Here's another recent battle, my first foray into A Song of Blades and Heroes. I had heard quite a bit about this game on various online posts, but had never come across it in person. Since I have a growing collection of fantasy models, it seemed like a great game to get me back into the hobby. I drew up some lists from some models I had recently painted up for Frostgrave and decided to get it on the table. Like most of my games these days, this was played at home solo, with me just playing both sides to see how the story plays out.
Ruleset: A Song of Blade and Heroes by Ganesha Game
Word has been spreading through the kingdom of increased attacks on outlying farms and homesteads. Tales of dog-men and demons have been spreading through town, and tension are becoming palpable. The local lord dispatches a small patrol to investigate the outlying communities to help assuage the fears and put an end to the rumors.
This battle was 225 points of Humans vs Gnolls (Hyena Men) using the basic SoBaH rulebook. Playtime was about 45 minutes after set up.
The local garrison sent out a patrol due to raiding on local farm lands. A Mage, accompanied by elite archer and 4 warriors.
A group of gnolls threatening the lands! Gnoll Chief (with spear), 2 guards with 2 handed weapons, and 2 archers, backed by a lone warrior tagging along with his trusty mace.
The initial set up.
First turn for the gnolls, the chief stays behind after failed activation.
The humans advance together
The marauders press forward with archers moving to flank
The guard archer steps up and looses an arrow at the foe.... but misses.
The guardsmen send a line warrior to provoke the gnoll archers as things shape up for combat!
The archer fires, but misses.
Archer 2 fires on the brave guardsman to no effect.
Suddenly the bold warrior is set upon by a snarling Gnoll Guard!
The archer knocks over one of the beasts but fails to take him out of the fight
With some unintelligible mumbling, the mage transfixed another foul beast.
Our brave guardsman warrior battles back against the gnoll, knocking him to the ground!
End of the human turn, we see them setting up to do some real damage.
The raider archers pounce on our brave guardsman to help their felled companion, but only distract the valiant warrior.
The beasts lash out, turning the tables on the poor lads.
The raiders taught the guardsman that things rarely go according to plan.
The warriors beat back the snarling savages in combat, but cannot find a deadly blow.
The mage throws a level 3 transfix on the Gnoll chief, but his will is too strong!
An archer hooks his bow around our brave lad’s foot, pulling him down!
And the second archer finally slays him!
Back in the center, a deadly dance of combat continues!
The Chiefton slaughters another, causing a gruesome kill due to his Savage ability.
The guardsmen see their friend getting eaten alive!
Even our stout mage must test his resolve!
Sadly the gruesome site is just too much, and he panics and flees the field!
The unengaged warrior also flees 2 moves!
This fellow holds his resolve!
But the archer breaks and runs, just making it off the table.
And with that, the game is over. 2 dead guardsman, 2 fled the field, leaving 2 to their fate at the hands (and teeth) of the vicious raiding party, who in taking no losses themselves with surely continue to terrorize the locals!
And with that, the game is over. 2 dead guardsman, and another 2 fled the field, leaving two more to their fate at the hands (and teeth) of the vicious raiding party. The Gnolls took no losses themselves, and will surely continue to terrorize the local population!
After Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this game. The mechanics are simple, and easy to get the hang of. There aren't too many things to memorize, and with no charts to reference, it plays fast and would be easy for those without much wargaming experience to get into. While simple, there are still loads of surprises and using the mechanics right is part of the fun. The turn-over with failed activation checks can really ruin your plans, and I found made for almost cinematic-like effects developing in the game, with key moments suddenly playing out quite differently than expected.
I'll be looking forward to more games!
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