuro. As you opponent starts to close upon your wall of Ashigaru your Kozuke can suddenly rush through the wall and inflict some pain. Slightly less cool than the Ninjas I give the Kozuke out of .


Gladiators and Agents:

Nakita Agents



Figures – Ugh! These figures are the absolute worst. The Nakita are molded in white plastic and are also primarily clad in white – think of them as a visual counter to the Krav Maga Agents. There is very little paint on the figures and the figures don’t have any type of detail enhancing wash on them. The agents also carry purple, yes purple, pistols. The Nakitas are all female, which my daughter likes, and evoke a Charlie’s Angels type image. The Nakitas are also multi-cultural with a white redhead, a black agent, and an Asian – I can only tell that she is Asian because of the Quest for Concan’s Castle advertisement – the blotchy paint and poor detail figure give no indication of this detail.

Stats - the Nakita Agents have the average 5 movement. The Agents use their purple pistols to shoot at 6 range and they possess decent attack of three and weak defense of three. Another squad, the Nakitas have one life each and the squad cost is 120. As discussed, this is also a unique squad.

Abilities – The Nakitas have a number of wordy abilities. The first is SMOKE POWDER 13. When any Nakita you control is targeted by a normal non adjacent attack, the Nakita can throw down a smoke shield on a roll of 13 or higher on the D20. All Nakitas you control plus any figures you control that are adjacent to the Nakitas have no visible strike zones for the duration of the targeting figures turn. This has led to a couple clarifications by Hasbro/WOTC. If attacked by a figure with double attack and the Nakita misses the first smoke throwdown the Nakita can try again on the 2nd attack. Also, if attacked by a squad figure and the smoke powder roll is successful none of the Nakitas can be attacked by any of the non adjacent squad figures. A nice counter to the 4th mass armies. Conversely, if the Nakitas fail the smoke roll on the first attack by a non adjacent squad figure they can attempt the smoke roll again on the 2nd attack.

The Nakita’s three defense is supplemented by ENGAGEMENT STRIKE 15. If an opponent’s small or medium figure moves adjacent to a Nakita you roll the D20. On a 15 or higher the opponent’s figure takes a wound. This only takes place when your opponent moves adjacent to your Nakita, not when you move adjacent to an opponent’s small or medium figure.

The Nakitas also have GORILLINATOR MOVEMENT BONDING. Before taking a turn with the Nakitas you may move up to 3 Gorillinators (one squad) up to 7 spaces each. I don’t really understand how this thematically applies but it is obviously intended to help the poor Gorillinators. And this only applies to moving the Gorillinators, you cannot have the Gorillinators also shooting an opponent using this ability.

Play – The Nakitas are similar to the Kozuke and Ninjas because they are fun to play but can fall easily. The Nakitas are especially vulnerable to special attacks since their smoke powder does not apply to specials. Either of the Q brothers would make quick work of the Nakitas. The Nakitas are best against squads of slow melee fighters – run and gun and then make your opponent risk the engagement strike. Unfortunately Engagement Strike does not work against large or huge figures as my opponent found out when I used Tor-Kul-Na to trample stomp all his Nakitas. And as a unique squad you can only draft one group yet the Nakitas fall to the squad killing abilities like Chomp, Trample Stomp, Stare of stone, etc… As I mentioned in the Smoke powder description the Nakita can also efficiently frustrate opponents that use range figures without special attacks. A couple good rolls on the D20 and you can nullify 4th Mass, Microcorp, Omnicrons, and so on…

I rate the Nakitas out of , I like them a little better than the Ninjas but I then applied a deduction based on figure quality.

Gladiators
The Gladiators are three unique heroes. The gladiators need to function together, although Crixus has solo value, so I will discuss each and apply a rating as a group.

Figures: The Gladiator figures are acceptable, but nothing about them is overly exciting. Retarius has an eye patch, which is kind of unique, but otherwise he looks like you would expect a net and trident wielding gladiator to look like. Retarius is also a non-Caucasian. I’m not sure specifically what race Retarius is, his skin color is quite a bit lighter than the black Nakita’s.

