Greathelm

What is Greathelm

Greathelm is a micro-skirmish game of chivalric fantasy by Malev, illustrated by Sean Sutter of Relicblade. Each player brings six knights, the whole fight happens on a sheet of A4 or US Letter paper, and a game takes about twenty minutes.

It started with Malev’s One Box Wargame challenge, and the Kickstarter in September 2025 raised $123,103 from 2,533 backers against a $10,000 goal. The core rules are in early access as a digital book right now, and buyers get every update, including the final version. The print book comes later.

Anything can be a knight, and it’s miniature agnostic. The free quickstart even comes with paper knights and a battlefield to print.

How it plays

Your dice are your actions. Each round you roll one die, plus one for every knight you have on the table. Each face is both when you act and what you do: 6 is Sprint, 5 Encircle, 4 Bash, 3 Shift, 2 Light Melee, and 1 Heavy Melee.
Count down from 6. Players alternate activations from 6 down to 1. You can knock a high die down a step instead of using it, and one knight can act several times in a round, or not at all.
Clash tests. Attacks are opposed d6 rolls, and the defender picks Block, Dodge, Parry, or Riposte before rolling.
Momentum. Winning clashes builds momentum, up to 3, which you spend for bonuses on later attacks.
Heavy armour. A hit rolls on the armour table: Impervious, Struck, or Pierced. Three damage and the knight is out.
Courage. Hurt knights in a fight test their nerve, and a knight who fails runs.

The full rules add weapons (including bows and crossbows), legendary items, 17 kinds of terrain, scenarios, campaigns, and solo play. You need six knights and eight d6s per player.

How to start

Download the free quickstart. It’s name your own price on itch.io, with paper knights and a battlefield included.
Get the core rules when you want more. $25 on the Greathelm site, in early access, with casual play, campaigns, and solo rules.
Use the free companion app. It builds and tracks your knights, on iOS, Mac, Android, and Windows.
Find six knights. Any 28mm knights work. There’s also an official STL set if you print.

The Realm Campaigns expansion ($15) adds a map-based campaign with 20+ illustrated map tiles by Brooke Penrose.