2011 LEGO Boardgames News & Discussion

[aangmaster333]

I just thought of some custom rules. First are traps,When you land on a rap roll a die. skull is take damage depending on the trap and you lose your first item . Sword gets through trap. Shield disables trap, and sword and skull does only damage.

Next are new items. The shield stops you from taking damage when you roll a skull and sword. Spear lets you attack from 2 spaces away.

crossbows are like bows accept they shoot 8 spaces. Plate armor makes you take 1 less damage unless the attack only deals 1 damage.

Next are classes. bards have a ranged special that powers up another player so they will kill next time they attack. Monks have a melee special that lets him move as many spaces as he wants while staying ajacent with the monters and defeat it. paladins heal 1 health and defeat a monster. assasins move 3 spaces and kill from one space away. Those are my rules hope you find use in them

[Jareth]

I just thought of some custom rules. First are traps,When you land on a rap roll a die. skull is take damage depending on the trap and you lose your first item . Sword gets through trap. Shield disables trap, and sword and skull does only damage.

Next are new items. The shield stops you from taking damage when you roll a skull and sword. Spear lets you attack from 2 spaces away.

crossbows are like bows accept they shoot 8 spaces. Plate armor makes you take 1 less damage unless the attack only deals 1 damage.

Next are classes. bards have a ranged special that powers up another player so they will kill next time they attack. Monks have a melee special that lets him move as many spaces as he wants while staying ajacent with the monters and defeat it. paladins heal 1 health and defeat a monster. assasins move 3 spaces and kill from one space away. Those are my rules hope you find use in them

I like your new rules, especially the shield item. Hopefully the Heroica Website will start taking suggestions soon.

I picked up all four sets and I have some thoughts on them. First of all, if you think this is heroquest for lego, think again. The monsters just stand and wait for you to attack them and you know where everything is from the start. That's not so say its a bad game, it's just a lot easier than heroquest. It is also not a cooperative boardgame. In three of the games the heroes are competing for gold to upgrade their powers.

The rules: Actually the rules are sort of a weak point for me. It is very simplistic. More powerful enemies do more damage, but are just as easy to kill as weaker enemies (with the exception of the Goblin General) I'm thinking about making the enemies take a number of hits equal to their power to kill, and perhaps the more damage they take, the less damage they do. Another weak point is that the movement rules are not very well explained. In play testing, I found that sometimes a hero could slip past a monster when someone else was fighting it. I can see this being a problem in competitive games, also the whole "If you take damage move back a step" rule doesn't make sense if there is a line of heroes behind you. ( I guess if you get hit the others crowd surf you to the back) That being said, the rules are playable and enjoyable, but if you give it to kids, play a couple games with them so that you can be a referee.

The Heroes & Weapons: There are 6 types of heroes so far.

Barbarian: Kill all adjacent enemies? In all the games, I've only had 3 times where this might have helped and only once where the dice roll did it.

Wizard: Kill at a distance and around corners? Useful, but this means that the other players will be able to scoot ahead of you and pick up the treasure before you.

Druid: Healing....I only was tempted to use this once, and then I didn't want to skip a turn.

Ranger: Kill at a distance in a straight line, very similar to the wizard.

Thief: Get a gold and kill a monster. I never rolled it, but I guess this is OK

Knight: Move 1 space and kill a monster. I can see this being useful, but I never had the opportunity to use it.

The weapons are basically slightly less powerful versions of the Hero Powers, which ironically means that the weapons most suited to the hero is the one weapon that is most useless to the hero.

Overall for kids, I see this as more competitive than I would like, but some minor tweaking (especially of the healing rules) could change this. Because the Draida cove set does not have gold or a shop, this is what I would buy for a kid. You could see if he likes it before buying the larger sets and set him on the path of cooperative gaming.

For adults, it still isn't bad. If you are not sure if you want it all that either Waldruk Forest or Nathuz caves is a good set to try. I knew I wanted all four sets regardless. If I was going to buy a duplicate set I would get another Fortlaan, because the first two quests could be combined into one large board with two sets.

[The_Box]

I have yet to get my hands on 1 of the Heroica games. I'm tempted in getting one of the medium sets just because of those weapons and I felt it would be a great way to try for a test run. If I do enjoy I know I will be getting all 4 sets and then modding them for added play (i.e. new rules and larger setup).

If these games do become successful in the AFOL community, how about creating a thread to share ideas on new rules, races, weapons, and game boards?

[Scrib]

I apologize if this has already been answered elsewhere in this thread, but is the new helmet included in the Castle Fortaan set compatible with standard minifigs, or is it only sized for microfigs? I was speaking with an employee in a Lego store about this today, and neither of us could remember.

[Joe Cool]

I picked up the Draida Bay set last night and play tested it over dinner with another AFOL at a restaurant near our local Lego store. It was fun, but being such a small set and not having the specialized weapons or treasures, it was somewhat limiting in the variety of gameplay. The entire line of sets looks fun and seems that it expands on the rules to add new things.

