Age of Annihilation: Vanguard Edition

The main page for Vanguard Edition, featuring the box contents and a non-purchasable Katana of Thorian.

Heroscape Age of Annihilation: Vanguard Edition was a planned release of the Age of Annihilation content developed by Avalon Hill, originally announced in August 3rd 2022. It was going to be crowdfunded through Hasbro's in-house crowdfunding platform Haslab from October 1st 2022 to November 15th; however, the campaign failed with only 4,353 backers out of its required 8,000. The material from this campaign was announced to be re-used by Renegade Games Studios for Heroscape: Age of Annihilation's launch in 2024.

"You are back on the remote planet of Valhalla, a once peaceful world now torn apart by evil. Dynastic rulers known as Valkyrie are fighting to control the wellsprings, mystical fountains that bestow mighty powers – but can also bring on the curse of frightening visions of total destruction.  Esoteric warriors from across time and space battle for power and glory. Will they save their world, or face utter annihilation?"

Vanguard Edition Contents

Vanguard Edition had one crowdfunding tier, which cost $250. It would have included:

• 71 finely detailed miniatures, in molded colors that denote their affiliations.
• 46 army cards, providing game rules for your miniatures.
• An expandable hex-based modular tile terrain system, including 74 base pieces and 68 wall terrain pieces, 9 jungle terrain pieces, with which you can build varied, multilevel landscapes for your battles.
• 5 original factions designed for this game, each with unique skills and strategies. Play as the Dryan Lifeborne Order, the Nemesis War Brood, the Dawn Raider Syndicate, the Clockwork Combine, or the Ironclad Collective!
• Customizable armies in which each figure is given a point value, allowing you to choose which units to include in your army to suit your own playstyle.
• 20 game scenarios specially created for AGE OF ANNIHILATION.
• Pairs with a companion app complete with army builder and battlefield design tool.
• Every component of this incredible game system is fully backward- and forward-compatible. If this HasLab campaign is successful, we may continue the expansion of the HeroScape universe.

Terrain

A render of an example map from the crowdfunding page.

Vanguard Edition would have included roughly 74 tiles of terrain, with the addition of new Laur Walls and Laur Jungle pieces.

• 6 Grass tiles (24 Hex), 4 Grass tiles (7 hex), 2 Grass tiles (3 hex), 6 Grass tiles (2 hex), 10 Grass tiles (1 hex)
• 2 Rock tiles (24 hex), 2 Rock tiles (7 hex), 1 Rock tile (3 hex), 5 Rock tiles (2 hex), 4 Rock tiles (1 hex)
• 2 Sand tiles (7 hex), 1 Sand tile (3 hex), 5 Sand tiles (2 hex), 4 Sand tiles (1 hex),
• 20 Sparkly Water tiles
• 68 Laur wall terrain pieces (20 Single thin wall connecters, 10 Small thin wall pieces, 10 Big thin wall pieces, 2 Big thin wall arch, 2 Big thin wall ruin A, 2 Big thin wall ruin B, 2 Big thin wall ruin C, 20 Connecter bases
• 3 Laur Tree pieces
• 6 Laur Underbrush pieces

Figures

Vanguard Edition would have included 71 miniatures, with 64 Single base miniatures and 7 Double base miniatures among 46 army cards. They were divided into five factions, with a set of Kyrie Warriors being announced as an add-in near the end of the campaign. Some figures were also planned to be exclusive to the Haslab [Scavorith and Thyraxis Dragoon], as well as a set of Stretch Goal figures (see below). Many in-progress cards were revealed during the campaign in the Annihilation Compendium. Nine figures in the core set never had a card revealed. Just before the campaign ended, the development team was allowed to publish one last set of power and balance changes to the revealed cards.

The Dryan Lifeborne Order

The Dryan Lifeborne Order group photo.

"Dwellers in the dark forests for countless eons, the Dryan are one with the spirits of nature and the etheric beasts who also call these ancient quiet places home. Each a master of the arcane, the mages of the Dryan Lifebourne Order fight as individuals rather than squads. Though few in number, they bolster the ranks of their armies by calling on familiars to unleash a ferocious feral rage upon their enemies. Together, a handful of Lifebourne magi can be worth dozens of well-trained soldiers."

This faction would have included:

• Xenithrax the Soulweaver
• Marachott, Mind Whisperer
• Ewashia, Mistress of Tides
• Girushia, Grove Keeper
• Haluchott, Corruptor of Beasts
• Halushia, Scion of the Wild,
• Onshu the Welkineye,
• Chana the Zenithwing,
• Kita the Springrunner,
• Raakchott, Desecrator of Death,
• Vrono the Brambletoth

The Nemesis War Brood

The Nemesis War Brood group photo.

