First A Blurb And Now A Blarb... What Will Come Next?!?

Hey everyone and welcome to an even more abbreviated edition of the Dispatch!

Life has reared its ugly head again, and though I beat it back to the dark, scary closet from which is came, there was a sacrifice. Yeah, that's a fancy way of saying there's no Dispatch this week. D'oh! There are no more relatives visiting next week so I'll be able to get back on track... again.

As for what's in store in the coming weeks, I have more Malifaux terrain that I've been working on (it's been a very sloooooowwwwww process...), more Song of Blades and Heroes battle reports, and more Audio Noise as I try to make some more sense out of the noise of podcasts.

Some of you also might have noticed some changes on the blog as well. I've been toying with some of the templates to see how different things look and also bringing over some of my old stuff from the AT-43 Dispatch as well. Mostly it old battle reports but there are a few other things in there as well so be sure to check them out.

So to recap... check out the new old stuff, come back for the new new stuff and the Noise will continue soon! It all makes sense now, doesn't it?

Battle Report: Whispers In The Woods

Hey everyone and welcome a double taking issue of the Dispatch!

For this installment we are going to take another look at Song of Blades and Heroes. That's right, the battle report is finally here so without further ado, lets get to the bloodshed!

Dark Whispers in the Black Thorn
A Song of Blades and Heroes Battle Report

After my faulty start last time, I went back and tweaked my two warbands and this time I think I got them right! I still went with a small battle, not only to keep things short and sweet but also because it fits with the narrative I have in mind. For this first battle, a couple of Wolfen hunters have stumbled across a small group of dweller minions (yeah, the name is still a work in progress...). What are these strange creatures and what are they doing in the Black Thorn? Our scene opens as the hunters move in for a closer look at these strange creatures.

The hunters hold their ground and observe the strange creatures from a distance (aka They failed their first activation check... and here I thought I'd fixed this problem!)

Immediately sensing the presence of the hunters, the minions waste no time moving to close with their enemy. Even as the enemy moves closer, the hunters continue to hold their ground (aka Yep, they failed the activation check again!)

A couple of the minions continue their advance as they once again scurry forward to get to grips with the hunters.

Sensing that trouble is brewing, the hunters slowly advance forward as they try to get close enough to use their spears.

As the rest of the group advances, one of the minions launches itself forward to lock itself into melee with one of the Wolfen! They may be smaller but that doesn't make them any less fierce!

Unfortunately the minion's enthusiasm was not appreciated by the hunters who easily dispatched it while another minion was forced back after being hit with a spear.

The remaining minions surged forward to attack the hunters but only one actually managed to reach them this turn. The little guy didn't really stand a chance and was quickly knocked down by the hunters.

Needless to say one of the hunters was able to quickly dispatch the downed minion while the other hunter moved forward to deal with one of its companions. This left only two minions and forced them to take each take a morale check. One passed while the other turned tail and ran.

At this point, the outcome was pretty much a given but there's no point in going down without a fight! The last two minions each charged forward but they were both quickly killed by the hunters who emerged from the skirmish completely unscathed.

With the last of the minions dispatched, the hunters gathered a couple of the carcasses to take back to their pack leader. Though of little threat this time, who knows what could happen if these strange creatures are allowed to gain a foothold in the Dark Thorn? Coming up next week, the conflict escalates as the Wolfen call upon the Dark Thorn itself to aid them while the dwellers respond with force.

Closing Thoughts On The Battle

Having adjusted the stats of the various critters, this battle went much smoother than my first attempt even though it might have seemed rather one sided. The minions are much weaker than the hunters so its not surprising that they were put down so quickly. Not to worry though as the dwellers have a few tricks up their sleeves that will make them much more potent in the upcoming battle.

As for the system itself, I like it. It is a very simple compared to most of the others out there but sometimes simple is a good thing. Song of Blades and Heroes is very easy to learn and fast to play, plus you can use any miniatures that you have on hand. This really opens up the hobby end of it as you pick up any mini that happens to catch your eye, stat it up, and get it on the table. Combine all of these things with the exceptionally low price tag (coming in at a mere $5 for the basic rules) and I think most people would agree that Song of Blades and Heroes is worth taking a look at.

