Actually I imagined this happening in a prep session. Surely making sure you have everything _just_ right in preparation for one of the most dangerous things a mortal can attempt is an adequate source of tension?
Not appropriate for a rushed quest (where the preparations will be minimal, due to time constraints, like the quest to the underworld in the rising dark) or a fairly routine one (where preparations are well understood and the community understands why they should support it, like an initiation ceremony). Further, as heroes grow in power the level that you would play the preparations at would change. For their first quest getting a few more people giving total support, finding a white stallion, and obtaining use of an iron shield could all be major obstacles. Later perhaps it is obtaining the support of other clans in your tribe and getting the blessings of major, tribal, priests and priestesses. Later still it could be obtaining the support of the Feathered Horse Queen and the dragonewts and obtaining the companionship of other great heroes.
I guess I don't view heroquests as something that you would want to approach with the same play-time preparation as for a cattle raid. They are huge and memorable events, so should usually have more build up.
At least, IMO. Obviously others may choose to play them differently. However, for those who do want to go into more detail in preparation it would be nice if the rules supported it.
--Bryan
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