The impact a map can have on a game is often overlooked. A good strategy incorporates a tactically-sound map choice. But when it comes to locale, sometimes it's hard to see the forest for the trees. We're here to help you make smart decisions when it comes to HeroClix real estate.

Official Title: Oskopnir
Environment: Indoor
Map on Reverse: None
Dimensions: 24" x 36" (16x24 squares)
Set: 2018 ROC
Status: ROC Legal

We have another ROC Preview this week, this time for the next Monthly map that they're planning on distributing through their store. Continuing on this month's theme of 2017 films that didn't get maps, we've got Oskopnir from Thor: Ragnarok!


We don't have an eMouse map of this place yet, and the Blocking terrain kind of blends in with the surrounding bits, so I included something where I made the lines a little thicker to compensate a bit.


Making Yourself At Home:

So, the primary feature of this map is the high amount of Blocking terrain. No matter where you are, this map has Blocking terrain within a few squares of you, and it's mostly done in large clumps. This means two things: the first thing it means that it's difficult to destroy your way to a longer line of fire because long range characters may have to shoot through two or three squares of Blocking terrain in order to make their shots. The second is that the bulky terrain makes it a little difficult to maneuver around, and a lot of the movement is going to be down several choke points. This means that while it can be very similar to other Blocking-heavy maps, the typical options of moving around the Blocking or shooting through the terrain is much more difficult without Improved Targeting or Movement.

A large portion of this map is about creating situations to bunker down before jumping out and springing a trap on your opponent. For example, if you look at those large clusters of Blocking on the Eastern or Western side near the center of the map, what you'll notice is that each side provides a 3 square long nook from enemy fire, which is plenty of room for most teams to set up, all the while being only 4 or 5 squares away from cover on the other side, well within the Reach of characters with Running Shot or even Charge. You can do a lot of the same things with Hypersonic Speed, though I'd caution you that while this isn't a bad map for Hypersonic Speed, the Blocking terrain is bulky and difficult to navigate, with large areas of open terrain to get caught in. This won't hurt HSS characters with a high Movement or Range, but it will be exhausting for HSS characters who aren't prepared, and lead to more opportunities to leave yourself exposed versus a map like Underground. The large amount of Indoor Blocking and the very small amount of Hindering terrain means that Flying characters or characters with Leap/Climb don't get a whole lot of different options, and it's actually a fairly good map for Grounded teams to almost literally level the playing field.

Barrier is also very good here, because even though there's a lot of Blocking already, there's huge swaths of area where it's not terribly difficult to get a medium or even long range shot off, and Barrier can really help with that. It can also attach to the already present clusters of Blocking terrain to completely wall off one area or path, forcing opponents to maneuver around it, or be trapped completely. Smoke Cloud can be used similarly for a little less control/protection, because either way the map is centered around choke points that are large enough for most characters to get through, but not large enough to get around powers like Barrier or Smoke Cloud, and , as I said, the large size of the Blocking terrain clusters on the map makes it difficult to avoid without redirecting around half the map.

The chains in the center of the map form a nice bit of Hindering terrain, but it's not for everyone. You have long lines of fire at all of the diagonals, but you're surrounded by Blocking terrain on all 4 cardinal directions, so it's only good for those avenues. If your opponent was planning on using the large clusters directly East or West of the center of the map, being in the center almost completely opens them up to fire, but if they were more conservative by hiding behind the Blocking terrain either North or South of the center, then you'll have trouble setting anything up. If you're planning on using the Hindering terrain for Stealth or just cover, this means it's better to draw your opponent in first, and then spring out at them, using move and attack powers to shoot them from that spot. The weakness here is that this probably also places your characters close enough to be Charged or otherwise rushed immediately afterwards, so some kind of tie-up or close combat contingency is also recommended.

This map can also serve to help turtle based teams. All of the extra cover means that your opponent will need to be nearby if they want to shoot deeper on to your side of the map. Realistically, most teams will need to move forward over likely two full turns before they can draw lines of fire to your team. Because they'll also likely have to clear somewhere in there, this means that a well placed turtle team will have until about turn 4 before their opponent can make a strike against them, longer if you're using Barrier, Smoke Cloud, tie-ups, or something else to slow them down. That should give you plenty of time to work on things like pogs or spinning resources.

Stuck in a Lease:

While there are differences between the starting zones, they are extremely subtle and really only affect terrain clusters that likely aren't going to come in to play. The thing about this map is that the Blocking terrain sets the pace of the combat, but really allows each player to decide where and when to start that combat. This means that if you don't feel like rushing in, there's plenty of reroutes and areas of cover to find a place you like.


An old saying is that it takes two people to fight. A lot of this map is about enabling teams to get in fairly close and then jump out and catch enemy teams off-guard. If you don't like the setup, don't walk in to it. Reroute around some corners, and either force your opponent to overextend, or to tempt you with better bait. The diagonals are very good for longer range teams, but there's also a lot of room for shorter range teams as well, so it's really up to you where you go. Because the terrain is difficult for most characters to shoot through, unless they have Improved Targeting: Blocking, they can't help but try to follow you for a game of ring around the rosie is you decide not to engage. Indoor Blocking means that Fliers are a little less valuable, though they can still be useful in moving through opposing characters, so it's not all bad. Otherwise, the map really doesn't favor one team especially more than another.

