Heroscape: Age of Annihilation Master Set review - "I've been playing wargames for over a decade, and I think this might be one of the best introductions to the hobby"

I have to give it to Renegade Games Studios; between handling Axis & Allies and the topic of this review, Heroscape, they have done a splendid job revitalizing and bringing some of the most beloved, best board games back from the brink of fading into the nether for new audiences.

I remember seeing Heroscape commercials, watching soldiers and samurai doing battle with dinosaurs and demons, and thinking it was the coolest idea ever. Now, Renegade has released Heroscape: Age of Annihilation Master Set, which acts as an introductory box set to pull new players into the game, and what it offers does a damn fine job of doing just that.

Heroscape: Age of Annihilation Master Set features & design

• A faster, more accessible wargame
• The return of a classic franchise
• Distinct, hexagonal board tiles

Heroscape is a miniature wargame whose most recognizable aspect is its connectable hexagon tiles that are used to construct the battlefield players will be traipsing around. Once this map is built (the rulebook contains a number of layouts and scenarios to pick from), two players will draft their heroes from across an array of factions and themes, then off to the battlefield they go.

Rounds play out with players secretly picking the order their units will act, followed by each player going back and forth, moving their heroes, holding objectives, and taking out enemies in a bid for victory.

The units your forces are composed of each come with their own details card that shows any special abilities they may have, such as being able to fly over terrain, how much health they have, and how many dice they roll when they attack and defend. The AoA box contains 11 possible choices to pick from, and I was impressed with just how easy these stat cards make the hero selection process, being able to at a glance get all the important bits of information you need. The Master Set is catered more towards new players so the offerings don’t include every sort of unit that Heroscape offers, instead giving you some heroes and unique squads to fill out the ranks, a decision that plays to the box’s strengths and I found offered enough options to play around with and get a good idea of Heroscape’s systems.

In addition to additional unit sets and expansions, Renegade also offers options for players who both desire to paint and customize the look of their army and those who simply want to play the game and have their forces look great without any added painting to be done. As someone who already has a rather large gray pile of shame, the fact that I didn’t have to worry about adding to that growing mound and instead look out over the land and see bright, colorful minis was a delight and relief.

Gameplay

• Less complex than the likes of 40K
• Not knowing who will act when adds tension
• A streamlined entry-point to wargaming

I am someone who has played Warhammer 40K for over a decade now and dabbled in a couple of other tabletop miniature war games. Diving into the Heroscape: Age of Annihilation big box for the first time, I felt like that John Travolta meme from Pulp Fiction where he's just looking around, confused. After decades of hearing about the game, and the awesome commercials, I expected…more. I was used to fielding platoons of menacing armor and space soldiers, maneuvering around table-sized battlefields and sharpshooting aliens from 36 inches away. I thought that because I wasn’t rolling 20 dice per attack roll or worrying about maintaining troop cohesion, ensuring no more than 1 inch between my models, that HeroScape would bore me. I was looking for complexity because it was what I was familiar with, and when I didn’t find it, I thought it was a negative against Heroscape. I was naive.

Heroscape feels and plays like a toned-down version of something like a Warhammer, and if you are coming to this having played other wargames, you will recognize the guts of the game. Units having only so much movement, different ranges for attacks, rolling dice to attack, and things of that sort. However, despite the similarities, Heroscape still has some really clever, unique tweaks to the formula that I adore and that set it apart from others.

Secretly assigning your units' activation order is the one that I am most enamoured by. It’s a simple thing, really, but it has the potential for huge impacts on matches. The fact that neither player knows what unit will act when means that your plan to take out a weak unit could easily be thrown out the window if your opponent moves them from harm's way before your attacker can act, or you manage to outmaneuver and route an enemy troop on the way to the objective. It makes things tense, and the fact that you roll a d20 each round and the player with the highest roll acts first keeps things exciting and tense.

This back-and-forth approach also has the added benefit of avoiding downtime for the player whose turn it is, which is one of my big annoyances with other wargames. Heroscape, I find, is a far more approachable game, a term that I would be hard-pressed to use when describing Games Workshop's behemoth. And it is with this approachability that I found the most value and reward from Heroscape.

Right from the getgo with map creation, Heroscape allows its players to either get as creative as they want, laying out and building up their map as they see fit (honestly this could be a game unto itself, and gave me vibes of building the best Lego sets), or you can simply look in the rules for a specific layout and scenario if you prefer.

Admittedly, the setup is Heroscapes' biggest blemish, simply due to how long it can take to actually construct the maps. One small error early on in setup can lead to headaches as you have to deconstruct the titles from one another to correct it, and then put it all back together. For small maps, this isn’t as big of an issue, but once you get into larger scenarios or maps for more than two players, I could easily see this process taking more than an hour to do.

Touching back on the stat cards for a moment, everything you need is right there on the small card, and all you need to do is decide on a point cost for your army, and pick the cards you want that total equal to, or as close to, that number without going over. True, this approach is similar to other wargames, but with Heroscape, you don’t need to worry about swapping out weapons or other gear that will tweak the army cost either. It feels more streamlined, and the fact that I never had a 2-player game take more than an hour or two made it far easier and more alluring of a prospect for my friends I pulled in to try Heroscape with.

Should you buy Heroscape: Age of Annihilation Master Set?

While I did find myself missing some of the complexity and flexibility that other miniature games offer, I also appreciate that Heroscape manages to be a welcoming and still tactical entry point into this hobby and style of game, and the Age of Annihilation Master Set specifically being tailored for that purpose. I would happily bust this box out with my nephews and see if the bug bites them, and from there, dabble in more of the other boxes of units and tiles that Renegade has released in their Heroscape revival.

I find myself intrigued to check out more and see what else Heroscape has to offer and get a better sense of just how far this rabbit hole goes, as I have only this kit and the cheaper, leaner Battle for the Wellspring box. If you're also eager to dive deeper, it's worth hopping over to the Renegade Studios store. You'll find pages of individual factions there alongside a host of terrain upgrades, allowing you to really shake things up.

Ratings

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested Heroscape: Age of Annihilation Master Set

After digging into the rules and examining the game's components in detail, our reviewer settled in for matches against in-person opponents to see how Heroscape works in action. They also made sure to compare it with other popular wargame competitors, like Warhammer 40,000.

To get a more complete overview of our process, don't miss this guide to how we test board games or the full GamesRadar+ reviews policy.

Looking for your next tabletop favorite? Don't miss the best card games, or the best tabletop RPGs.