Heroes of Might and Magic III: The Board Game - Meet The Lore Experts

We continue our special interview series dedicated to the Might and Magic universe and the board game adaptation of Heroes of Might and Magic III.

Our guests today are lore experts and prominent members of the fan community: Kastore (Acid Cave), Mateusz “Hellburn” Jarosz (Behemoth's Lair), and Rafał “Dark Dragon” Mońka (Acid Cave).

Over the past several years, they have collaborated with us on our Heroes of Might and Magic projects, helping ensure lore consistency, preserve the unique atmosphere of the world, and maintain the countless details that matter so much to the fan community.

We invite you to join us for a conversation about the behind-the-scenes aspects of this collaboration, the secrets of the lore, fan-driven projects, and the future of this legendary franchise.

Interview Questions
 

(Yaaqob – Archon Studio, Acid Cave): Out of curiosity, I checked and found that we signed the NDAs as far back as January 4, 2022. We've been working together for several years on Archon Studio's Heroes of Might and Magic projects. During that time, you had access to a great deal of confidential material, some of which has only recently been revealed to the public. How do you look back on this period of collaboration? What are your memories of it?

(Kastore) I remember it very positively. I think I even managed not to break the NDA even once. Seeing a project like this from the inside was a fantastic experience. What made a particular impression on me was the need to spend hours browsing the Wayback Machine and digging through websites that no longer exist, just to ultimately determine whether a given piece of lore is canon or merely semi-official fan fiction. I was also surprised by how wild some of the narrative ideas from the official NWC creators were, compared to how cautiously the Might and Magic fandom tends to approach its own lore. To this day, I still fondly remember how the people from Archon unexpectedly wished me a happy birthday.

(Dark Dragon) Quite pleasant overall. Over the years, we’ve been through a lot, but it’s always been interesting and enjoyable to talk about the narrative elements, as well as the world itself—this universe we all appreciate.

(Hellburn) It was simply good fun. I enjoy talking about the lore of the Might and Magic universe—it’s one of my favorite hobbies. It was also an unusual experience to sometimes learn something that had not yet been shared publicly online, despite the fact that the universe as a whole is now over 40 years old (and, as a reminder, Heroes III turned 30 last year).
 

(Yaaqob – Archon Studio, Acid Cave): You helped Alex develop the storyline for the faction campaigns in the Heroes of Might and Magic III board game, and we also consulted on many interesting lore-related topics—such as the designs of the Antagarich faction banners. We also co-organized a tournament at Pyrkon. Is there anything from that work that stands out to you in particular—something especially memorable?

(Kastore) I don’t have one specific brainstorming memory that stands out. What I remember more is the feeling of things “clicking” into place—when the narrative puzzle pieces start to fit together. That’s not easy when you’re trying to add something new to an existing, rich IP, especially in a series where fans could spot every plot hole within a minute. The moment I realized that even I wouldn’t have anything to criticize was genuinely satisfying.

(Dark Dragon) I especially fondly remember the tournament at Pyrkon and designing special cards tied to Acid Cave for the winners. There was a lot of positive energy at the convention itself—both among participants and organizers—and, above all, the opportunity to symbolically connect our community with the beloved franchise in an official way.

(Hellburn) Like Kastore, I don’t really have a single favorite memory. On one hand, it was great to visit “Boardowa Cafe” in Cracow and see the board game in real life for the first time. On the other hand, I also remember working on the website we managed to take from concept to publication in a relatively short time. I will also definitely remember one of our later conversations and discussions about the Heavenly Forge due to the “legendary” status of that storyline.
 

(Yaaqob – Archon Studio, Acid Cave): Archon Studio has already released the board game version of Heroes of Might and Magic III, covering all of the original factions as well as the factions from Horn of the Abyss. A funded card game set in the Heroes universe has also been developed. How do you evaluate these projects? In your opinion, what have they brought to the brand itself and to the fandom community?

(Kastore) One thing they definitely brought to the fandom is that Paul Romero finally got to play a version of Heroes and (as he said himself) came to understand why the Heroes III soundtrack fits the game so well. For those who haven’t heard that comment—he described the board game as a dialogue: first I take my turn and speak, then the other player takes their turn and it becomes their response. Music in a dialogue shouldn’t distract from it, and it shouldn’t become tiring after a long conversation. And it’s precisely that—alongside being, of course, beautiful compositions—that is the core strength of the Heroes III soundtrack. 

