Stats:
No. of players: 1-4 (up to six with the Dragons Expansion)
Amount of time to play: 90-120 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 10 min

Defenders of the Realm Hero Expansion #1 Description:

There are three Hero Expansions for Defenders of the Realm. Hero Expansion #1 contains new heroes, global effects and a new paladin miniature. These add more variety to Defenders of the Realm without disrupting the game’s balance.

This review assumes you know how to play Defenders of the Realm. Read this post, if you need a basic description of the game or want to read my review.

Hero Expansion #1 includes the Captain of the Guard, Chaos Wizard, Assassin and Adventurer. Each of these heroes is unique from the base set heroes and yet none are too complex to hinder you from adding them into your game.

The Captain of the Guard can always move 2 spaces due to his Battle Steed. He can help protect you against minions by limiting them to one minion placement per location even if the Darkness Spreads card shows two. Of course you must call out a color each turn that this applies to. And possibly most interesting he allows you to give his actions to other heroes.

The Chaos Wizard might be the most complex in the set. He may spend an action and discard a Hero Card to move to a location matching the color of the discarded card. His Untamed Magic allows him to attack at +2 at the location you draw from the Hero Card deck. If this Hero Card is a Purple (Special) Card he takes a wound. Also when attacking this way he hits friend and foe alike. Lastly when fighting on a Tainted location he can add +1 to his attack rolls.

Next is the Adventurer. She can call 2 colors at Inns and add an extra die to Quest Card rolls. Her Magic Pouch allows her to hold 14 Hero Cards instead of 10 and when ending her turn on a Treasure Chest she may get extra Hero Cards.

The Assassin can Sneak Attack and automatically removes 1 minion prior to attacking the first time. When group attacking a General you decide when you attack and if a General is left alive with 1 wound she may attack with 1 die at +1. She may also vanish and take no damage from minions at the end of her turn. On the next turn she appears within 3 spaces of where she vanished.

The Global Effects are a random assortment of 6 out of 18 possible cards. They add to the already rich theme and story of Defenders of the Realm and replace the All is Quiet cards in the Darkness Spreads deck.

The new paladin miniature has been added to keep him to scale with the Captain of the Guard who is also on a horse.

A Quick Review of Defenders of the Realm Hero Expansion #1:

The Hero Expansion Set #1 is a great addition to your Defenders of the Realm game. On first read it seems like the new heroes are more powerful then the ones from the base set, but then you play with them. After that you realize they have strengths and weaknesses just like the old ones.

The Global Effects you get being determined randomly is a bit of a let-down and I know many fans are annoyed by this. I don’t believe it was done to get players to buy a bunch of sets to try and complete their collection. In fact Eagle Games is looking into a cost-effective way to get all the Global Effects to players that want them. I trust and hope they will figure this out.

If you are looking to add more variety to your games of Defenders of the Realm I would suggest picking at least one of the Hero Expansions up. And what a better place to start than with number 1?

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6