Song of Blades & Heroes Campaign, Session 3 - The Deserted Village

The third session of our Song of Blades & Heroes fantasy campaign took place last week, and we had a definite theme in mind -- we were planning our first-ever village game, using Karl's converted porcelain buildings and a couple resin buildings I picked up from Miniature Building Authority (one was a gift from my wife; the other was a splurge).

This was something we've wanted to do for quite some time, but we (as a club) never quite had the critical mass of terrain and scenery required to pull off a full-blown urban fantasy map. I think we've reached the threshold of awesomeness, though, as these photos attest.

We were joined by Devin, an occasional player who definitely picked the best possible night to show up. In all we had 5 players, a record for my little basement game room, and we had to set up a second game at a card table. Here Devin is puzzling through the Song of Blades & Heroes warband roster we handed him. In the foreground, you can see my undead warband.

Karl picked up that cobblestone mat at a craft store after Christmas for pennies on the dollar. It proved to be absolutely perfect for creating a basic urban space for our buildings.

Here's a close-up of Jack, the Pumpkin King, my undead warband's leader, as he prepares to lead his ghastly legion into the town. We were playing a mega-treasure hunt scenario with 3 players and 4 treasure markers (2 duds, 2 actual treasures). First player to escape with the most treasure won!

Here's another look down the streets and alleys of our town. Devin's warband is on the left, and Mike's warband is mustering in the wheat fields in the background.

Oh yeah, this takes place in our campaign world, The Iron Isle, so of course this town has a name. It's called Edvard's Steading and it's the main urban center in Balthus Province, a region of farmland to the north. Check it out on the map here.

Edvard's Steading was empty, though, as if the population had fled the little burg with little warning. Perhaps they felt the earth tremble beneath steel-shod feet as our warbands approached? Probably that's what happened.

The game unfolded slowly, with each warband creeping slowly through the empty streets to find the 4 treasure markers. Mike's warband found the first, and his angelic leader, Lady Marie, quickly flew off with the treasure chest. Here she is in all her nekkid glory.

Devin and I came to blows over the final treasure parcel. My undead were exceedingly slow (which turned out to be an unfortunate theme for the campaign) and he was able to escape with the loot. Here my zombies swarm his demon warrior near a moss-covered stone bridge.

We did the typical campaign stuff afterward, like figuring out casualties, income and exploration. But really the spectacle was a chance to play on our awesome urban fantasy setup -- a modular layout that will certainly figure into our future games.

Across the room, we had set up a small table for a second game. Tim and Karl had sent their warbands exploring into the Great Southron Desert, a vast wasteland of sand, rock and scrub-brush on the southern coast of the Iron Isle. 

They were playing a breakthrough scenario, so Karl had to get his animal warband across the table while Tim attempted to interdict him. Here he attempts to do just that.

Karl won after taking some tough losses, including the death of Eisendury the Echidna, who fell in single combat with Tim's tribal leader. Here's Karl's full warband -- with the exception of Eisendury, it's all animals. Lots and lots of animals. And not just the typical D&D critters (dire wolf, rat, bear, etc). Karl has plenty of esoteric (and correctly scaled!) animal figures in his warband. Like a Wolverine. Who fields a wolverine? Karl does, that's who. Take a look.

Tim's warband includes one of the baddest-ass owlbears I have EVER SEEN. Look at those eyes and tell me you don't feel scared.

We're playing again this week. The scenario will likely be some variant of a tower defense. My undead warband, you may recall, occupied a grim watchtower in the Velathys Marsh, and the combined forces of Good are determined to unseat the undead invaders from their foothold in the swamp. Stay tuned!

-- Patrick, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

Song of Bricks and LEGO

Last weekend I had the chance to play a few games of Song of Blades and Heroes with 3 fellow members of the Northern Illinois LEGO Train Club.  Being that we were all fans of LEGO, we of course used LEGO for the terrain and units. Chris, Adam and I met at the home of Matt, one of our members, who goes by "Pepa Quin" online and is a very respected LEGO builder.  For terrain, we decided to take full advantage of his collection of displays and layouts.  

Two tables were arranged. The first was His diorama "Andy's Room" from "Toy Story" with the walls removed and the furniture shifted a bit.