One fun "homebrew" rule that we came up with last night was to keep the defeated monster in our hero packs and then have the ability at the beginning of any of your next turns to place the monster back on the board (1 per turn). That turned a 5-10 minute game into a 15-20 minute game! Made for a lot of fun.

I like the openness of the game and the ability to expand it ourselves to add new levels, etc. with little effort. It's a great size scale to work with and I am eagerly awaiting my purchase of the other 3 sets in the line!

[Sandy]

If these games do become successful in the AFOL community, how about creating a thread to share ideas on new rules, races, weapons, and game boards?

That's a great suggestion, but we'll have to see what the reception is like before that. I for one am in love with these games even though I haven't even seen them with my own eyes yet.

[CMP]

Spotted down here in a TrU. Was too busy with feeling through Series 4 packets to think about getting one though... They look pretty cool though.

[Jareth]

If these games do become successful in the AFOL community, how about creating a thread to share ideas on new rules, races, weapons, and game boards?

You're reading my mind....I'm going to go do that now.

[dodonna]

I apologize if this has already been answered elsewhere in this thread, but is the new helmet included in the Castle Fortaan set compatible with standard minifigs, or is it only sized for microfigs? I was speaking with an employee in a Lego store about this today, and neither of us could remember.

It only fits on a microfig. (Or the small end of a cone.)

[Rufus]

If these games do become successful in the AFOL community, how about creating a thread to share ideas on new rules, races, weapons, and game boards?

That's a great suggestion, but we'll have to see what the reception is like before that. I for one am in love with these games even though I haven't even seen them with my own eyes yet.

And suddenly there is one. If a lot of suggestions come in, I'll make it an official thread.

[Morbus Iff]

Unlike other AFOLs (sup, I'm new and by no means an expert, though I have certainly emerged full force from my Dark Ages), I've been buying the LEGO Games because I love the notion of a game in LEGO. I see them as games first, pieces last. Just sayin'.

Between SUN BLOCK and BANANA BALANCE (the only 2011 non-Heroica games I've played so far), I like BANANA BALANCE better. SUN BLOCK is interesting in the sense that it encourages double failure: not only do you fail if you knock over or break the pieces (which is always bad, game or not), you actually lose the game that way too. I do like the notion of a playing field that gets continually more convoluted (the more umbrellas you roll on the dice, the more you place on the board and the harder the game area is to fit your fingers into, adults especially) though. BANANA BALANCE is a lot more palatable (to me and my kids): the goal is simply to not unbalance the tree when you add more leaves or bananas to it. My kids can see failure coming a lot more obviously (the tree is tilting as they slowly let go, etc.) and it's not accidental (as in SUN BLOCK).

I've got boatloads to say about HEROICA. Perhaps later. (Though, I too would love a HEROICA-inspired minifig-scale game. BrikWars and BrickScape are waaaaay too "let's be Warhammer or 'real' D&D". I'd love to design/help out on a LEGO Games-inspired approach, using the LEGO dice, etc.)

Edited June 6, 2011 by Morbus Iff

[Fives]

I really love this new Heroica game. It is so cool! I really love how simple the rules are, and how that makes it easy to enhance the game yourself! But... am I the only one who is REALLY wanting an ACTUAL SYSTEM HEROICA THEME! It would be awesome! Imagine these four games as actual sets, with full sized minifigs! It could be great! They could continue with the games and stuff, but release some sets too! Step aside Kingdoms, Heroica is in town!

[Morbus Iff]

I really love this new Heroica game. It is so cool! I really love how simple the rules are, and how that makes it easy to enhance the game yourself! But... am I the only one who is REALLY wanting an ACTUAL SYSTEM HEROICA THEME! It would be awesome! Imagine these four games as actual sets, with full sized minifigs! It could be great! They could continue with the games and stuff, but release some sets too! Step aside Kingdoms, Heroica is in town!

I'd love such a thing too, but would you want walls?

How closely to existing dungeon-style builds would you want a minifig-sized Heroica to be?

Edited June 8, 2011 by Morbus Iff

[Fives]

I'd love such a thing too, but would you want walls?

How closely to existing dungeon-style builds would you want a minifig-sized Heroica to be?

Well, say they did the Waldurk forest set. It could come with like two trees and the waterfall with the proper figs. As for the Castle Fortaan, it could be a full castle like the King's Castle set. I would want a proper theme, with the board game series as a separate thing.

[Aanchir]

Just wanted to share that the LEGO Home Page today links to the Heroica website in its "What's new" section. Unfortunately, the page merely reads "Server is too busy" on my computer, but perhaps the site will be running sometime later this week.

