The goal here was just to try some things out, including my house rules (see first response). Suggestions welcome.

SETUP
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Start with the entrance tile. Roll a die: odd means use side A (outdoors); even means side B (dungeon). Roll 1d30 [1d6 with 1d10] and place that numbered tile on the table. Roll 1d6 to set orientation. Continue to roll 1d30 & 1d6 to place additional tiles until all within 2 moves of the [fastest] hero(s) are done. Whenever a figure ends [or interrupts] movement, or enters an open-ended tile, roll additional tiles. If you roll an already placed tile, place a "dead end." Once those are all used, play the exit tile. [For a longer game, also use up connecters.] If a tile won't quite fit, try using connectors or reroll. [Feel free to insert a specific corridor tile if it opens up the play area.]

There are 31 monster figures. I chose to exclude the second dragon to get a round number of 30, but adjust to suit yourself. Roll 1d30 & count through the figures from weakest up -- goblin archers would be 1 to 5, cave spiders 6 to 10, and so on. This is just for determining distribution, the normal monster group is used based on the number of heroes. In later games I may roll 1d8 after a roll of 30 and select between the 2 dragons & 6 lieutenants. You could also roll 1d40 for the 31 figures & 6 lieutenants, with 38 to 40 being rerolls or special rules. Place the monster group at the closest, unoccupied, open edge as if the monster(s) had just entered.

Overlord cards are drawn as normal, but are set face up and played at the earliest opportunity. Monsters move towards the closest [weakest?] hero and attack. Ranged monsters will close to within 6 squares [12 paces] before firing , using all MP before attacking. Abilities will be used to maximize damage.

When a master is killed, place a search token on the board. If a group has only minions, place the token where the last monster fell.

Roll for a reinforcement monster group at the end of each round?

HOUSE RULES
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Movement
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Convert 1 movement point to 2 paces (2p), steps, or strides (~2.5'). It costs 2p to move 1 square orthogonally, or 3p diagonally. [under the standard rules, moving 4 squares down a corridor is the same cost as zigzagging around obstacles. This makes it 8p vs. 12p.]

The average, upright figure occupies a circle 1 pace in diameter, and controls a Zone of Control (ZOC) 2 paces across -- blocking moves. [This leaves a 1p gap between the ZOC of diagonal figures, enough to squeeze through.]

Melee attacks can occur within a 6 pace Zone of Influence (ZOI) -- in other words, a circle of radius 3 paces. Reach increases ZOI to 10p. This allows attacks a knight's move away, but not 2 squares diagonally (6p). [if you insist on preserving all 16 squares, increase ZOI to 11.5 paces, and point out that it's really only 5.7p to that square: 4*2^0.5]

LOS
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Draw a straight line from the center of the actor's square to the center of the target square; if not blocked, count the shortest path in paces. If you can trace LOS to any other part of the square, add 1 pace because the target has partial cover. [if you can only draw LOS to a corner, add 3 paces before computing range (hoping the target peeks out & exposes itself).] Divide by 2, rounding up; this is the range.

PLAY SESSION
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I decided to play Ashrian as Advanced (3xp & 150g) rather than run two heroes, taking all level 1 class cards and Ring of Power. I used the 2-hero monster groups. I rolled dungeon (B) tile #7 and tile #25 (no rotation). My first monster was a Merriod on the far edge of 25B. The OL cards were Dash & Word of Misery. Ash moved, with fatigue, to close with the Merriod and attack. I rolled for additional tiles: 9B (1R), 16B, 20B, 13B (1R), and a repeat for a dead end off 9B. There are 3 open tile edges out of movement range.

[As a notation for layout you can write the tile number, followed by the number of clockwise rotations, working clockwise around the board. By default, a tile is placed with the ID# closest to the connecting edge. My setup after the first turn would be "7B, 25B, 9B+1, 16B, 20B, ??, ??, 13B+1, ??, DE".]