The Parting Shot

And there we have it! Thanks for checking out the blog and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to either leave them right here on the blog or you can email me at SinCitySnowman@gmail.com. Be sure to come back next week as for the next part of the story but until then remember that patience might be a virtue but persistence is a blessing!

Not a Battle Report: Startled Sheep In The Trees

Hey everyone and welcome to what was supposed to be a heroic episode of the Dispatch!

For this episode we were going to get brutal as we look at a Song of Blades and Heroes battle report. Yeah, unfortunately you read that right. "Were." So what happened? Well, one of the problems with Song of Blades and Heroes is also one of its strengths. It has a system that lets you create any kind of beastie that your mind can conjure up, giving it a vast range and depth. This is all well and good, but when you are first starting out you should have some kind of an idea how the stats balance out. Let me explain.

For this scenario I created my two warbands, set up the board, and set out to have them murder each other. Not a bad idea except that I seriously misjudged their quality rating which affects when and if a model with activate in the turn. This meant that while the Wolfen were slowly moving across the board, the critters from down below just sat there... and sat there... and sat there. Makes it hard to have a game when one side is too busy picking their noses to get into the fight! Realizing my mistake, I adjusted the quality of the Troglodytes (still working on a better name as this one just doesn't seem to fit... maybe the dwellers or the delvers...) to make the comparable to the Wolfen. At first this seemed to be more or less balanced but as things went on I realized the quality rating on both sides was still too high. Instead of warriors charging forward to battle, it was more like a couple flocks of sheep that were shocked to see each other.

Needless to say this was not very inspiring and I was really tempted to just give up on the system at that point but I decided to stick to my guns and try it yet again! I have crunched the numbers and taken everything that I learned from my failed attempts into account and I think I'm all set to give it another run through... now I just need to find the time to do it. Curse you weekend! Why are you always so short?!?!?

So yes, the battle report is still coming... but not yet. Soon, I promise.

The Parting Shot

Well, things should be back on track next week with the SoBH battle report... really, I mean it this time! Man, you miss a deadline and everyone becomes a critic... Thanks for checking out the blog and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to either leave them right here on the blog or you can email me at SinCitySnowman@gmail.com. That includes thoughts on what to call the underground critters as well. Right now I'm toying with dwellers, delvers, or darklings but I'd love to hear some other suggestions as well. Until then, may all of your hardened warriors remember that they're not sheep!

Just a Blurb on the Blog for now

Hey everyone and welcome to a slightly abbreviated issue of the Dispatch!

Why abbreviated? Well, life conspires against us sometimes... well, that and lack of sleep... so unfortunately the SoBH battle report is going to be slightly delayed. Still gonna happen... but not yet. So for this one, we are just going to touch on a couple of things real quick like, so sit down and strap in because we are about to hit the group running!

Incoming!!!
Upcoming Releases for AT-43

It's been a while since I even mentioned AT-43 on the blog but it turns out that Rackham is working on a new version of the rules. According to their blog, the new version will primarily update some of the rules, introduce a new combat drill and switching to true line of sight while the URT and unit stats will remain unchanged.

This sounds all well and good, but the big question I have for Rackham is what they are going to do to support the game. Though it is currently still in production, it is nearly impossible for a new player to field most of the armies because you just can't get some of the units right now. I had thought about trying to push the game locally again but without minis to buy what's the point? Hopefully Rackham will finally get their act together and start releasing some of the old minis again as I really like this game system. In the end, only time will tell so all we can do is wait and see.

The Parting Shot

See? Told you this was going to be a quick one! Things should be back on track for next week with the SoBH battle report, plus I might even be able to get some shots of some new terrain that I'm working on posted as well. Until then, thanks for checking out the blog and if you have any questions or comments, feel free to either leave them right here on the blog or you can email me at SinCitySnowman@gmail.com. Until then, may all of your dice come up Dragons!