Crixus is my favorite gladiator appearance wise and in play. Crixus possesses a good amount of muscular detail and the gladiator helmet he wears is accurate when considered in relation to the gladiator movies I have seen. Crixus, and Retarius, are both clad in loincloths, but at least Crixus has some brown leg wrappings going on. My only complaint on this figure is that the small shield does not align with Crixus special ability. Crixus is cast in a dynamic back leaning pose, ready to parry his adversary.

Spartacus has some very nice detail going on. His shield is emblazoned with two highly detailed leaf and stem things (I’m sure someone will respond with a term for those) and the dark copper breastplate has a bronze eagle slightly raised from the breastplate. Spartacus also has silver shin guards and even a silver half mask attached to his helmet. This is actually one of the better looking figures from wave 5.

First we have Retarius:



Retarius is a below average melee hero with only 4 life. The base stats are unimpressive – move of 5, range of 1, attack of 5, and a measly 3 defense. Compared to other 90 pt figures, Retarius seems to come up short.

Retarius’ special ability is NET TRIP 14 and states that before attacking a small or medium figure Retarius can attempt to entangle the opponent in his net. This requires a roll of 14 or higher on the D20, a 35% chance. The opponent can then only roll one die for defense. This is good against high defense figures like Minions, or Zettians, etc… but I don’t see Retarius holding his own very long against those squads. And the 35% chance is too low – it should be 50%.

Next is Crixus:



Crixus is another melee hero who has the same base stats as Retarius except Crixus has 5 life. Crixus also costs 90 points.

Crixus' special ability is ONE SHIELD DEFENSE. When rolling defense against an attack (normal or special) and one or more shields are rolled the most damage Crixus can take from that attack is one wound. So if Krug hits Crixus with 7 skulls and Crixus rolls one shield, Crixus will only receive one wound form that potentially fatal attack. A pretty nice ability which can use modifiers like Raelin or Glyphs to improve the probability of success.

The last Gladiator is Spartacus:



Spartacus is also a melee fighter with 5 life, 5 movement, a big attack of 6, and an average 4 defense. Those are the stats you get for a whopping 200 pts.

Spartacus has one special ability: GLADIATOR INSPIRATION. If all your order markers are on Gladiators, and at least one order marker is on Spartacus, then all gladiators you control (except Spartacus) become inspired and add 1 to their; move, attack, and defense. This lasts to the end of the round, so even if Spartacus dies that round his co patriots are still inspired. An important note – the X marker counts as an order marker on Spartacus.

Gladiator Play/Analysis:
Obviously, due to GLADIATOR INSPIRATION the gladiators work best together, however, that is at a cost of 380 pts – the bulk of most armies. Spartacus is too costly at 200 pts when you consider that there are only 2 heroes he can currently inspire. Maybe a future gladiator squad (ranged?) will help justify his cost. Retarius, as mentioned previously, has too low of a probability of success on his net trip. Without inspiration Retaius’ 4 life and 3 defense will get knocked out pretty damn quick. Along with Spartacus, Retarius rarely sees any action in our games. Crixus, on the other hand, does see some action. 5 life and 5 attack are reasonable stats for a hero and the ONE SHIELD DEFENSE will allow Crixus to stick around for a while, especially if he can get height or Raelin to boost his 3 defense.

Crixus doesn’t work out as the Krug killer I hoped for, but that seems to be because I whiff a truly inordinate amount with defense dice. In all I find the Gladiators to be some of the more disappointing figures in Heroscape. I would rate Spartacus a , Retarius a , and Crixus a . As a group I can’t award them over a rating since my Heroscape group quickly found out that these guys are not worth their points. Case in point – Dund has seen more play time than Spartacus.

Soulborgs:

This is a set of two common squads. The package contains quite a bit of plastic with 3 double spaced Deathstalkers and 4 single Blastatrons.

