Customer Reviews

Heroscape Swarm of the Marro Game Set

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Okay, so after over a year of expansion packs, new scenarios, your occasional castle/terrain expansion, Heroscape ups the ante again.

At first I was leary of this master set, as it features significantly less units than the original but for the same price. But hey, I figure, the game hasn't let me down so far, so I went for it. Boy was I _not_ sorry!

This Master set is truly a massive expansion to the original game, and if you don't have any heroscape yet, a great standalone product too. unlike previous expansions, this new set features an actual 3 scenario campaign, complete with a story line. Wow. The game universe is actually solidifying and it should help the series last that much longer.

I was extremely pleased with the units this set contained, and even though it contained 2 of the same heroes from the original master set, their abilities have been updated and they are much more usable/balanced. The game is truly getting better as time goes by. If you are a heroscacpe fan, or a table-top gaming fan in general, I would definitely recommend this master set.

The only con I have with it is the same as with any big boxed heroscape set, you can't get the pieces back in after you take them out and will be forced to find an alternative method of storing them (which is okay with me as I have so many expansion sets now storing them in their boxes would take forever to get them out)

This is the second master set to the Hasbro game Heroscape. It takes place in a swamp although the swamp and swamp water tiles have no special rules like other terrain tiles. The number of figures is not as wide as the first master set with three doubles, but the figures are interesting. Two figures, Sgt. Drake Alexander, and Raelin the Kyrie Warrior, even get upgraded. The Marro Hive is interesting to look at and once again shows the attention to detail the makers have int their figures. The battle scenarios also show a gifted team of writers. You might want to take a picture of the way the tiles are stack when you take them out of the box though, if you don't and pull them apart, there is no way you are getting them back in the box. Trust me, I tried that with the first master set and failed so I keep all the tiles in a separate green box.

I've played a lot of games with this set and the new figures. The hive brings a lot of interesting strategies into play for the offensive and defensive side. Including a custom "protect the hive" scenario me and my friends tried out. A great starter set, and even better addition to Heroscape players.

This is the second Heroscape Master set that my son has and he's really getting into it. Two of his friends had one taste of the game and figures and have purchased a Master set each and expansions. They all enthuse about it (they are all aged about 11) - what greater commendation do you need! A by-product of their enjoyment is that they have left their computer games alone for a while. Instead they meet up, play the game, interact with each other, having to think of strategy and loving every minute of it. The miniatures alone are great, so much so that they have begun to collect them!

It's an easy game to pick up, with simple line of sight rules and easy dice throwing to learn. Height is an advantage, and knowing the unique abilities of your units a must if you want to win. Swarm of the Marro is good, but it does has less figure types than the original Master game. And there are duplicate sets on the Marro side which reduces the diversity that bit further. But all the rules are there so you can either start with this game, or buy Rise of the Valkyrie, or have them both. Rules are full of explanatory pictures that very nearly cover everything.

On the figures side, the Swarm looks great, as do the heroes (two of the 'goodies' are uprated versions of earlier ones in Valkyrie. If you combine this game with other expansions you can make up any sort of battles you want - for choosing your own army is one part of the fun of this game.

Swarm itself has some neat scenarios of its own that can roll over from one battle to another - though we've not played these yet. And remember, even the battlefield has to be built by yourself, either following the clear patterns in the rule book, or using your imagination. So it's creative just in setting up the 'board'. Add another set, and you can begin to have some intriguing if not massive battlegrounds.

I'd heartily recommend this. My two boys from 5 upwards love the figures. They are well painted, with unique abilities that fire the imagination and demand thought when using them. They don't break too easily, unless your brother leaves them on the floor and you tread on them! Only down side is that in the UK it's difficult to buy the expansions. Distribution could do with being much better. I bought Swarm in the States and brought it home - but we can't all do that.

Buy it for your children and watch them have hours of fun. A few tears as they lose their prize hero, and joy as they start building up their own unique army!

