Heroscape
This Fantasy Battle Board Game comes with dozens of painted plastic miniatures; each representing a warrior from a different era; and hex-based hard plastic terrain pieces which can be put together in many different ways. The warriors include 30 plastic figures; including World War II soldiers; futuristic robots; aliens; a T-Rex-riding orc; a large dragon; and many more. Each hero or squad has its own card that details both movement and combat abilities.
There are 2 large ruins and 85 tiles of terrain in the base game. Some terrain tiles are large (up to 24 hexes) while others are small (1 hex). There are water; sand; rock and grass tiles (in roughly increasing order). Many different battlefields can be built by attaching and stacking the tiles.
The rulebook features two games: a basic and a master version. In the basic version (designed for younger players < 8 years); characters move; attack; defend; and have range -- but there are no special powers and some other rules are minimized and/or eliminated. The master game includes special powers; wounds; engagement rules; falling rules; and a few other additions.
A battlefield/scenario book shows how to build five battlefields; layer by layer. Each battlefield may have multiple scenarios; where the goals vary. It can be opponent elimination; getting to a certain space; protecting a certain figure; or holding out for a certain number of turns.
Each unit in the Master Set has a movement rating ranging from 4 to 8; which is the number of hexes it can move in a turn. Moving up a level counts as a hex; moving down does not incur that penalty. Moving down more levels than your height when moving from one hex to another counts as falling and you might take damage --unless you are falling into water.
Combat in the game is fairly straightforward. You roll attack dice as listed on your unit's card (1 to 8 dice in the Master Set); and the opponent rolls defense dice equal to the number on their unit's card (1 to 9 dice). Skulls rolled in excess of shields count as wounds (hero figures may have more than one Life).
The master game uses a point system in which players alternate drafting cards until they reach the pre-assigned point value for the scenario. It's possible to bring a pre-fab army to the battle in order to save time.
The basic game is for two players. The master game is for 2 to 4 (and more) players.
The game is eminently customizable; with many expansions which add more abilities; terrain; and options. There are also user-created maps; scenarios; custom units and advanced rules available online.
HeroScape: Rise of the Valkyrie is the original master set for the HeroScape series of games.