Tyson HeckertHeroes of Might and Magic III turned out to be a good board game. Despite some blemishes, it’s a fun take on the classic video game, and I was delighted to dive into what Archon Studio did with the IP.
One of the things I thought could have been better are the scenarios. It needed more of them, with better mechanical variety to broaden the gameplay experience. The campaigns were OK, but not that well written and could have done with a much greater tie in from narrative to gameplay. For more information on that, check out my review.
So… I’ve taken a shot at that with my own creation!
The Queen’s Gambit
Play any Castle hero but follow the story of Queen Catherine as she grapples with a rising necromancer. It features an original story, three branching endings and a unique twist on gameplay revolving around hiring neutrals.
I have play tested the scenario’s several times on normal difficulty and I feel they’re just about right, but I have not had much community feedback on them so far. Feel free to drop a comment, or let me know on Archon’s official Discord channel or BGG!
Download the campaign here:
Excerpt from the first quest:
Catherine Ironfist rubbed a tired and worn thumb across the image of her father, King Gryphonheart, in a locket. She wanted to remember the good, valiant parts of his life rather than his actions in unlife. Her gaze turned to her cracked skin and mangled thumbnail, and it reminded her of how hard she had fought to be where she was.
Late that evening, Catherine was venting to Rion about the relative drudgery of re-building Steadwick. She’d just about fallen asleep in her chair when a heavy knock turned her attention to the room’s large door that sported intricately carved shields from various long gone baronies.
The wooden portal flung open before she could spring up and answer, revealing a wide-eyed and panicked guard. No words came from the man; whatever haunted him seemed absolute. Instead, he merely pointed a trembling hand toward the window across the room.
Danger had come to Steadwick again. Overlooking many of the defenseless farmsteads Catherine had in her charge atop a hill in the far distance, a predator swept its gaze like a wolf might hungrily eye sheep. A magnificently terrifying azure hue wafted from a Ghost Dragon’s massive, extended wings like an ethereal heat haze.