Deathstalkers:



Figures – This three figure squad has some unique looking feral, cybernetic dogs. All the dogs are lean, mangy, and partially robotic. The robotic parts are in gold or silver colors and the organic bodies are molded in gray with lots of dark black wash on them. The cybernetic body parts are mostly different on each dog and there are some neat ideas here – like the dog with the large, round, red robotic eye and the figure with a series of red and white wires running from the top of the robot skull to the metallic spine. All three of these are double spaced figures.

Stats: The Deathstalkers are squad figures so they only have 1 life each. Their 7 movement is above average and they will need that movement to close with the enemy since these are melee figures. Their attack is 3 and they have a durable 5 defense. This three piece squad will cost you 100 pts.

Abilities: Deathstalkers possess one ability: MAUL. This allows the Deathstalker to Maul an opposing small or medium figure. If you roll a skull on every die the opposing figure cannot roll any defense dice and receives a wound for every skull.

Play: The Deathstalkers don’t hit the table much with our gaming group. For 10 less points and very similar stats you are better off fielding the Marrden Hounds. The Deathstalkers also have an ability that is penalized for increasing the attack. If you use the Deathstalker to attack from height you have a 50% less chance of enacting The Maul ability. I guess Maul is useful against high defense figures Minions or Sentinels but it just doesn’t seem to happen very often. A 1 in 8 chance of success is too low of probability to be useful.

A good thing about the Deathstalkers is that they are large and therefore immune to abilities that affect small and medium figures. But then again, so are the Marrden Hounds. And the Deathstalkers do have good movement but not good enough to justify their draft. I will use the Deathstalkers in an Utgar or Soulborg themed army but not in an all out competitive setting. Deathstalkers rate a .

Blastatrons:



Figures – Over time I’ve come to further appreciate the Blastatron figures. Originally I dismissed these figures as sub-par figures but I’ve since come to appreciate the subtleties of the sculpts and paints. The most appealing aspect of the Blastatrons is how each figure in this 4 piece squad has a different variation of the Vydar symbol on their left shoulder plate. This is good attention to detail. The main body of the Blastatron is molded in a blue gray color and a wash is not used so details are not as predominant. Other areas are accented in black, bronze, dark silver and the figures are capped off (no pun intended) with bright silver guns. Not bad looking figures but I can’t help think that a wash would have helped the appearance.

Stats: Blastatrons are a 4 piece squad, i.e. 1 life each. They possess an average move of 5, a good range of 7, an lowly attack and defense of 1 and 2 respectively. This squad will cost your draft allotment 60 pts.

Abilities: Blastatrons can use their GLADIATRON MOVEMENT BONDING to move 4 Gladiatrons you control up to 5 spaces each. This occurs before you take your turn with the Blastatrons. Note, this is a static move so glyphs or the road will not add to the number of spaces that the Gladiatrons can move.

The Blastatrons also have a HOMING DEVICE. When attacking non adjacent figures, add 1 attack die for every Soulborg who follows Vydar that is adjacent to the defending unit. This currently includes Majors: Q9, Q10, and X17. This also includes the Gladiatrons and other Blastatrons. This power has also been errata’d by WOTC to state that it is only Soulborgs you control that empower the homing device.

Play: With my review of wave 4 I was critical of the Gladiatrons and stated that they were not worth their points. Well, the Blastatrons now make the Gladiatrons playable. Not only are these units playable, the Blastatrons and Gladiatrons are one of the best combos in the game. With these squads working together they can take down multiple other squad figures or you can take down the big powerhouses by surrounding them with multiple Gladiatrons. It’s not unreasonable to expect to attack a figure with 4 attacks of 6 if the Blastatrons have height and you have 1 squad of Gladiatrons around the enemy figure . And when attacking small or medium figures the cyber claw of the Gladiatrons can be used to keep the enemy figures adjacent, negating disengage and phantom walk, to insure your backline of Blastatrons are safe.

