Song of Blades and Heroes
Andrea Sfiligoi's fast fantasy skirmish rules from Ganesha Games. Five to ten models a side, three measuring sticks instead of a tape, and games that last 30 to 45 minutes with any miniatures you already own.
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"My take on this one is coming soon."
What is Song of Blades and Heroes
Song of Blades and Heroes is a fast fantasy skirmish game from Ganesha Games, written and illustrated by Andrea Sfiligoi. It first came out in 2007.
The pitch is small and quick. Each player needs 5 to 10 models, a 3’ × 3’ table is enough for 28mm figures, and a game lasts 30 to 45 minutes. Ganesha’s line is “Bring all your armies in a shoebox!” You can run a short campaign in one evening.
It isn’t tied to a model range. Any single-based miniature in any scale works, and the book has over 180 monsters and heroes ready to use, plus rules to build your own.
The game was nominated for the 2008 Origins Award for Best Miniature Rules. The same engine went on to power a long list of other Ganesha games, including Song of Drums and Shakos, Flying Lead and Fear and Faith.
There are two versions on sale now:
- Song of Blades and Heroes Revised. The original game in a revised, expanded edition. A 65-page PDF with designer notes, examples and tactical tips.
- Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes. Ganesha calls it “the updated incarnation” of the system: an expanded magic system, a new turn sequence, an optional setting, weapon rules and an open-source point system. 88 full-colour pages, and a complete, standalone game.
How it plays
- Activation is a gamble. You pick a model and roll one, two or three dice against its Quality to see if it acts. Roll two or more failures and play passes to your opponent, so rolling more dice is a risk.
- No tape measure. All distances use three measuring sticks: Short, Medium and Long.
- Fights are quick. Melee is an opposed roll of a six-sided die, plus each model’s Combat value. Win and your enemy recoils. Double their score and they die. Triple it and it’s a gruesome kill, which can force nearby models to test morale.
- Six-sided dice only. No other dice and no book-keeping.
- Short stat lines. A model has a points cost, a Quality, a Combat score and its special abilities.
- Campaigns. Warbands get stronger after every battle. The book has six scenarios.
- Good for solo. Ganesha lists “high solo playability” among its features.
How to start
- Pick a version. Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes is $10 as a PDF and needs nothing else. The revised original is $8. Both PDFs come with an ink-saving version for printing at home.
- Use the minis you have. Five to ten models per side is a full warband, in any scale.
- Make the sticks. Cut three measuring sticks for Short, Medium and Long, grab a few six-sided dice, and clear a 3’ × 3’ space.
- Go further. Advanced Song of Blades and Heroes has supplements: Fightin’ Fungi, Hammer and Forge, and Axe and Brimstone. Printed books are sold through Lulu.
Community & reviews
Ganesha Games sells its PDFs on Gumroad and its printed books through Lulu. If you want a co-op game on the same shelf, Sfiligoi also wrote Sellswords & Spellslingers, where the players team up against the game.
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Reviews & coverage
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