Vacation Spots:

The multitude of choke points creates a lot of engagement opportunities across the map, though everything kind of gets funneled in to the center of the map anyway, partially because of the layout, and partially because it's the largest and most open area on the map. It's a map that has elements for most teams to perform well at different positions, which makes it a good neutral map for everyone (except maybe Stealth teams) to play on.

It's Getting Kinda Crowded:

There's a lot of Blocking on this map, so it's very possible to find nooks in different corners of the map to create starting zones for multiple players without having to push them too far together. While this map doesn't have any specific maps it was designed to connect to, it connects to itself fairly well if you can ignore some of the differently placed Blocking terrain on the edges.

I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here:

Surtur is actually a good fit for this map. While he can't see over the Blocking terrain, other characters can't see over the Blocking terrain for him either, so he has some cover to move in to position. He also packs quite a wallop against groups, and even his Colossal Retaliation line is good at shutting down large bruisers and any support clustered nearby by the Blocking terrain. For more demonic fun, sfosm Mephisto also has some strong potential on this map, and xxs058 Magik isn't a bad choice either for their mid-ranged potential. This is also a good map for the Horta from Star Trek, as she has no problems moving through the Blocking terrain and in to adjacency. Likewise, this is a map that offers a lot of options to tmt041a Destroyer. tw208 Green Arrow has some options here as well, and can even shoot through the Blocking terrain if he needs to.

This Side Up:

Theme: 4/5

Thor: Ragnarok got the Guardians of the Galaxy treatment of very colorful locations, and I would have had a hard time singling one out for a map. That said, the movie location doesn't provide a lot of fodder for dynamic buildings or layouts. The chains in the center are the only real hint about the location in the film over some other hellscape like Apokalips or Bellasco's realm. Now, we did get some really cool elements. The flames as Blocking terrain is a pretty interesting choice, and I really love the rendering we got for the floors where we could have simply gotten brown or black ashen rubble.

Clarity: 2/5

The flames, while cool, can be a bit confusing as Blocking terrain. It doesn't help that they're such a prominent part of the map AND the yellows and oranges of the flame kind of blend in with the Blocking terrain markings, which also blends in with the reds, browns, and blacks of the ground. This can make it hard to spot where the actual edges of Blocking terrain are. If you're ever in doubt, however, just remember that the Blocking is usually around the large flaming bits, and just be aware of where the actual borders are.

Tactical Impact: 3/5

This is a fairly neutral map for a lot of reasons. There's a lot of good ambush spots on the map, but there are also a lot of alternate routes that allow you to avoid them. There's several major choke points, but each of them is also wide enough that characters can maneuver through and around them without having to feel like they left half their team behind. There's a lot of Blocking, but the large alleys of clear terrain also allow you to draw large lines of fire through relatively clear areas. And while you can draw lines of fire, that brings us back to the ambush points that allow opportunities for short range characters. It's a fairly balanced map, and balanced teams are going to often find the most opportunity here.

Balance: 4/5

As far as game balance goes, this is a pretty large staple that provides something to work with for most teams. It does have a tendency to kind of herd everyone towards the center, though even that is optional.

Terrain Diversity: 1/5

The map is almost completely Blocking terrain, and while there's more than a few maps that are almost completely Blocking terrain, this map only has 4 squares of any other type of terrain, and they're all located next to each other. Not a bad thing, but it's not especially diverse either.

Overall: 4/5

A good map that deals well with Blocking terrain, and offers a lot of balance for different players. There are a few ways to maximize the terrain to your advantage, and it usually works similarly well to the Underground and Underground Caverns, though the thicker nature of the Blocking here makes it more difficult to shoot through.

In the Neighborhood:

Amok Time / Underground Caverns
http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=585874

Underground
http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=577025

Prison 42
http://www.hcrealms.com/forum/showthread.php?t=566862

You can pick this map up starting May over at the ROC's website at http://gamermats.com/roc

Shoutout to eMouse's Heroclix Atlas which is where I get the very easy to read map layouts.

Love your articles! Just curious, do you get a cut? Because you, sir, are driving sales.

Interesting map, I'll be interest to see if I ever run into it.

Shouldn't the average rating be lower than that?
2.8, rounded to 4 out of 5?

Love the map reviews. Keep up the good work.

Well, I get to see the maps early for one. And they've said that they're going to send me copies with the ROC Judges, so..it's easier than beating Daniel Powell!

That's a good question. I've actually swung back and forth about whether the Overall score should be an Average of the other scores, and ultimately I decided against it. Part of it is that certain maps might be especially good or bad at criteria that I can't come up with a metric for. For example, theme is a little different from visual flair. So a map like Invincible Iron Man's Office is thematically solid, but visually not especially exciting or well drawn. Conversely, a map like the Avengers Unity map is solidly drawn, but not especially themey to me.

The other side to that is that some of the categories tend to have an inverse relationship. For example, Clarity often has to struggle with either Theme or Terrain Diversity, so a ROC map like that new Ferry map has a strong theme and a LOT of different kinds of terrain, but it's difficult to read at first glance. That also dips a little in to it's Tactical Impact as well, because being difficult to read helps someone familiar with the map (because they own it) over someone who's only seen it once or twice (because they don't). So in that case, the terrible Clarity can actually help the other scores. Likewise, Tactical Impact and Balance are often inverse of each other. In more competitive tournaments, players will often pick maps that favor their teams and/or punish their opponent's teams, so Balance isn't the goal as much as shutting down your opponent out of the gate. I do try to keep the other scores in mind when deciding the Overall score, but the Overall score is just how much I like the map in general rather than a summary of everything else.