Archon Studios and Ubisoft are back with more news about the board game edition of Heroes of Might and Magic III. Jakub Olekszyk, Archon’s Lead Game Designer, shared his notes on the official site of the developer.
The Game Designer notes that from the very beginning he had the constant passion to make the project into the best tabletop experience it can possibly be. The conversion of the computer game elements into a board game must reflect the spirit of the original experience. But also, the selection of game mechanisms must work just as well on their own, too.
The game is designed for 1 to 4 players, including both a solo campaign mode and a multiple skirmish mode. The team will provide different scenarios with various victory conditions such as defeating opponents or a certain monster, finding the Grail, getting a certain amount of resources, as well as many others.
The adventure map will be represented by hexagonal tiles, each tile divided into 7 fields. An adventure awaits on almost every tile: a battle with neutral creatures, treasure chests, finding artifacts, or discovering a location. The adventure map tiles will include a whole range of famous locations from the original computer game. These tiles will be revealed as the game progresses, emulating the fog of war.
There will be ‘Resource rounds’ that will provide the resources needed for players to build their cities, and there will be ‘Population rounds’ where players earn points for recruiting units. Of course, a major part of the game is the ability to control iconic heroes such as Catherine Ironfist or Sandro the Necromancer. Each faction will feature 1 Might hero and 1 Magic hero of a player’s choice. The selection of these heroes will determine the player’s strategy for the game. Players will have the opportunity to level up their heroes to acquire new skills.
The level of both heroes will be capped at 7.
“There will be 7 types of units in each city. However, each hero will only be able to control 5 types. Currently, the maximum number of units in a squad is set to 12. Battles will include neutral units and enemy heroes. Combat in battles will take place on a board representing the battlefield. I operatively call this system “quick chess.” Each player can place up to 5 figurines representing a squad of units on their board; the positioning of these figurines is of great importance here! Each battle takes place in the initiative order of the units in play and is quite quick by comparing the attack values and HP of these units. The “flavour” of the battle is ever changing through a whole range of factors: artifacts, hero statistics, spells, war machines, as well as the differences between the levels of the units in play. These elements will allow combat to be quite balanced.”
The Kickstarter campaign is scheduled to kick off in November 2022. Stay tuned to find out more! With this exciting news, it might be the best time to dive back into the Heroes of Might & Magic franchise! Check out our list of the best fan-created addons for Heroes 3 if you decide it’s time to restore Erathia, assemble the Armageddon’s Blade or revisit Sandro in his quest for greatness.
You can also visit the official website of the project to find out more.
