MicroTactix Games has a number of products that can enhance HeroQuest and, in one case, even replace its rules. Except where noted, all of the following products are currently available for sale, directly from MicroTactix (http://www.microtactix.com).
Vyllage-on-the-Cheep
"Vyllage-on-the-Cheep" is a line of cut-out-and-assemble cardboard buildings presented in a scale that makes them compatible with HeroQuest figures. MicroTactix Games says the buildings are "printed in black and white on sturdy cardstock." The first release, "Set #1," provides 30 pages worth of buildings created by Gary M. Williams. MicroTactix describes the contents of Set #1 this way:
"City Walls, Gate, and Gatehouse / General Store / Wild Hog Tavern / Two Large Inns / Magic Shop / Apothecary / Noble's Coach with Horses / Pawn Shop / Two Large Shoppes / Bakery / Blacksmith's Home / Vyllage Smithy / Barn / Vyllage Market / Family Farm / Elven Temple... and more!"
In addition to the buildings, Set #1 includes "over 40" cardboard stand-up figures.
Set #1 costs $14.95. For now, it is available exclusively from the MicroTactix Games web site . Orders can be made using any major credit card.
MicroTactix clearly has lower production values than Milton Bradley. They're trying to make up for it with low pricing.
Vyllage-on-the-Cheep Set #2 is not yet available, but it will contain 30 more pages of buildings and figures. Buildings will include the Church, the City Jail, the Wizard's Tower and the Gentlemen's Club.
Compact Combat for Free
Compact Combat is a position-oriented combat system that could be used to replace the HQ rules. MicroTactix describes it as "a head-to-head arena combat board game, or the basis of any small unit action combat scenarios."
To the best of my knowledge, the Compact Combat product line is the only HeroQuest-like game system that is currently receiving active support from its publisher. As such, it deserves our attention. As this review will demonstrate, the Compact Combat line has very different strengths from HeroQuest's.
For clarity's sake, I should point out that "Compact Combat" refers to the rules system and to the entire product line that utilizes it. "Compact Warrior" refers to the system's non-magical melee rules and "Compact Warrior Special Edition" refers specifically to the free PDF.
Indeed, there is no support for magic of any kind in the sample rules. It is possible to try running HeroQuest scenarios under Compact Warrior Special Edition, but you'll have to leave the Wizard, the Chaos Warlock and maybe the Elf at home and rely on First Aid (which is covered) for healing. A future release, Compact Sorcerer, promises to address this area.
The 24-page sample Special Edition rulebook is laid out in a highly readable format in which boldfacing, italics and diagrams are used to good effect. Additionally, there are three pages of tables, a page containing nine stand-up figures and seven armory cards, and a one-page mapboard.
Compact Combat describes characters using four attributes (Strength, Coordination, Health and Intellect) plus lists of skills and weapons. The rules require ten-sided dice and are more complicated than HeroQuest's. The upside to the complexity, for those who find HeroQuest unsatisfactorily abstract, is that Compact Combat addresses things like:
- loading weapons,
- drawing weapons,
- running out of ammunition,
- encumbrance (how much equipment a character can carry at once),
- cover (hitting characters who are partially concealed),
- which way an attacker is facing, and
- whether a character is standing, sitting, or prone.
The downside, for those who like HeroQuest's elegant simplicity, is that Compact Combat requires a lot more thinking and record-keeping before and during play. For all the complexity, there are several places in which Compact Warrior Special Edition leaves it to the gamemaster to choose a difficulty number or figure out how a skill works in a given situation. Arguably, a system that chooses to be complex really should make up for it by being thorough. Presumably these gaps are scheduled to be filled in future supplements.
Compact Warrior Special Edition provides for different typical attributes between fantasy races. For example, humans are stronger than Elves but have lower dexterity. This is spelled out in a seven-race table that provides mathematical descriptions for humans, dwarves, elves, halflings, goblins, orcs and hobgoblins. Working from this foundation, the players are free to build customized characters with unique skills and weaponry.
It falls to each group of gamers to decide whether they prefer the almost visceral thrills of HeroQuest's dice system or Compact Combat's greater level of detail. Despite its battle-oriented title, Compact Combat can certainly be used for ongoing quests. Furthermore, according to MicroTactix, future releases "will expand the role playing experience. Some will be designed for solitaire play. Others will allow a team of players to cooperate toward a common goal or even face each other across an expanded field of battle."
Compact Combat Supplements
The first commercial release in the Compact Combat line is called "BAR-Barians!" As the title implies, it pits the players' characters against barbarians in a bar fight. Priced at $4.95, the set includes a mapboard, stat cards for weapons and characters, and a number of components to cut out and assemble, including tables, chairs, the bar and character stand-ups. Like the Vyllage buildings, these are all printed "on heavy card stock." Some specialized rules are added to round out the Compact Combat system to include coverage for swinging from chandeliers and improvising weapons out of furniture and broken bottles.
MicroTactix promises more such products are on the way. Immediate plans are for an Old West gunfight scenario and a Post-Y2K battle for control of "the last gas station/mini mart." The mini mart set will include 25 mm three-dimensional cardboard models of everything from the building itself to the gas pumps to the interior store fixtures.
In the longer term, similar mini-games are in the works for fantasy horror, space opera and superhero action. Additionally, the company has announced that an expanded print edition of Compact Warrior (with more weapons cards, among other things) is "[c]oming very soon," as is the Compact Sorcerer magical combat expansion set.
PlainLabel RPGs
MicroTactix also publishes "PlainLabel" roleplaying games such as "Pocket Fantasy." These are rules-compatible with Compact Combat, but their focus is less on tactics and miniatures and more on character and story.