Gabriel , 10

My grandmother got this game for my birthday a month ago and I think I've played it every day since. It is a really fun set, with a lot of Marro squads, and 5 heroes. You also make the battlefield, so it is a new game every time! If you're going to buy this, you shold also get "Rise of the Valkrie: Master set 1". it is a bigger set, but the warriors are worse, by a lot. This also has swamp, and swamp water which the other set doesn't. Also, nobody in the other set compares to Tor-Kul-Na. I LOVE this game

The way this game has been created allows you to make it a different experience each time you play it. I play this game with my kids and half the fun for me is creating the 'battlefield' out of all the tiles that come with it. Heroscape requires a bit of space and time to set up and play (i.e. the kitchen table). The playing pieces are highly detailed but are made of a soft plastic that can easily break if stepped on. This is something our family has to be careful of as we have four kids. If every plays, all the activity will inevitably have some of the pieces knocked off on the floor.
The game rules allow for two levels of play - basic and advanced. The basic rules are very simple and easily used by my five year old. The advanced level rules allow each player's pieces to use special abilities and powers that add a new dimension to the game. There are also a lot of little accessory pieces that are used. If you enjoy strategy games that are also highly visual you will enjoy this game. Also, check out the many expansion sets and boosters that are available.

This is a really fun game for the kids, and very educational as it causes you to think strategically. My 10 year old son plays with his neighborhood friends quite frequently. The game itself is very durable and the characters are what the kids like the best.. they are very cool to look at and are very detailed. I would recommend this game!

This set is awsome '''''' how can you not get this set! It includes 18 marro ( stingers, marden nugrubs, druge) turkulna and the great marro hive! That's right the hive is a person but, it can't move but it has a range of four and it has a attack of four and a defense of nine. With five awsome heroes it's pretty awsome but if you want more people get heroscape 1 otherwise this set is awsome get it now'''''

So, you're wondering if you should buy this game, this Heroscape. Well let me tell you, this game is well worth this money. Heck, I would pay about 60 bucks for this, and its going for a mere 30? Anyway, in this review I will be going over what comes in the box, basic gameplay, expansion sets, the fanbase, and overall rating.

BOX CONTENTS:
25 beautifully painted plastic figures. Quite durable, and some longer pieces are bendy. Figures include the Marro hive, a robot, alien creatures, an angelic person, and more.

Terrain: These inter lockable terrain pieces allow you to customize your battlefield, and include small and large pieces. Terrain types include water, swamp, sand, grass, rock, etc.

Army cards: describe the statistics of the figurines, such as name, attack, defense, range, etc.

Wound markers, order markers, round markers, and combat dice are also included (names explain themselves).

Also, the instructions booklet is included, telling you how to play and also gives some maps and battlefield scenarios.

BASIC GAMEPLAY:

Step 1: Build a battlefield, limited to your own imagination.
Step 2: Draft an army.
Step 3: Fight!

during your turn, you move and attack. If you are playing the advanced rules, you can use special abilities. I will not go too deep into detail about combat and turns; the other reviews and the description explain enough of it.

EXPANSIONS:

Currently, there are a lot of expansions for this game. Most of the expansion packs include some additional figures and their army cards. Some, however, include new terrain, such as snow, glaciers, lava, forests, bridges, jungles, and castles. The terrain expansions are known as large expansions. There are also large figure expansions, that can include large dragons or giants rather than the small figures. The small expansions are about 10-15 dollars. Large expansions are priced around 17-25 dollars. Keep in mind that expansions are entirely optional,, but I recommend them for a full gaming experience.

THE COMMUNITY:

Currently there is a huge fanbase built around this game. There are a lot of sites that have user created maps and scenarios. here are a few:

heroscape.com : the official site.
heroscapers.com : site with forums, maps and scenarios and a large community.
heroscape.catalystradio.com : a heroscape map archive.

just to name a few.

Overall:

fun: 5 stars : a lot of it based on luck, but still loads of fun.
educational value: 4 stars, because it teaches strategic planning, making predictons. also for the younger kids adding up the dice is counting :). But this game is still about demons and robots and dragons and elves and vikings fighting eachother...
durability: 4 stars : the plastic is pretty hard, and the longer spears and things are bendy. But I still think they could break if someone accidentally stepped on one(not to mention it would probably hurt a lot).

OVERALL: 5 stars : despite what seems like an overall 4 star review, this game has a super amount of potential and is already very successsful with fans everywhere, and growing. The game is a unique table top war gaming experience, and is imaginative enough to be played again and again. Folks, this ain't your usual board game like Sorry! or Monopoly. This is a game with huge replay value and is a lot more bang for your buck. Now stop reading this review and order this game!

Wow! I just got this a few months ago and it beats Monopoly! Heroscape is a game of skill, smarts, and imagination, the three things that create a great product. There are 35 painted 3D hard plastic peices that look as if they are hand painted. Some are big, some are small, some are scary, some are valiant, but all are awesome!
I would very very very highly recommend this game to any gender and any age. Heroscape is AWESOME!!!