(Dark Dragon) What I like most about the board game is its visual design, its consistency with the universe, and the miniatures. Unfortunately, the gameplay itself is currently too time-consuming for me, so I mainly enjoy it as a display piece on my shelf. I had the opportunity to test a recent version of the card game in April and was pleasantly surprised. Some of my colleagues had played earlier test versions and were not very positive about the game’s length. At its current stage, it seems quite well balanced in that regard.In this iteration of Heroes, the visuals, in my opinion, are somewhat less striking than in the board game, which is very faithful to the third installment. However, the card game can draw from other entries in the series—and it’s already done so. You can clearly see that certain gameplay elements were taken from Heroes I or Heroes IV.
What stands out most is definitely the collaboration between fans and the creators. It’s worth noting that in the official expansions we now have fan-made factions from Horn of the Abyss included, along with their narrative elements. And during the crowdfunding campaigns, we also have a real influence on the final shape of the game through comments and various votes. Not just the VIPs and experts, but above all regular players. 

(Hellburn) Visually, the board game is absolutely stunning. Bringing in Iana Vengerova was a perfect move. I’d also bet that the faithfully recreated miniatures have already been—or will be—used in ways beyond just playing the board game itself. Mechanically, I’m hearing mixed opinions—alongside many positive ones, there are also critical voices, mainly pointing to the length of the gameplay. As for the card game, I won’t say much here—my colleagues from Behemoth’s Lair already covered it in their prototype review (which I highly recommend reading), and my colleague from Acid Cave addressed it above. From my side, I’ll just add that collaborating with a respected and recognizable fandom artist, Magdalena Katańska, will certainly elevate the visual layer of the game to its fullest potential. I would like to emphasize one thing, though: until now, the Might and Magic brand had very little presence in the tabletop gaming market. There were some attempts—such as the hybrid card/tile Heroes IV game, and a board game set in Ashan released around the time of Heroes VI. But none of them achieved anything close to the popularity of… the cards included in Lay’s chips, which have now almost reached collectible status. That’s quite telling. It’s undeniable that the new board game has significantly changed that situation. It’s a success not only for the publisher but for the entire brand, which has gained new fans among tabletop gaming enthusiasts. The card game is essentially a “double down” from Archon, and all signs suggest it was the right move. As for actually playing—I personally still prefer the original digital version of the game, where I can jump in instantly, without needing a physical partner or any preparation (aside from something to snack on and drink ;)).
 

(Yaaqob – Archon Studio, Acid Cave): It’s impossible not to bring up the Forge—one of the most legendary and controversial factions in the history of the series. In a way, together with Greg Fulton, one of the original creators from New World Computing, we are now officially releasing this faction as an expansion for the board game, more than 25 years later. What does that feel like for you—especially considering that we also discussed many of the narrative nuances connected to the Forge together?

(Kastore) Mostly, it’s curiosity about the end result. Greg Fulton is someone who has a hundred ideas per second, but I think we managed to filter out the ones that would have made fans’ hearts beat a little too fast, while keeping the ones that are just playfully wild in a harmless way. I’ve always been a big fan of sci-fi elements in Might and Magic, but to be honest, for a long time I didn’t like the idea of the Forge, because sci-fi in Might and Magic always appeared at the very end of the games, almost as a way to play with the player’s perception of the story. A faction like Forge being available all the time slightly breaks that effect. That said, paradoxically, I think modern implementations handle it brilliantly. In a natural way, this town for the board game is optional, but what emerges is a beautiful meta-narrative—where we’ve collectively come to the conclusion, looking at Forge being released across the board game, Heroes of Might and Magic III: Horn of the Abyss, and Heroes of Might and Magic III: Day of Reckoning, that 25 years of playing Heroes III is simply enough. We’ve reached the end of the story, so it’s finally time to pull the sci-fi boogeyman out of the closet and face the final boss of Enroth.

(Dark Dragon) It still feels a bit like a waking dream. I’ve never thought the Forge would make it into an official production as a fully playable town. For me, it was always more of a “for insiders” element of the universe. Sci-fi elements in the games were usually introduced only at the very end, or carefully hidden and woven into the rest of the setting. Now we’re going to have an entire expansion dedicated to this part of the Ancient universe.I hope this will raise players’ awareness of this aspect of the lore. And ultimately, perhaps it will also show that this kind of genre blending is still welcome—and that we’ll see more productions with sci-fi elements in the future.

