Helkima, Tuskgaarde Ranger

This is about the only format where I feel comfortable enough to break that most grievous of gamer-taboos, telling someone else about your character!

We were utilizing the FATE engine quite a bit, which I'm a big fan of. It's just a tight set of rules that can be applied to any genre, and they don't make any room for hanger-ons, every player is put into the middle of the story. In fact, the game depends on it.

Well do I need to mention Sarterra again? Massive fantasy world, co-created by a handful of us over the course of a year, fully-realized, mapped, populated, and the like? No? What's the point of having this great world if you can't romp around in it?

The ball was rolling for a new campaign launch, but shortly after brainstorming characters and the like, the mission was scrubbed. This is really too bad on many, many reasons, but some good came of it. For one, our resident artist Bi3cuit whipped up this cool sketch for my character, and two...well, I can't think of reason number two. Hopefully the campaign will get off the ground eventually though, until then my "Conan-half-Orc-archer-highlander" character will linger half finished here.

Name: Helkima
Race: Tuskgaarde
Class: Ranger

Skill Pyramid:

• Ranged Weapons 5+
• Survival, Melee Weapons 4+
• Athletics, Endurance, Resolve 3+
• Fists, Stealth, Might, Articifer 2+
• Intimidate, Investigation, Empathy, Alertness, Rapport 1+

Stunts:

• Quick Shot (ranged weapons, allows multiple shots per action)
• Lightning Hands (more dex-based goodness)
• Trick Rider (as it sounds, using a dire wolf as the mount)
• Tracker (as it should be, being a woodsy archer and all)
• Animal Companion (the aforementioned dire wolf)

Aspects:

• Embrace of Ouroboros (Helkima has undergone rites and rituals of his native peoples to tap into that funky tree-hugging vibe)
• Child of the First Tree (all Tuskgaarde receive this racial ability)
• Way of the Free and Divine (learned martial arts/weapons training from bird-man monks)
• Trained by the Sons of Berrick (learned beer drinking and rangering from hardcore Dwarves)
• Noble Savage (I just love playing this archetype, the Conan/Greystoke kind of deal)
• Deeds Not Words (working name, a hokey name stolen from an even hokier movie, but the premise here, the whole 'jump head first' kind of mindset, is the same)

Mik's Moment of Zen, pt. 6

"Cartography 101, courtesy an awesome Sarterran world map."

Long Overdue Orcs

It's one thing to have a bunch of miniatures in a box, or still in the package in storage somewhere, we all have those...some in vast numbers. It's another thing entirely to have a project sitting around on the launch pad, and by project I mean it has a definite purpose (as soon as it's painted, you're using it), and it's been sorted, glued on bases, even primed. All it's doing is waiting for you to paint it.

Thanks to the recent migration of Andy's archives over to a new blog format, all his older material is now in a user-friendly format. Reading back through the archives, I found this post, dated a solid five years ago! That's me, I'm the unnamed "buddy", and that's how long this project has been sitting around. Well, five years is long enough, and with the new year around the corner, I certainly didn't want to make it six!


Here are the latest minis to come out of the workshop here at Mik's Minis. Also, 6mm may also be my new favorite scale! I was able to crank out a full-sized Hordes of the Things army in just two evenings. For those keeping score, I'm counting the whole base as a single miniature in the 'minis painted' category on the right. If you counted the actual figures however this army consists of 58 figures overall, which sounds about like a regular 28mm army.

Hordes of the Things is a great game, and we've been playing off and on for about five years I'm guessing, though probably longer in reality. The rules play fast, are easy to learn but will challenge you in the long run to tactically and proficiently use all of the different types of units, of which there are plenty. You can also play it in any scale, so you can use your existing armies if you'd like, especially to give it a test run. The best thing is, the rules are free! If for nothing else, they make for a surprisingly entertaining read. There's a good site that sums up many of HotT's facets here at the Meadhall, sadly its predecessor, the Stronghold is no longer.