The second was various buildings, including the Planet Express, from his "Futurama" layout.

You can see full online coverage of both of these amazing MOC's (LEGO fan shorthand for "My Own Creations") here and here.

For warbands, I arrived with three premade 300 point warbands based on recent and classic LEGO themes.

Orcs

Vikings

Forestmen

I also stated up a special Olympian warband for Matt using the Limited Edition GB Olympic collectible minifigures.

Adam arrived with a very cool undead/vampiric themed warband -- which I forgot to photograph!

Here are a few pics from the various games we played.

Game 1 - Vikings vs. Orcs in Andy's Room

My vikings faced off against Chris's Orcs in Andy's Room. A lucky early group activation allowed me to quickly rush all my vikings most of the way across the field.  Chris split his forces and advanced around the bookcase and western toy chest.

Much mayhem ensued, but a gruesome kill forced a morale check against Chris's warband which turned the tide against him for the rest of the game.

Game 2 - Olympians vs. Undead in Futurama

On the Futurama layout, Matt's Olympians attacked Adam's Undead.

The battle raged for quite a few turns with almost no casualties, but Matt took control with enough kills to destroy half of Adam's warband, forcing the undead bats to flee and securing the victory.

Game 3 - Olympians vs. Vikings in Andy's Room

Matt wanted to swtich tables, and I preferred to play again in Andy's Room, so we faced off there. He quickly seized the high ground with his archer, who was able to knock down a few of my Vikings, but he didn't score any kills.

With their poor quality, my bears were quite inactive for the first part of the game, allowing Pepa's Equestrian and Strongman to sweep in and score a gruesome kill one of my Vikings.

However, nearly all the Vikings stood fast and then swept back into action. 

Two pairs of lucky activation rolls for my bears saw them rush the flank and attack Pepa's leader, who was killed, prompting a morale check that would see the Olympians ranks thinned enough for the Vikings to press for their second victory of the day.

Game 3 - Orcs vs. Undead in Futurama

While the first game had taken place in the streets, the second game on the Futurama table immediately went to the rooftop of the Planet Express! Adam seized the high ground with his bats and skeletons.

Chris followed up with his Atlantean Orcs, whose improved stats allowed them to advance faster than their less assertive brothers. Unfortunately the rest of the warband was not as fast, allowing Adam to engage and defeat Chris's Orcs piecemeal and secure victory.

Conclusion

A great time was had by all. Two of the other members had played Song of Blades & Heroes with me once a long time ago, but they didn't remember much, so I ended up teaching everyone the rules again. As always, SBH proved to be easy to learn and fast to play. The others enjoyed it a lot, and I think we will be playing SBH with LEGO again.

I'd like to briefly compare SBH to Brikwars, a reasonably well known building-toy combat system. Though Brikwars is made specifically for plastic building block toys, and it's tongue-in-cheek style is an enjoyable read, I found the actual game to be slow-moving and rules-heavy. On the other hand, the fast play and simple nature of Song of Blades and Heroes was much more suited to the light and fun nature of LEGO toys. Brickwars can accommodate larger engagements, but after trying out the rules, I decided I'd rather stick with Song of Blades and Heroes.

-- Karl, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

Review: Bases from Proxie Models

Ken at Proxie Models is unique among one-man hobby companies since he cuts dies to create injection molds to make plastic bases -- all out of his own barn! Here's a video with more information on how Ken works. Today, I'll review a variety of bases available from Proxie Models. 

The bases I ordered are below 30mm hex, 30mm round, 25mm round and 70mm bike base.

Proxie Models charges very low shipping rates, and the bases arrived quickly, with each set individualy bagged in ziplocks with card headers. Proxie Models bases have a few design features that set them apart from most other bases.

1. Small raised lip on the edge that is about half the thickness of the new-style slotted bases that are quite common these days.
2. Shorter height -- most of the Proxie Models bases are a millimeter or two shorter than their most common counterparts.
3. Textured surface -- most Proxie Models bases have a rough surface that could substitute for ballast/flock basing.
4. Price -- Proxie Models bases are as cheap, and in most cases significantly cheaper, than similarly sized bases.

First off, the 25mm round base. I picked up 32 bases for $4, about 13 cents each.

