HS Codex Issue 4

ISSUE 4
EDITORIAL
HS Codex
A Word From the Editor

www.hscodex.com
ISSUE #4 Oct, 2006
CREDITS ISSUE 4
Editor in Chief
Matt Drake
Senior Editor
Grant Clark
Layout and Design

Grant Clark
Bunjee
Tim Frankovich
Clay Hales
Writers
Stephen Mackey
Zac Dortch
Colby Dauch
Periodical Contributors
Gibberish_47
Grishnak
Icebear
LilNewbie
Preston Miller
Noodles
SkyKnight
Cover Artist
Hex Enduction Hour / Runehardt
Interior Art
The thing about GenCon is that its like gamer Mecca. If you like playing games, theyve got
em. If you like buying games, theyve got em. If you want to be able to tell your friends
that you went to the biggest gamer con in the contiguous United States, you have to go
to GenCon at some point.
What the PR information fails to mention is that whenever you get 25,000 people in one
place, youll get some freaks. And when those 25,000 people are gamers, you get a
disproportionate number of freaks. By freaks were talking people who go out to dinner
wearing padded foam demon horns, or people for whom bath is a four-letter word.
Were talking about LARPers who hook up at three in the morning to stalk taxi cabs with
foam swords and padded arrows. You know, freaks.
Editors
Bad_Calvin
Bobofett
Chicano
John Clowdus
Steven Del Toro
FallenTemplar
GaryLasq
f you ask nearly any gamer in the country where they ought to go to see all the new
games, theyll tell you GenCon. Small wonder this little Indianapolis get-together hosts
more than 25,000 gamers for four days. And in case youre wondering, no, its not all that
awesome to spend four days with 25,000 gamers in a crowded convention hall.
But its really not all that bad. If you can get over the occasional stench (its hot in that
dealers hall, and a distinct lack of deodorant can really carry in a crowded room), there
are a ton of cool things to do at GenCon. Any denizens of Heroscapers.com have had a
chance to read about the Heroscape tournaments, which were awesome, and there was
a great big pile of new Heroscape stuff that really got us excited.
Easily my favorite thing about GenCon, however, happened after the convention hall
closed. Indianapolis has a nice little downtown, and I dont have any trouble at all recommending the Ram to anyone who ever visits this city, and warning you at all costs to avoid
Alcatraz. Meeting people youve only seen online is great, and playing games with friends
until eyelids were drooping was a great highlight. In fact, the nights were so great that I
might consider going back next year but I may not buy a ticket to the show.
Matt InfinityMax Drake
Editor in Chief
editor@hscodex.com
Hex Enduction Hour

Runehardt
Cupid Arts
Photographs
Bad_Calvin
Caravaggio
Colby Dauch
Steven Del Toro
Grishnak
Buddy Lee
LilNewbie
Notices & Disclaimers

This publication is completely unofcial and in no way endorsed by Hasbro Limited. Heroscape and all associated marks, names, races, race insignia, characters, locations, units, illustrations and images from the Heroscape
universe are either TM and/or Hasbro limited 2004-2006, variably registered in the US and other countries
around the world. Used without permission. The Products listed in this magazine are copyrighted and trademarked,
and/or are licensed by owners of properties. The use of their names and images herein is solely for informational
purposes, and the lack of copyright or trademark symbols is not intended as a challenge to any such status. No
portion or contents of HS Codex may be reproduced without prior permission from the publisher and pertinent
author(s).
Entire contents 2006 by HS Codex.
ISSUE 4
CONTENTS
Heroic Contents
Issue #4
04 News
Gencon WrapUp
MarvelScape
Tournament Schedule
07 Game Play
Tactical Counsel
Fortress of Archkyrie Review
Unit Crossfire: Sgt Drake Alexander
13 Game Variants
Rorkes Drift
33 Customizing
Features
17
30
33
44
49
Flocking The Hexes

City Scape
Custom Glyphs
Worlds of Heroscape
Zaravi Battle Report
and Contest Winner
Custom glyphs
No exclusives / No Problem
Custom Unit Spotlight : Apache Plains
Riders
The Halls of Valhalla
44 Mapping
Worlds of Heroscape
Earth Battlefield and Scenario
Zaravi Incursion Battle Report
58 Fan Ficton and Humour
The Teatime of the Living Dead Part III

The 9000 Deaths of DeathWalker
9000 No.3
63 Players Guide
Units by The Generals

Buyers Guide
NEWS
HS Codex
GenCon Wrap-Up
By Matt Drake
GenCon this year provided us with an exceptionally exciting new array of expansions.
Most of these have been reported thoroughly at various news sites, but the new
stuff was exciting enough to warrant a good
wrap-up.
The first order of business is Sir Hawthorne,
the GenCon exclusive figure. This figure is a
repaint of one of the knights of Weston, and
as expected, has caused a lot of uproar and
eBay gouging. Thanks to BoB for the photo.
Thoras Vengeance, the fifth wave of Heroscape figure boosters, was released at GenCon, and sold out every day. It included the
following squads:
Blastatrons
Deathreavers
Deathstalkers
Kozuke Samurai
Nakita Agents
Warriors of Ashra
Ninjas of the Northern Wind
Interestingly enough, the only heroes in Thoras Vengeance are three gladiators, namely
Crixus, Retiarius, and Spartacus.
Images, stats and special abilities for these
figures can all be found at the Heroscape official website, heroscape.com.
The castles were also a huge hit at GenCon.

Most people who wanted them went away
empty-handed, because they sold out in the
first few minutes of every morning. Fortress
of the Archkyrie has become an immense
success, and some fantastic maps have been
created using this large terrain expansion.
We do not have any solid information on
wave 6, but GenCon did give us a display
case full of figures. Submitted for your speculation are the following photographs of the
figures on display at Hasbros booth. A big
thanks to LilNewbie for supplying the photos.
ISSUE 4
NEWS
The final new teaser figures were the standard bearers, one for
each general, with special powers to augment the various armies
they serve. These pictures are thanks to LilNewbie and Bunjee.
There was an overwhelming

amount of new stuff at GenCon. Hopefully these pictures will sate your curiousity
until we can find out more.
The Curse of
NE-Gok-Sa:
Presented in issue 3, this
game has become a big hit
at Heroscapers.com. Creator Zac Dotch says Member
response has been tremendous, and its really taken
off. Acting as story master
he invites all to come and
join him in ta the contest
forum at Scapers. Can you
spot the Mindshackled Puppets or become one yourself.
Fall 06
Tournaments Calender
DFW TOURNAMENT!! PRIZES!!
(TX OK NM AR GA)
October 21st
Stonebridge
6201 Virginia Pkwy, MC Kinney, TX
THE TREEE TOWN OPEN

( Iowa/Minnesota/WI/NE/IL?)
October 21, 2006
The Super Bowl (bowling alley) Forest
City, IA
CANTON, OHIO Tourney
Oct. 21st
KCs glass studio in Canton
TO ONTARIO SCAPEFEST
Nov 11, 2006
Church Of Christ, (basement)
750 Clark Blvd, Brampton, Ontario, Can
GEN CON SoCal (Anaheim) Nov. 16-19
Visit http://heroscapers.com community
event forums for more information on
these and other local event near your.
NEWS
HS Codex
MARVELScape!
Appearing at Comin-Con was an up coming

Heroscape release being called: MarvelScape! Thats right ladies and gents enter the
superheroes. The new superhero figures will
be compatible with current HeroScape figures, but according to the games designer
Craig Van Ness mixing the two is not recommended. It can be assumed for now that
this means the superheroes run on the same
base rules and are costed along the same
scale as current figures, but are perhaps so
high costed, due to their powerful nature,
that they are difficult to defeat without the
aid of other super hero units.
As you can see in the above photograph this
expansion should be slightly cheaper than
the original master set. Its due out in January
2007 which seems to be the earliest Hasbro
is allowed to release products featuring the

Marvel license.
The above pictures show an example of
break away terrain. It seems that these super
powered heroes will have the ability to break
through walls, and perhaps effect the terrain
in other ways that we have yet to see from
classic Heroscape figures. Another note on
the terrain: It seems to me that we are looking at roads, sidewalks, and ruins of urban
brick buildings. As far as how much terrain
will be included in the master set, we are still
in the dark. The amount of terrain shown here
is not necessarily accurate to the amount of
terrain that will actually be in the set, though
we can probably expect less terrain pieces
than were included in the original master set,
on account of licensing fees, lower cost than
the original, and those larger ruins.

The 10 characters Included in the master
set will be: Captain America, Red Skull, Silver
Surfer, Hulk, Abomination, Spiderman, Venom, Iron Man, Dr. Doom, Thanos.
These figures are just GORGEOUS! Especially
when compared to Wizkids Heroclix. In my
opinion there is just no comparison. Especially when you take into account the materials
used. Any of you who own miniatures from
any of the Wizkids lines can attest to the fact
that Heroscape miniatures are loads more
durable and consonantally better painted.
Marvel miniature collectors rejoice! Now you
can get your fix without blind purchase!
Colby Dauch
ISSUE 4
Game Play
Tactical Counsel
By Grant Clark
Strategy vs. Tactics
Military leaders are trained in two separate disciplines: strategy and tactics.
The difference is not well understood.
Even someone trained in both may have
trouble articulating the difference, but
both are essential elements of what
makes an effective general.
Tactics involves knowing the capabilities of your units and using them cor-
rectly. In other words a tactician knows

the strengths and weaknesses of their
troops. The tactician knows how to
maximize those strengths and exploit
the weaknesses of his opponent. This is
the kind of skill that most players rapidly acquire when they begin playing
Heroscape or other miniature warfare
games. You learn these things quickly
because doing them poorly loses you
the game. You only have to lose 6 Ro-
man Archers to three vipers once to

learn a lesson you never forget. These
suggestions should help you improve
your tactics, whether you are a beginner or a little more advanced. I would
also recommend reading The Art of War
(Sun Tzu, many translations available),
Infantry Attacks (Erwin Rommel).
Strategy is subtler. The strategist views
the battle in larger terms. He not only
anticipates the outcome of individual
melee combats or firefights, he understands how that outcome will impact
the course of the game for several turns.
Losing those Venoc Vipers might be desirable, in order to win the game. Very
few people become good strategists.
Strategy requires geometric thinking.
Game Play
A Battle is a four dimensional geometry involving the shape of the terrain and the flow
of the battle across it in time. Being a good
strategist implies that the general has already
mastered the principles of sound tactics. A
tactical outcome is the points, lines and angles that shape the four-dimensional world
of his battle plan.
Area of Effect:
If the 4th Massachusetts Line a Ranged unit

using its Wait Then Fire special power, imagine a circle around it with a radius equal
to the weapon range in hexes. On the other
hand, if the same unit is moving, the circles
radius is equal to the movement plus range.
This circle determines how much the unit
can influence the game. The larger the circle,
the earlier you can engage an enemy unit or
support a friendly unit. Keep in mind that circumstances may change the circle, however.
That 4th Massachusetts Line unit with a 7 hex
range circle will have almost no effect if you
park them in the middle of a heavily treed
area of the battlefield. A fast melee unit may
be limited by terrain; that is difficult to pass
through (lava) or impassable (in height or a
wall).
Concentration of Force:
There are very few units that can entirely

wipe out a squad or Unique Hero in one
turn, whether by ranged attack, melee or a
combination of both. Generally, you want to
concentrate the power of several units on
a single target, to make sure it is dead. You
can prepare for this by having the Area of Effect of your units overlap. When something
comes under the range of Unit A, Units B,
and Unit C can charge it in a melee attack as
well. Thus we use Units A and B to soften up
the target for the melee unit to finish off. This
should also result in fewer casualties.
Attacking Time:
Most games last about 10 rounds. This means

that you have 3 turn activation each round or
30- activations per game to do your damage. You want to maximize your time while
minimizing that of the opponent. Area of Effect is a good way to maximize your time,
since longer range units or higher mobility
melee units can start killing sooner. On the
other hand, you want to minimize the time
of the opponent. For example, if you are
playing against an army that you dont want
to get into a melee with, youll have to slow
them down. If they reach you in turn 2, theyll
have 3X the number of round, to do the
damage. Each turn that you can delay them
will cost them three turns of damage to you.
The most powerful unit in the game cant kill
HS Codex
your entire army in 1-2 rounds. The way to
limit time is to limit the Area of effect that
your opponents units have. Set up ranged
unit on terrain that is difficult to assault. Try
to channel units and large unique heroes to
where you can strike first without repercussion. Use obstacles and terrain features (lava,
snow, etc.) to slow them down. Use terrain, trees and obstacles to block their Line
of Sight. Use picket units placed ahead of
your forces to slow them down. Picket units
should be difficult for them to get through, if
they are to be of value. This can be due to
high defence (Sentinels of Jandar, DW7000,
maybe, Charos, etc.), due to large numbers
( 2 squad of Roman Legionnaires or several
squads of Ocr Grut Warriors) or special
abilities (Gladitrons, Samurai, etc.) as long as
it will take them more than a round or two to
go through the picket. In the meantime, you
may concentrate on the rest of their army, or
you can move further away, attacking their
time even further.
Dont meet Strength with Strength:
If your opponent is strong in melee, dont try

to assault him, use a different way of taking
him on. If you try to play your opponents
game, he will probably win due to experience, and even if you win, it will likely be
a Pyrrhic victory. On the other hand, if you
use a method that attacks his weakness, you
stand a better chance of coming out nearly
unscathed. Even in smaller things, dont get
into a shoot out with a 4th Line army; charge
them. Dont charge a strong melee Hero;
shoot at them. If you put your best melee
squad against your opponents best melee
squad, even the winner will probably no
longer be a viable unit, but if you shoot the
heck out of them, you will be more likely to
survive and shoot the next round. The first
time I faced a ranged Vydar army with my
well loved Einar Roman Legions with friends, I
had been playing a sit and shoot version with
plenty of archers backed up by Me-Burg-Sa.
The battle featured the two us trading shots
with them tear us to ribbons, so for the next
battle I made a melee army characterized by
speed and had a field day.
First things first:
You cant do everything at once, so you

need to decide what to do first. Figure out
which units in the opposing force do what
and which ones are the most dangerous to
you, based on their power and Area of Effect. If you are a ranged army, for example,
highly mobile melee units will be fairly high
on your list, probably followed by huge
unique heroes. A Squad of Gorilliniators 13
spaces away is closer than Major X17 that is
7 spaces away, due to their different areas

of effect.
Terrain
Many great battles have been won or lost on

the involved generals ability to exploit the
terrain of the battlefield. Trees, water, hills,
lava, snow, glaciers, ruins, castles - they all
provide a tactical advantage waiting to be
exploited. Terrain can have many effects,
from slowing down troops to giving them
cover or a better position from which to fire
upon their enemies.
Difficult terrain is defined in the current game
as water, lava, snow and ice, slows your
movement. Difficult terrain is generally an
impediment to the advancement of your
troops. However, it can also be used to slow
your opponents advance. When possible,
be sure to position units in such a way that
your opponent will be forced to cross difficult terrain to reach them, unless he chooses
to take a wide path around it. This can be
very helpful gaining the extra time need to
set up attacks.
Hills are also a very important type of terrain.
Really what we are talking about here is any
kind of elevation. Gaining elevation on any attack allows an extra attack dice, also giving
you an additional dice in defense if your opponent still stands after your attack. Ranged
units placed on a hill gains a better view of
the battlefield, allowing them to fire at units
they wouldnt normally be able to see. Hills
also block line of sight to units behind them,
which protects your units from harm while
they move around. Buildings and Castle are
basically sniping vantage points. Use them
to position ranged units with a good view
of the opposing army. The height advantage
provided by the building will be of great assistance to your snipers.
At the Double, March! Road can be an every
valuable tool to gain territorial advantage over
opponent. The main goal when incorporating roads into your tactics are to increase
your Area of Effect and aid in positioning of
unit. Use the path to speed up slow moving
figures.
Out of Sight equals, out of mind. Cover is
your best friend. No matter how strong and
unbeatable you think your army is, there are
always counters that can turn it to dust, but
cover will give you some protection. In addition, if you use the terrain right, the height
bonuses gained may repel an otherwise fatal
attack. Youll still have to watch out for units
that can move and fire, but you may be able
ISSUE 4
to eliminate them through fire power. Troops
with high defense (and a high life score
will also aid) out front will absorb a lot of
fire-power that might have otherwise killed
off your important squads. For that matter,
troops with low defense can do that too,
but theyll quickly lose their effectiveness.
Sometimes that sacrifice is worth it. Rune and
Walls also block LOS, but this works both
ways. Your squad behind a wall cannot be
seen, but it also cannot see, so wall screens
tend to be more useful for melee elements
or Lob attacks. You can also use fire-power
to help protect your units. If you manoeuvre
a unit so that terrain and objects block line of
sight to it from all but one enemy unit, then
fire on that unit until it is destroyed, it will be
very hard for your opponent to destroy your
unit.
Remember, used correctly terrain is like a
second weapon in your hand, equal in use
to your forces. A small force can take on
a larger force by channelling them between
impassable terrains, or by attacking them
piecemeal as they trudge through difficult
terrain. Ambushes can be set up using terrain,
and flank attacks are made easier. Remember
that a tricky opponent will also be looking for
ways to use terrain to his advantage, always
watch for these same tactics from him.
Before we leave the subject of terrain, it is
important to note that terrain can have an
adverse affect on your overall battle plan
and the formation of your army. If the center
of the table is dominated with difficult and
impassable areas, youll likely be making
many flank attacks. If the sides of the table
are congested with obstacles, then a push
across the center of the battlefield may be
necessary. Sometimes, it is necessary to split
your forces to move around a large obstacle,
though this can be used to your advantage
as you hit your opponent with two forces
from different sides of his army. Try not to
ever let the terrain totally dictate your battle
plan; predictability loses more games for a
general than many other factors combined.
Unit Tactics
Most of the unit specific tactics in Heroscape generally involve the special powers
each unit comes with, so get to know what
each units capabilities are. The best units
have several different tactic options open to
them. We look for some or all of these qualities range, speed, high attack in melee and
good defense. A good number of unique
characters are available although squads with
most of these attributes are seldom found,
but a few good ones exist. Many of the units
Game Play
in this versatile category have ranged attack
as special powers, for example Mimring is
just a brawler without his Fire Line Special Attack. The addition of this opens up tactical
opportunities by dramatically increasing his
Area of Effect.
Masters of Terrain are those units that have
special abilities regarding specific types of
terrain. These characters should not be over
looked during army selection. The Obsidian
Guards and Brunak should be serious draft
candidates on battlefields with a considerable amount of lava on them. When waters
is a prevalent map feature Vipers, Microcorp
agents and Marro Warriors will do better than
normal. Fliers are the way to go on boards
with large elevation changes and impassable
areas. Pay attention to terrain as you draft it
may be to your advantage.
The Instant Kill hero is always a wild card in
most battle for the simple reason that these
powers rely on 20-sided rolls for success.
These characters are always a gamble one
game worth their weight in gold worthless
the next. Use these character with either
reckless abandon or sparingly. Why, because
the more you the 20-sided die the higher
the chances for success, alternatively saving
this character for the end game when force
are depleted make them more dangerous
and effective. The question when defending against one of these characters is it worth
going after them yearly in the game. Well it all
depends on your army composition; if you
are heavy on unique hero then yes eliminating this threat can be paramount to success.
On the other hand if you are great in numbers the damage done be these characters
should not be crippling.
I have often heard it said that a certain squad
or character isnt worth its points. The rational
is often that the character never kills enough
opponents to equal its cost. This is in many
cases is false logic. Many units value is not in
the number of notch on their belts. Lets look
at Kelda first; her stats are typically average
unique hero numbers 5 life, move 6, range
1, attack 3, defense 3. The biggest asset she
has is her healing Touch ability. Where is she
going to best serve our army? Kelda is a support unit; her job is to aid wounded heroes
when needed. Putting her in the front lines is
a waste of her true value, even if she was to
destroy double her points value in return.
DW7000 is a much maligned unit. This type of
unit is to be used for sacrificing attacks. Victory is Sacrifice, every grand master of Chess
knows the value of this saying. His value is
in what you use him to use his Self-Destruct
power on, hitting a critical unit or softening