The combat roll was 4WW + WW - DD, resulting in 2 damage to M. <EOT>

OL draws Dark Might, plays Word of Misery, and activates M, who is stunned by A's hero ability. Discard stun as first action and attack. Roll is 4WW + WWWs - DDD; Dark Might adds a surge; result is 3 damage, 1 fatigue, and immobilize. The monster roll is '1' for Goblin Archers, coming in via the open edge of 16B. <EOT>

A attacks M for 3WW + 1s - blank, spends the surge to get 3 damage, and finishes off M. I rolled for the loot drop since it's a LM, and ended up with the search token directly in front of A allowing an immediate search action. I took this as a sign to forego a rest action, and got a stamina pot. [immobilize removed.] <EOT>

OL draws a second Dash, so the GAs can scamper to close range, leaving one behind at longer range. I rolled randomly for places, then moved them in range order. The nearest minion runs up and shoots: 4WW + WW - D, doing 3d. 2nd minion: 3WW + 1s - b, but is Cowardly and only does 2d. Since A is down to 2hp, I decide it's time for Stoneskin. Master GA closes to range 6 and fires: 3WW + WWs - DD. The surge only gives him range 5, so I survive the round. An Elemental surfs onto the board. <EOT>

Stamina pot; Healing Rain wimps out to only recover 1d; Shared Pain misses. I think I'm toast. <EOT>

OL draws Tripwire; Stoneskin; minion1: 5W + 2W - DDD (0d); minion2: 2WWs + WWs - D (3d) is enough to knock A out. Game over, man!

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Post Mortem: The goal was to reach the exit without a knockout. Fail. I think the reinforcement rules may be too agressive. I could have used A's heroic feat to stun the GAs, but I don't think that would have made a difference. A breather before tackling them might have given me a chance. Once the Elemental appeared I figured it was over … better luck next time, after some adjustments.

I tried this and it seems like it could be fun with a few modifications. I agree that the reinforcement rule is too aggressive as I ended up getting wiped a few rounds in just because I was over run with enemies.

On my run through I made the following modifications:

• I have the conversion kit so I took all the Act I monsters and shuffled them together. I then rolled a 1d20 and counted from the top card using the figure counts like you did (goblins count as 5, ettins count as 2) until I reached the rolled number, I then spawned that group.
• I selected 4 heroes at random (1 from each archetype) then chose which class to play based on that archetype for each hero.

On my next run through I am going to do the following:

• Build the map as suggested but limit it to 2 * (the number of hero) tiles (not including end tiles, entrance tiles, and exit tiles). When the limit has been reached, roll to place the exit tile.
• At the end of the overlord's turn, randomly select a tile that has not had a group of monsters spawn and spawn monsters in that room. If no such room exists, the overlord does not get to spawn monsters.
• When a monster group has been spawned, remove it from the stack of monster cards that can be spawned.

I'll let you know how it turns out! Thanks for the idea.

Here is how it went:

I randomly drew Jain Fairwood as a Wildlander, Widow Tarha as a Runemaster, Jonas the Kind as a Disciple, and Trenloe the Strong as a Knight.

I played where when a hero died they were killed they could not stand up.

I played where monsters would attack the closest target and if there was a choice they would attack the character that was nearest death.

I played where after an entire monster group was defeated the last one dropped a treasure. This was brought on because the Kobolds have 3 master monsters and it didn't make sense for them to drop 3 treasures.

Unfortunately, I did not log every Overlord card that was drawn / played. Here is an overall run down of what occurred:

[Round 1]

The initial set up was 22 attached to 20 making a long corridor at the end was 9 Kobolds. The heroes advanced cautiously waiting for the Kobolds to get close enough to attack. The Overlord marched the Kobolds down the hall toward the heroes but was not able to make an attack. The red Kobolds were placed in front. At the end of the Overlords first turn Zombies were spawned at the end of the hallway.

[Round 2]

The heroes were able to get a few shots in this round on the Kobolds killing 1 master to make a hole and then killing 3 or 4 white ones to try and keep them from using Swarm too much. I also used Jonas' special which was able to kill a few more white ones. I left Trenloe up front to take the beating. The Kobolds moved first and positioned themselves to try and get maximum swarm damage. Trenloe took heavy damage this round and was below half life. The Zombies shambled forward. No monsters were spawned as the maximum number of monsters per area had been spawned.