In this comparison pic, from left, we have: 

• Proxie Models --  25mm base, 2mm high, 21mm interior recess, rounded lipped sides
• Mantic -- 25mm base, 3mm high, 25mm top (plain on one side, recessed on other), 15mm interior recess. Straight sides.
• Standard slotted base -- 25mm base, 3mm high, 23mm top, sloped sides

This base had the most texture of all the bases reviewed. I had no trouble at all imagining someone gluing a plastic figure right to the base, painting and drybrushing the base and skipping sand or flock entirely. However, the lipped design gives this base the smallest actual model basing area of the three with an interior diameter of only 21mm. As for the lip vs straight vs sloped, that's purely an aesthetic choice. I will probably be using these for rebasing of Heroclix miniatures where I want a quick basing solution, but don't want to spend alot of time on each figure.  

Next, the 30mm round base. I bought 24 bases for $4, about 17 cents each.

In this pic, from left, we have:

• Proxie Models -- 30mm base, 2mm high, 26mm interior recess, rounded lipped sides.
• Standard new-style slotted base -- 30mm base, 4mm high, 23mm interior recess, rounded lipped sides.
• Standard slotted base -- 25mm base, 3mm high, 23mm top, sloped sides.

These were the bases I was most interested in. I have many figures with cast-on bases that are wider than the 23mm top of a standard slotted base. Some manufacturers package their figures with a new-style stotted base, which helps make for a more balanced figure, but the actual area for basing is exactly the same as a standard slotted base.  

The additional 3mm and the lip, which makes it easier to hide the cast-on base, make them ideal for my use. The pic below shows the difference. The texture on these bases is still pronounced enough that you might choose to dispense with basing materials, but it's not as rough as the 25mm proxie bases. 

Next, a 30mm hex base. I got 32 for $4, about 13 cents each.

In this comparison pic, from left, we have:

• Standard slotted hex -- 25mm base, 3mm high, 23mm top
• Proxie hex -- 30mm base, 3mm high, 25mm interior
• EM4 mech base (also carried by Chessex) -- 29mm base, 3mm high, 25.5mm interior
• Iron Wind Metals solid pewter hex -- 30mm base, 5mm high, 25mm interior 

These bases were purchased mostly for basing of the plastic mechs that come with the battletech starter box. Like the 30mm rounds, they are just textured enough that I can probably skip basing, though I will have to cut off the cast-on plastic bases that the mechs come attached too. 

For metal mechs, I think that the EM4 bases or Iron Wind Bases (very nice but expensive) are more suitable.  They have deeper recesses which are designed to conceal the cast-on bases that most mechs have. Also, the EM4 bases are the same price as the Proxie bases, so there's no cost advantage. I'm sure that other folks who like hex bases for fantasy and modern figures will find the Proxie Models a useful option.

Lastly, here's the "Sci-Fi Bike or Cav Base" from Proxie Models. I picked up 16 for $4, or 25 cents each.

The base measures 25mm by 70mm, and interior is 21mm by 65mm.

They look to be spot-on for the size of Games Workshop bike bases,  which are often erroneously reported as being 50mm long. This is only correct if you don't count the rounded portions in the overall length. At a quarter of the price, they should prove quite popular. I bought these to base up a bunch of post-apocalyptic bikers I've been converting. The choppers are from Hot Wheels and are quite long, but fit on these bases quite well. 

These bases are also a good size for basing up terrain like rubble piles and barriers. My one gripe is that the bases have a lot less texture than any of the other Proxie bases I've tried. As you can see in the pic with the biker, these bases might require ballast or flock of some kind. 

Also, it might just be the plastic, but the texture appears to radiate from the middle -- not a very realistic look. I'm not averse to using basing materials. I'm just not sure why they decided to make the texture so subtle.

Conclusion

I'm very happy with Proxie Models bases. The bases all seemed to be good quality products that met my needs at a very affordable price. Proxie seems to be walking a line with bases that are just different enough to set themselves apart while being "standard" enough to meet the needs of wargamers. As well as a wide variety of other base shapes and sizes, Proxie also makes a 15mm sci-fi tank that Games Workshop fans will recognize, and a couple of 15mm plastic buildings (look for a future review...). Though I don't have any unmet base needs anymore, it's likely that I'll be doing business with them again in the future.


