Wednesday 9 October 2013

Song of Blades and Heroes First game

Well the Fists of Iron got there first outing on Saturday night and I played my first game of Song of Blades and Heroes by Ganesha games. It was a lot of fun I found the rules quite easy to learn, simple yet Can be quite tactical once you get the hang of it.  You don't need a great deal to play the game either some tokens so you know whose activated as this swings between players on the whim of the dice, Some D6's and a tape measure and your pretty much ready to go. There are measurements included so you can use 15mm or 28mm miniatures as well. The game uses various charts to determine what goes on activation is interesting as you choose to roll 1-3 dice against you Quality statistic if you achieve or beat your quality score theneach dice that passes allows you character to perform an action. So you can perform up to 3 actions in a turn if your lucky with the dice if you fail more than you pass then the activation swings to the other player and they get a go.

Forces used

Fist of Iron Adventuring Company Warband size 299
I sort of found the stats from the back of the book that best fit the description and armament of the characters for my first game. Having played a game and been a little disappointed with the fist first outing there's been some tweaking and customising done.

Tharzon Hammerfist Dwarf Commander
Theo Wyvernjack Human Cleric
Snorri Stonehear Dwarf Orc Slayer (more so because of the equipment carried in the description)
Petril Shortcloak Halfling Spearmen ( I know he's a gnome but theres no profile for gnomes)
Falco Stoutoak Halfling Veteran
Torgar Oakarm Dwarf Thief
Milo Tealeaf Halfling Slinger (Thieves don't carry missile weapons normally and its the only one I have with a missile weapon in the company and wanted to try out the rules for ranged warfare)
2x War Dogs (These I made up the profiles for them gave them Quality 4 and Combat 3 Animal)

Vandarr's Undead Menace Warband Size 296
Sire Vandarr (Vampire profile)
Lady Vandarr (Vampire Profile)
8x Zombies (Standard Zombies)

I didn't take many pics as I was learning the game and taking pics etc is distracting.

Fists Of Iron Adventuring Company

SIre Vandarr the U:ndead Menace

The Battlefield

Fists Deployment

Vandarr Deployment

The Fists got trounced. I totally forgot about the rules for morale. A lessons learned on army selection characters with the leader skill it didn't matter so much for the Fists as the average quality was 4 or higher so apart from the odd roll of treble 1 for activation most of the Fists got off the starting block. The undead side however made up mainly of zombies with quality 6  meaning you need to roll 6s to activate them. Even using 3 dice this doesn't happen as often as you think one zombie didn't move from its deployed position over 16 turns lol!  Note To self take some Zombie lords or some other type of leader character to boost the zombies not that zombies are not very good they are slow but the are tough in combat.

The combat rules are simple you roll a d6 each adding the combat score of the characters involved to your roll various factors decrease your combat score outnumbered, knocked over etc. If you double your opponents score then you achieve a kill. Beating them with an Even score and the losing side falls over (makes them vulnerable if the can't activate next turn and stand up) or an Odd score which push the loser a base size away .

The game has some amusing moments at one point the Dwarf thief Torgar was behaving like he was fighting on banana skins he lost a combat and was knocked down, rescued by Snorri  then activated in the next turn he stood up, moved and attack another zombie only to fall over again. Visions of him slipping and sliding around in mud was quite amusing. Don't get me wrong it seems a little weird to think people are falling over in combat all the time but it represents you character becoming vulnerable in some way rather than actually falling.

In the end the Fists got trounced by the male vampire who killed them all pretty much apart from one attack dog who fled at the end (Animals don't count as part of your force so when the last proper member is removed from the table they flee).

I split the Fists up and they got took out piecemeal by the male vampire. A crap round of combat  Theo rolled a 1 vs a 6 against the lady vampire in the first combat of the game (Supposed to be great at fighting undead) ending in him getting killed.

I really enjoyed it and will certainly play again some of the Fists will get different profiles. I need to get some special zombies to use as the lord characters or perhaps have a look through the undead list for more leader types. Goblins and Orcs are on the cards for the next warband I think plus they'll come in handy for dungeon delving. More missile weapon armed characters are needed in the Fists as well as I didn't get to try this out as much as I'd like. Then of course I need to add in Magic!