(Hellburn) The Forge is, in essence, a multi-layered topic, because it’s not just about so-called “cut content,” but about a fragment of a much larger puzzle—both in terms of the Might and Magic storyline and the history of New World Computing itself. The details are described in Neal Hallford’s latest book, which has just been translated into Polish—I highly recommend it. I can sum up my feelings in two words: nostalgia and disappointment. With all due respect to Greg, and despite his opinion that the NWC art team at the time was unable to properly visualize the designers’ vision, I believe that absolutely nothing can replace the Forge that was supposed to appear in 1999 in the Armageddon’s Blade expansion. That one, unique original version is gone, and it will never return. It’s depressing. These are bitter and pessimistic words, but that is genuinely how I feel. I believe the responsibility for canceling the Forge lies primarily with the “fans”—with Phil McCrum and the Astral Wizard site at the forefront—as well as with the management of 3DO. Maybe there’s some fanboy bias toward NWC speaking through me, but I deeply believe that if they had been allowed to finish their work, they would have delivered, and I will defend that position to the end. That said, as I mentioned, it’s not coming back. But don’t get me wrong—this doesn’t mean that the “new” Forge—whether in Archon’s board game version, the HotA team’s interpretation, or the iteration appearing in the DoR expansion—won’t be a quality product. Quite the opposite. It’s the best possible consolation prize fans like me can get. Nothing deserves to reclaim its rightful place in Might and Magic canon more than the Forge, and I’m glad it will finally happen.
 

(Yaaqob – Archon Studio, Acid Cave): Our final joint project is this interview series. Thanks to your inquisitiveness, we managed to uncover a great deal of interesting information—both from the Horn of the Abyss Crew and from Greg Fulton. Fans were able, among other things, to hear about the HotA Crew’s ideas for their own standalone game and finally learn what the Forge’s level 7 unit was supposed to look like back in 1999. Are you satisfied with the results of this series and the community’s response?

(Hellburn) Almost every interview with creators adds value. And whenever I think that everything that could possibly be said about Heroes III has already been said, another published set of answers proves me wrong. That’s why, in the future, I’ll refrain from making any definitive statements on that matter when it comes to Heroes III. :)
 

(Yaaqob – Archon Studio, Acid Cave): Let’s now talk about your own projects. Recently, you had the opportunity to meet Jon Van Caneghem, and Hellburn also published a working version of his own chronology of the world of Enroth and Axeoth. Would you like to share more about your activities related to the franchise, and what your current involvement in the fandom looks like today?

(Kastore) I’m not really involved in anything specific within the fandom at the moment, as I’m occupied with other things that are already very time-consuming. However, I do believe I probably have a deeper knowledge of the Might and Magic world from the NWC era than the average fan. By nature, I’m also quite skeptical of things that feel out of place, so my main activity these days—aside from the natural presence in parts of the internet dedicated to Might and Magic—is essentially what led to this interview in the first place: working as a lore expert for Archon. I really enjoy reverse engineering and working with decompilation, so I’ve thought about getting involved in the development of VCMI, but I probably won’t have the time for it. I have a lot of respect for people like Hellburn, who are able to put so much work into something as massive as a full chronology of the world of Enroth.

(Dark Dragon) Recently, the book “Heroes of Might and Magic: 30th Anniversary Retrospective” was also released on the Polish market, in which I took part as a subject-matter consultant. I made every effort—and put in many hours of work—to ensure that not only was the book consistent with the translations we know, but also a number of errors from the original were corrected. I’m proud of this version and believe it is significantly better produced than the original.
I also wrote an article for the second special CD-ACTION issue about Heroes. We’ll see if and in what form it gets published. The NDA prevents me from speaking about future Might and Magic projects, so I can only say that for many years now I’ve had the opportunity to test and provide feedback on various upcoming Might and Magic games, including Heroes titles. If time and motivation allow, I also try to add a few new contributions to the Cave. Plans include an update to the HotA section, as well as new chambers.