Above you've got a blurry photo from my not-too-smart phone, but here in the next day or two, as the holidays allow, I'll get a proper post or two up detailing my latest army. Five years is a long time, but maybe what my army was doing was waiting for a proper setting to maraud in, like the one we now have in Sarterra.

A Sarterra I See Before Me

I know many of you are wondering how the creation of our fantasy world, Sarterra is coming along. Well, I like to think that anyway! I f I were to run into you however, say, at Fall-In! or something and you were to ask, my answer would be a resounding, "Swimmingly!"

Over a year ago I first posted on this endeavor. The four of us sat down with a copy of the incredibly cool game, Dawn of Worlds at hand and began to give birth to a planet. We have tinkered on this thing, both full-time in earnest, and part-time off and on since September of '09, and recently we've picked up steam and are fleshing it out further.

In the large map above you've got a glimpse of the whole Mars-sized planet. We've got continents labeled and major cities listed. The next step is to take one small part of the overall map, "zoom in", and complete just a single area. This will include all of the lesser cities and towns, and smaller landforms that wouldn't necessarily be seen "from orbit" per se.

Before I go any further I should point out that all cartography is done by our resident artist Chris "Biscuit" Miller and he continues to amaze us all. He takes sketches and notes from us sitting around the table, hemming and hawing over mountains and rivers and cranks out full color maps I wouldn't even expect to get in a professional product. As a free plug for him, he does do commissions and I'm sure he'd love to hear from you. cmgillustrations "at" gmail.com


In the 'zooming' process we've tackled two separate regions for two separate campaigns. The one on the top is a portion of the much larger overall continent of Talamh. In this case the western area of Talamh is the country of Bresia. The lower focus area is the continent of Arhun. We're still working on Arhun and it's yet to have its borders broken down further into political boundaries. Three races prominently call this continent home, so I will suggest to the guys at the next session that three countries in this case ought to do the trick.

The country of Bresia, the continent of Arhun, and everything in between can all be found on a wiki-type page we've been compiling since the beginning. We've got a couple of dozen races, just as many organizations and orders, deities, avatars, major heroes, and more. Here's the link to the Sarterra wiki. Also, loosely linked to all of this are the many battles of Song of Blades and Heroes (another awesome ruleset) we've fought over the last year or so. These SBH battles technically take place in the world of Sarterra as well.


Bresia; inhabited, governed, and settled by the Romanesque human empire known as the Averni. Bresia is their foothold into colonizing beyond their home continent of Avernia. Its capital city of Port Valens is the hub of commerce and trade.


The continent of Arhun features a wide variety of flora, fauna (ahem, Dinosaurs!), and landforms. Three prominent races call Arhun home with many other minor races also present. The good and noble Dragonborn have built their capital city of Itova on a gigantic chunk of floating rock and earth raised a thousand feet in the air held in place by giant chains to the land below. The Dwarves have carved out a kingdom from the river's edge and the deep forests. Their technology is without equal not only in Arhun, but in all of Sarterra and they have subsumed the mighty Minotaurs of the land under their sphere of influence. Last of the prominent races in Arhun are the primitive Teotzin. These humans live in cyclopean pyramids where they practice the arts of embalming and exhibit an astounding knowledge of astronomy.

I hope you've enjoyed being a spectator to this world creation process. It's still a long ways off from being completed, but it's maps and info like we have so far that get me energized to see it through. Check out those links, and especially the wiki, there's a lot of creative juices in there and it's the culmination of four experienced gamers to boot, it's pretty much world creation "done right" if I may be so bold to state.

Mind you, it's not just us, the game Dawn of Worlds is what puts you in charge and gives you such an easy-to-use system that covers so much ground, both literally and figuratively. Not only is it efficient but it's an absolute blast to do with your friends, and it can be played as a standalone game without attaching such a ambitious project to it as well.

I also mentioned Song of Blades, which regrettably we haven't played in ages. By taking such a solid fantasy skirmish ruleset such as these, then follow up on a Dawn of Worlds game and you've got a one-two knockout punch combo on your hands that will knock you and your group's socks off.