Also of note, the Blastatrons are Guards so they can gain one extra movement from Warden 816. The only drawback to the Blastatron/Gladiatron combo is the cost – one squad of each will cost you 140 pts. Two squads of each and you’re up to 280 pts, a good chunk of a 400 pt army. Even with the high cost you will likely get your fair value in return. As a combo the Blastatrons and Gladiatrons rock, neither squad has much value without the other. I give the Blastatrons a rating of based on the combo effectiveness.

Warriors & Soulborgs:

Warriors of Ashra:



Figures – Okay, they’re elves. By all appearances these were to be amazons, especially when you see the Adrien Barbeu chick with round ears on the package. Wave 8’s Elf package has a female elf with pointed ears on the package. So they’re not Amazons, and they do round out the Elf army nicely, now how do the figures look. This also is a batch of okay figures. I’ve heard it argued that these are some of the best Heroscape sculpts ever and it is the paint jobs that are bad. My axe toting elf who has 1/3 of her hair flesh colored will attest to the poor paint jobs . One of the amazons elves sports some pretty dramatic headwear and the other broadsword wielding babe also has a grey/white/black headdress, although a smaller one. All three warriors wear dull maroon garb and a variety of brown footwear. Two of the elves have grey accessories on their boots – maintaining the scheme sported by the headwear. These are actually some of the better figures in this wave – but that isn’t saying much.

Stats – The Warriors of Ashra (WOA) have totally average stats. 5 move, 3 attack, and 3 defense. A common melee squad they have 1 range and 1 life. 3 figures for 50 points.

Abilities - WOA have one ability; DEFENSIVE AGILITY. One shield will block all damage when defending against a normal attack from an adjacent figure. This is similar to the Krav’s Stealth Dodge except it applies to adjacent (only) and does not apply to special attacks.

Play – WOA are not the strong Krug counters I hoped for. I cannot believe how many times I whiff on defense dice. In theory the elves should be very functional melee forces, especially considering boosts from Kyntela Glyn (+1 defense) and/or Raelin (additional defense) and possibly height. The Warrior’s susceptibility to Special Attacks greatly decreases their value. I typically draft Brunak to counter the Warriors, although ranged figures will work just as well.
This 50 point common squad is an acceptable draft in your army but they do not stand out as anything exceptional.

I tend to draft more theme armies and I will pick the Warriors when selecting a large elf army. The army has to be large otherwise I use up my points on the new elf wizards. I have also had some success with a front wall of WOA while a couple squads of Aubrien Archers wreak havoc from behind. The WOA also interact, as do all elves, with Alcolarh. Once I managed to greatly frustrate my opponent as his Roman Legionnaires took forever to break through defensive agility only to have Alcolarh’s resurrection ability resuscitate the Warrior. For the most part though the WOA have fallen quicker than hoped due to specials or ranged attacks. The WOA rate a .

Deathreavers:



Figures – This is a squad of robotic rats – so how much can you do with that? Well, Hasbro could have done a little more. The rats are all metallic gold with red eyes. There is also a black wash to bring out detail. There are areas such as the neck and lower spine that suggest black should have been used as was done on the Blastatron appendages. What Hasbro did right was to have a red symbols (decals?) on the hips of each rat. The right hip has an Utgar symbol and the left hip has a Deathreaver symbol . Like adding salt & ketchup to French Fries, Hasbro took something that was okay and made it very good. One last note, the sculpts are very similar. So if you have multiple squads of these, which you should, and if you’re Anal Retentive (like me) and store the squads in divided trays you’ll be spending some extra time to determine the nuances that set each of the 4 figures apart.

Stats – The Deathreavers are not built for offense as their stats, and abilities, demonstrate. A 4 figure melee squad that has 6 movement, a good defense of 4, and a lowly attack of 1. A common squad that will cost you a mere 40 points.

Abilities – The Deathreavers have CLIMB X2. This allows the Deathreavers to double their height when moving. The Deathreavers have move of 6 but only a height of 3. Without this ability the Deathreavers would be grounded and limited to only moving up onto terrain that was 2 elevations or less. This allows the ‘Reavers to move onto an elevation that is 5 or less.

