Comments on: Review: Song of Blades and Heroes

By: Stu

Stu — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 19:03:06 +0000

Hi Mark, I have a son who’s turning 6 at the end of this year so that’s good to hear! I’m curious how you went about teaching the rule-set? I can see a few obvious ways to do it, but wonder if you have any comments/hints etc. regarding your experience? Are there any parts of the game your children had difficulty picking up?

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:20:20 +0000

Just stumbled on your great site by accident and wanted to add a comment on this game.I have played many tabletop games in the last 15 + years and had a slow down bringing up the kids, until I got hold of this game.
I now have a boy of 6 and girl of 7 both enjoying this game very much.This is a good review and I highly recommend this set of rules for introducing kids, new entrants to miniatures wargames and the missus too.

By: Jason

Jason — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 19:35:46 +0000

Great review! I bought this a few weeks ago and I, too, felt it was well worth the $4 I spent. It's a great set of rules and good artwork inside, too. Another cheap set of rules I like is GoalSystem Fantasy. The electronic version is around $3. There's more book keeping in GS Fantasy compared to SoB&H, but you also roll LOTS of D6's at once, which can sometimes be fun (kinda like attacking in Full Thrust ).

By: Stu

Stu — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 07:03:40 +0000

Hello Andrea, thanks for stopping by and commenting!

The inclusion of the six scenarios does certainly give you an entire game in a single rulebook so I can see why they’re there. As I’ve been in an out of this hobby for around 20 years I sometimes forget there’s still people encountering it for the first time, the lucky souls!

Your comment about SBH being designed as an entry level game is also interesting. I think you’ve certainly met that criteria while still managing to create a game with some interesting tactical possibilities for more experienced gamers.

By: andrea sfiligoi

andrea sfiligoi — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:45:34 +0000

Ah, I forgot– magic. Basically, every supplement introduces a few variant magic-user types who can use magic differently. Song of Gold and Darkness includes Summoners (who summon monsters and demons), Sorcerers (who get power from human sacrifice) and Necromancers (who create undead). Song of Wind and Water will include Elementalists, Druids, Witches and Weather Mages. And so on…

By: andrea sfiligoi

andrea sfiligoi — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 00:40:56 +0000

Thanks for the review!
About the simplicity of he scenarios: I wanted them to be simple on purpose, as one of the design criteria of SBH was to give a more experienced gamer a way to introduce new players into the hobby. Some people have already used SBH to this effect and they told me it worked very well with young players.

Song of Gold and Darkness will be out in mid-September (I guess– we are playtesting it and so far everything seems to work).

I plan to expand the system by going into different genres. After Gold and Darkness, there will be Song of Wind and Water, with wilderness rules and a full campaign. Then I’ll start to work on a Japanese Myth supplement, and so on — I have more ideas than time to write at the moment so there won’t be a shortage of support materials in the foreseeable future. As long as players continue to show the enthusiasm that they are showing now, the Song will go on…