Updates 'n Such

1. First and foremost, that time of the year is upon us again when Photobucket holds all my images for ransom. Seeing how I've got about 700 posts, that's too many pics to transfer or whatever. I may be jinxing myself, but the "due date" for me paying has come and passed, and my pics remain, so I'll wait 'til lights out, then pay up.

2. The Sons of Minos are in a slight holding pattern until I snag some bases. I will be going with the Dragon Forge's "Lost Empires" bases, I just need to save up some money because...




3. Fall-In! IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER! In less than a week from now, Duck Sauce, Bob Bryant, and myself are headed to Pennsylvania and we're hooking up with Repple Depple's Brian along the way. I didn't pre-register, so you'll find me in the huge registration line Thursday night. If you're reading this, make sure you find me at one point nonetheless. I am so looking forward to going.


4. I've mentioned Sarterra here more than a couple of times. Work continues to move forward on this fantasy world we're collaboratively creating. After laying out the basics we're now 'zooming in' on the continents and fleshing out the cities, organizations, and specific landforms. It's been a long road, it's nowhere near completion, but it's been a blast every step. I'll be posting soon on the two continents we've been fine tuning.

5. While we're talking about Sarterra, making the world is one thing but the goal is to actually play in it. I've got a couple of characters to whip up to boot, using the FATE system, so they'll be making an appearance as well.


6. Last, since it's Sunday as I type this I guess I should mention my Fantasy Football team, the Waterford Warpigs. I'm having my usual abysmal year sitting at 2-4, and today's game looks like it'll be a slaughter since four of my best starters are on a bye week.

Frostfairn; Races of Sarterra

The Frostfairn have existed in Sarterra for a short amount of time. Emperor Ittondor took his Elven armies and sought to make them more powerful than any race on Sarterra. Using magics of all disciplines, from the adepts of all the other races, the Emperor set out to transform his children.

He sought fearlessness, he got a complete lack of emotion. He sought passion, he got vindictiveness. He sought beauty, he got cruelty without bounds. He sought immortality, he got eternal death.

The Frostfairn epitomize all that is cruel and unrelenting in Sarterra. They do not take slaves or prisoners, none are left in their wake. They do not ally, even temporarily, with other races no matter the benefit. They are not mindless, far from it, but their bodies are devoid of any life. In death they live eternal. Their bodies, resilient as they may be, suffer from decomposition over time. This occurs at a fraction of the rate found in basic biology, but it happens nonetheless.

Emperor Ittondor's ingenious solution to this tragic flaw was to relocate the Frostfairn to the frozen southern pole. Here their slowly decomposing bodies remain intact. Halindar and Eulonteos are the first two Frostfairn cities that have been raised from the ice and snow, but certainly not the last. The architecture of the cities is as cold as those who dwell within them, as cold as the freeze that permeates the land. Tall, dark spires pierce into the gray veil of shifting clouds. Walls of ice, carved with chisel and magic, encircle the great fortresses.

The Frostfairn, at initial glance, physically resemble the Elves or the Darque. This is in form only, the two races, Darque and Frostfairn are nearly exact opposites. Frostfairn have eyes that glow with an unnatural yellow with centers the color of molten gold. Their skin, long dead, isn't taut, but retains a surprisingly healthy feel and their hair is kept long and is thick and dark to the point that swallows up the surrounding light. Like the other Elves of Sarterra, Frostfairn are lithe and tall with a powerful, sublime strength. There is great speculation as to the nature of the Frostfairn, but it is unknown if their cruelty is born or learn. It doesn't matter the origin, their spite in the world is renown.

Races avoid contact with them at all costs, and those who haven't encountered them yet, quickly learn to keep away. Because of this, many myths and legends surround the Frostfairn, making them as unappealing a target to other nations as possible. Not only that, but given the extreme cold of their environment, no other nation is remotely interested in acquiring that territory.

Doing a random google-image search I came across the piece you see here (used w/o permission). It came from End-Reitanna at DeviantArt, check their gallery out here. Check out tomorrow and I post my finished "evil ice elves" who now not only have a name, but a background!