up a key point in an opponents line can frequently be the turning point of the battle.
The bottom line is all units have a use on the
battlefield. Its up to the individual general
to how best use those troops. No unit is
worthless if used properly. We must know
each unit intimately to fully understand how
it performs on the battlefield; make a point
of playing each unit a number times before
deciding on worth.
Combination of Tactics
One of the most interesting aspects of
Heroscape from a tactical stand point is the
way in which different unit powers can be
combined to create power tactical options.
When drafting or building your army choose
units that work together to strengthen their
overall ability. The most obvious combinations are the Auras and Enhancement abilities.
Being limited to three turn marker each turn
doesnt mean youre limited to three turns,
bonding and multi-turn powers (Frenzy, Hive
Swarm, Charges) allow more activation each
turn. Use this to your advantage.
Getting that little extra out a Heroscape unit
requires thinking outside the box. For example pair Deadeye Dan and Theracus and
your area of effect could very well encompass the entire board. Use Theracus to move
Dan around, you can keep using his specials
to target enemies while keeping him out of
range. Adding the Venoc Warlord gives Theracus/Dan a move of 9 and area of effect of
19 to use his special (not moving Dan) or 24
if he were to move. As the number of available characters grow so to do the combination. Always be wary of that next big surprise
your opponent will spring you, on by combining 2 units you thought were operating
independently on the battlefield. Now that
the castle have arrived drafting Taelord teaming him up with a squad or 2 of Omicron
snipers, then parking on top of a Castle looks
pretty enticing. The Snipers are going to be
rolling 4 attack dice that double the number
of shields. Now thats very scary to any opponent figure walking around in range of the
snipers.
Conclusion:
Tactics are all about getting the most out of

your units. Make the best possible use of
your troops by playing to your strengths and
your opponents weaknesses. Fight each battle on your terms wherever possible. One
last word on tactics, figure out how it is your
brain works. Then choose units that compliment the way you want to fight each battle.
Game Play
HS Codex
Fortress of the Archkyrie Review
by Noodles
After playing with the castle expansion for

Heroscape all I can say is... wow. It is much,
much better than I thought it would be.
Granted, I was expecting it to be fun, but
having it in front of me where I could physically hold the pieces was exciting. Lets get
right to the positives and there are many.
First of all, you get a lot of pieces. There are
walkway terrain, battlements, ladders, and
castle walls. The terrain that your figures will
walk on inside the castles is conveniently the
same as road terrain which means you automatically have filler terrain for the inside if you
build something large. The difference is that
the walkway terrain has an interlocking function built into the bottom to hook into the
walls making a very sturdy castle wall. The
battlements just slip right into the sides of the
terrain and it is very slick. Once you see this,
you will understand what I am talking about.
As an added bonus, the battlements can be
used separate from the castle just like the
walls of the bridges for some extra defensive
10
terrain. The ladders just stack into each other

like Lego and eventually connect two points
of height. They have rungs built in that represent a level of height and can also be used
outside the castle for enhanced options in
your landscape.
The possibilities of what you could build
with these pieces are literally limited only by
your imagination. With multiple sets (and you
will want multiples) you could literally construct something out of your wildest fantasies. If youve ever dreamed of building cool
castles as a kid, now you will be able to do
it. The one thing that I was most impressed
with when our first castle was built was how
sturdy it was. There was no way it was going
to accidentally fall apart by that occasional
elbow or loose cat that jumps on the table.
Whatever you build will be solid and if you
do hit it hard enough, the entire castle will
move; the wall will not break.
The rules at first look complicated due to the
fact that the rulebook is about twice the size

of the master set rulebook, but in true Heroscape fashion, once you play with it one
time you will see how simple they really are.
Battlements have line-of-sight lines at the top
(similar to the bridge walls) for your figures to
use for targeting incoming figures and block
line of sight from most of your enemies at
the same time. Walking inside the castle will
give you the road bonus if you stick to the
terrain that was provided. Climbing ladders
is as simple as using the rungs as if they were
hex steps. There are very good examples for
adjacency for the ladders and you will figure it out quickly once play starts. The most
complicated rules are for the door, which
turned out to not be so bad after all. There
is one sweet spot on the inside of the castle where a figure must stand if they want to
willingly open or close the door. We played
a castle siege and were never going to open
that door (they were going to have to break
it down!) so it never came into play. Now
let me tell you about the door. It has 10 life
ISSUE 4
and against normal attacks from small and
medium figures automatically gets 2 shields
added to its roll of 4 defend dice. Against a
large figures normal attack, you only receive
1 bonus shield added to your roll. Against
special attacks, you receive no bonus and
just have to take your natural roll. The door
is tough and if you are defending the castle
you will be glad! It was the only thing that
saved us from being slaughtered early in the
scenario. Trust me, when the door is being
assaulted and youre at the top raining down
arrows and whatnot, you will fall in love with
the game all over again.
Game Play
castle you will notice how clean the walls
and battlements look. It could definitely use
a wash of some sort to dirty it up and make
it more realistic looking. Like I said, this is just
me nitpicking to find something wrong with
a near perfect Heroscape expansion. I highly
recommend picking Fortress of the Archkyrie
up at your local store. It makes a great addition to an already great game.
Like any expansion for Heroscape, it is completely modular and does not have to be
used in the game. It adds a wonderful dynamic to the game and lends itself to many
new scenarios such as capture the flag, but
it is not required to play by any means. For
roughly $25, it is well worth the price for
everything that is included in the box. And
you cant put a price on the added enjoyment that it brings to the game.
The only thing negative I can say about this
new terrain expansion, and this is really
nit-picking, is that it doesnt have the same
dirty look as the roads. When you build the
Hasbros magnificent castle display

from this summers Comic- Con
11
Game Play
HS Codex
Unit Crossfire
Based on the good old rating out of ten, Unit Reviews are
based on playablitiy, cost, creativity, and overall coolness.
1. unplayable. 5. mediocritor - draft if needed. 10. godlike- draft every chance you get. You fill in the gaps.
Sgt. Drake Alexander
Move, Life, and Defense give him a decent survivability. His Grapple Gun has
some novelty, but probably wont see
much use. With the arrival of castles
and walls, this movement power has
the potential to be really handy, but it is
also fairly easy for an enemy to counter.
So far, Drakes not looking bad, but hes
nothing to write home about yet either.
SGT DRAKE ALEXANDER

The kids view on him
ion,
In addition to having, in my opin
the
in
pts
one of the coolest flippin scul
ut
abo
love
to
game (I mean whats not
a
with
do
man
com
a sword wielding
y?)
grapple gun, reall
k
Not to mention his awesome bac
t
mos
the
of
one
g
bein
and
y
stor
round
t
grea
a
is
popular master set guys, Drake
a
ing
hold
unit for both attacking and
position, he can travel slightly faster than
a lot of heroes and can work with Marcus making him ever better. In addition
ed
hes great for killing those pesky rang
trou
have
guys
r
othe
t
mos
that
ds
squa
.
t
grea
is
k
ble even getting to his attac
he
ve
belie
I
His other stats are all Ok.
ntial
is priced fairly good and is an esse
les.
unit in many batt
POWERS:
Thorian Speedul
Probably one of, if not the most usef
be
to
you
ing
powers in the game, allow
in
invulnerable to most all ranged attacks
get
to
you
s
allow
er
pow
the game. This
and
close to your pesky ranged enemy
draw
the
,
dice
k
attac
6+
with
hem
crus
back in this power is that it doesnt stop
special ranged attacks so be careful.
Grapple Gun 2525
This power allows you to move up to
es
ther
,
ation
elev
in
n
dow
or
levels up
lets
a huge drawback however, it only
to
ose
cho
you move one space if you
e
edg
an
e
quit
do this, still this can be
out.
les
cast
new
especially with the
FINAL WORDS
12
I hope this review has been helpful to

all who read it, perhaps it will help you
to use Drake more efficiently, to better see his weaknesses, or to simply
realize how much potential he has.
Then again you may not have got one
thing out of this, it doesnt matter to
me, thank you for reading anyway, Id
also like to thank Codex, House Mouse
Games for sponsoring all of this and all
you the Heroscape fans out there, for
giving me the chance to do this, I am
very grateful and look forward to doing more reviews in the future, thank
you.
Preston Miller
8.5 9.1 / 10
SGT DRAKE ALEXANDER
How useful is Sgt. Drake Alexander?

Well ...lets take a look...
He has 5 moves, which is about average. Hes not as quick as some units,
but he can keep up with most and
lead a decent charge. His Life is on the
high-end of average at 5, but his 3 Defense is a little below par for the sturdy
hero archetype. Overall though, his
What sets Drake apart is his high Attack

and his Thorian Speed. With 6 Attack
dice, only 5 other official units can meet
or better Drakes offensive potential in
melee. Though Agent Carr is slightly
cheaper than the Sarge, the other 4 options all cost significantly more, so Drake
is definitely earning his paycheck there.
The Thorian Speed power is what really pulls this package together. Because
Drake is immune to normal ranged attacks, he can close the gap with most
ranged units without taking wounds during his approach. As popular as ranged
units have become, this alone almost
guarantees that the Sarge will be worth
his 110 points during any draft. Though
hes still vulnerable to Special Attacks
like Explosion and Arrow Volley , for
the most part, hell be able to charge
undaunted into enemy fire and wreak all
kinds of havoc.
Id say Drake is worth every penny of his
price-tag any day of the week. Against
a mostly-ranged opponent, or even
against a castle defended by ranged
units, his potential can be even greater.
If the situation calls for kicking down
doors, vaulting over walls, or disrupting
enemy firing lines, the Sarge is definitely
your man. Everything considered, Id
give Sgt. Drake Alexander a solid
Zac Dortch
8/10
ISSUE 4
Game Variants
Rorkes Drift
By LilNewbie
From Wikipedia:
Rorkes Drift was a mission station in Natal, South Africa situated near
a natural ford (drift) on the Buffalo River. The defense of Rorkes Drift
(January 22 January 23, 1879) during the Anglo-Zulu War immediately
followed the British Armys humiliating defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana
earlier in the day. At Rorkes Drift 139 British soldiers successfully defended their garrison against an intense assault by 4,0005,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the British defenders, the
most ever received in a single action. The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest recognition for valor in the face of the enemy that can be awarded
to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces of any rank in
any service, and civilians under military command. It is also the highest
award in the British Honors system.
13
Game Variants
HS Codex
Rorkes Drift HS Style

Requirements:
3 MS + 3 RttFF
The Concept:
Here is a scenario based loosely on the events at Rorkes Drift. This

scenario uses the standard rules for Heroscape with some additional
rules having been added to simulate the special situations that the
attackers and defenders found themselves facing. Also, the figures
used in this scenario are preset at the start and the figures used will
have different stats than they usually have in Heroscape. Use all the
advanced Heroscape rules as normal unless changed by the rules for
this scenario which are listed below.
The Map:
The map used for this scenario is a special rendition of Rorkes drift.
There is no water in play and very little obstacles. The Buffalo River
runs near the mission but was not a factor in the conflict. The walls
and buildings served as a protection for the defenders and will be a
big factor in winning the scenario for both armies. The original mission had several buildings which are not depicted on the map for
simplicity sake.
Scenario Objective:
The defenders objective is to hold the mission for 12 rounds. Holding

the mission means having more defenders inside the walls of the mission than attackers. The attackers win by having more attackers inside
the walls of the mission than defenders at the end of any round.
The Armies:
The following army lists show an approximation and a scaled down

version of the forces involved. The listing shows the figures used to
represent the forces during testing but any figures could be used as
long as everyone involved is aware of who the figures represent.
Here is the format used for the units:
20 British Soldiers (Roman Legionnaires, Roman Archers and Sacred

Band)
Life: 1 Mv: 4 Rng: 5 Att: 2 Def: 2
3 Army Hospital Corps Medics (Shaolin Monks)
SA: Tend to the Wounded: At the end of a round, roll the D20 for
each Medic on the board. On a 14 or more, place a previously removed British Soldier adjacent to a Medic. Medics cannot bring back
Chard, Bromhead, Bourne or another Medic.
Zulu Units:
Zulu Chief (Ne-Gok-Sa)

SA: War Cry: All Zulu figures within 3 clear spaces receive 1 Rng and
1 Def. Does not stack with Spirit Totem and the Chief is not affected
by War Cry.
Righteous Fury: Adds 1 to Activation roll.
4 Zulu Sub-chiefs (Marro Warriors)
Life: 1 Mv: 6 Rng 3 Att: 2 Def: 3
SA: Spirit Totem: All adjacent Zulu figures receive 1 Def. bonus. Does
not stack with War Cry and the Sub-Chiefs are not affected by Spirit
Totem.
45 Zulu Warriors (Orc Gruts, Orc Archers, Marro Drones)
Setup
British figures start in the yellow start zones. Zulu figures start on
the red start zones. All figures must be deployed at the start of the
game.
Rules
Name (Figure used) Life: Move(Mv): Range(Rng): Attack(Att):

Defense(Def): Special Abilities(SA): (if any)
The game consists of 8 rounds. Each round proceeds in the following order (detailed rules follow):
British Units:
Round Overview
Lt. John Chard (Marcus Decimus Gallus)

SA: Rally Troops: All British figures within 3 clear spaces receive 1 Att
and 1 Def bonus. Not stackable with Hold the Line and Take Aim abilities and Chard is not affected by Rally Troops.
Tactical Planning: Adds 1 to Activation roll.
Lt. Gonville Bromhead (Parmenio)
SA: Take Aim: All adjacent British figures receive 1 Att bonus. Not
stackable with Rally Troops. Bromhead is not affected by Take Aim.
Colour-Sergeant Frank Bourne (Sgt. Drake)
SA: Hold the Line: All adjacent British figures receive 1 Def bonus. Not
stackable with Rally Troops. Bourne is not affect by Hold the Line.
14
1.Roll initiative
2.Turn 1
a. First Player rolls on the activation chart (see below) to
see how many figures are activated during the turn.
b. First Player moves a number of figures equal to or less
than the number determined from the activation roll.
c. First Player conducts attacks with the same figures
moved (if possible).
d. Second Player rolls on the activation chart (see below)
to see how many figures are activated during the turn.
e. Second Player moves a number of figures equal to or
less than the number determined from the activation roll.
f. Second Player conducts attacks with the same figures
moved (if possible.)
3. Turn 2
a. (Follows same order as Turn 1)
4. Turn 3
a. (Follows same order as Turn 1)
ISSUE 4
Game Variants
5. End Phase
a. Check for Zulu Victory.
b. British roll for Tend to the Wounded (if possible.)
c. Zulus roll for reinforcements.
Round Details
1. Roll initiative
a. Standard HS initiative rules apply. Winner of initiative is
considered First Player for the entire round. The other play
er is Second Player for the entire round.
2. Turns 1, 2 and 3
a. First Player rolls a D20 and consults the Activation chart
below:
Activation Chart
D20
Roll
British
Mv/Att
Zulu
Mv/Att
1-5
4
8
6-10
6
10
11-14
8
12
15-20
10
14
The number is how many figures the player may activate
(move and attack) in the turn.
b.First Player may move the number of figures determined

above (or less) and then attacks with those figures followi
ng the standard HS attack/defend rules.
c. Second Player follows steps 2a. and 2b. listed above.
3.End Phase
a. Check for Zulu victory
i. If the number of Zulu figures inside British start
zone is greater than the British figures inside the
British start zone, the Zulu are victorious.
b. British roll for Tend to the Wounded
i. Roll once for each surviving British Medic and
consult the description of Tend to the Wounded
for details. The total number of British Soldiers on
the board can never exceed 24.
c. Zulus roll for reinforcements
Roll the D20 and check the chart below:
On a 1-3, no reinforcements this round.
On a 4-10, 2 reinforcements this round.
Reinforcements are always Zulu Warriors and the total number of Zulu
Warriors on the board can never exceed 45. Zulu reinforcements
15
Game Variants
are placed in the Zulu starting zones and only one Zulu
Warrior may be placed in each Zulu starting zone during
an End Phase.
At the end of the 8th Round, if the Zulus have not secured a victory as described above, the British win.
Special Rules:
The Compound: Figures do not receive a height bonus
for attacking or defending while inside the British starting zone. Also the spaces inside the compound do not
count as road spaces so figures do not receive the road
movement bonus.
Walls: The British receive a 1 Def bonus die while they
remain in the British starting zone and as long as there are
no Zulus inside the British starting zone.
Zulu Surge: Once per game, instead of rolling on the
activation chart, the Zulu player may declare a Zulu Surge.
Half of the Zulu models on the board (round down) may
make a move but may not attack during the same turn that
the Zulu Surge is called.
Fire at Will: Once per game, instead of rolling on the
activation chart, the British player may declare Fire at Will.
The British player chooses up to 15 figures to attack. The
chosen figures may not move during the same turn that
Fire at Will is called.
16
HS Codex
ISSUE 4
FEATURE -Custom terrain
Flocking the Hex

or
Customizing Heroscape Terrain
by Grishnakh
Part 1 - Hex Tiles

Heroscape came out at a time when I
was producing my own three dimensional hex maps for use with Metagamings The Fantasy Trip Melee and
Wizard. For those of you not familiar
with Melee and Wizard, it is a hex
based game using miniature figures
that was very popular in the late 70s
and early 80s. Ive always envied
the beautiful setups that Warhammer
players create with their scenery and
really wanted a way to bring that over
to a hex-based game, so I started cutting hexes out of flocked foam core
with great success. The only difficulty
was not being able to lock the hexes
together to keep them from sliding
apart (that and the time required to
produce the hexes).
17
HS Codex
The Heroscape tiles, of course, changed that.

