Song of Blades and Heroes

[Talae]

That looks awesome! Can you elaborate on how you use terrain? I have tons of stuff and would like to know how much use I will get out of what on the table.

 

Do you set up things as massive as that beforehand? Does the defender still place stuff? Do you ever use interiors (even if not, do you think it could be done effectively)?

[Eilif]

That looks awesome! Can you elaborate on how you use terrain? I have tons of stuff and would like to know how much use I will get out of what on the table.

 

Do you set up things as massive as that beforehand? Does the defender still place stuff? Do you ever use interiors (even if not, do you think it could be done effectively)?

 

I don't think we've ever used the alternating terrain setup method. We prefer that terrain be setup thematically.

The terrain is usually setup by the host or by other players, though sometimes players will make modifications to suit the game.

 

We also don't use too many of the advanced terrain rules. Most pieces simply serve to block line of sight, add different elevations and sometimes be "difficult". As to interiors, we don't typically use them, even though about half of our buildings do have removable roofs. Interiors of buildings as small as these don't offer much playability for a game like SBH where base clearance is so vital.

 

When we want to play "indoors" we'll make a dungeon or cavern setup like this.

http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2012/08/song-of-blades-heroes-campaign-session_24.html

Still limited, but there is some room to maneuver.

[Talae]

Which rule books do you guys use?

[Eilif]

Most of us have all the books. We use the "special rules", character profiles, and scenarios from all the books and the campaign system from Song of Deeds and glory. Otherwise we really don't use the terrain and weather (SWW) or dungeon rules (SGD) unless we want them for a specific scenario.

 

Though we make use of pre-made character profiles, we usually use the online Warband creator to make our own custom profiles. The club is pretty good about making the stats fit the figure and not building uber-characters, which is really easy to do in SBH and can badly imbalance the game.

 

For clubs with incurable power-gamers I recommend sticking with the printed profiles and disallowing use of the "savage" rule.

[dispatchdave]

Sounds like you guys are ignoring the "your army cannot have more than 1/3 its points in Personalities" rule, Dave.

 

Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it may be one source of your difficulties.

 

Glad to hear you're having fun!

Yeah, I didn't bring that up, as I wanted to ease him into it. My friend likes wargames ok, but is more of a card-flopper (Flux, Munchkin, etc, not MtG). We're going to make our own warbands for campaign play, and I think I can convince our wives with the simplicity (plus, they like games and pretty little people). Soon I shall have four competing warbands in an epic campaign! Now I just need to get crackin' on that terrain.

 

Which rule books do you guys use?

I have SBH, SDG (campaign), and SGD (dungeon crawls). We haven't tried any of the extra rules yet, since we only played our firt two rounds ever, but I am eager to get my HA dungeon created and start crawling. I also like the idea of pitting all of us against each other in a campaign, but first have to convince bribe the wives.

 

-Dave

[CrimsonStar]

I can attest to the fun and simplicity of SoBH. I've been playing RPGs and mini wargaming for 30+ years, but have fell in love with SoBH. I've found that when introducing new players to it (most recently my teenage daughters) I use my house rules to streamline the already pretty streamlined system. When a mini is wounded it is "knocked down" instead of either being knocked down or knocked back depending on the roll. And I only use the special rules of Shooter, Move, Magic User, and Lethal. Once the players have become comfortable with the rules (myself included) I'll expand the Special Rules. Like others have said, the Yahoo! group is a great place for questions and critiques as the creator (Andrea) is always available for help.

[smokingwreckage]

That terrain layout is a brilliant idea and just made me buy more Hirst.

[Eilif]

Here's another SBH battle report from our club. I wasn't playing, but the animal warband is all my figures. Reaper fans will note the inclusion of the entire Legion of Justice and Caeke and a Satyr among various other woodland creatures.

Full report here: http://chicagoskirmish.blogspot.com/2013/08/dark-days-of-qaarra-session-4-raiding.html

 

 

Unfortunately the other side won. In the "exploration" phase of the post-battle sequence, the opposing team was joined by a "Blessed Paladin", so my friend just walked over to the store's Bones rack and picked one up. Gotta love Bones for when you need a figure quick! Hopefully he'll have it painted at our next game in two weeks.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Eilif