One of the valid criticisms of any game is when there is what I call a "no-brainer" choice. That is, the goal of a game is to make you make meaningful or interesting decisions.
Do I choose this hero or these two henchmen?
Do I choose a set of halberds or maybe a few bits of armor with a double-handed weapon wielder in support?
Do I specialize my heroes between shooting and combat or do I go with generalists who can handle any situation?
However, one of the easy questions is, "Do I take maximum number of heroes?"
Because Exploration Phase rolls are so powerful, the answer is almost entirely, universally, excessively "Yes Yes Yes!"
What about the concept of counting Henchmen groups of Five as a Hero for purposes of exploration?
That is, a warband that has a Henchmen Group of 5 counts them as a hero (perhaps you keep them at 4 if you want other heroes). But if a single one of them goes OOA, they don't function as a hero (as they only want to go out as a mini war party and aren't as brave as their heroes are).
Objective? Intent?
The intent is to encourage starting warband builds to vary some, as well as for eventual warband builds to also change up. It also makes the Experience Roll for henchmen eventually cap out the ease of just filling up a Henchmen group as a "Quick Hero", since you'll have to pay extra for the items and experience for a 'meaty' group and you're literally risking your Exploration Roll on a 'character' that can be removed from the Exploration Roll phase by taking any one of five models Out Of Action (so no 'sacrifice a henchman' strategies for easy Exploration rolls if you want to use your big henchmen groups as a substitute Hero).
It might also cut down on "I don't have a two Henchmen Groups of 5, but TEN Henchman Groups of 1!", which is a different kind of obnoxious, but obviously just looking for TLGT.
Comments?
Thoughts and similar ideas appreciated. List potential ways to abuse this, as well. Additionally, list some alternate builds you might consider if you could do this other than your warband's "Obvious Starting Build".
Also, some rules or stipulations you might be interested in seeing if this were a rule. Is it viable? Does it accomplish what the goals I listed? Does it introduce any problems that couldn't be fixed?