While the tile size itself is larger than what I
wanted, the beauty of the locking tiles convinced me to scrap what I was working on
and move over to the Heroscape tiles.
You will need black acrylic paint; Elmers glue

in a squeeze bottle; water; a medium, flat
paint brush; gray, tan and green paint; three
types of flock and a set of Heroscape hex
tiles.
But even though the Heroscape tiles looked

pretty good straight out of the box, I felt
they still looked too plastic and unreal. The
brown highlighted the hexes way too much
for my tastes and made everything look like
hex world, plus the color scheme left a
lot to be desired. So, taking inspiration from
Games Workshop and what I had been previously doing, I bought a master set, got out
some paint and some flock and after much
trial and error (as well as many trips to the
hobby store and the craft store) I arrived at
a procedure that looked pretty good on my
test tiles.
The flock should be stored in large, Ziplock

freezer bags. I will discuss the paint and the
flock colors in a minute.
Step 2. The top of the hex tile:
Step 1. The sides of the hex tile:
The next step was to paint and flock a whole

master set. At first this seemed like a daunting task, but after I got started it went pretty
fast. Im pretty happy with the way it turned
out. Painting out the brown on the top of
the hex tile goes a long way to tone down
the hexes while still allowing you to easily see
them. Add in some terrain features like trees
and rocks and it looks even better.
Therefore, for the benefit of the community,
I thought Id share my procedure of painting
and flocking Heroscape master set hex tiles.
(A side note: while I originally bought Heroscape for the terrain only, I soon came to enjoy playing the game system as well and have
been hooked ever since.)
Materials:
18
I used Mars Black acrylic paint thinned down

to the consistency of ink. You can stack many
hexes of the same type and hold them together with your off hand and simply paint
the black on the edges. Youll want to leave
some of the brown showing through, and if
your paint is the right consistency it will bead
up and crawl around on the surface exposing some of the brown. Again, keep it thin.
The idea is to make the tile look more like

mud and rock without doing anything to
impede the tiles ability to slip together. Too
much paint will throw off the tolerances and
not allow the tiles to fit together properly.
Even after they are painted correctly, they
might be a little tough to get together for the
first few times. As the paint wears off it only
adds to the look, so dont be concerned if
some of it chips.
The next step is to paint the brown portion

of the hex the color of the type of tile it is.
Green for grass, gray for rocks and tan for
dirt. I did not want to mix this paint from the
acrylic paints that I had. The problem would
be matching the colors months later when
I had the time to flock another set. I realized that I would be better off using a craft
paint straight out of the tube to achieve this.
Acrylic craft paint comes in a wide range of
colors and I thought I would have no problem finding something that not only looked
good but also matched the color of the flock
I had picked out. As it turned out, it actually
took me a long time to find what I wanted.
Most craft colors were too pastel or intense
or simply looked bad. After a lot of trial and
error I arrived at these three paints:
Green Grass: Delta Ceramcoat - Seminole
Green
Tan Dirt/Sand: FolkArt - # 237 Fawn
Gray Rocks: FolkArt - # 425 Medium Gray
At first I was just going to paint the brown
on the hex tile, since the flocking was going to be covering the actual tile area itself,
but as I was working on it I starting thinking
about what would happen in the future if the
flocking started to wear off in small places,
revealing the original tile color underneath.
At that point I started painting the whole surface. However, I did use thinner paint on the
raised molded surface of the tile just to save
a little time and to stretch the paint a little.
It is a great idea to let some of the paint fall
down the edge of the tile onto the sides.
When they are all stacked together this looks
like moss growing on the cracks of the rocks.
Dont overdo this, however, it should only be
done slightly.
ISSUE 4

is to experiment on some scrap cardboard
first. Too much glue and the flock will sink into
the glue and dry with a hard look, too little
and the flock will simply not adhere.
I keep my flock in large, freezer size, gallon

zip lock bags. If youve never worked with
flock before, it is very fine and can go everywhere. I work on a large piece of white paper. That way, as it spills, I can pick up the paper and pour the flock back into my zip lock
bag. After youve got the glue on the tile its
time to push it into the flocking. Simply bury it
into the flock, being careful you dont get any
glue on the inside of your zip lock bag. Move
it around a little bit under the flocking, pull it
out and then shake the excess off by tapping
the edge of the tile onto the table. Dont be
surprised if a lot of flocking falls off.
Step 3: Gluing the flock:
Flocking is available at most hobby stores that

carry model railroad supplies. There are a lot
of different colors of flock to represent the
different types of ground cover railroad enthusiasts model. Again, I needed something
that looked good and closely matched the
paint I was using. My final choices were:
If you find some of the flocking clumps up,

you can take your finger and lightly press it
down into the glue. I usually go ahead and
do this anyway as a personal preference.
Green Grass: Green Blend - Blended Turf

T49
Tan Dirt/Sand: Earth Blend T50
Gray Rocks: Ballast - Medium Gray B82
To glue on the flock I used Elmers glue (with
the orange cap) in a mid-sized bottle for ease
of handling. I needed to be able to control
exactly where the glue was going and with
the orange cap I could literally draw with
the glue. The idea is to draw a bead of glue
around the edges of the raised portion of
the tile and then loosely fill in the middle part
of the hex. I then used an old, flat paint brush
to spread the glue around the hex evenly.
You want the glue to be thick without being
too thick. My only suggestion if you try this
19

I found that on the larger pieces I could
spread glue around on five or six hexes before I would stick it into the flock. If you do
more you run the risk of the glue glazing over
and not allowing enough flock to stick to the
tile.
HS Codex
especially important on the rock tiles since
the rock you are gluing on is thicker than the
grass/dirt flock material. If you get too much
glue on the tile or if the glue runs, simply wipe
it off with a corner of a wet paper towel or
scrap it away with an exacto knife.
Heres a photo of some finished tiles.
Step 4: Sealing:
Depending on the amount of glue you use

you might see some of the flock sink in and
leave white areas on the surface of the tile.
This is not a problem as the glue will dry
clear.
A note about warping. I have found that if

you do not store the hex tiles stacked together and flat they can warp slightly. This is
really true with the rocks if youve used a lot
of glue. The glue shrinks slightly when it dries
and it can warp the plastic slightly. The only
solution I have at the moment is to very carefully try to bend it back to its original shape.
The other concern is that you have to make

sure you dont get glue on the non-raised
section of the tile. If you do the flock will stick
to this and once dry it will interfere with the
tiles ability to stack with another tile. This is
Part II
Stream/River/Lake Edges
The rock flocking material should be stored

in large Ziplock bags. You will need brown
and light gray. (Sorry, I dont have the numbers for the type I used, I threw away the
package a long time ago. The brown should
match the burnt sienna paint and the gray is
a light gray.)
Note: When I refer to flocking throughout
Above is one of my finished stream edge

water tiles complete with tall reeds/grass.
Heres a step-by-step on how its done:
Materials:
You will need black, burnt sienna and white
acrylic paint; Elmers glue in a squeeze bottle; water; a small paint brush; two colors of
rock flocking material; field grass and some
Heroscape water hex tiles.
20
As you play the miniatures will knock the

flocking off. Its a simple fact of miniature
wargaming. You can do a lot to keep this
from happening by sealing the flocking with a
spray varnish. However, some varnishes, like
Krylon for example, change the way the flock
looks in undesirable ways. The only spray
varnish that I have found to work is Testors
#1260 - Dullcote. And even then you dont
want to spray it on too thick and you dont
want too much of it on the sides of your tiles.
I generally lock all of my tiles together in one
flat spread and spray the varnish on in a wide
side to side motion.
this tutorial I will mean the hard rock material,

not the soft sponge like flocking that I used
to create the grass in the previous tutorial.)
You will also need small gravel to represent
boulders. I look for gravel that is gray in color,
small, and most specifically rocks that have a
flat side to them. Ill glue the flat side down
in a later step.
ISSUE 4
Heres some reference shots out of a book
that sort of shows the look Im going for:

In planning this out youve got to leave
enough room on the tile so a figure will be
able to fit on it. By keeping it to the side and
not letting the rock(s) extend too far out
onto the tile you should have no problem
with this.
Step 2: Painting
The first thing you do is to paint the edge of

the tile you are going to model black. You
paint the black paint right up to the edge
of the tile but make sure you dont slop the
paint over the edge and onto the sides of
the tile. This will throw off the tolerance and
will make the tile difficult to put together with
other tiles. Here are two tiles painted in correctly.
Step 3: Flocking
The next step is to add the glue and the

flocking. As in my previous tutorial I am using
Elmers glue with a squeeze top to draw
with the glue. Notice how I draw a bead of
glue staying slightly away from the edge of
the tile. This is to keep any of the flocking
from interfering with the tiles ability to lock
into another tile. The reason for the paint in
the step 2 is to cover the blue tile wherever
you dont glue on the flocking. That way you
wont have water areas showing right next to
the shore line.
Step 1: Planning
The first thing to do is to plan which edges

of the water tile you are going to model. I
find that I use two different types, water tiles
modeled on two sides and water tiles modeled on three sides. Using these I can put
together a wide range of water situations like
lakes and streams. The red shaded area in the
pictures below show the area(s) that Ill be
working on.
Two hex sides:
The next step is to dab on the burnt sienna. Ill

mix this paint with a little white to help make
it more opaque. (Little being the important
word here, it doesnt take much.) Again take
it all the way to the edge. The importance of
this will be apparent later.
I then draw in the rest of the glue:
Painting the brown:
Heres all of the glue in place:
Three hex sides:
The finished step:
21

Next you dip it into the flocking, pull it out,
tap it to remove the excess flocking and then
lightly push the flocking down into the glue
with your finger to make sure in adheres.
HS Codex
You carefully pull some of it out of the bag
trying your best to keep it together as a
clump.
The basic idea is that you cut off the bottom

of the grass so that all of the strands of grass
are even and then you glue that into a blob
of glue. Put the bead of glue on the rocks,
not on the grass. Remember that the glue will
dry clear so you want enough of a bead that
when it dries, it will hold the grass.
Next Ill add in some of the gray rock flocking

material to represent a different color of river
rock. Simply dab some glue over top of the
brown rock (leaving areas for the brown to
show through) and dip it into the gray flocking.
Step 4: Grass
Field Grass is available at hobby stores that

sell model railroad supplies.
22
Heres what it looks like:
Another technique is to fold the grass in

half and then snip it in the fold with a pair of
scissors. You then have two stands of grass/
weeds to glue down.
ISSUE 4
While the grass dries youll have to prop it up
so that it does not fall over. The Elmers glue is
pretty tacky but it can still let the grass droop
or fall over. (As you can see form the photo
I personally like to pull out my very old and
valuable Frank Frazetta books to prop up this
gluey mess with.)

Step 5: Boulders
Next you test fit some of the gravel onto the

tiles until you find a place where a boulder
might look good and fit well. Another large
blob of glue and your set. Try to vary where
you place these rocks. Too many placed in
the same spot on all of your tiles will not look
good.
show the way water ripples around rocks.

Once youve painted this on and it is dry you
can easily scrape some of the paint back off
with the end of your paint brush to correct
any mistakes or to break it up.
The last step with the grass is to trim it so its

not so tall. Try to do this randomly and at
different angles. You dont want the grass to
look unnatural or like its been cut off.
Step 7: Sealing
The last step is to lightly seal everything. The

only spray varnish that I have found to work
is Testors #1260 - Dullcote. And even then
you dont want to spray it on too thick and
you dont want too much of it on the sides
of your tiles. I generally lock all of my tiles together in one flat spread and spray the varnish on in a wide side to side motion.
Step 6: Water Ripples
The last step is to use a small brush and to

place thin lines of white paint around the
edges of the shore line. Study pictures that
One problem is that the varnish will dull

down the water. My solution was to take a
clean cloth after I sprayed it and wiped it
off of the water part of the tile. It got a little
dull toward to edges of the rocks but that
sort of made it look like shallow water so I
didnt mind.
23

Right is one of my finished tree/forest tiles
complete with rocks/grass. Heres a step-bystep on how its done:
Materials:
You will need spray mount, matt board or

illustration board, xacto knife, printer, store
bought trees HO scale (Woodland Scenics
work great), small rocks, flocking (the same
color that you use to flock you hex tiles with
is best) and glue.
Step 1: Making the base
The first thing to do is to print out the base

template. I have made the hex shapes on
these in such a way that they will perfectly fit
onto a Heroscape hex tile with out any overlap. You will find the template in the download section at Heroscapers.com.
The next thing to do is to lightly spray

mount the printed template onto a sheet of
illustration board or matt board. Only spray
the back of the printout, not the illustration
board. The idea is temporarily hold the template onto the board while you cut it out.
Whichever board you use is up to you. If you
want these to be really durable then go with
the illustration board. The draw backs are
it is harder to trim out due to its thickness
and it stands a little higher when placed on
the gaming surface. Youll also have to paint
it to match your tiles just in case the flocking doesnt completely cover the white of
the board which throws in an extra step. The
advantages of mat board is you can buy it in
a green color that closely matches the color
you choose to do your tiles in (so you will
not have to paint it) and it is easier to cut.
Of course, because it is thinner, it is easier
to bend up the corners. Personally Ive used
both and Ive never had any trouble with
either one. You should be careful with your
scenery regardless of what you use so I vote
for the thinner board.
After you have spray mounted the template
to your board its a simple matter to trim it
out with an xacto knife. Use a metal straight
edge as shown.
24
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Part III Trees
ISSUE 4
Sometimes youll have to go in and cut a little deeper into the corners of your cut. Cut
down on one side and then the other. The
important thing to attempt is not to cut into
your base.

If youve used illustration board the next step
would be to paint the base with the same
paint that you use on your tiles.
Heres the finished edge:
Step 2: Planning the scenery elements:

One thing you do not want is to have the
white edge of the board showing up against
the green of the flocked tile you place it on.
Therefore you have to color in the edges of
the base. The best way Ive found is to use a
broad tip marker such as a Design Marker to
draw in the green on the edges. Olive Value
# 3 works very well if you are using the same
colors that I have mentioned in my previous
instructions. Simply go around the edge of
your base with the marker. Its that easy.
Next take your tree and some actual rocks

or twigs (to represent fallen logs) and plan
how they will fit on the base. By using real
rocks you add weight to the scenery which
in turn keeps it from being knocked over easily. When looking for rocks always search for
ones that look like they would fit the scale
of your figures. They should have as much
character as possible and have a flat side that
can be glued down.
After the base has been trimmed out remove

the template. You can toss this or if its not
too cut up use it again on another piece of
board.
Another thing to plan is how the foliage of

the tree will fit on the base to allow figures to
stand next to it without having the tree itself
interfere. Do this by looking straight down
from above and then placing your tree so
that it is directly over the base as much as
possible.
Here you can see how Ive designed the

bases to fit on the tiles:
Step 3: Gluing it all down:
Now comes the easy part, gluing everything

down. I use both Elmers and Tacky glue. The
Tacky glue works best to hold the larger,
heavier elements down such as the rocks
25
HS Codex
and the trees. Put down a lot as you want this

to hold down the items very well. Most of
this will be covered in flock so dont worry
about how it looks. I recommend that you let
this dry overnight. (I use Elmers mainly to glue
down flock since it comes out of the bottle
thinner than the Tacky glue.)
Next comes more glue and then bushes and

static grass:
The bushes are made with torn off pieces of
Woodland Scenics Medium Green Lichen.
[3-13]
Once that dries then add in some dirt colored flock as shown. The dirt I used is Woodland Scenics number T60, Coarse Turf Earth.
Step 4: Flocking:
Next comes the green flock. I usually spread
glue onto the base with a paint brush so that
I can control where the glue goes. Afterwards dip the base into your flock and press
it down with your finger if you need to. Refer
to my previous customizing guides for more
information about how to apply flock.
Part IV - Rock Tiles

Left are some of my finished rock tiles in
play. Heres a quick step-by-step on how its
done. (And by the way, dose are ma cousins in the picture.)
Materials:
You will need spray mount, matt board or

illustration board, xacto knife, printer, large
rocks, small rocks, gravel flocking (the same
color that you use to flock your rock hex tiles
with is best) and glue (tacky glue and for the
larger rocks, a hot glue gun).
Step 1: Making the base
The first few steps are exactly like the tree/

forest tutorial. First you print out the base
template. I have made the hex shapes on the
templates in such a way that they will perfectly fit onto a Heroscape hex tile without
26
ISSUE 4
any overlap. (You will find the template at the

end of the tree/forest tutorial.)
The next thing to do is to lightly spray
mount the printed template onto a sheet
of illustration board or colored matt board.
Only spray the back of the printout, not the
illustration board. The idea is temporarily
hold the template onto the board while you
cut it out. After you have spray mounted the
template to your board its a simple matter
to trim it out with an xacto knife. Use a metal
straight edge. Peel off and throw away the
printed template after you have trimmed out
the hex base. (Again, see the tree tutorila for
more information.)
One thing you do not want is to have the
white edge of the board showing up against
the terrain you place it on. Therefore you
have to color in the edges of the base. The
best way Ive found is to use a broad tip
marker such as a Design Marker to draw in
the grey on the edges. Cool Grey Value # 5
works very well. Simply go around the edge
of your base with the marker. Its that easy.
If youve used illustration board the next step

would be to paint the base with the same
paint that you use on your tiles. In the case of
my tiles I got a little more artsy and painted
a dark grey first and then proceeded to dab
in lighter and lighter areas of paint. I did this
by mixing a grey with Mars Black, Titanium
White and a little bit of Burnt Umber just to
add a little dirt color to the mix.
Step 2: Planning the scenery elements:

The rocks that you use you will have to find.
For the smaller debris surrounding my larger
rocks I use grey gravel that I happen to have
in some of the pathways around my house.
These should be small (Ive shown them
with an xacto knife so you can get an idea
of scale).
The larger rocks you just have to keep an eye

out for. The best ones come in two colors,
grey and brownish light grey. If they have one
side that is flat all the better. Its that side that
youll glue to the base. Also look for rocks
that look like scaled down versions of bigger
boulders. If the rock has a layered sediment
look all the better.
Next take your rocks and plan how they will
fit on the base. By using real rocks you add
weight to the scenery which in turn keeps it
from being knocked around easily.
Step 3: Gluing it all down:
Now comes the easy part, gluing everything

down. I use both Tacky glue and a hot glue
gun. The Tacky glue works best to hold the
smaller rocks down with. I use the glue gun
to place the larger, heavier elements since
it dries much faster and holds the rocks in
place. It would be best (in the case of the
Tacky glue) to let all of this dry overnight.
Step 4: Flocking:
Next comes the gravel flock. I try to spread
the glue onto the base in a way that looks like
piled up gravel. This is a great way to hide
any glue that might be showing around the
edges of the rocks or other imperfections.
Afterwards dip the base into your flock and
press it down with your finger if you need to.
Refer to my previous customizing guides for
more information about how to apply flock.
27

Here are a couple of finished one-hex rock
tiles:
Once that dries then you can add in some

dirt colored flock or grass if youd like. You
could also add bushes and static grass. I like
to keep the other types of flock off of my
rock tiles so I can use them to represent rock
formations inside of caverns. I am, however,
working on a set of rock tiles that will be
used in forest settings by flocking the edges
of the rock tiles with my grass flock and adding in bushes and grass.
Heres some samples of some of my 4 hex
rock tiles to give you ideas:
HS Codex
Custom Terrain in Action
Ah, the Romans out on patrol.....