-- Karl, Chicago Skirmish Wargames club member

Song of Blades & Heroes Campaign, Session 2 - Of Watchtowers and Haunted Forests

The second session of our Song of Blades & Heroes fantasy campaign opened with clashes in two disparate areas of our campaign map - the Yellowroot Uplands and the Velathys Marsh. We had four players show up for the game, so we were able to play four games in total, with each player playing each other player. As before, we stuck to the campaign rules outlined in Song of Deeds & Glory. Here's the map again for reference.

Karl's forces, reeling from the defeat of their elven patrol last week, retreated to the Yellowroot Uplands, a forested area in the northwest quadrant of the Iron Isle. He was pursued by Tim's tribesmen - fearsome warriors astride huge bird-beasts. They clashed deep in the hilly woodlands. Here are some photos showing the charge of the light(er than air) brigade.

 

That humongous figure is Melietir, Lady of the Upper Forest. She's a salvaged Warhammer Wood Elf character that Karl pieced together from a bits box.

After the battle, Karl's forces rolled on the random exploration table. He found a haunted forest, which was fitting since nestled deep within the Yellowroot Uplands (on the map, anyway) stood a mysterious grove known only as The Heartwood. His fearless elves faced down whatever menace lurked in The Heartwood, though, and the discovery had no adverse effect on his warband.

On a separate table, I had prepared a scenario to introduce my undead faction (Baron Karvarst's Shambling Horde) to the campaign. Remember, I didn't play in the last game session, so I was a game behind where most of the other players were.

For my scenario, I set up a sulfurous swamp full of bubbling muck pools and gnarled trees. My goal was to advance across the table and exit my undead guys off Mike's table edge. He was allowed to deploy in the middle of the battlefield in an attempt to intercept me. Here's his group, led by Godric the Wise.

My warband consisted of Harcuul Lagosh, an undead knight, and his retinue of zombies, skeletons and ghouls. I easily outnumbered Mike's men-at-arms, and as the game began it looked like I might be able to walk a few guys off the table quickly. But when the swords started swinging, my fragile undead guys fell all too easily. Here Mike's giant owl swoops in to harry my shuffling zombies.

 

Eventually I was forced to take a rout check, at which point I wisely decided to quit the field having taken a sizable number of casualties. Verdict: Undead don't perform very well in games where they're required to be highly mobile for the win.

After the game, though, we rolled on the injury and recovery tables to see what became of our guys. Thankfully my dice were very hot, and all but one of my casualties returned to active duty. Ultimately I lost one guy (a ghoul) and Mike lost one guy (a serpent). So we were basically even after that game.

During the exploration phase, my undead forces discovered an abandoned watchtower rising out of the muck and mire of the Velathys Swamp. We set about renovating it to better garrison our borders (for I have come to see the swamp as "my" territory, even though we aren't using any rules for holding and conquering territory). I even have a watchtower in my terrain bin, so look for it to make an appearance soon!

With two games under our collective belts, we swapped opponents, mixed up the terrain, rolled up a couple scenarios and started two new game. I played against Karl this time, in a game set in the Grey Heath, a wasteland of ash, tar pits and stunted trees just east of the huge volcano that dominates the Iron Isle.

We rolled up a treasure hunt scenario, which proved to be a quick, bloodless affair. Once again my undead were caught in a scenario that valued movement over fighting prowess, so once again we were outmaneuvered by Karl's woodland critter warband. Luckily none of my guys died, so I was able to garner experience for my whole squad.

 

As before, we rolled to explore. Karl found a watchtower (continuing this evening's theme of defensive fortifications) and I found a keg of ale. I ruled on the spot that undead would not be able to use the ale, so I cashed it in for 5 gold coins to add to my rather impressive war chest. Now that I've got a couple battles under my belt (and some disposable income) I'm eager to try out the shopping rules from Song of Deeds & Glory!

Here's a close-up of Harcuul Lagosh, the undead knight, facing off against Taildodger, the coney swordsman, during the treasure hunt.

Check back in two weeks for the third installment!

— Patrick, Chicago Skirmish Wargames member