Like the Orcs, the ‘Reavers have DISENGAGE so they are not attacked when leaving an engagement. This is a powerful ability when considered with the ‘Reavers final ability.

SCATTER makes the Deathreavers a preferred squad. When one of your Deathreavers roll defense dice against a normal attack you can move any 2 ‘Reavers you control up to 4 spaces. Couple this with Disengage and you have a very frustrating squad to play against – and one that is very good for grabbing glyphs. This ability has also been errata’d to state that the ability only triggers when rolling defense dice against an opponent’s attack. This prevents people from moving their Deathreavers and then using their ‘Reavers to attack their own ‘Reavers so a rat could eventually move 14 spaces on normal terrain on one turn. I believe that WOTC has also ruled on the timing of scatter to state that it takes place before the rat dies. So if you have a rat on a glyph you can’t have him get killed then move one rat onto the glyph and one additional rat. Now when the glyph holder fails his defense roll you will now move him up to 4 spaces, move your 2nd scatter rat onto the glyph, and then have the first rat die. A little more complexity brought on by Agent Skahen’s COVER FIRE ability.

Play – Well, I’m an Idiot. There, I owned it. I did not originally recognize how effective the Deathreavers were. To make matters worse I even had Craig VanNess, the Heroscape Designer (insert fanboy Oohs and Aahs) explain to me how these guys worked. At Gencon 2006 I rushed to the Wizards/Heroscape booth when the doors opened the first day. I was the first person there and asked Craig what the internet rumored “Big News” was. He showed me the display case with the Flagbearers and Wave 6. Craig then took some time to tell me about wave 5 which was being sold at Gencon and was also on display there. Craig specifically explained how the rats were used to tie up your opponents figures. I looked at the 1 Attack and non-offensive special abilities and immediately blew off the rats. Idiot!!!!!!!

Time progressed and I frequently read at Heroscapers.com how tournaments were being won with multiple squads of rats and Q-9 or some other ranged powerhouse like the 4th Mass. I decided to give the ‘Reavers a try. They worked better than I expected. The rats can frustrate the crap out of an opponent, not just in their ability to retain glyphs but also in their ability to bog down an opponent’s figures. This is especially perplexing for melee squads when you move next to their figures to keep them from advancing and then move back a space or two after your first rat defends. Of course this is happening while Syvarris or some other ranged figure is firing away at the bogged down enemy squad. And if some rats perish, who cares, they’re 10 pts apiece. At that cost you should, and need to, draft a lot of them.

The only problem with the rats is their susceptibility to special attacks. Not due to rats perishing from the special attack, 4 defense will fend off most specials, but due to a special attack not triggering the scatter ability. And there are a lot of special attacks in the game now. Facing special attacks will cause you to divide order markers between your rats and your ranged forces – and the rats are not an effective use of an order marker. This is why I feel the rats really excel in a team game. I have played games where I have drafted four squads of rats while my teammate had Syvarris and some other figures. I consistently used the rats to tie up opponent’s figures while Syvarris picked them off from height. I lost a number of rats to Nilfheim’s special but I had 16 of them – they were expendable. The one opponent wasn’t willing to risk four swipes by having Nilfheim disengage and I was even able to inflict a wound on Nilfheim with the little ankle biter . In team games the rats are invaluable, in regular games they are sill very good.

The rats are some of the best functional and thematic units in the game and rate a .

In conclusion:
This wave may very well be the start of Heroscpae’s downfall at the big box stores (Target, Toys-R-Us, Kaybee) but it is not as bad as some naysayers would have you believe. The figure quality is sub par and some are uglier than Carrot Top with a Jaeger Bomb hangover, but there are some excellent powers going on here. The Nakitas and Ninjas are fun to play, the Blastatrons redeemed the Gladiatrons in a big way, and the Deathreavers are some of the best units in the Heroscape universe. Buy ‘em and play ‘em.

Thanks to hannibal twin 8 for the pictures

For quality discussion on these figures see:
http://www.heroscapers.com/community/viewforum.php?f=7


P_J_Keller