[Round 3]

The heroes had some bad rolls here. They killed 1 Zombie and finished off all but 2 Kobolds. Jonas healed Trenloe for 1 and I failed to position my heroes such that Trenloe would not take the brunt of the attack. Trenloe was killed on the Overlord's turn by a Frenzied Zombie. No additional monsters were spawned this round.

[Round 4]

The heroes killed the last two Kobolds and 1 more Zombie. Jonas picked up the treasure and received Chainmail. I decided here that he would not attack much so he could roll 2 greys and a brown on defense and keep him up front. On the Overlord's turn the Zombies attacked Jonas. I decided to put all surges into damage rather than disease since Jonas' will power is 4. Jonas took 3 or 4 hits on the Overlord's turn. No monsters were spawned.

[Round 5]

The heroes finished off the Zombies, drew a Health Potion, and moved down tile 20, resting if possible. This triggered another tile to be placed. It was tile 16. At the end of the overlords turn Flesh Moulders spawned.

[Round 6]

Since Hallway 20 is so long, the heroes rested / healed waiting for the Moulders to come down the hall. The Overlord moved them down the hall but was unable to make any attacks. No monsters were spawned

[Round 7]

Jain and Widow used fatigue to move and attack twice each this round killing 2 of the Moulders. I positioned Jonas in front to take the damage (by now he had healed up to full health). The Overlord whacked at Jonas who took heavy damage this round he had 2 or 3 hits remaining.

[Round 8]

The heroes finished off the Moulders and moved to the edge of tile 20 resting and healing what was possible. The Overlord drew a card this round.

[Round 9]

The heroes triggered tile 16 to build more map. There was one dead end, Tile 2 and Tile 9. They rested / healed and waited to see where monsters would spawn. The Overlord spawned Cave Spiders on tile 2 on the far end.

[Round 10]

The heroes attacked the spiders but were only able to kill the red one. However, they were able to position themselves so the spiders could not attack the next round. The Overlord moved the spiders toward tile 16 and spawned Deep Elves on tile 9.

[Round 11 - 13]

The Deep Elves have some nasty pierce and major defense against range. I decided I would try and kite the spiders down the long corridor of 20 and 22 to see if I could finish off the spiders without getting poisoned and avoid the deep elves for a few rounds. This worked well but the heroes ended up cornered in 22 with two deep elves and 1 spider remaining. Jonas died in this hall. I was trying to stun the Deep Elves and move away but wasn't able to get in the stun. The massive pierce made the chainmail worthless.

[Round 14 & 15]

Widow and Jain were able to kill the Deep Elves during these rounds but Widow took 2 damage. We drew Health and Stamina potions from these two monster groups.

[Round 16 - 17]

Resting / running up through 2 to get room 28. Ogres spawned for the overlord.

[Round 18 - 21]

Kited the ogres down to 22 without taking any damage. We ran back to 28 and tile 13 appeared where Razorwings spawned.

[Round 22 - 24]

Kited these guys to room 16 but they got in a few hits with frenzy and dash. Jain had 3 wounds on her and Widow had 6 now.

[Round 25 - end]

Stepped onto tile 9 and tile 27 showed up. The exit appeared in room 13 and started running the heroes that way. The Overlord spawned two Shadow Dragons but they were not fast enough to catch us and we made it off the map.

[Thoughts]

Being able to stop and rest without monsters spawning could make it too easy for heroes. Suggest adding in a clause that if no monsters are on the map a group is spawned at one of the edges.

The exit appearing in a way that the heroes could just flee from the monsters was a little lame. Suggest instead having the last room have a monster group plus 1 lieutenant spawn that the heroes must defeat to win.

I like the idea of advancing the heroes levels after each encounter. Maybe give 1 XP to heroes and overlord. Overlord randomly chooses a skill tree (Magus, Warlord, Saboteur) shuffles level 1 universals and skill tree together and buys that one.