Note:To show you what a complete master set would look like in play, I set up a
battle and took some shots.
....little do they know, but they are about
to be ambushed by a squad of orcs.
The orcs charge!
The Romans counter charge!
One last thing. Sometimes, when Im done

with a rock tile, I might brush a thin black
wash of paint over areas that look too light in
color. This helps tone those areas down and
if done correctly will deepen the shadow
areas.
28
ISSUE 4
As the Romans are beaten back by the
orcs, reinforcements arrive across the
lake....

The orc archers take the high ground and
pelt the Romans with blackened arrows....
Various views of the chaos....
But the orcs have another ally who flies

in.....
(Note that the base on Charos has been
painted and flocked to match my hex
tiles.)
The Roman reinforcements are cut off from

helping their friends....
Even more orcs charge into the fray....
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Bad_Calvins
Cityscape
By Matt Drake
Where Grishnakh can take a master set and turn it into a masterpiece, Bad_Calvin takes a
completely different approach. Calvin is happy enough with his tiles and plastic trees, but he
wants to add something desperately missing from Heroscape so far buildings. Sure, weve
got castles, but how about a stable? Or a house? Does nobody in Valhalla ever sleep?
Calvins impressive constructions bring a
wide range of variety to your Heroscape table, and are measured and built to fit with
the terrain. Perhaps his simplest pieces provide an example of what is possible with just
a little ingenuity and imagination. The bone
hedges are a great way to add to your Heroscape maps with minimal effort.
30
Expanding on the simplicity of the bone

hedges are the stone hedges. These constructions look surprisingly like a certain random pile of stone somewhere in the UK, and
again can easily add to an existing map to set
off particular areas of the map.
The final set of stone plinths is the sandstone

hedges, with a completely different look and
a cool twist. Small inserts can be placed
in the gaps under the arches made by the
sandstone hedges, and can leave room for
single-base figures to slide through, or filled
in to provide a large obstacle.
ISSUE 4
If the stone, sandstone and bone hedges were all Calvin made, they
would still be an accomplishment. But to really kick it up a notch,
Calvin also makes this impressive wide bridge. This arched creation
spans several spaces of water, and allows for figures to cross the
double-wide bridge and battle all along its span.

Possibly the most versatile of Calvins Cityscape project are the buildings. These one-story and two-story buildings are designed to accommodate Heroscape terrain, leaving room for hiding on the hexes
at the end and providing excellent blocks for line-of-sight attacks.
Flying figures can hide behind them, then fly over to swoop in for
attacks. House rules could even allow figures to hide inside the buildings, or to emerge as reinforcements as the battle gets heated. As
you can see, the buildings come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
31

Once again, the accomplishments Calvin has created to this point
are impressive in their own right, but once again, Calvin outdoes himself with two last creations. The first is the incredibly impressive large
crypt. The crypt has spaces inside and on the removable roof, to allow a team of defenders to hold the crypt against invaders. The crypt
is light-weight but sturdy, and seriously dominates a battlefield.
HS Codex
The crowning achievement in Calvins collection is the dice tower.
This beautiful piece can rest right in the middle of your map, as scenery and gaming aids merge into one. The battle can rage around the
tower while the dice roll through it.
Possibly the best thing about Bad_Calvins Cityscape is that he trades

and sells it, and his prices are exceptionally reasonable, especially
considering the work that goes into creating it. You can see many
more photos of Calvins work, along with information about trading
and selling at his site:
http://cablespeed.com/~bad.calvin/
32
ISSUE 4
Customizing
Custom Glyphs For

Heroscape
Steven Annerios Del Toro
Invariably one of the things new Heroscape players

comment about during their first game (or immediately
afterwards) is, Do they make a glyph that does this?
or They should make a glyph that does this. . .
Glyphs can unbalance the game if used incorrectly, but if used sparingly and strategically they can add excitement to the game. Unfortunately, Hasbro has not included new glyphs with any expansion
packs since the release of Malliddons Prophecy. The time involved
in testing new glyphs and cost of producing them seems to have
deterred Hasbro from producing more for now. This has opened
up the field for Heroscape players to create custom glyphs to fill the
void left by the lack of new glyph releases.
Play testing custom glyphs does not have to be that difficult, especially if the concept for the glyph is simple. Custom glyph concepts
range from the incredibly simple Glyph 13 to the more complex
Glyph of Deimos. Just as with testing custom units, you will need to
think carefully about how the glyphs power will affect or interact
with the existing game figures and rules. Small or medium maps with
3 or 4 glyphs to experiment with tend to work nicely for play testing depending on the types of glyphs you have designed. In some
scenarios the glyphs can be placed front and center to draw players
out to battle over them, while in others, you can situate them in inaccessible places to make players work to get them. This works well
when the glyph is not hidden so players know the advantage they
33
Customizing
HS Codex
will get by holding it. Placing glyphs on lava
field tiles also works nicely, because it forces
players to make hard choices about whether
to grab a glyph or not. If the glyph is hidden
and on a lava field tile, it is even riskier.
The presentation of custom glyphs varies. In
the photos on the previous page, you will
see glyphs and cards that mimic the Malliddons Prophecy glyphs and a new condensed version of the glyphs created by
Hex_Enduction_Hour that provide you with
all of the information you need right on the
glyph piece. This new design works great for
simple glyphs or as a reminder of the glyphs
power even if you have a more detailed description on a card or on a summary sheet.
Remember that the Rise of Valkyrie glyphs are
a little different from the Malliddons Prophecy glyphs. The original glyph rules were summarized in the Heroscape instruction manual
and did not include cards. If you would
like cards to use with the Rise of the Valkyrie
glyphs, you can find them pre-made for your
use at http://www.heroscapers.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=411.
Here are some of the various available custom glyphs and tips on how they can be
used in your games:
GLYPH OF HEIKAL (FIRE/WATER)
This dangerous glyph, created by Stephen

Mackey (Karkaddin), was the winner of Hex_
Enduction_Hours custom glyph contest at
www.HeroscapeHQ.com. The mechanics
of it are simple, but the effects could be
devastating. It is easy to imagine Venoc Vipers frying and Obsidian Guards significantly
weakened in an instant. This glyph could also
provide non-flying figures faced with molten
lava obstacles with a quick way to navigate
through them. A castles conventional water
moat can instantly become a deadly barrier if
the defenders gain access to this glyph.
34
ISSUE 4
Customizing
GLYPH 13
Glyph 13 was originally designed to deal with

a unique hero with 0 life that could only be
removed from the battlefield by rolling the
20 sided die. It will, of course, work against
initiative rolls and any other aspects of the
game that involve rolling the 20-sided. It is
not overly powerful, since it only affects the
roll by 1, but like the Glyph of Lodin (which
is its counterpart), it can make a difference in
the game. It can be deadly if it is captured
early on and held by one player. Using the
Glyph of Lodin on the same battlefield can
provide a balancing effect. Of course, if your
opponent holds both of these against you,
you are going to suffer.
GLYPH OF DEIMOS
This inventive custom glyph, created by

Chicano, makes use of the dice with some
interesting results. It rewards the player for
correct predictions of dice rolls for defense
or attack. The more difficult the prediction
based on the number of dice rolled, the
greater the reward. This glyph will slow game
play a little, but the prediction aspect of it
makes it fun,w especially if you succeed!
35
Customizing
HS Codex
GLYPH OF TIME
This glyph was created because it is odd that

a game which involves so much dice rolling did not include this power. Many other
board games include similar powers on a
card or as a feature, so it is natural that Heroscape should have it as well. If you want to
save a figure from an instant kill power like Sudemas or Deadeye Dans, desperately need
the initiative in a round to make a plan work
or for countless other game reasons, this is
a glyph you will love. It has saved characters from death and given players who are
struggling that one little comeback they need
to get back in the game. It is not a guaranteed second chance, but when it works, it
will make your opponents gnash their teeth
in frustration.
GLYPH OF TARNA
Bonding is one of the most powerful special abilities in Heroscape. This custom glyph,
created by Malechi, brings that unit synergy
to an immediate halt. Bonding reliant armies
need to try to prevent enemy access to the
glyph early in the game. If the glyph is held
against them, they run the risk of taking the
glyph just to regain their armys bonding flexibility once again. This can be a crippling
glyph for many of the popular tournamentstyle armies players are fond of using.
36
ISSUE 4
Customizing
GLYPH OF REISA
For a game that deals with so much terrain,

there have not been any official figures or
glyphs that add terrain in mid-battle. Removing terrain can be tricky, but adding it is no
big deal (as some recent official scenarios
have shown). This glyph is an attempt to
remedy that. One little piece of terrain does
not sound like much, but it can be very helpful. Maps often feature small 1 space wide
streams that can stop single space figures
dead in their tracks. In that kind of situation,
this glyph can give you the small bridge you
need to increase your armys mobility. Since
it can be placed anywhere on the battlefield,
it can provide you with a safe place to stand
on a lava field tile or push a figure up enough
to get the height advantage bonus on flat
terrain. There are many possibilities with this
glyph.
GLYPH OF SHOGT
This glyph by Hex_Enduction_Hour was interesting with the terrain that was available
prior to the castles, but with the castle release, it takes on a whole new dimension.
This glyph would obviously be devastating
to castle defenders if used against them. If
the defenders control it, however, it would
allow them to make sorties from almost anywhere in the castle walls they desire without
relying on having to exit through the gates.
They can also easily return to safety behind
the walls, since their opponents would be
unable to follow.
This is just a small sampling of the custom glyphs

that are available for use in your games. Please
visit http://www.heroscapers.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=410&highlight= for
more custom glyph concepts, discussion
and custom glyph templates for creating
your own glyphs.
37
Customizing
HS Codex
NO EXCLUSIVES? NO PROBLEM!
Painting Great Mock Exclusives for the Painting Impaired and/or Broke
By JustJohn Clowdus
Nerak and Sir Hawthorne. We all want them,

but not all of us are able to make it to the
conventions and demos where they are
handed out. Our choices for getting these
figures are limited. For a lucky few, friends are
able to pick up extras, but a lot are forced to
make a decision: buy them for outrageous
prices on Ebay, or go without. Well, Im here
to offer you another option. For less than
$20 and a little patience, you can have a
Nerak, or Sir Hawthorne of your very own. I
would like to stop here to make a note, this
article probably wont be able to sate the
completist Scaper. This is more of a how
to for those of us who love this game, want
the exclusives, and are willing to settle on the
next best thing.
Now, theres a pretty good possibility that
if you are reading this, and havent already
painted your own mock exclusives, it is because you are scared of painting. Dont be
scared of painting. Everyone is new to painting minis at some point, and very few of us
start out above average. I see myself as a
decent utility painter. Ive never been one
to go into a ton of detail and fading colors
and what not, but I believe my end work is
normally better than average. With that being
said, the paintjobs that I will walk you through
on Nerak and Hawthorne will be somewhat
simple, but will cover some more advanced
techniques that will serve as a great stepping
38
stone, if you are new to painting.

So youre ready to get started? Good! The
list of supplies, aside from the actual figures,
can all be found in the craft department of
your local Wal-Mart, and all can be purchased
for less than 10 dollars. There are a few extra
touches which are optional, but will run you
a tad bit more.
Supply List:
* 1 Swog Rider
* 1 Knight of Weston (In Sir Hawthorne
Stance)
* Apple Barrel Brand Acrylic Paints (47 cents
per bottle at Wal-Mart) Red, Black, Tan, Brown,
Dark Brown, White, Gold, Silver
* DecoArt Brand Metallic Acrylic Paints (97
cents per bottle) Gold and Silver
* Plaid Brand Brushes 4 Pack Variety Brushes
($2.97 at Wal-Mart)
* A spoon and a bowl or cup
* About an hour of your time
Id like to stop here for a second to discuss
paints. There are a ton of brands to choose
from, some much more costly than others. I
have been painting miniatures for almost 10
years, and I have used expensive brushes and
paint. I can honestly say that the AppleBarrel
paints are quite good, just slightly less good
than Games Workshops costly Citadel Brand
paint. I suggest painting somewhere close to
a sink with a lot of light. I paint on the island

in our kitchen. This puts me directly beneath
the light and within arms distance of the sink
for rinsing out my brush. RINSE YOUR BRUSH
AFTER EVERY COLOR! When you dry it, spin
it in a paper towel without fraying the bristles. When it is dry, place it into your mouth
and pull it through your lips, recreating the
point. Trust me, this stuff is non-toxic, so
youll be OK. Always shake your paint rigorously before using it. Also, I do not recommend coating your figures with finishes.
I have never, ever used them. I know a lot
of people are fans of them, but I do not like
shiny miniatures, and the matte spray finishes
tend to really wash out colors.
ISSUE 4
Customizing
SIR HAWTHORNE
We are going to start with Sir Hawthorne,

since he is a ridiculously easy repaint, using only 3 colors. The toughest part about
Hawthorne is the shield design, but we will
tackle that last. For those visual people, Ive
included a paint-by-numbers diagram to
show which colors go where.
coat. Let the silver dry. Clean your brush.
Step 3
Take a few seconds, check the places where

you painted black and look for little peeks
of silver glinting out from the original color.
Touch these up with your small brush and
black paint. Let it dry.
brush out. This will leave only the small raised

ring around the buckler gold. Next, paint the
hilt of the sword gold as well.
Step 5
Take a look at your Sir Hawthorne (only 1

step away from him being completed). Get
your black and silver paints back out. Touch
up any spots where gold got on the silver,
or silver on the black, or anywhere that you
have made a tiny boo-boo. Let it dry and
clean out your brushes.
Step 6
Step 1
To begin, select your largest brush. Shake

your black paint up very well and twist the
cap off. The paint in the top of the cap will
make for a perfect Paint the entire model
Black. This is the easy part. Let the black dry
completely. Clean your brush.
Step 4
Take your smallest brush and your gold paint.

Get a little bit of gold on the tip of your
brush. Its time to paint the small rings around
the bucklers on the chest. Place your brush
flush with the edge of the silver, and pull your
This part is a pain. The shield. They decided

to give Sir Hawthorne a really cool shield
image, but as cool as it looks, it is hard to
duplicate. You have several options here.
You could free hand the dragon onto the
shield with black paint. This is very difficult,
and I do not recommend trying this unless
you have 100% faith in your own abilities.
The best option is to print the shield image
out onto clear stickers and apply it. This will
force you to purchase some sort of label or
sticker paper which may cost 3-7 dollars.
Lastly, you can print out the image and make
a stencil with an exacto knife, which is also
very difficult.
Youre Sir Hawthorne is complete. You have
a pretty dead-on Sir Hawthorne. Now you
just need to print off the card, which can be
found at the forums of Heroscapers.com.
Step 2
Next, get the silver paint and your 2nd to

smallest brush. Paint the sword blade, shield,
round bucklers on the chest, cuirass, and
chain mail skirt silver. You may have to apply
a second coat on the shield, as this blue is
very slick, and the silver may not cover it in 1
39
Customizing
HS Codex
NERAK
Painting Nerak is a tad more difficult than Sir

Hawthorne was. You will need to apply a
wash to this figure once you are done painting it, to make it look official. But, you dont
have to fiddle with the shield image either. I
did not touch the skin on Nerak, as that bluegreen color is somewhat difficult for me to
mix. There is a paint-by-numbers for Nerak
as well.
Step 6
Step 3
Get your dark brown and silver. Paint swogs

collar dark brown, then paint his saddle the
same color. By the time you are done painting the saddle, the collar should be dry. Take
your smallest brush and silver paint. Dip the
tip of your brush into the silver and dot the
spikes on swogs collar. Let everything dry.
After Nerak is completely dry, youre going

to need to apply a wash. In your bowl or
cup, drop 2 drops of white, 1 drop of dark
brown, and 1 drop of black. Add a little bit
of water, and mix the sauce with your biggest
brush. Take a little bit of the wash and apply
it to the side of your finger, the wash should
fill your fingerprints, and run off of your finger.
If it is too think, add a little water. If it is too
thin, add a tad more dark brown. When the
mixture is the correct consistency, dip your
largest brush into it and apply this wash all
over the entire figure. The dark paint will fill
the cracks and crevices, but leave the surfaces pretty much unchanged. This adds depth
to your figure.
Step 4
You are going to need to mix a light, light

gray from Neraks armor. Take white and a
tad bit of black, enough to darken it up to
the lightest gray. Mixing is best done with
your largest brush. After the color is mixed,
paint Neraks armor, socks, wristbands, dagger scabbard, and sword hilt with the light
gray. Let it dry.
Step 5
Step 1
Paint the entire swog(wolf thing) white and

let it dry. Your largest brush is the best for
doing this. Do not get any white paint on
Neraks orc skin.
Step 2
You are going to need to mix a dingy tan for

swogs teeth and claws. Mix 1 drop of white
with 1 drop of your tan paint in the spoon,
and swirl them together with your largest
brush. With your 2nd to smallest brush, paint
swogs claws and teeth. Let them dry. At
this point, get your smallest brush and your
red paint. Dip the very tip of your brush into
the red and dot swogs eyes. Let it dry.
40
Use your light brown and 2nd to smallest

brush to paint Neraks skirt and the bedroll.
Let this dry.
Youre done with Nerak. Just print out a card

and off you go!
I hope this article helped some of you who
do not have access to the GenCon exclusives, but have a little bit of time and will settle on a version you painted yourself. As a
side note, to the best of my judgment, these
color schemes are pretty dead-on. Little details may be colored a tad different on Nerak,
but the majority is correct. If you have any
questions, just shoot me a pm over at Scapers.
ISSUE 4
Customizing
Custom Unit: Spotlight