(Hellburn) Unfortunately, I have less and less time to work for the fandom, but I am by no means stepping away. In the end, it’s still one of my favorite hobbies. I’ll start with the mentioned Chronology of Enroth – Antagarich – Jadame – Axeoth. This is a long-term, multi-year project that is still in progress—there are still many games and texts I need to describe (ironically, including almost all of Heroes III :P). I decided to publish the current version because of a relatively long break in writing—my daily life these days rarely allows for in-depth and thorough study of the material, which is necessary for me to describe it at a quality level I’m satisfied with. In any case, it’s quite extensive (around 160 pages), so I invite any knowledge-hungry fans to take a look at the document. I also encourage people to check back from time to time—I will definitely continue working on it until it’s complete.

The second most important project for me—though no less significant—is the Polish localization of the unofficial Horn of the Abyss expansion, where I act as coordinator, translator, graphic designer, technical specialist, community manager, and more. I set myself the goal of delivering a complete localization package that doesn’t just “exist,” but is also updated regularly and as quickly as possible in line with new versions of the expansion. At this point, I can proudly say that 99.99…% of the English text has been translated (we are only human, so something may still have slipped through), and the latest campaigns are currently undergoing language proofreading, which will also be completed in due time. 
A separate mention should go to organizing a full Polish voice-over for Horn of the Abyss (as part of the localization project), as well as the ongoing dubbing work for the unofficial Polish localization of Might and Magic VI. Many thanks and well-deserved credit to everyone who lent their voices to these initiatives!
Like Dark Dragon, I also participated in consulting work for the Polish edition of the Heroes book. It was a wonderful experience to influence such an important work on the history of this legendary series and its creators, and the text itself took me on an emotional rollercoaster. Together with Acid Dragon, the founder of Acid Cave, I took part in several H3.gg podcasts dedicated mainly to players who are not familiar with the deeper lore of the Might and Magic universe. I shared many insights and opinions there.
I also contributed to the first issue of CD-Action dedicated to Heroes III with two articles on the history of Horn of the Abyss and the then-new Factory town.Beyond that, I try to actively administer the Behemoth’s Lair community, where I currently serve as an administrator. This includes writing news, creating new sub-sites (e.g. for the board game and card game), and coordinating cooperation between the community and other entities within the fandom. There have also been several initiatives I started in varying stages of progress but ultimately had to abandon. One example is a “small but big” mod for HotA—essentially an expanded campaign with a new menu, visuals, and mechanics, meant to depict events between the arrival of the eighth from the asteroid Terra on the shores of Avlee and the events of Might and Magic VII. The whole thing was heavily inspired by that part of the series and was intended to expand certain narrative threads—for example, the role of faeries in Antagarich or Kastore’s path to power in Deyja. The working subtitle was provisional.

Will the future bring something new? Who knows… ;)
 

(Yaaqob – Archon Studio, Acid Cave): After years of relative quiet, the franchise is once again becoming more active — with Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era heading into Early Access. How do you assess the direction the series is taking? What are your predictions for the future of the franchise and the Might and Magic fandom itself?

(Kastore) It seems that the Might and Magic series is experiencing a second youth. I don’t remember the last time there was such a concentration of high-quality products in this franchise. A few years ago, there was a widespread belief that Heroes III was essentially fading away and that no new people were joining the fandom, so I’m also pleasantly surprised by how things have turned out. My only hope is that nothing gets broken along the way. And if the Clockwork Town were to be released as well, I would be absolutely thrilled. 

(Dark Dragon) I’m genuinely excited. This year, the Early Access release of Olden Era turned out to be a major success, which is a clear signal to the IP holders that it’s worth investing further in the franchise. The success of the board game has of course also contributed to this. A lot of solid projects are on the way, aimed at different types of players. There will also be miniatures for collectors. I’d like the franchise to reach as wide an audience as possible, and for us to receive only hit productions. 

(Hellburn) From experience, I try to remain cautious when it comes to the actions of the current rights holder of the franchise, but it’s hard not to agree with the notion that after years of silence, something has finally started to happen.From that perspective, Might and Magic has achieved several notable successes. The board game sold out like hotcakes. Olden Era, despite controversies around its visual direction, was one of the most wishlisted games on Steam, and the response after its Early Access launch was overwhelmingly positive. New games are certainly somewhere on the horizon—the only question is how far away that horizon actually is. :)

Conclusion

Thank you for this conversation, and for all the years of work, passion, and dedication to developing the Might and Magic community.

It is thanks to people like you that the fandom of this series continues to live, grow, and uncover new secrets of the world of Enroth. We hope that many more exceptional projects still lie ahead for the franchise—both official and fan-made.