In the meantime, you can always enjoy the kickin' Spongebob Squarepants animation, or the amusing Duplo animation demonstrating how horribly useless cops are in the Duploverse. No, you can't just signal to an escaped convict hoping he'll come with you. That's not how it works.

Hopefully there'll be some real Heroica news soon when the website actually debuts.

[Morbus Iff]

Hopefully there'll be some real Heroica news soon when the website actually debuts.

Actually, the Heroica web site came out last week or so - nothing exciting to see though.

[KurttKrueger]

Heroica is one of my most anticipated themes of 2011. As a Warhammer player of old, I'm really looking forward to sinking my teeth into these and coming up with some homebrew rules for them. I appreciate that its not to the same complexity as Heroquest, but we'll soon fix that!

Did I hear someone mention that these won't be available in the UK until August? Ouch if so, I can't wait to get hold of these...

[Artanis I]

There are more new games out... maybe the first post could get updated...

I bought Atlantis Treasure. Haven't played it against anyone yet, but it seems to be a game for more strategic thinking compared to the others. The mini subs are cool

[Ro87n]

My new and updated LEGO Boardgame collection.

The Heroica games are still wraped in plastic foil (or what ever it is called). It's just a mather of time.

But I don't have much time because I'm moving to another place, but in the same town/city soon. So just some quick pic's.

Pictures taken with flash;

Without flash;

[SilvaShado]

Went to the LEGO store to see what was new and saw that they had a couple of copies of LEGO Champion game #3861! I've been looking forward to this game for a while, but didn't think it'd be out yet. It's good for a lot of players, 3-8, which is what we've needed. And there are 5 different challenges in the box so that'll be good for variety.

I'll post again when we've played it.

[buddy]

S@H in the UK have the new Heroica games available and also the new 3861 Lego Champion game. Link to the Games section on S@H where you can see the new games.

~buddy~

[SilvaShado]

Well, we played it tonight and didn't have as much fun as we hoped. It really is for kids, not for adult fans. Unless you come up with your own challenges and use the alternate challenges.

Anyway, the basic game is you are traveling around a track and participating in challenges to move around. The first one who gets back to the start and wins a challenge becomes the Champion.

The 5 basic challenges are:

On Target - each person throws a 2X4 of their color at the die and whoever is closest wins the challenge. This was the most fun of the basic challenges.

Bluffing Bricks - each person secretly takes 3 bricks of any color. The challenger makes a guess as to how many of one color are among all of the player's bricks such as I think there are 2 red. The next person has to guess at least 3 more of a color. At any point a person can say reveal if you think the previous person's guess was too high. Everyone reveals and count up the color. If there are fewer bricks than the guess, you win. If there are more, then that player wins.

Toople Tower - the challenger takes on brick and puts it down as the base of the tower. The next person takes 2 bricks, connects them and balances them on the base. The next person takes 3 bricks, connects them and balances them. When it topples, the previous person wins.

Codebreaker - The challenger builds a secret code by stacking 3 different colored bricks in secret. each person gets to ask yes/no questions. When someone thinks they have the code, they build it and then compare. If that person got it right, they win. If they didn't then the challenger wins.

Speed Builder - challenger takes 1 brick of each color and secretly builds a shape. Then reveals it and everyone else tries to build that shape the fastest. As soon as someone has it, they say finished. If it is exactly the same, they win. If not, the challenger wins.

I think it's overpriced considering it's mostly 2X4 bricks, though the two new female microfigures are nice - a pink princess and yellow barbarian. And there's a solid pearl gold microfigure. All the other microfigures look to be repeats from other games.

But I do like two of the alternate challenges, Bowled Over, where you play a bowling type game using the 2x4 bricks as pins and the die as the bowling ball. The other challenge allows you to make up a challenge when you roll that color. If you've got a group with good imagination, this could be a lot of fun. Or, like I said, just make up a bunch of challenges ahead of time and substitute the ones you don't like for the ones you made.

Overall, though, I give it 2 studs out of 6. It's overpriced for the pieces you get and you really need to make up a lot to make it better for older players. But with the right group and imagination, it could be fun.

[CaptainBermuda]

the heroica have quite the arsenal ther

[Wolfpack]

I have one simple qestion for heroica, that i dont find in the rules.

If you stand on one place (e.g. before the magic door in waldurk) and you don't roll the "shiled", can you stay on that place or you have to move?

And second, if you pass the door you have to move on "next free place", what if there is a monster behind the dood, you move one more behind the monster? Do you have to fight and where do you move if you loose, one place further on or back behind the door?

[greeny]

I am going to buy Catle fortaan and Dradia bay tommorow. I can't wait to play these

Also a few ideas on how to incorperate other themes:

Ninjago japanese village; The evil skeletons are attacking!

Eygptian rames pyramind; Don't let the king mummy get to it's throne room or otherwise he will awaken his mummy army! (Every turn the king mummy moves foward 1 space on a seperate route)

I'm sure you can think of some mhoar!