at least one, whatever related to the campaign or not, everything is usable with everything

Right. If I ever play with actual people again, you can bet if I put Valyndra's figure on the board instead of the token, some of them might start crapping their pants.

Who is that on the far left, (standing up).

If you mean picture left, that's Raythen. If you mean Ariad's left, that's Splig.

Raythen it is then.

Looks like a really nice model, I was half hoping it was Zachareth... quick internet search destroyed that dream.

Here is a question:

Is there any reason to keep the original game? I see Bonds of the Wild is an add-on monster / hero pack that allows you to use monsters previously only available in the 1st edition ... is there a point to keep the first game then? Does the conversion cards make the monsters the same as Bonds of the wild? Though I guess bonds of the wild has updated mini's that look pretty **** sweet.

I'm thinking I'm going to snag the game tonight and try and get a game in with the family this weekend.

My local store has:

Base Game
Shadow of Nerekhall
Labyrinth of Ruin
Manor of Ravens
Crusade of the Forgotten
Crown of Destiny
Heirs of Blood
Bonds of the Wild

Any of that stuff a "Must" have ? (I'm hoping SOMETHING up there has a Female Warrior Tanky type hero so that nobody is forced to pick a dude ... just to have a warrior ... hell does this game even need a warrior / tanky type character to take hits or can you go with a bunch of agile dodgey type melee characters?

Syndrael comes with the base game, and I heard people like her as a Knight. So no need to be worried about that.

Parties can have more than one hero of the same archetype (Warrior, Mage, ..) but not of the same class.

So if you want 3 mages and 1 healer, go right ahead (as long as you have a unique class to assign to every player)

You can keep the first game if

a) you still want to play the first game,

b) if you are not buying H&M packs, but the will use the conversion kit.

I would say (this is purely made up on the spot, but its an estimated guess) that the conversion kit gives you the same heroes/monsters as the H&M pack for 75% of them. The other 25% were 'rebalanced' in the H&M packs.

From that list I'd advise to buy Manor of Ravens. You can incorporate elements of that into the main campaign of the base game, which will make it more interesting.

You also get some extra heroes and monsters, 2 classes, and an extra mini campaign to play.

If your budget allows it and you want some more monsters, optionally buy either Crusade, Crown and/or Bonds.

If it turns out you like the second edition, come back and buy Heirs of Blood (or Shadow of Nerekhall/Labyrinth of Ruin, depending on your budget)

Since H&M boxes offers old minis with new sculps and balancing, I would say "no", sell the old one, and bought back what you want/need time to time

about the "must" have, it's more personnal thinking, but, I would say you need

- the base game (seriously ?!)

- At least 1 Plot deck (your choice)

- 1 small extension

- 1 big one

But, the more you have, the best it is. Even if heroes will not play most of their part of the stuff at each game, the OL gains powers with expansion by having choices in monsters, cards, and etc ...

You get alot when you get the base game. Basically 8 heroes, 2 for each archetype. 2 classes for each archetype. Basic Overlord Deck, universal cards, Magus,Warlord and Saboteur OL cards. Base Dice, a must have. Map Tiles used in basic and expansion quests. Search cards and Tokens only provided in the base game. Condition cards and Tokens. Villager and Objective Tokens...

Basically if you're going to be playing Descent 2nd Edition then you need the Base game.

Anything else you buy after that just expands the quality of the experience.

Thanks everyone! I think I'll probably go with the basegame + crusade for now ... while the wild bonds look interesting for sure ... no need to jump off the deep-end and buy it all... especially because at some point I'm going to paint this stuff....

Just an update ... we bought the game my family chose Tahlia as a Knight, Andira (Disciple), and Astarra (The necromancer) ((I think we did this right choose an arch-type and a class, seemed funny to see Astarra as a necro but anyway))

Worked out well I managed to get 4 out of the 5 goblins through... before poor Mauler was brought down ... I'm still getting the hang of the overlord ... but man was it fun... SO glad I chose Descent.

Just an update ... we bought the game my family chose Tahlia as a Knight, Andira (Disciple), and Astarra (The necromancer) ((I think we did this right choose an arch-type and a class, seemed funny to see Astarra as a necro but anyway))

Worked out well I managed to get 4 out of the 5 goblins through... before poor Mauler was brought down ... I'm still getting the hang of the overlord ... but man was it fun... SO glad I chose Descent.

Nice to know you and your family are enjoying the game!

You'll end up with all Descent related stuff in no time, trust me

Just an update ... we bought the game my family chose Tahlia as a Knight, Andira (Disciple), and Astarra (The necromancer) ((I think we did this right choose an arch-type and a class, seemed funny to see Astarra as a necro but anyway))

Worked out well I managed to get 4 out of the 5 goblins through... before poor Mauler was brought down ... I'm still getting the hang of the overlord ... but man was it fun... SO glad I chose Descent.

Nice to know you and your family are enjoying the game!

You'll end up with all Descent related stuff in no time, trust me

for the best, and the game experience will be only better !

Happy adventuring.