/ramble on
clix would work well with a pretender + lieutenants (heroes, unique summons, and thugs possibly (jarls)). Get a big ol hex map (possibly sectional) and only have 3 or 4 units per side on the board at once. Figure out a point system, turn it into currency and then you can "buy" new units/items/spells.
While thinking of it, anyone ever play the old LOTR card game? Leaders (pretenders) had a certain amount of..er, leadership (X)(dominion?) and could control that many (X) of units.
For instance, lady of rivers (leadership 9) could be used to lead Lanka and can control 1 Mandaha (4 pts needed), 1 Queen of air (4), and 1 (whatever that assassin hero is) (1).
Or it could be broken down further, pretenders have high leadership (8-10) and heroes have lower (2-4), then uniques, troops.
You could also add items/spells but it could get complicated quick.
Similar deal - clix (which seems to simplify stats) + WoW boardgame. Simplify the stats, add a leadership function and make it a conquest/war game. Actually, a shogun type (samurai swords) might be easier to implement.
Shogun already has:
Daimyo's - leaders/pretenders
Troops - heroes/uniques
castles
economy - provinces = money, use money to activate certain items or purchase troops.
mercenaries
experience system
and a ninja - work out a similar spell system (need to spend money to cast a spell(gems))
Have like 15 iconic spells, 10 iconic items
First round would be pretender creation using a fixed # of creation points (say 25)
Choose pretender (varies between 3-8)
Choose dominion (leadership) (say 1-10)
Pick a max of 3 spells (say 1-3 each)
Pick items (say 1-3 each)
Second round - purchase army(s)/place army(s)
We've got like 3 copies of shogun in our friends group, so I'd probably buy it
/ramble off