By Colby Dauch
Apache Plains Riders
A Custom Unit By Atmospro
Sometimes I come across a custom unit that

just so fantastically replicates what I would
expect to see in a unit put out by Hasbro
that my jaw drops at the sheer genius of it.
The Apache Plains Indians by Atmospro are
just such a unit. Thematically, they fit right in
with the current cowboy theme weve seen
in Shotgun Sullivan, Deadeye Dan, and Guilty
McCreech. They are also exciting in that they
are the first mounted squad, and I can think
of no better way to do a mounted squad
than Indians on horseback.
Mechanically they are again modeled after
what we are used to seeing come out in official releases. They are a squad with a single
power. Some would say this is just too simplistic to compete with other customs being produced, but I argue that the simplicity
is what makes it such a fine unit. The unit is
intended, like many official units, to serve a
niche purpose on the battlefield, to perform
in a certain, expected way. These guys have
a well-worded run-and-gun ability, which
we have yet to see from official releases,
and they have the movement points to get
them in and out of battle. They are set at a
cost-effective 60 points. Their lack of a big
scary point cost is likely to get them drafted
in quite a few games, and their mechanics
allow them to operate well at a 60 point
level.
Graphically what we see with the Apaches

is what we are used to seeing from Atmospro, where the theme is woven right into
the cards graphics. And I can think of none
in the custom unit creation arena who do
a better job with this style of card. The figures are from the War Games Foundry and
are a little on the small side, but as they are
on the horses its not that noticeable. They
come unpainted and so will require a little
effort to put into play in full color, but the
fact that he dug up some good Indians minis
at all makes them worth checking out. The
mini companys website is: www.wargamesfoundry.com
A set of three will cost you around $16.00.
The Apache Plains Indians are a common
squad and this works well for me. I can picture 12 Indians on horse back riding through
the forsaken waters with bows at the ready,
letting out mighty warcrys as they loose their
arrows at their enemy and then, turning their
horses on their heels, they ride back around
out of site of return fire. Now THAT is good
HeroScape! My hats off to you on this one,
Atmospro!
41
Customizing
Halls of Valhalla
TARK
Stealth is even now, at the time of this writing,

an under-represented facet of combat in official HeroScape. It is only fulfilled to a very
limited extent by way of Carrs ability to move
through other figures and avoid disengagement attacks. But players craved more, the
ability to really hide from opponents, and this
is what Truths Tark has given us. Camouflage
provides a nice defense against the ranged
units many consider unduly advantaged over
melee, but the real meat of the unit lies in his
Concealment ability. This ability was something never seen before, that really captured
the essence of stealth: the total avoidance of
attacks, by both sides. It could have easily
been very complex, but it is worded simply,
taking up less space on the card than youd
think, and the clause at the end keeps it balanced to avoid nasty loopholes that would
turn stealth into irritatingly unstoppable invincibility. And all this... on a 70 point hero!
Truly a unique unit to play, but cheap enough
that he can fit into any army, Tark belongs in
every HeroScapers collection.
The figure is a Mage Knight Orc Tracker, and
runs seventy-nine cents: http://gimngetc.
safeshopper.com/1340/9324.htm?181 .
BODVAR THE BOLD
Doc Savages Bodvr is one of the simplest

of units to make it into the Halls, and serves as
a good example of a unit that fills a niche, by
bolstering up an official unit widely considered by the fandom to be underpowered.
By bonding with the Tarn Vikings, he allows
them to see play a lot more often, and his
ranged attack, in addition to dripping with
flavor, serves as a nice extra tactical option
to keep one of the games most memorably
weak melee squads from being blown away
before they can reach their goal. His stats
are quite interesting too, with better than
average life paired with better than average
movement, making him an exceptionally useful hero... but, lest you think him overpowered, he costs the same amount of points as
Mimring, leaving one thinking of the old tales
of lone brave warriors standing against maiden-devouring dragons. More than anything
else, Bodvr shows that you dont have to
think up an impossibly unique ability to have
a good unit, you just need to do something
that everyone wants out of HeroScape, and
tie it all together well.
42
HS Codex
ISSUE 4
Customizing
The figure is a D&D Mini Aspect of Moradin,

clocking in at $9.99 here: http://www.hobbiesandgames.com/Aspect_of_Moradin_
03_60_p/ddwd003.htm .
SAS COMMANDOS
This unit of Euryons is a particularly good

example of flavor, vaguely reminiscent of
the stat cards on the back of Transformer
action figure boxes, and very much shows
off its creators British origins. One of the
rarer sorts of customs, a unique squad of
two, their few numbers and average attack
and defense may lead an opposing player
to underestimate them, but such would be
unwise, for theyre capable of handing out
truly shocking amounts of damage, with two
of their special abilities heavily offensive, and
the other ability strongly oriented towards
letting the squad get perfect positioning before starting the deadly assault. Suppressing
Fire gives the teamwork element most players seem to want from two-man squads,
Who Dares Wins is a satisfyingly wicked form
of Frenzy with somewhat more enjoyment in
use given that it reacts to putting the hurt on
players instead of being random good luck
luck, and Infiltration Specialists encourages
ranged enemies to close in instead of staying afar as is the usual tactic. But what really
makes these guys Halls material is the sheer
quality of aesthetic representation of theme.
The SAS Commandos have no rivals when
it comes to a card that LOOKS like the unit
theme, right down to the tea mug stain and
the pretty yet happily legible handwritten
special abilities. With this card, a standard of
functional artwork incorporating unit theme
was set that has yet to be even equaled,
let alone surpassed. Theres no doubt that
when you play with these guys, look down
on their card, that you really feel like youre in
charge of professional soldiers in a war.
The figures are taken from two separate unpainted sets from the same line, with the
Commando Characters - Officer and NCO
set, or GOTT025, running 6.99, and Commandos with Bren Gun, or GOTT026, running
10.99 (for you yankees, thats about $12.93
and $20.34), both found here: http://www.
monolithdesigns.co.uk/gotter.htm
43
Mapping
HS Codex
Worlds of HeroScape
Intro Story
As war wages in Valhalla the Valkyrie general secure more and more wellsprings in their quest of greed, power and false justice. With these
wellsprings came visions of lands other than the bloodied land of Valhalla. These lands were beautiful and were familiar to them. These were
the lands of their warriors: Earth, Feylund, Grut, Icaria, Marr and Alpha Prime.
Yet same as with wellspring, the Valkyrie rush to capture these lands in greed. The chance of unlimited resources and unlimited troops is
just a chance the Valkyrie just can not ignore. They also love the fact that they can wage war for other magical object to use to capture the
wellsprings from their opponent generals. These choices have obviously put the warriors of all time in hard choice, protect their world or help
subjugate them.
The Battle of All Time has spread, Rebellions will rise, Empires will fall, People will die and the cause of war is strewn. Through the greed of
one race the march to galactic Ragnarock has begun. It began in Valhalla; land Kyrie the starting point of the nal Battle of Time.
Valhalla - Home of the Kyrie Warriors
Earth Home fo the Humans
The energy source of the wellsprings are large, symmetrical and unbreakable crystals of unknown origins. When placed correctly, a single crystal can power the wellsprings of an entire region.
Empires rise and fall over the centuries of mankind, and now for
most cities only ruins are left. But the wars are over and peace nally
seems to have come true.
Four of them have been discovered; two by Jandar and two by Utgar. After many battles and exhaustive searches, no other crystals can
been found. The focus now turns to taking them from each other.
Each general has carefully extracted, contained and taken his crystals
to remote and separate locations.
However, disturbing information of a new force frightens Earth.

Somewhere deep in Asia a portal has opened and cruel creatures
ood into the land. Only a few eyewitnesses survived this rst attack
and they report that wild skeletal warriors, hordes of orcs, massive
battle robots built for destruction and even dragons are invading the
human home planet.
by GaryLASQ
Jandar aligns his forces in Nostralund and Lindsfarme.

Utgar does the same in Laur and Bleakwoode.
The battle of all time for ultimate power on Valhalla is about to begin.
44
by Ch1can0
The best human warriors gather in North America to combat this new
and unknown menace and prepare for their Last Battle.
The Battle for Earth.
Editors Note:See page 48 for the entire Earth Scenario
ISSUE 4
Mapping
Alphaprime Home of the Soulborg
Feylund Home of the fantastic Creatures
All signs and information coming in indicate that the Soulborgs are
on the very brink of beginning their universal domination. There is
still time for those allied against them. The Soulborgs do not have the
strength of numbers to begin a full scale invasion.
As Valhalla marches towards galactic conquest one planet stands in

its way. Feylund has put up a Terrifying defense against the Valhallan aggressors. Now the nal push has come at the edge of the
Greengone Sea.
In preparation they have taken control of numerous mines and are

now preparing to reactivate the Forging Mill. Is there time? Can the
allies shut down the mill before the sheer vastness of the Soulborg
army is to much for the worlds to handle?
The Defensive army stationed on the beach has been wiped out only
a few battle hardened vets remain and the odds are bleak as the true
size of the Valhallan force is revealed. All of the warrior who remain
from the rst assault know if they lose it will be a head on march to
the Queen and
Feylund, their mother world, will fall.
by ICEBEAR
Only one hope remains, to hit the borgs and hit them hard before they
can reactivate the Forging Mill.
by Fallen Templar
Good luck Generals!
Grut Home of the Orcs

by skyknight
For thousands of years the orcs have been on Grut. Through their
isolation they have honed their kind into a cruel, powerful species
bent on conquest.
The time has come to take the battle to the Orc homeland and deliver
them a message they shall not soon forget. As the allies prepare for
their invasion, the orcs too are prepared. In deep dripping caves they
pour forth to challenge the invaders, through sacrice of prisoners
into the molten lava of Grut they gain Utgars favor.
This is the orcs ultimate battle, the very battle that will decide the
continued existence of the their warrior clans.
The pieces are set, the generals watch on, let all Hell be released!!!
45
Mapping
HS Codex
Marr Home of the Marros, Vipers and Gorillinators
icaria Home of the Dragons
The rst recorded history of Marr was recorded by the Primadons,

roughly around 10,000 B.C. At that time, the Primadons were the
only advanced species.
Icaria was a prosperous planet full of life and happiness. The world
was composed of three major kingdoms: Agrad, Grisnar, and Kaldurag.
The Primadons recorded the rise of the Raptorians around 5,000 B.C.
By 3,500 they had a force large enough to wage war. They quickly
gained the Venoc Swamp through many decisive victories. However, they could not defeat the Primadons, and an uneasy alliance was
formed in 3,484.
Agrad was the elemental kingdom of water and its inhabitants were
of the sea and the sands. Grisnar, the kingdom of nature, was home to
the sprawling and forbidding forests of Isbane. And then to the south,
as ery as Hell itself, lies the kingdom of Kaldurag, brimstone and
sulfur clouds pollute this wasteland of re where only the evilest or
bravest of heart dare approach.
by gibberish_47
The vipers of the Venoc Swamps were taken as slaves following their
defeat. They were used as slaves, because most were semi-intelligent, but some showed uncanny intelligence. These advanced vipers
turned out to be the end of the Raptorian Empire in 1,589 B.C. The
Venoc Warlord, along with his cohorts, the highly developed Armocs,
planned an uprising. The Venoc Vipers agreed to help and on a cool
autumn morning, the vipers rose and struck down there oppressors.
Their assault was so sudden the Raptorians did not have time to respond.
Most of the Raptorians were slaughtered by the relentless Venocs.
While the turmoil in southern Marr roar on, in the northern barren
lands evil stirred. An eerie race of skeletal creatures rose and undisturbed by the southern races, they multiplied rapidly. For 2,000
years their forces grew, until the hive was literally overowing with
them. One of the more prominent hivelords, Me-Burq-Sa, wanted to
split off and form a second hive. When his notion was struck down
by Ne-Gok-Sa and Su-Bak-Na, he staged a coup. Many drones were
killed in the ensuing chaos, but no great harm was done. Ne-GokSa decided to spare Me-Burq-Sa, but stripped him of his power and
grandeur.
However, the Marros did send scouts south. They crossed the Sea
of Valinoc, multiplying in the water as they went. They struck out
into the Venoc Swamps, and nding the Venocs, decided to wage
war. The Venocs, with victory fresh in their minds, fought back. The
swamps have become stinking putrid, quagmire, and the land to the
east of the Sea of Valinoc has fallen into decay.
The last recording by the Primadons came a few years after the outbreak of the Great War, with accounts of whole armies vanishing, and
Primadon scouts never returning
46
by bobofett
Harmony ruled Agrad and Grisnar, and peace dominated the landscape. But the same was not to apply to Kaldurag, home of the Black
Hordes. The lord of Kaldurag has passed, a new heir has risen to the
throne, he wears upon his brow a crown of blood. Viciousness that
has not been seen in a thousand years now sits upon the seat of power,
an iron st rules the land and pushes the hordes into Grisnar for the
sole purpose of destruction. War has been declared.
Alas the peace has died between Agrad and Grisnar for Agrad refuses
to send support and claims much of Grisnar for themselves. With Grisnar now split between the two factions the lord of Kaldurag whips
his forces into a bloodied frenzy that has never been seen upon Icaria. Agrad defends itself bravely but is no match for the hordes, all is
lost.
The great Dragon King of Kaldurag has become fat off the lands and
slow to respond in his false sense of security, it is a mistake he will
not live to repeat.Those who he believed loyal, take him by surprise
and rend his body into pieces.The warlords of the horde then turn on
each other to gain supreme control of Icaria. Soon there will be nothing left of Icaria to rule, it has come to this, a nal
battle of the dragons, in the most sacred of all Icarias sites. A battle of
evil that has no limits, but alas there remains hope, for out of the mists
rises a small but new army, that of the former Agrads and Grisnars.
Will this new army be enough to rest control from the clutches of
the Kalduragianhorde? Only you general have the power, only you
can save this once beautiful land. You must go to Icaria and lead the
forces of good or all is lost.
I bid you good luck.
ISSUE 4
Mapping
Earth
(2 Teams of players)
Required Sets: 3 Master Sets
Other Sets: 3 Forgotten Forest
Scenario Goal:
Empires rise and fall over the centuries of mankind, and now for
most cities only ruins are left. But the wars are over and peace nally
seems to have come true.
However, disturbing information of a new force frightens Earth.
Somewhere deep in Asia a portal has opened and cruel creatures
ood into the land. Only a few eyewitnesses survived this rst attack
and they report that wild skeletal warriors, hordes of orcs, massive
battle robots built for destruction and even dragons are invading the
human home planet.
The best human warriors gather in North America to combat this new
and unknown menace and prepare for their Last Battle.
The Battle fopr Earth: Conquer/ Defend Earth or destroy allenemiesbefore round 12
Player Info:
Each player may draft armies of equal points.
Indiviidual one-on-one game 600 points
Team two-on-two 400 pointsd each.
47
Mapping
Glyphs:
Hidden glyphs are suggested spot to place any glyphs if desired
Special Rules:
Humans Agianst invaders
Before drafting teams roll the 20 sided die.The team with the highest roll plays the part of the humans and is only allowed to draft
human gures. If the supply of humans to draft runs out, any other
gures may be drafted.to complete their army.
Home Field Advantage
All humans have +2 movement
Portals:
The glyphs of Brandar are portals between America and North Asia
and The other pair of glyphs of Brandar ar potals between Africa
and Australia.
Victory Conditions:
If at the end of any round a player/team holds all 5 continents by
standing on the yellow spots, they win the game.
After 12 rounds the team/player holding the most conitnentswins the
game.
48
HS Codex
ISSUE 4
Mapping
Zaravi Incursion Repelled!
...The destructive wake of the Zaravi horde

spreads slowly across the face of Valhalla
like a festering wound. Determined to stem
the Demons unholy advance, forces loyal to
the major Archkyrie Generals converge at
the Trang Vent, a small, seeping lava dome
on the Tomospar River. Units in the service of Jandar, Ullar, Einar, Vydar, and even
Utgar all agree on what must be done, and
they form an uneasy alliance. In order to halt
the Zaravi invasion, they will temporarily
set aside their differences and ght side-byside against their common foe. The powerful Glyphs near the Vent must be protected,
and the Zaravi must be driven back, or Valhalla is lost. But old grudges die hard, and in
the heat of battle, each Generals forces will
surely try to ensure that their old enemies
bear the brunt of the damage from their new
shared nemesis. Can such a tenuous alliance
stand against the Zaravi onslaught, and if so,
which Archkyrie Generals troops will truly
claim victory at the days end?...
In the HS Codex Issue #3, we introduced
you to the Zaravi, a new species of demonic
invaders entering the Battle of All Time to
wreak havoc upon the established skirmishlines in Valhalla. Then, we told you about a
little contest to try to win some of these exclusive HeroScape custom units for yourself.
We received 27 entries total, each contestant
building their own 450-point army of ofcial
HeroScape units to strike down the Zaravi in
a team battle with our Common Foe scenario rules. There were plenty of great armies
submitted, but after three weeks of assessing and evaluating each entrys strengths and
weaknesses, the Codex Judges managed to
choose the top four. We pitted them against
each other in a real-life HeroScape battle to
determine the winner of the Grand Prize.
Here are the nalists, and some highlights of
how the seven-hour battle unfolded:
Jandars best Soldiers joined-up with their
counterparts from Einars ranks under the
natural leadership abilities of Decimus Gallus to form Marcus Marauders (submitted by Jimmy Johnson of Garland, TX). In
spite of their conicting allegiances, these
units work exceptionally well together. Two
squads of Roman Legionnaires can form an
impressive Shield Wall to defend the rest of
the army, and they bond with their leader for

a smoother deployment. Two squads of 4th
Massachusetts Linemen are the offensive
muscle in this army, potentially throwing
5 Attack Dice per Lineman from a stationary formation around Gallus with a height
advantage. The Airborne Elite have lots of
utility and several nice strategic options on
this map, depending on when they manage to
Drop. Marcus ties the whole package together, giving much-needed extra movement to
all of the squad gures, and an extra Attack
Die to any Soldier that stays adjacent to him.
The Marauders formed ranks on the leftmost
ank of the allied forces (in the yellow starting zone).
Ullars Frenzy (submitted by Jacob Pong
of Columbus, OH) brought Feylunds best to
halt the Zaravi Incursion. Three squads of
Aubrien Archers have good Range and the
mobility to make maximum use of it. Three
squads of Venoc Vipers bring cheap all-ornothing aggression to the table, with 3 Attack
and 7 Moves, plus Slither make sure the river
doesnt get in their way. The Venoc Warlord
oversees this fast-and-furious army, grant-
Valhallan Allied Forces

