Up late talking games & writing? You're...

I've mentioned HeroScape at least a few times since Christmas, and I strongly encourage anybody with even a passing interest in tabletop or miniature games to check it out.  

The wife and I have been playing at least twice a day, and it's still endlessly entertaining even though she's been schooling me. She claims she's never played strategy games of this sort before, but I'm starting to think she's feeding me a load of bull. Since the day I opened the box, I've won a grand total of one time. 

For those of you who haven't tried it yet, here's a pic of one of the wife's favorite characters--Sonlen, the overpowered dragon-wielding and nigh-unstoppable elf bastard. That might not be his official name, but I can't quite recall at the moment.  

*ahem*

Anyway, every figure in the game comes with an accompanying card as pictured above. The cards give all the vital info and save players the trouble of trying to remember everything, and the pics clearly show who goes to which card. 

The picture at the very top gives a very basic idea of what the player-constructed terrain looks like (all ground tiles and such come with the starter box and more are available. And no, that's not me in the picture, wiseass.) 

I'm sure it all looks a little confusing (it sure did to me at first) but it's really pretty simple and intuitive after a little practice. 

One of the best things about it is that there are so many different types of characters that get blended together. The "story" behind the game is that some powerful guys on some other plane start picking and choosing warriors from different time periods and places in order to form the most powerful armies.  Honestly, I could care less about the scenario behind it... it's just supremely cool to be able to mix grizzled WWII paratroopers with acid-spraying dragons, or to pit fierce samurai against relentless combat cyborgs. There's a little bit of everything thrown into the mix, and the hex-based terrain tiles lock together in quasi-Lego fashion to create all sorts of battle conditions.

I'll shut up about it now, but gets my top recommend for anyone seeking out some non-electronic gaming. 

...And I will take Sonlen out the next time we cross swords.