A Solo + some Hordes or similar as minions (something to either threaten from range or get up in faces depending on how you build the solo) + an Environment with ground features worked pretty well to do some serious challenge to my T1 party. I don't imagine that would change much going up.
Since I'm running both DH and DS! right now, it's interesting to contrast them a bit. DH is so generic that it's really easy to reskin it to whatever you want with like a few hours of work to set the scene for players. Combat is relatively short and fluid, but also doesn't really have much "going on" (a bit more interesting then I've usually found 5e, but not as narratively satisfying as say pure PBTA or as cinematic and engaging as DS!). I'm cooling a bit on the hope/fear mechanic, I like how you can wrap it into the design of things but wish the outcomes were as fixed as pretty much everything else I play (just flat known tiers of success based on a dice outcome; no need for secondary calculations or setting of difficulties).
I think I actually like DH more for non-generic heroic fantasy stuff because of how easy it is to finagle the ruleset over to that (eg: my modern urban fantasy game). That + simple rules bundles works really well with the base engine in a way that most other games I'm playing need a lot more work to get to a place that feels good, and in that game at least we're emphasizing things outside of conflict as a major gameplay engine. Whereas for Heroic Fantasy Nonsense I find DS! far more interesting because of how much more enjoyable the combat is as a Thing.
Since I'm running both DH and DS! right now, it's interesting to contrast them a bit. DH is so generic that it's really easy to reskin it to whatever you want with like a few hours of work to set the scene for players. Combat is relatively short and fluid, but also doesn't really have much "going on" (a bit more interesting then I've usually found 5e, but not as narratively satisfying as say pure PBTA or as cinematic and engaging as DS!). I'm cooling a bit on the hope/fear mechanic, I like how you can wrap it into the design of things but wish the outcomes were as fixed as pretty much everything else I play (just flat known tiers of success based on a dice outcome; no need for secondary calculations or setting of difficulties).
I think I actually like DH more for non-generic heroic fantasy stuff because of how easy it is to finagle the ruleset over to that (eg: my modern urban fantasy game). That + simple rules bundles works really well with the base engine in a way that most other games I'm playing need a lot more work to get to a place that feels good, and in that game at least we're emphasizing things outside of conflict as a major gameplay engine. Whereas for Heroic Fantasy Nonsense I find DS! far more interesting because of how much more enjoyable the combat is as a Thing.