Victorious!
49
Mapping
ing 2 extra Moves to the Vipers and an extra
5% chance every turn that the Vipers or the
Archers can Frenzy for an extra one. Hes
also the only hero in this army, and the only
thing with any signicant staying-power as
an end-game mop-up unit. Ullars Frenzy
took position to the right of Marcus Marauders (in the blue starting zone).
Fighting on behalf of General Vydar were
The Sharpshooters (submitted by Kenton
Henry of Eugene, OR). Major Q9 leads this
team, with plenty of repower out to 8 Spaces
away, and the undeniably useful exibility of
the Queglix Gun for assaulting multiple foes
at closer range. His 4 Life and 7 Defense
also guarantee that hell be in the battle for
the long haul. Q9 commands two squads of
Microcorp Agents. Though the Water Suits
probably wont see much use, theyll have
plenty of opportunities to double their effectiveness at decent range by Sighting on approaching Zaravi. Stealth Armor could also
potentially save the Agents from a plethora of
nasty Zaravi Special Attacks. Though Deadeye Dan shows some questionable loyalty in
joining Vydars troops, his Sharpshooter attack ts right in with the theme of this army.
He wont last long once the Zaravi close in
for the kill, but while theyre approaching,
hes got a 10% chance every turn of putting
an instant drop on a big Zaravi Powerhouse,
which could denitely be a game-maker if he
gets lucky. The Sharpshooters opted to cover
the allies rightmost ank (in the red starting
zone).
And lastly, General Utgar sent The Marro
(submitted by Jake Eliason of McFarland,
WI) to deal with the demon invaders. Three
squads of Marro Drones make up this armys
front lines, with the potential to move and
attack with six or even all nine in one turn.
The Marro Warriors provide ranged support
and the possibility of regenerating lost troops
with Water Clone. Ne-Gok-Sa is a tank, with
high Defense and the chance (though slim)
to majorly impact the tide of battle by Mindshackling a big Zaravi unit. Su-Bak-Na completes the roster. Hes expensive (some even
say overcosted), but his Hive Supremacy
bonus will help every other unit in the army
on every single turn. Whether Swarming,
Cloning, or shooting for the game-winning
Mindshackle, the extra 5% chance of success
every turn will denitely add up as the match
proceeds. Though his survivability is limited, his 7 Attack Dice also pose a heavy threat
to all of those high Defense Zaravi Heroes.
The Marro setup their hive-mind between
Ullars Frenzy and Vydars Sharpshooters (in
the orange starting zone), chittering loudly as
the rst Zaravi units drifted menacingly into
50
HS Codex
view across the river...
The match began with Marcus seizing the
initiative and charging headlong toward the
enemy. He led half of his Legionnaires and
Linemen forward to setup a formation atop
the nearest hill - the highest spot on his side
of the river that wasnt on the lava dome.
The right ank followed suit, with Dan, Q9,
and half of the Microcorp detachment moving toward higher ground near the center of
the battleeld. Ne-Gok-Sa, the Marro Warriors, and a single Drone squad (low d20
roll) trudged slowly between the low-lying
hillocks and secured the mid-eld roadway.
Proceeding cautiously (lowest initiative), an
Aubrien squad reconnoitered the lava dome,
and discovered a (relatively useless) Wind
Glyph at its base.
The Zaravi wasted no time in deploying their

own troops. Gliding slowly and deliberately
over the Tomospars silent waters, the ickering phantoms spread out and assumed their
formations. The time-bending she-demon
Adlilum took the lead, crossing the river
near its center. Her dark lieutenants, Jemais
the Tornado and Almalain the Crusher, followed close behind. While Jemais and her
squad of Soulspawn escorts stayed near the
center of the map, Almalain veered toward
the huge tree on the allies right ank. The
Heralds had some initial difculty working
their Teleport spells, but eventually found
and revealed the Glyphs of Ivor and Valda
beside the ruins on the river. Fortunately,
both stones weathered the unearthly res,
and neither was destroyed.
As the rst round drew to a close (last turn),
a single Aubrien crested the lava dome beside the central Glyph and nocked an arrow
to launch the rst attack of the battle. He lev-
eled his bow on the Zaravi leader and let y

(THREE SKULLS!). Adlilum was caught
completely off-guard (NO shields or phaseout) and took the arrow dead in the chest,
half killing her! The Archers war-cries rallied his squad-mates and they Frenzied, all
taking up positions atop the silicic dome,
claiming the Glyph of Dagmar there, and
loosing more arrows against Adlilum. They
Frenzied THREE MORE TIMES, for a total
of 12 additional attacks (while the other generals shook their heads in disbelief). Though
the resulting hail of arrows was quite visually impressive, not a single arrow beyond
the rst struck home (all 12 extra attacks
were blocked by shields or evaded by Zaravi
phasing). None the less, rst blood had been
drawn...
Seeing his leader in trouble, the SpectrumShifting Xohar ashed green and sped to her
side. Jemais began to ascend the lava dome
while building her Tornadic Spin. Three
Soulspawn engaged the high-ground Archers, killing the one on the Glyph and inicting the rst allied casualty. Feeling that one
mortal death was insufcient to her pain,
Adlilum charged the Roman wall and vented
her fury, slaying three of the Legionnaires in
a vicious Temporal Glimmer and ending the
rst round.
The second round began with the Airborne
Elites Dropping into the fray. Two elites
landed in the sand near Marcuss deteriorating formation, while the other two bravely
planted their boots across the river, near
the Zaravi starting zone. Marcus Marauders won initiative this round as well, and
the Elites seized the opportunity to lob their
Grenades. Unfortunately, only one of them
remembered to pull the pin rst. Three of
ISSUE 4
Mapping
the Grenades clattered harmlessly onto the

ground, but the fourth managed to inict a
single wound on Jemais (and cost her a Spin
Marker). Bolstered by the Soldiers display
of incompetence, Almalain charged toward
Q9 and struck him with Gravity Crush, inicting two wounds. Two Soulspawn killed
the Archers on the dome while a third drifted
down toward the Sharpshooters. Ne-Gok-Sa
missed his intended 220-point Mindshackle
victim (Almalain), and Adlilum Distorted
an Order from the Aubriens onto the Venoc
Warlord. She then proceeded to kill the last
Legionnaire and put two wounds on Marcus.
A second squad of Aubriens moved up and

scored one more hit on Adlilum. Almalain
moved away from Ne-Gok-Sa and into the
midst of the Microcorp Agents. In a nightmarish instant of ickering, world-warping
darkness, two of the Agents vanished completely (shocked to discover that their Stealth
Armor provides no protection against gravitational singularities). The second Microcorp team advanced to secure high-ground
near some ruins and eliminate a Soulspawn.
The 4th Line emptied their muskets into the
time-witch at point-blank range, but inicted
only a single wound (still one life shy of the
kill). The crusher Almalain repositioned
again and discharged another Black Hole,
this time missing the Agents but swallowing three Marro Warriors. Two Soulspawn
made a Synchronized Strike at Ne-Gok-Sa,
but he evaded it. The Marro Warlord instead
took two disengaging wounds to rush the demonic prince Almalain, but again failed to
Shackle or damage him. Adlilum continued
her assault on the Marauders in a near-death
rage, killing one of the Airborne Elites within
reach.
of Ivor and Valda. Q9 torched a Soulspawn

as Quevalus made his way toward the river,
slowing only to fry one of the Elites behind
him into oblivion with Lightning. The two
remaining Elites tried to make the best of an
Order Marker Distorted onto them from the
4th Line (who couldve made much better
use of it), but scored no hits. Jemais dove
angrily toward the Marro, rebuilding her lost
Spin momentum as she descended. Ne-GokSa attempted his third Shackle on Almalain
and failed, but landed a wound on him instead. The Zodiac Heralds then Scourged the
Glyphs of Gerda and Astrid in the river and
behind the largest evergreen. The Aubriens
tried desperately to kill Adlilum, but the dice
denied them. Almalain released yet a third
singularity, pulverizing another Agent and

the last Marro Warrior, denying the Marro
any future use of Water Cloning. Xohar
ickered purple and disemboweled the lone
Elite near the lava dome.
As the third round began, the bluecoats regrouped onto higher ground and red at
Adlilum, but the demon queen evaded once
again. With blinding speed, the whirlwind Jemais streaked down from the lava dome and
plunged her trident into Ne-Gok-Sas back (9
Attack Dice and 7 skulls), killing the Warlord
instantly and crushing the Marro hopes for
a Mindshackle. Rebounding from the loss
of the rst allied hero, the Aubriens joined
the bluecoats on their hillock and red at Ad-
The Venoc Warlord lurched forward toward

the battle (his general didnt want to waste his
Distorted Order Marker, though this would
later turn out to be a fatal mistake), while
the Heralds managed to Scourge the Glyphs
51
Mapping
lilum. Miraculously, the arrows pierced her
defenses and she fell, scoring the rst Zaravi
trophy of the game for Ullars Frenzy! With
their leader slain, the Soulthrall Overseer Lunoma stepped forward to lead the Zaravi and
headed for the river. Marro Drones rushed
forward to avenge their fallen leader, but Jemais laughed off their attacks.
The second wave of Zaravi was slowly closing in from across the river. A pair of Morsuvox headed toward the Sharpshooters ank
on the right, while the lightning-bringer
Quevalus drifted over the widest part of the
river. A second squad of Soulspawn paused
long enough to kill the last Airborne Elite,
then followed the Morsuvox toward larger
quarry. Q9 and the Marro Drones were starting to wear down Almalain, but the 4th Line
was having no effect against the hardened
purple Xohar near the lava dome. The Aubriens moved up to the edge of the river and
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dealt some damage to the approaching Lunoma, but their tight formation earned them a
Lightning Bolt from Quevalus, and one of the
Elves was struck down. As the Marro tightened the noose around Almalain, the tornado
Jemais streaked away across the eld toward
easier prey, building her Spin as she neared
the Venoc Warlord standing dumbfounded
out in the open.
Somewhere along in here, the player of
Ullars Frenzy pointed out that he had 240points worth of kills (from Adlilum) with
very minimal casualties, and that if he
Scourged the last two Glyphs, he would win
the contest. Technically, all of the players
would lose the scenario against the Zaravi,
but hes playing for the prize, not the scenario win, and he would have the highest point
total of kills plus survivors, therefore his
army would take the Grand Prize. However,
he felt that this would be a cheesy victory
against the spirit of the battle, and he still had

faith that his army could win outright (even
with the impending loss of his stupeed Venoc Warlord), so he opted not to try to end the
game. This option was closed for that player
shortly thereafter, as the Drones nally managed to bring down Almalain, scoring the
Marro a hefty 220 points, dealing the second
major loss to the Zaravi, and ending the third
round.
In round 4, the Microcorp nally took highground on their edge of the lava dome to
await the incoming second Zaravi wave. A
lone Aubrien engaged the tornado in a vain
attempt to defend his Venoc Warlord while
the rest of the Elves sought altitude and other
targets. The 4th Lines persistence nally
paid off, putting the Marauders on the scoreboard as they dropped Lunoma before she
could get into Stigmata range. Drones hurried down the right-hand roadway to skewer
a Herald, and also nished off the last Soulspawn harassing the Microcorp. Leary of
the sudden-death option described last turn,
Q9s general had him close on the last Herald and eliminate her, ensuring that the game
would not end prematurely and scoring Vydars rst 40 points of the match. In a startling show of allied commitment, the second
Roman Legion rushed to the defense of the
faltering Venoc Warlord. Unfortunately, neither the Romans nor the lone Elf could prevent the serpentine leaders demise. Round
4 ended forebodingly as the elder Venoc perished and the deadly Zodiac Archons began
to creep their way along the riverbank toward
the Marro and Q9.
ISSUE 4
Mapping
Round 5 visited heavy casualties on both sides

of the conict. Q9 repositioned to meet the
second incoming squad of Soulspawn while
Quevalus chained his Lightning through the
Massachusetts forward ring line, killing 3
of the bluecoats. More Drones shambled out
of the Marro starting zone to reinforce the
rst squad. Jemais left the Venoc Warlords
twitching corpse behind her and sped past
the Romans to kill one of the rear-guard 4th
Linemen as the Aubriens again headed for
the lava dome. Marcus decided to abandon
his crumbling command and sortie across the
river toward the relatively unguarded Puppetmasters there. He took a single Legionnaire
with him, but the rest rallied to aid the 2nd
bluecoat brigade and put a few more wounds
on Jemais. Xohar shifted into his more agile
green form and sped over the lava dome toward the Marro gathering near the road. Q9
wiped out the second squad of Soulspawn,
but a Puppetmaster Spawned a new Marionette almost immediately, depriving the Major of his hard-won Soulspawn trophy-card.
Jemais continued to assail musket-men, and
Quevalus drifted across the lava vents to
strike down two of the Marro Drones struggling to penetrate Xohars defenses.
The Aubriens again claimed the Dagmar
Glyph for their general, but otherwise exhibited a total lack of competence with their
bows. Marcus nally reached the Zaravi side
of the river and killed the freshly Spawned
puppet, while his Legionnaires triumphantly
brought down the she-devil Jemais. In retaliation for their sisters death, Xohar decapitated the last Microcorp Agent, and
Quevalus unleashed his Lightning into the
Vipers ranks, detonating three of them like
popcorn kernels. Dan took a kill-shot at
Xohar, but missed. Xohar phased through
a nearby ruin to attack and slay a Marro
Drone. That Drone turned out to be nothing but bait in a Marro trap, as Su-Bak-Nas
dragon swept forth into the battle, gnashing
ercely at the color-shifting apparition but
nding nothing upon which to close his jaws.
Quevalus again proved to be a much better
shot with his Lightning than Dan, channeling
angry tendrils of crackling energy (3 skulls)
into the Roman Shield Wall and incinerating
three Legionnaires. A lone Aubrien followed
the Roman Warlords lead and headed across
the river as his brethren took down a Morsuvox banshee. The round ended with another successful puppet-Spawning, this time
relieving the Marro of their trophy from the
round prior.
A run of good fortune swung the battle greatly in favor of the allied forces in the following round. The Elves moved to their edge of
53
Mapping
HS Codex
the river and began to slay the fearsome Archons. Xohar shifted a ery red in an attempt
to slaughter the Marro Hivelord, but left SuBak-Na one single wound short of death.
Launching a coordinated thrust against the
invaders, Gallus killed the last Soulspawn on
the battleeld (again), then Q9 vanquished
the Spectrum-Shifting Xohar. The Aubriens
then quickly (and surprisingly) destroyed the
last two Zodiac Archons, leaving the remaining Zaravi temporarily dumbfounded (with
VERY few remaining viable Order Markers
for the round). The allies regrouped quickly, with Dan and the few remaining Marro
heading for mid-eld high-ground and the
Minutemen charging for the Tomospar to
join Marcus. Q9 blasted a Morsuvox attempting to cross the river. The demonic
pox-bearer Hashtira asserted his presence by
smiting Marcus with a Rot Marker, but the
Zaravi condence was denitely beginning
to falter.
Down but not out, the Zaravi made one last
push for dominance in Round 7, with 3 Order Markers on every available unit. Elven
arrows wounded Quevalus deeply, but his
Lightning response cost one of the Aubriens
his life. The Marro, Q9, and the Archers all
jockeyed for position and concentrated re
on the lightning-bringer, but it was an Aubrien Arrow that eventually found its mark and
destroyed Quevalus. In desperation, the last
Morsuvox tried to kill a lone Elf with an earpiercing Shriek, but only managed to drop
one of its own Puppetmasters nearby. The
remaining Puppetmasters tried feverishly to
Spawn more Marionettes, but with no success. Hashtira roared in deance of the oncoming allies, spreading Rot markers to one
Archer, two Drones, and all three remaining
bluecoats before the rounds end. The Linemen pulled themselves out of the waters to
secure a rocky bank with their backs to the
ruins, but the Zaravi Rot overwhelmed one
of them (and one of the Drones) before they
could receive new Orders.
The allies rallied for victory in round 8. Finally seeing their opportunity to strike, the
Venoc Vipers rushed forth from their starting
zone, but failed to Frenzy. Hashtira plunged
forward to meet them (and get out of range
of the 4th Line), but he couldnt land a Rot
Marker on Dan. The Drones pursued him
and scored several wounds on the sorcerer.
Marcus managed to dispatch another Puppetmaster while the last Roman closed in on
its nal surviving sister. The last Morsuvox
soared over an isolated Archer to slay the
Elf with its claws from height. Fresh and
eager from 7 rounds of inactivity, the smell
of battle nally lled the Venocs lungs as
54
they dogpiled Hashtira, ripping the last major Zaravi demon into shreds. After many
failed attempts, the last Puppetmaster in the
corner eventually Spawned a single Marionette to aid in its defense. Q9 boldly strode
over a lava-ow to get within 8 spaces of
the last Morsuvox, then expertly lanced the
banshees spine with an energy beam, killing
her instantly. Marcus moved sluggishly to-
ward the last two Zaravi, but his Legionnaire

sprinted ahead. With allied victory in sight,
the footsoldier enthusiastically struck down
the Soulspawn guard, putting its card back
into the Marauders trophies. Unfortunately,
both of the Romans compatriot 4th Linemen
succumbed to the Rot and tumbled lifeless
into the Tomospar, ending the round.
ISSUE 4
Mapping
Now there was only one Zaravi left on the

board - a lone Puppetmaster. At this point,
it could conceivably Spawn both squads of
Marionettes back onto the board if left alone
long enough, but only two of the players actually wanted that to happen. The player of
Marcus Marauders already had both Soulspawn cards in his scorepad, and if any got
regenerated, hed be losing those points, so
he naturally wanted the Puppetmaster dead.
Since Ullars Frenzy was in the lead, and
the current holder of the Soulspawn points
wasnt a threat, he also wanted the Puppetmaster killed (by anybody) as soon as possible. The Marro and the Sharpshooters
needed points desperately, and in the Sharpshooters case, their only hope of winning
was in returning BOTH squads of Soulspawn to the board (taking them away from
the Marauders) and claiming them for Vydar
instead. Oddly enough, the end result was all
four players rushing madly toward the poor
Zaravi whelp...
On round nine, the Aubriens Glyph of Dagmar nally failed them and the Marro won
the initiative. Su-Bak-Na swooped toward
the Puppetmaster as it frantically tried (and
failed) to Spawn. The Vipers hit the water at
full Slither and Frenzied TWICE, speeding
past Su-Bak-Na! Two Venocs engaged the
Zaravi, but it phased out and avoided their
attacks. Q9 crossed the river to seek an elevated position and wait for the Riftwalker
to create more Spawn. The last Legionnaire
and Marcus attacked the Puppetmaster, but
couldnt bring it down. Su-Bak-Na reached
the Zaravi side of the river as the Puppetmaster failed its Spawn roll yet again. The Venocs attacked once more, now with all 3 Vipers on top of the doomed Puppetmaster. It
warded off the rst two attacks, but the third
broke through the demons defense and destroyed it! The Zaravi defeat was complete;
the allied forces had won!!!
...And Marcus ofcially signaled an end to
the alliance by neatly cleaving the triumphant
Vipers head from its torso. The Legionnaire
attacked another Viper, but missed. Q9 offered his opinion on the alliance by splattering both remaining Vipers within range,
then turning Su-Bak-Na and his mount into
a steaming pile of goo on the riverbank. The
Zaravi made one last spiteful stab from beyond the grave, as Rot markers destroyed an
Aubrien Archer and a Marro Drone, marking
the end of round nine.
The two remaining Aubriens won initiative
for round ten (thanks, again, to the Dagmar
Glyph). Seeing Q9s slaughter of the Vipers,
they turned around to ask the conveniently
55
Mapping
HS Codex
adjacent Deadeye where his loyalties lay...