"The NEMESIS WAR BROOD have evolved over millennia of constant assault on their home planet into a skilled martial culture. Their crude appearance belies a shrewd and highly advanced intelligence and disciplined battle strategy that have allowed them to protect themselves from their enemies and uphold their society.  The units in which they live are kept hidden from outsiders, and it is believed that the members of the War Brood who are encountered on Valhalla are part of a specialized warrior caste who expertly employ the most sophisticated military tactics on the battlefield."

This faction would have included:

• Oathbound Legionnaires
• Oathbound Phalanx
• Festering Honor Guard
• Queen Maladrix the Conqueror

Dawn Raider Syndicate

The Dawn Raider Syndicate group photo.

"Led by a charismatic council of captains, the members of the Dawn Raider Syndicate answer to no Valkyrie, refusing to pledge allegiance to any of Valhalla’s warring factions. A disparate group driven by their own personal motivations, they work for whichever side pays them more. Often first found lurking in the shadows of an advance, they engage hard, make their impact felt, and fight like madmen."

This faction would have included:

• Crimson Widow
• Fia Bonny, the Void Siren
• First Officer Bok-Bur-Na
• Admiral EJ-1M
• Exiles of the Sundered Sea
• Dreadnauts of New Tortuga
• Dorim the Bulkhead Brawler
• Knaves of the Silver Scimitar
• Cornelius Breech, the Derilect Prince
• Killian Vane III

The Clockwork Combine

The Clockwork Combine group photo.

"The Clockwork Combine is a pluralistic culture born in pacifism and pragmatism, who have by necessity had to learn the techniques and principles of war in order to save themselves from total extinction. Clever and intelligent, the members of the Combine – farmers and artists as well as engineers and scientists – came together to develop amazing technologies that allowed them to deploy troops quickly, manage aggressive aerial insertions, repair equipment while under attack - and ultimately triumph in battle."

This faction would have included:

• Air Marshal Zed Nesbitt
• Imperator Kayne
• Wing Commander Tuck Harrigan
• Vorid Glide Strikers
• Vorid Burrowbreaker
• Knight Primus Adelbern
• Knight Adjuctor Oberon
• Ordo Borealis
• Frostclaw Paladins

Ironclad Collective

The Ironclad Collective group photo.

"The Ironclad Collective wage war using the precise logic of their data cogitators and the hard steel of their weapons systems. Over generations they have focused relentlessly on perfecting their methods of destruction. Every battlefield movement is calculated, every strategy is dissected before the first shots are fired. Members of the Collective reflect their harsh and unsentimental philosophies of war in grotesque death masks that trigger nightmarish fear and despair in their enemies – surely among the cruelest of psychological terror tactics."

This faction would have included:

• Iron Lich Viscerot
• Hellforge Mandukor
• Necrotech Wraithriders

Kyrie Warriors

Only concept art was provided of the Kyrie Warriors, and very zoomed-out renders of figures in the contents photo.

A set of seven Kyrie Warriors was a late addition to the campaign. These included Aquilla and Vydar's first Kyrie Warriors, two for Revna, two for Volarak, and one for Utgar.

These figures would have included:

• Misaerx, Kyrie Warrior of Revna
• Qhyrion, Kyrie Warrior of Vydar
• Xiamara, Kyrie Warrior of Volarak
• Glinerva, Kyrie Warrior of Aquilla
• Mielki, Kyrie Warrior of Volarak
• Kilkorax, Kyrie Warrior of Revna
• Loviatäk, Kyrie Warrior of Utgar

Vanguard Edition Exclusives

The figures 'Scavorith, Lord of Ruin' and 'Thyraxis Dragoon' were intended to be exclusive to Vanguard Edition, with the understanding that this content would later be released to shelves by Avalon Hill after the success of the campaign. In the wake of the campaign failure and the acquiring of the license by Renegade Games Studios however, Renegade president Scott Gaeta has stated that 'We will use all figures shown during the campaign in the near future. Exact use and timing TBD. No reason to leave anything out.'

Stretch Goals

There were stretch goals in place should the campaign exceed its initial expectations of 8,000 backers. These consisted of the five heroes from Swarm of the Marro - Sgt. Drake Alexander, Raelin the Kyrie Warrior, Sonlen, Shiori, and Major Q10 rebuilt into Q11. (Curiously, Q11's bio in the Designer's Notes conflicts with the bio on the Crowdfunding Page, which simply posits him as another Q-series Soulborg summoned by Vydar, unrelated to Major Q10).

These figures would have included:

• Sgt. Drake Alexander, at 10,000 backers
• Sonlen, at 12,000 backers
• Q11, at 14,000 backers
• Shiori, at 15,000 backers
• Raelin the Kyrie Warrior, at 16,000 backers

Other Items

Logo for the planned Companion App.

Other items in Vanguard Edition would have included 12 combat dice, 1x 20-sided die, 10 glyphs, 26 wound markers, 12 tiny wound markers, 16 order markers, an Updated rulebook, and a Campaign book. There was also a hypothetical Companion App mentioned.