I have a load of Dwarf characters to paint up that I've just got from Lord Siwoc. I've cleaned and based a few. But will be concentrating on Zombtober for now.

37 comments:

  1. That Vamp did some serious damage. Glad to hear there were some funny moments in the game.

    Looking forward to seeing those Stonehaven Dwarves painted up!

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    1. He kicked arse big style. I have four cleaned and ready to go at some point. Need to pick up some more bases today as I'm out. The Dwarf Children are frikking tiny!

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  2. Several people have recommended those rules to me, but never saying why or mentioning mechanics, just saying "they are really good!" Which is totally subjective so means nothing really.

    At least from your AAR there are some clues about how they work and I can now see them could make a fun game. So for that THANKS!

    A nice report. Seeing the roster it is clear that you have thought about the names and they all sound good. Vampires are powerful and rightly so, they surely should be. Zombies needing a 6 to activate eeeks us low rollers are in trouble if we have undead.

    A Fun read very much enjoyed.

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    1. Thanks. They are that simple though you almost feel like your saying to much when you explaining them.

      With the zombies I didn't read the rules to much first and just made up a 300pt list without thinking. I learn far better by playing so just grabbed a handful of mini's to the right value and played a game.

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  3. Funnily enough, I've been looking at SoBH myself recently. Further tales like this might just push me over the edge...

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    1. Give them a go mate, they are fun and easy. I hope to try the kids with it

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  4. oh, my what a scary army! Don't send them to my doors :)

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    1. Can you hear the nails scratching at your door Dezmond?

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    2. What the what? I thought it was the cats.......

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  5. As a first time rules outing it seems to have done what it sadi on the tin and you seemd to have had fun, which is the main thing.

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    1. Its fun and easy todo. It will be a good filler until the Otherworld rules get released.

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  6. Have not played these rules yet, but sounds good. Best, Dean

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    1. They are easy to pick up and play. If I can paint up an all girl warrior warband I may be able to tempt my 5yr old Daughter!

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  7. I'd like to say i'm sorry your dwarfen mob got beat but truth to tell I was rooting for the vampires throughout the game. Come on, with a name like Vampifan of course I'd want the vampires to win. Sorry, Simon. A very good batrep and three cheers to the successful vampire force.

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    1. LOL I'll do a proper one next time. Probably going to play another game this Saturday.

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  8. Looks great! You can't beat the old Mantic zombies either! ;)

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  9. I'd recommend it mate. Its definitely easy to pick up

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  10. The song of blades engine is really good for casual games like this. Glad you enjoyed yourself. And those sculpted bases on the Dwarves look tops!

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  11. Thanks its is great in its simplicity. Must remember morale next time round lol.

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  12. Simple rules can be a real blessing I think. Gets you into a game faster and helps you move to the strategy side faster from the rules mastering stage. Good to see your newly painted models having a run out.

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    1. Yeah it gives a nice warm feeling to be playing with fully painted figures. Should do some terrain and make a board at some point as well.

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  13. Looks like great game to me - how could such great vampiric "mob" lose, after all!

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  14. A great read, i love the Mantic zeds, they are perfect for fantasy

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    1. They work well in a lot of genres and as filler for modern stuff.

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  15. Pretty impressive. It might even get me playing.

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  16. Nice one Simon, the game sounded interesting.

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    1. Thanks. I will use a bit less terrain next time and perhaps make a hill from something lol

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  17. Looks like a nice game, pity the rules never took of here

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    1. What a shame its lots of fun. Its only as top gap ruleset to have some fun with. But I can certainly see it getting used more as you can literally just find stuff in your collection chuck it together and have game.

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  18. Nice game mate and cracking write up. SoBH not a rule set im familiar with but looks interesting. Might be another purchase for my groaning bookshelf of rules.

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  19. Hehe still sounds like a fun game!

    Looking forward to seeing the dwarves you got. But as you said....First it must be zombtober!

    Well done mate!

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    1. Thanks mate. They are being prepared in between the survivor figs

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  20. That definitely sounded good......and fun, nice one Simon!

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  21. Nice battle report! Thanks for sharing!

    Greetings
    Peter

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