just in time to catch Dan leveling his rie at
their backs. Both Archers red from the hip
and missed (5 blank Attack Dice), but Frenzy
came to the rescue once again, and the Archers put down the cowboy turncoat. The last
Marro Drone leapt up the lava dome to slash
at an Aubrien, but missed. Marcus charged
Q9s elevated position, and the sheer audacity
of the Warlords brazen attack caught Q9 offguard. The Major rolled EIGHT BLANKS
on the blue dice. Unfortunately for the Roman leader, battle wounds, exhaustion, and
the Zaravi Rot had taken their toll on him,
and he rolled only 1 skull, leaving the Soulborg with a single Life point remaining. The
Legionnaires sword bounced harmlessly off
of the Majors armor. Q9 unloaded the Queglix Gun into the Romans face and swept his
re into Marcus, annihilating them both and
removing the Marauders from the game.
The last three Venocs sallied forth from their

starting zone. Yet again, Frenzy gave them
the speed they needed, and they reached the
Drone by the lava vents. Its glaive clattering
to the ground beside its lifeless body marked
the end of the Marro presence in the match.
Q9 stepped down from his ruin-shelter
across the river to take a single, long-range
shot at the Aubrien on the Glyph of Dagmar.
He connected, and the Archer fell. Realizing
that one good shot could end the game, the
last Aubrien stepped over his fallen comrade,
took aim at the Soulborg monstrosity, and
let his nely carved Elven arrow take ight.
The shallow thunk of the shaft glancing ineffectually off Soulborg Steel never reached
the Archers ears, as Q9s laser ew up from
the river faster than the speed of sound and
cleanly pierced the Aubriens skull...
56
ISSUE 4
Mapping
hunt the weaker Zaravi alone, he tallied-up
some impressive numbers, just not enough
to win the gold, or outlast Q9. The Marauders take third place, with 460 points in kills
(26% of the Zaravi) but no survivors.
...And then there were three. Two Venoc Vipers (miraculously avoiding Lava Field damage) stared down from the silicic dome at Q9
standing knee-deep in the riverbed. It was
now round eleven, and without the Glyph of
Dagmar to aid the Vipers, the Soulborg fared
better with the d20 and attacked rst. Q9
stepped back ashore briey to move upstream
and bring his new quarry within range. 1
blue die was no match for 4 red ones, and the
Vipers body exploded as if it had swallowed
a live grenade.
In the seat if its primitive mind, the last Viper
knew that it was doomed. Buried in its primal
hunting instincts, however, it also knew that
the only shred of a chance it had for survival
was to get that cold, metal juggernaut within
reach of the razor-sharp talons it wielded.
The shiny war-thing had a weapon that kills
from afar, and kills WELL, and it would
never come close to the Vipers claws on its
own. So the serpent knew it must charge.
Yes. It must charge, and it must Frenzy, and
it must open the glossy can with its talons
and tear out everything inside...
It steels itself in its resolve, then lunges over
the hill. It plunges toward the water. The
prey is close now, ...close enough to almost
touch. Then it summons the killing urge
within it that is needed to Frenzy those last
few spaces. It rolls the 20-sided die...
...a 4.
...As the steam rises gently from the barrel of

the Queglix Gun and its cylinders spin softly
to a halt, Q9 regards the amorphous mass of
greenish residue sizzling on the opposite side
of the river. He comprehends that all is well.
His General will be pleased. The Zaravi have
Kenton Henrys Sharpshooters took quite a

blow from Zaravi Special Attacks, losing all
of their squad support (three quarters of the
army) by round ve. Deadeye Dan didnt exactly win the lottery either. Major Q9, however, proved to be a real ringer. Not only did
he score 300 points worth of kills (17% of
the Zaravi) all by himself, but he also wiped
out the vast majority of his former allies
once the Zaravi were gone, and was the only
unit to live through the bloodbath. Since he
survived, Q9s 180 point cost gets added to
the Sharpshooters score, locking them in at
480 points to barely scrape past the Marauders for Second place.
been stopped, and two of the Glyphs were

saved. The loss of the six organic agent
constructs was sub-optimal, but acceptable,
and the mercenary Dan was not projected to
survive from the onset (hed have seen to that
himself if necessary). The minor damage to
his own systems could be repaired, and the
War for the Wellsprings would continue to
its unavoidable conclusion - the triumph of
General Vydar. Yes, all is well, for now.
End Of Line
And so ends the Zaravi Incursion Contest!
Though the war against the Zaravi in Valhalla is far from over, this battle has been won,
with the nal scoring as follows:
Jake Eliasons Marro suffered from some
low d20 rolls and the staggering loss of all
four Warriors in the second round before
they could Clone. Even so, if any of the
THREE Mindshackle attempts had worked,
they still couldve turned things around, but
Lady Luck simply didnt back the hive-mind.
The Marro take fourth place, with 220 points
worth of Zaravi kills (12% of the Zaravi
force) and zero survivors.
Jimmy Johnsons Marauders were a solid
army with a powerful strategy, until the Zaravi sewed total chaos by rearranging all of
their Order Markers. The botched Grenade
salvo was a minor setback, but not being able
to coordinate re with the 4th Line or shore
up their defenses due to Time Distortion really dealt them a crippling blow. Still, once
Marcus decided to sortie across the river and
Jacob Pongs Ullars Frenzy army made

quite an impressive showing. Their namesake Special Ability only succeeded 8 out of
38 times, which is actually fewer than they
should have statistically pulled off. Their
kick-off four-in-a-row Frenzy helped them
zilcho, but four end-game extra turns allowed them to defeat the last Zaravi, Deadeye Dan, and the Marro armys last Drone.
Overall, this armys best assets were its range
and maneuverability. With Archers in three
different areas on the eld, the Aubrien could
easily home-in on weakened Zaravi for several nice kills of opportunity. Holding the
Glyph of Dagmar for 4 critical end-game
rounds also allowed their general a TON of
exibility in manipulating his Zaravi turns
and keeping the major threats away from his
weak squads and in his allies faces instead.
Though none of them survived Q9s wrath,
this army scored a massive 770 points in Zaravi trophies (43% of the total Zaravi force),
easily securing their place as the champions.
As a reward for their armies being selected
as nalists, Jake, Jimmy, and Kenton have
each won a squad of Zodiac Archons and
Zodiac Heralds. As champion of the nal
battle, Jacob wins the entire Zaravi force that
his army fought so valiantly to defeat! Prizes
will be shipped out in the mail shortly - we
hope you enjoy them as much as we have!
Thanks again to everyone who entered, and
congratulations to the winners! Stop by
www.heroscapers.com/community to join in
the contest discussion or review all 27 of the
entries, and be sure to keep your eyes peeled
for the next big Codex Give-Away Contest!
Keep on Scaping!
57
Game Play
HS Codex
The Teatime of the Living Dead

Part III
By Stephen Mackey
Notes: This story happens at roughly the same time as the Soldier and Deaths Angel. Erevu is a randomly found
Swahili name with an appropriate meaning behind it for Carrs personality (the word means crafty), and flows well
with Carrs full name and title. I like the concept of an overall fanfic continuity, but not enough to make Carr into
Morpheus. ;) Names for the Krav Maga were likewise grabbed at random with slightly altered spellings to make em a
bit more futuristic, save for naming the femme KM Mattie, which I obviously borrowed from Buddy Lee (hope ya dont
mind that I snagged that while ditching the Morpheus thing). The primary villains for this story are the creations of
my own imagination, with various tidbits about voodoo found via Google thrown in for flavor. (And I would like to
mention that I do not think all practictioners of voodoo are evil zombie-raising racists. This is your public service
announcement for the day.)
This story is rated R, for zombie-related gore, violence, mature situations, foul language, and probably some other
stuff I forgot about.
Enjoy. Or not, as you prefer.
Things have seldom been more grim for Vydars top operatives.
The Krav Maga and Carr have had to endure a mildly nightmarish
day and night in the clutches of a zombie-raising Southerner. But
now that the night is past, their time has run out, and their captor
intends to inflict the grotesque transformation of undeath upon
them. Theyve run out of time and slack, and as the grip of their
foe tightens, so does Carrs inner desperation and drive to do
anything to escape.
At dawn, Carr was greeted with the smell of something
burning and loud prayers entoned in a voice so dramatic and
swelled with oratorial self-importance that he barely recognized
it as Daviss. The latter were conducted partially in English, partially in French, partially in Swahili, and partially in total gibberish.
Even the words Carr could make out barely seemed to make
any sort of sense, and concentrating on them gave him a serious
headache, so he stopped trying.
Shortly thereafter, the other agents woke up, looking
riled.
Bad dreams?
Bad dreams.
They seemed reluctant to share the latest tales from the
sandman, but Willson muttered something about a huge snake
crawling down his throat. For his part, Carr remembered that
only recent dreams were remembered by the waking mind, and
that the dreams would have had to have taken place around the
time Davis had started his prayers.
Davis hadnt come in to see them at all, not even to let
them have a morning outhouse trip.
58
Given the mans previous fastidiousness at playing host,

it was worrisome.
Somehow Carr wasnt surprised when Jhones caught
a fever that rapidly worsened far more quickly than any ordinary fever should. He watched the sweat drip down her face
and soak her clothes, watched her breathing become labored,
watched her do her best to put up a front of professionalism
while Willson freaked a bit and Thompsoune (though he hid it
well; the man was almost as good at keeping his internal and
his external personas separated as Carr himself was) freaked a
lot. Carr had suspected Thompsoune of quietly harboring some
sentimental feelings for Jhones, and now he was certain of it.
He watched, and strained at the metal and wood that bound
him so unnervingly helpless, and tried to think of what he could
do to turn the situation into his favor.
Davis didnt respond when Carr ordered Thompsoune
to call for help, and Thompsoune raised his voice as ordered,
the only time Carr had ever heard him do so outside of a combat situation.
Jhones lapsed in and out of consciousness. Each time
she awakened, she was just a bit less coherent and rational than
before. Carr watched her personality disintegrate to its basic
core, bit by bit the external professionalism and self-control and
all the little mental brakes that people had to keep themselves
sane sloughing off, until she was so child-like in her nonsensical
ramblings as her sweat-soaked body flexed and strained and
spasmed that he was soon glad when she was unconscious and
mildly terrified when she was awake.
ISSUE 4
By contrast, the more un-Jhones-like Jhones got, the
more Thompsoune-like Thompsoune got. Quieter, calmer-looking, more objective. Carr recognized the sight of a mans soul
tightening inside like a coiled spring while the outer shell just got
harder and harder, and knew that unless they got a lucky break
of some sort, Thompsoune would probably break. Most likely
at the exact moment that Jhones became one of Daviss honeys.
Men that strong didnt break often, but when they broke, they
really broke. And Carr was helpless to think of anything to do to
stop any of it.
If only hed fought harder, ran faster, been more alert...
avoided Daviss perimeter warding spell, or had Jhones, with her
spare boot knife, fight when shed had the chance... he refused
to accept that he had stumbled into an unbeatable situation.
There was some way to beat this, he just had to figure out how!
He had to wonder why only Jhones had a fever, and
whether or not it was a blessing or a curse that he and the other
men had been spared.
Jhones finally slipped down into a slumber deep as
death itself, and all three agents kept track of her shallow breaths
as though each breath was their own lifeline, not hers. They
were all expressionless as a trio of statues, but inside Carr felt an
unfamiliar cold rage growing and growing.
Was this how it ended, then?
Turned into mindless meat-puppets for a cripple who
fed bits of his own legs to his zombie lover?
He would never have guessed it.
H-hey... Jhones croaked through a dry throat.
Three sets of eyes latched onto her.
Uh, hi, Jhones, Willson replied weakly, obviously
unsure what to say.
D-dyou mind if I, tell a, um, story? she asked vaguely,
eyes staring at nothing in particular, her voice vague and completely lacking in the self-assured, crisp wit that normally made
up her verbal repetoire. Mom always said, she said that stories
help make ya feel better. Course... she meant listenin to em,
but I really fuh, feel like talking right now.
Go ahead, Mattie, Thompsoune said very, very gently.
Carr just did what he was best at when it came to relating to other people, and watched, and listened.
I saw a, um, a thingy, a long time ago... a hummingbird,
that was what I saw. Id never seen one before, yknow. Those
wings just flippity-flapping along so fast. I was, mustve been...
thirteen? Something like that. It was so damn pretty. I wanted
to see it closer, so I... s-so I tried to get closer. Sneakers tried to
get closer too, though.
She paused a moment to cough, a wet, rattling sound,
and then went on, her voice a bit more raspy.
Sneakers... he wuh... was my pet cat, a cute little guy.
Tawny brown an black, looked like a tiny little cougar. So Sneakers tried to eat the poor hummingbird, but I grabbed him and
saved it. Catsre good at looking pissed off, you know... you
know how their pupils get all big and their tails smack around?
He was like that, and I tried to pick him up and pet him, but
he ran off. So of cour... of course I had to chase im. If youve
ever tried to chase a cat before, youll know, heh, snot a bright
idea. Lil bastards ran pretty fast. I, uh, I ran right into an abandoned apartment building next door, trying to catch him... he
slinked through a hole in the wall. So I went around and around
Game Play
in there looking for him... calling him, you know, doing that little
clucking thing. I found him in this scary, right outta a vampires
mansion type basement. It was dark as Satans ass and twice as
hot down there. And I was so glad to find him... I pretty much
pounced on him, but when I did that, some crates tipped and
started a cute little avalanche... least, it woulda been cute if it
hadnt covered the stairs up. I tried to pull the boxes outta the
way, but this was before Id had my martial arts training, so I
wasnt all that strong, and the boxes had all kinds of junk in them
I couldnt budge. I yelled and yelled for a while, but no one
came, so it was just me and Sneakers, down in that dim, hot old
basement, all by ourselves.
It was hard to keep track of time, but it felt like a long
time. Sneakers took a leak in one corner after a bit, and I followed suit... same corner, you know, to keep things clean and
stuff. The smell was really bad after a while, it had nowhere to
go, and the heat didnt h-help. And then it got even darker...
and Sneakers just kept pawing at stuff and meowing all whining and sad, and I started crying. So I cuddled him up to my
stomach and tried to go to sleep on that rough concrete floor.
Dont know if I did or not. Its hard to keep track of stuff like that,
when its that hot and that dark and theres no way to tell one,
um, one minute from the next.
I could keep track of the days, though, sort of, by
keeping track of whether it was just dark or really dark. I really...
really thought someoned come the next day. Screamed myself
a sore throat. But no one came. No one came the day after
that, either... and it just got hotter and hotter, and the stink got
worse and worse, and Sneakers just totally spazzed out.
Ever wonder how thirsty youd have to be to drink
your own piss? I got to learn that one. Not a fun lesson, I dont
recommend. I couldnt even get it down, though... gag reflex,
psychological conditioning, all that stuff. Choked on it and spat
it back up. And then I thought about Sneakers... that damn cat
that I loved more than anything else in the world, and about
how small animals needed things like food and water more
often than people, because of their biological clocks or whatsit.
And I panicked for a while, when I saw him getting weaker and
weaker. I even slapped him around a little to try and keep him
awake, something Ive never... never, ever done before. Then
I got this bright idea. I cut myself on the arm with some sharp
metal poking out of one of the crates, and let it all drip down
into a recess in the floor, and practically shoved my cats nose
into it. And he sneezed, and then he started drinking it. Licking
it up, the way cats do... really slowly, choking on it, but he did it
all the same. So Sneakers had himself something to drink.
They found us eventually, yeah... otherwise I wouldnt,
uh, I wouldnt be here, ruh, right? Heh. Yeah. They found us.
We all got out safe and sound and all got better in the end...
although Sneakers got killed by a goddamned drunk driver a
year later, but thats nothing tdo with nothing. I guess the point
of this story... I guess its that... well. Um. Sneakers loved me. I
know he did. As much as a cat can love a person. But he drank
my blood cause he had no other choice if he wanted to keep
on living. And animals dont know anything they love more than
life. But I think, sometimes, thats what differentiates us from
animals... that we can take some random, arbitrary, stupid thing,
and put it above living. S-so, what I guess Im trying to say is...
um... if I turn into one of those nasty, rotten old... things... you
59
Game Play
have my permission to blow my fucking brains out. Because
theres worse things than dying, I figure, and sometimes the shit
you have to do to keep on walking around and functioning in
this silly little world isnt worth doing. S-so... um... thats it. And
they all lived h-happily ever, uh, after. Amen, sleep tight, dont
let the doggins bite.
And it was it. Agent Mattie Jhones drifted back into
unconsciousness and didnt wake up for the rest of the day.
She didnt die, though.
Carr watched her every breath to make sure of that.
He didnt want her to die.
But he also... didnt want her to... talk.
Not after that last grand speech, in which hed learned
more of her life than shed ever told him while coherent and in
good health. And it had left him wishing he could go back to
knowing less, because the images those words had brought him
simply wouldnt stay out of his mind now. The images wrapped
around his mind like the cold, decaying fingers of the dead
come to claim their own.
And so, in a very sick, morbid sort of way, he
supposed her condition, living but quiet about it, was the
best that could be hoped for.
Not long past noon, the zombie woman slipped
in again, once again accompanied by several of Daviss
honeys. Carr stiffened in anticipation, but all she did was
wrinkle her nose in distaste after sniffing the air for a
moment before turning away.
Wait! Carr said suddenly, urgently, before
she could get more than one foot out of the door.
She paused and looked back over her shoulder
at him, eyes narrowed with a mixture of scorn
and suspicion. Those eyes were, for once, still
in their gaze. Perhaps we could strike a deal,
he offered.
What kind of deal does the
old meat have to offer me? she replied,
sounding noncommittal and bored.
Carr frowned slightly. Were not part of
Daviss entourage yet, he replied, for Thompsounes sake not
mentioning the probably soon-to-be exception of Jhones.
Of course you arrrre, she said, drawing the word
out lazily and grinning with teeth that somehow disturbed Carr
despite looking perfectly ordinary. The rate of the process varies, but youre all done. No good eating, now, she added in a
mutter, her grin melting into a grimace of disgust.
A full-fledged plan began to coalesce in Carrs mind,
while he idly watched Thompsoune and Willson start at the
news. He was mildly surprised and disturbed by it himself, but
almost instantaneously resolved to work with it. Times were
grim, but he had a grim plan to suit them.
Then Davis would be the only fully living person here,
yes? Carr suggested gently, watching her closely for a reaction.
Those skittering eyes settled on him for the second
time, a long moment. Her face was expressionless.
Quite true, she said coolly, leaning against one of her
guard/captors as though its undead body were a wall. The
only one...
I think we can help each other, Carr said gently. If
youre willing to help and be helped, that is.
60
HS Codex
Her smile was horrific in its childlike glee.
***
The escape had gone off without a hitch. The undead woman
had loosened their restraints, and together they had quickly
overpowered the relatively few zombies in the room. Carr, the
two conscious agents (Thompsoune carrying Jhones), and the
zombie woman had torn through the nearby forces straight towards Mothusi and Mothusis backpack full of weaponry. And
Davis had been near Mothusi, of course. The womans reward
for helping them, and the mans death, horribly gory and pitiable
as it had been, had disorganized the ranks of the other zombies
into pathetic fodder that were more of a threat to themselves
than to anything else.
They had left the woman feasting on Daviss remains
greedily, and hadnt even had to run to get through the great
mass of shambling, confused zombies safely. A jog had been
more than sufficient, and had allowed them to conserve energy
for later.
Which was good, because Carr planned on getting
back home as soon as humanly possible. There had to
be a cure for whatever process Davis had
used on them. If there was a cure, Vydar
would know of it, and make use of it.
They were too valuable in the war to
lose.
Failing that, Vydar would at least appreciate
the sword back, Carr was sure.
They stopped for a grudging but
sadly necessary break to water the trees,
having not had the chance to do so
since yesterday. When he was done,
Carr walked back through the foliage,
footsteps crunching in the snow, to
where theyd left Jhones propped up.
Her breathing had gotten quieter and
quieter over the past few minutes, and
he decided it would be best if he carried her from this point onward, in case she
started
to become... not... herself.
The sight that greeted him when he got back to her
was one that would linger in his nightmares for years to come.
Jhones was awake, and lapping from cupped hands,
like a cat. Thompsoune was standing just in front of her, one
bared arm held out and dripping red down into her hands.
Thompsoune held Jhoness own boot-knife in his free hand,
close to his bare arm. The cut was deep enough, and in the
right spot, to bleed a great deal. Judging from the stains all over
Jhoness face, she had been drinking for at least a little while
already, rather than just starting.
The sound of his footsteps in the snow caused Thompsoune to look up from her. His eyes locked with Carrs, and his
eyes were remarkably alive, for someone who had been considered not worth eating by the zombie woman. They were
filled with weary despair and desperate pleading. Thompsoune
wanted him to understand. Thompsoune wanted him to let it
go, and let her go, and just... do something other than what they
both knew he had to do.
She was thirsty, Thompsoune said very quietly, his
voice delicate in its strain like a spiderweb trying to survive a
ISSUE 4
thunderstorm. A voice that practically begged.
Carr drew his gun.
Thompsoune drew his.
They stared each other down blankly, with the air of
mysterious, calm professionalism that Vydar prided all recruited
agents on possessing. For a strange, confusing moment, Carr
was almost proud of Thompsoune.
They continued to stare.
Holy shit... Willson said from somewhere nearby, just
coming onto the scene.
Thompsoune looked over, distracted.
Jhones looked up at Thompsoune, eyes glazed, mouth
gaping slightly, her expression ever so subtly... hungry.
Carr planted a bullet right in her temple, and she fell
with a soft thud.
Thompsoune fired at him in return seemingly instinctively, but Carr didnt even need to dodge; Willson grabbed
Thompsounes gun and foiled the shot, then confiscated the
weapon.
The resulting consternation was mostly something
left between Willson and Thompsoune. In the end, when he
ordered them to march, they marched. Thompsoune continued
to carry Jhones. Carr let him have what little comfort her corpse
could provide.
Thompsoune was probably expecting to be courtmartialed when they got back home, but Carr had no plans
of mentioning the incident to anyone. He would just as soon
forget the past few days entirely, wipe them clean. He would
do that to the best of his ability.
Except that Jhones would be forever missing.
Erased, along with the zombies.
Along with all the other zombies.
***
It struck Carr as almost funny when, half an hour later,
while suffering from the faint, ominous beginnings of fevers, they
literally stumbled over their original mission objective.
The glyph had been hidden deep in a snowdrift, but
not so deep that the edge of it couldnt catch their feet and
cause them to tumble head over heels. Thompsoune was the
only one to remain balanced, lagging behind as it was due
to the extra weight of Jhones, and thus had been treated to
the rare sight of Willson and his commanding officer tumbling
together in a position that would seem to be either a bad lovemaking session or a good wrestling match.
They would have thought it merely an inconvenient
rock, save that Carr had fallen on top of it hard enough to feel
how smoothly flat it was through the snow. Incredulous, he
brushed the white aside and his eyes were promptly assaulted
by a golden glow that leaked through indecipherable sigils and
runes engraved on a stone disk slightly larger than a manhole
cover.
What the hells that? Willson demanded of Carr, presumably because Carr usually knew everything.
He did this time, certainly.
This is the object we came here in the first place for, to
bring back to Vydar. A glyph of powerful magic.
Their luck really had been unbelievable. To just find it
by accident, after all they had gone through... yet, rather than
making him happy, it made him want to snarl in rage.
Game Play
What kinda magic?
Carr could lie. Or simply tell them it was classified.
But... somehow he thought he owed them better. He owed
Jhones better, wherever she was now.
Its a glyph of... he said slowly, hesitating uncharacteristically. His eyes reluctantly met Thompsounes. Its a resurrection glyph.
Thompsoune surged forward, and Carr half-drew his
sword, warningly. We have orders to bring it back to Vydar,
Thompsoune. There are plans for it. We cant just waste it on
some random dead comrade just because we happen to be
close to her.
Dont patronize me, Thompsoune said coldly. Youre
not close to anyone, and you know it. She is... was... one of
the best! I defy you to think of any possible better use for that
thing!
Thats not for us to decide, Carr said grimly. Besides,
it might not even work. She was... changed, after all, before she
died. And I wasnt given detailed instructions on how to use it.
We could waste the glyphs energies for nothing if we try to do
things half-assed.
Yeah, we could, Willson broke in, strangely placating. But isnt it worth trying? Cmon, Carr... Erevu, man... do you
really want to live with knowing you didnt even try to bring her
back?
Ive lived with a lot of things in life, Carr replied very
blankly.
But you dont have to live with this. I didnt ask if you
could, man, I asked if you wanted to.
Erevu... Thompsoune half-whispered. Please...
A long silence passed between the three of them.
Carr made his decision.
No matter what happens, as far as my report to Vydars concerned, we never saw the glyph. And no matter what
happens, if we cant make it back in time before we start to
go unconscious, we end each other with our guns. And if she
comes back as one of those mindless things, or even with half a
mind like that woman, Im blowing her brains out a second time
without even blinking. Understand?
Yes, sir, Thompsoune and Willson chorused with quiet
dignity.
Carr sighed, ran a hand over his bald head, and nodded, letting his sword slide back into its sheath. Put her on
the glyph, then. Then some seemingly ancient words, half-remembered from a childhood source Carr couldnt quite recall,
sprang from his lips as though they were a magic incantation all
their own. And may Gods grace shine upon us.
Because God knows, we need it, Willson added.
She was placed on the glyph.
The glow enveloped her.
Carr stared, unblinking even though the shining made
his eyes tear up. Or maybe they were shedding tears for other
reasons, now that he finally had a good way to get away with it
unnoticed. He honestly wasnt sure.
They waited for what seemed like an eternity.
And then, Mattie Jhones opened her eyes.
End
61
Game Play
HS Codex
The Nine Thousand Deaths of

Deathwalker 9000 No. 3
By Stephen Mackey
Not all battles in Valhalla take place in hospitable environments.

The current one was taking place what you could very well call
Valhallas own version of Hells Kitchen: a more literal form of it,
as lava scorched and ate away at the combatants on both sides
with perfect inconsideration for the conflict at hand. Lava didnt
care about right or wrong. Lava didnt care about good or evil.
And lava certainly didnt care about politics, which put it in a
position many might envy.
Only a few warriors of Jandar were left, having been
forced to take shelter on the high ground, which in this case
was a large field of lava that persistnetly bubbled forth from
the blackened earth. Some of the more modern recruits into
Jandars army (or Team Blue, as some were wont to call it) distracted themselves from the probability of their imminent demise
by making jokes about Mexican cooking and flatulence. Yet, not
a true hero had fallen yet... Thorgrim, Finn, and Concan had all
suffered numerous burns, but were still standing and ready to
fight to the bitter end. Concan was, at this point, strongly considering killing both of his heroic comrades and wrapping their
spirits around him like ectoplasmic scarves, but the vikings didnt
need to know that yet.
A few thousand grut orcs were being herded into the
higher ground and therefore into fiery death by their commander Taelord, who wasnt going to let the death of fifty percent
of his army stand in the way of victory. There were more gruts
where those came from. In fact, he was pretty sure Utgar had
a factory making them somewhere. Still, after the first thousand
dead gruts, he started to wonder if there could be a way to
speed this up a bit.
Of course! He would send Deathwalker 9000 into the
fray! Surely the robots legendarily strong armor would protect
it from the lava long enough to take out the few enemy survivors!
And just to make sure it worked, he himself would go with the
robot, and Deathwalker 9000 with an enhancing aura would be
unstoppable.
62
Were invinciblllleeee, he gleefully cackled under his

breath while gesturing Deathwalker to the front. If only he knew
that such phrases were always punished by the dice gods.
Confident in his plan, Taelord marched beside with
Deathwalker 9000, enjoying the fresh looks of despair on the
faces of his worthless foes. Now there would be bloodshed!
Now there would be victory! Now there would be revenge for
Concan calling him thongboy! IT WAS A LOINCLOTH, DAMMIT!
It was about then that a splash of lava burped up from
the ground to hit both Taelord and Deathwalker 9000. Snarling irritably, Taelord wiped off the stuff and got out his burn
ointment, idly looking to one side to see how Deathwalker had
fared....
Deathwalker was a small puddle of melted metal on the
ground, with the head sticking up out of it with a forlorn expression.
Illegal operation, Deathwalker said. Require updates
reformat delete cookies install wing floatation skinky-dinky
cheese fries Im so coooollldddd...
And then Deathwalker finished melting.
Crap.
Taelord, like most of us, had a little voice in his head.
Unlike most of us, his voice usually just told him to kill. But this
time, it broke out of its routine for a change, perhaps agitated
by how the grut orcs behind were snickering evilly and pushing
Taelord forward to finish his glorious plan and score big victory
for Team Red, as they put it.
What did we learn today, Taelord? the voice asked.
We learned that my body made of meat with a loincloth on top is more burn-resistant than Deathwalkers tons of
incredibly high-tech metal armor, Mister Wizard, Taelord replied
with a sigh.
And then one of the grut orcs gave him a wedgie.
Both Teams seemed to appreciate the event with equal mirth.
ISSUE 4
Players Guide
UNITS By The GENERALs
Nilfheim
Kelda
Raelin
Concan
Sentinels of Jandar
Sgt. Drake Alexander
Alastair MacDirk
Sir Denrick
Finn
Thorgrim
Johnny Shotgun
Sullivan
Airborne Elite
4th Massachusetts
Line
MacDirk Warriors
Knights of Weston
Tarn Viking Warriors
Omnicron Snipers
Dzu-The
Braxas
Sudema
Dund
Agent Carr
James Murphy
Nakita Agents
Krav Maga Agents
MicroCorp Agents
Gorillinators
Major Q9
Major X17
Gladitrons
Blastrons
Valguard
Marcus Decimus
Gallus
Parmenio
Spartacus
Crixus
Retiarius
Guilty McCreech
Roman Legionnaires
Roman Archers
Sacred Band
Tagawa Samurai
Kozuke Samurai
Izumi Samurai
Ninjas of The
Northern Wind
Charos
Jotun
Saylind
Deadeye Dan
Theracus
Syvarris
Morsbane
Aubrien Archers
Warriors of Ashra
Venoc Warlord
Elite Onyx Vipers
Armoc Vipers
Venoc Viper
Mimring
Taelord
Minions of Utgar
Su-Bak_Na
Ne-Gok-Sa
Me-Burq-Sa
Marro Warriors
Marro Drones
Marrden Hounds
Grimnak
Tornak
Nerak
Swog Rider
Blade Grut
Arrow Grut
Deathwalker 7000
Deathwalker 8000
Deathwalker 9000
Zettian Guards
DeathStalkers
DeathReavers
Krug
Brunak
Khosumet
Anubian Wolves
Dumetef Guard
Obsidian Guard
Sir Hawthorne
Shaolin Monks
63
Players Guide
HS Codex
HeroScape Buyers Guide

Add the secret Fortress of the Archkyrie
to the greatest Battle
of All Time!
Add new terrain to
your HEROSCAPE
master set (sold
separately) with this
expansion set that
141 pieces including
more than 100 interlocking tiles, 4 ladders and castle door.
NEW
CHECK LIST
Master Set Rise of Valhalla
Wave 1 Malliddons Prophecy
Heroes of Bleakwood unique set
The IX Roman Legion common set
Snipers & Vipers
common set
Grut Orcs
common set
Wave 2 Utgars Rage
Heroes of Barrenspur unique set
Minions and Drones common set
Knights & The Swog common set
Devourers & Minute Men common
Wave 3 Jandars Oath
Heroes of Nostralund
Monks and Guards
Gorilla and Hounds
Kilts and Commandos
unique set
common set
common set
common set
Wave 4 Zanafors Discovery

Heroes of Trollsford unique set
Lawmen and Samurai unique set
Soulborgs and Elves common set
Greeks and Vipers
common set
Large Expansion Sets
Orms Return
The Road to the-Forgotten Forest
Volcarren Wasteland
Thaelenk Tundra
Raknars Vision
unique set
common set
common set
common set
Unique Set
Exclusives and Promtional Items

Nerak
unique hero
EOV Master Set
unique set
Power Your Army with Warriors

& Soulborgs!
Surround Your Enemy With Soulborg Power!
Power Your Army with Ninjas &

Samurai!
Gladiators and Agents: Enemies

Beware of These Powerful Warriors!
Warriors of Ashra: Their powers

of defensive agility serve these
tricky elven warriors well in battle. When attached, they react
swiftly and often escape injury.
Their power-enhancing bonding

abilities make these warriors a
commanding force on the battlefield. Deathstalkers possess
Maul power, which can inflict
triple the damage and nullify
the enemys defense. With their
Homing Device, Blastatrons empower their brothers-in-arms
with extra moves and attack
strength. Could this be the edge
youve been looking for?
Ninjas of the Northern Wind:

With their power to disappear
and to walk through friendly or
enemy forces, these sly, unpredictable warriors can be almost
impossible to track.
Kozuki Samurai: When attacking,
these warriors can charge up to
3 extra spaces. When defending, their special counterattack
power enables them to strike
back with deadly force!
Any who approach these warriors should use extreme caution.

They could be blinded by the
Nakita Agents smoke powder.
Or lose their defense powers in
the massive net of Retiarius. Or
be overpowered by the intensified battle skills of Gladiators
inspired by Spartacus. And the
mighty shield of Crixus can fend
off even the most vicious attacks.
Deathreavers: These Soulborgs

travel quickly, defend well in battle, and never take engagement
hits. When attacked, they scatter
up to 4 spaces, making these robotic rodents difficult to pursue.
64

HS Codex Issue 4

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ISSUE 4

A Word From the Editor

Layout and Design

Hex Enduction Hour / Runehardt

Hex Enduction Hour

Notices & Disclaimers

Flocking The Hexes

58 Fan Ficton and Humour

The Teatime of the Living Dead Part III

Units by The Generals

The castles were also a huge hit at GenCon.

There was an overwhelming

THE TREEE TOWN OPEN

Appearing at Comin-Con was an up coming

is allowed to release products featuring the

the original, and those larger ruins.

Strategy vs. Tactics

rectly. In other words a tactician knows

man Archers to three vipers once to

If the 4th Massachusetts Line a Ranged unit

There are very few units that can entirely

Most games last about 10 rounds. This means

Dont meet Strength with Strength:

If your opponent is strong in melee, dont try

First things first:

You cant do everything at once, so you

7 spaces away, due to their different areas

Many great battles have been won or lost on

power on, hitting a critical unit or softening

Tactics are all about getting the most out of

Fortress of the Archkyrie Review

After playing with the castle expansion for

terrain. The ladders just stack into each other

fact that the rulebook is about twice the size

Hasbros magnificent castle display

Sgt. Drake Alexander

SGT DRAKE ALEXANDER

I hope this review has been helpful to

SGT DRAKE ALEXANDER

How useful is Sgt. Drake Alexander?

What sets Drake apart is his high Attack

Rorkes Drift HS Style

Here is a scenario based loosely on the events at Rorkes Drift. This

The defenders objective is to hold the mission for 12 rounds. Holding

The following army lists show an approximation and a scaled down

20 British Soldiers (Roman Legionnaires, Roman Archers and Sacred

Zulu Chief (Ne-Gok-Sa)

Name (Figure used) Life: Move(Mv): Range(Rng): Attack(Att):

Lt. John Chard (Marcus Decimus Gallus)

b.First Player may move the number of figures determined

FEATURE -Custom terrain

Flocking the Hex

Customizing Heroscape Terrain

Part 1 - Hex Tiles

FEATURE -Custom terrain

The Heroscape tiles, of course, changed that.

You will need black acrylic paint; Elmers glue

But even though the Heroscape tiles looked

The flock should be stored in large, Ziplock

Step 2. The top of the hex tile:

Step 1. The sides of the hex tile:

The next step was to paint and flock a whole

I used Mars Black acrylic paint thinned down

The idea is to make the tile look more like