The Eulonteos Engagement

Deep in the frozen lands of Sarterra's southernmost continent, the profane Ice Elves have not only scratched out a meager existence, but have learned to thrive there. The massive, walled city of Eulonteos stands at the base of the Land's End mountains, and represents the last point of civilization before the frozen void beyond. Many outposts and smaller settlements dot the landscape near Eulonteos, most within just a day or two journey from the city itself. It is here that forces of Sarterra clashed; the greedy Duergar, dark Dwarves bent on expanding their subterranean stranglehold, the soulless Liche in service to Nesut Ammon, raising his army from the crypts of his enemies along the way, and the profane Ice Elves, cruel and spiteful, as cold in demeanor as their surroundings.

Technically it was going to be boardgame night, but at the last minute we called an audible and opted for Song of Blades and Heroes instead. Great game, I can't say enough good things about it really. We haven't played in a while, but set up was a snap. We didn't have forces ready, but it took no time to whip up three complete lists, and for models, we just grabbed whatever was laying around. Since we spent so much time and work on our Sarterra collaborative world-building, it has become the default fantasy setting for all of our games.

Hailing from lands so far abroad it defies comprehension, this follower of Ammon washed ashore on the southern continent alongside the wreckage of a shipwreck. Lost at sea for months, this Liche from the city of Djedet sustained his life energies by siphoning those of his crew. Drawn to the city of Eulonteos, and the life energies within, the Liche began moving overland. His warband is composed of the remains of Ice Elves, plundered from their unhallowed tombs. A lone zombie of unknown origins also accompanies the warband.

Emperor Ittondor created the Ice Elves of the southern continent in his own twisted image. When word arrived that undead were marching on one Eulonteos' settlements, a small band was detached to investigate. Two warriors and an archer were led by a female scout. Alongside the Elves were also an Ice Elemental, and am enthralled Frost Wasp.

This is a case of proxying, of sorts. Originally I was going to play a Wood Elf warband, but when we randomly chose the southern continent, I changed it up to the evil Ice Elves. Just imagine instead of a Tree-Man, it's an elemental, greens are light blue, etc.

The Duergar appear wherever strife and conflict seem to be at their thickest. It is unknown how these particular Duergar arrived on the southern continent, but it is unlikely they arrived by sail. Given their propensity for rooting out and using portals deep under the earth, it is more likely that they arrived through an underground passage via these temporal ley-lines. It is also unknown what their goal is, but they arrived with many high-ranking individuals. A hero of previous encounters, the veteran lady is flanked by two of her hand-picked warriors. Leading the entire expedition is the Slayer Commander, flanked by his own slayer guard, one of whom has brought along his enslaved Goblin pet.

The bulk of the Duergar warband advance across the smaller bridge


The Undead warband, led by the Liche, skirt the forest edge

• The first couple of turns all parties advanced towards center of table
  
• Skeletons fire their bows at the Frost Wasp, all missing grievously
• The Djedetian Liche transfixing the Elemental first try...
• ...which the Elemental was able to shake off immediately the next turn
  
• Frost Wasp crosses river to threaten Duergar rear guard
• The Ice Elf archer moves to river edge to harass the Duergar rear guard with arrows

Ice Elves advance through the cover of the blighted forest

It looks like I'm going to have to get crafty and follow Repple Depple's Easy Forest Boundaries tutorial and crank some of these out for my house. There was some, ahem, controversy about where the forest edge exactly was. Of course there was no real controversy, just more of the good-natured fun we usually have at the table! Although I changed the fluff of my army at the last minute, they were mechanically Wood Elves, so moving through the woods didn't pose a hindrance to them I could tweak this in the future.


Transfix! The Liche freezes the Elemental in place

• Skeletons charge the two Elf warriors emerging from the treeline
• The Elemental is once again transfixed, and hit ineffectively by arrows
  
• The Elemental shakes off the Transfixation once again...
• ...only to be charged directly by the terror-inducing Liche
• The resolve of the Elemental breaks and he temporarily flees the combat
  

In the thick of it; Ice Elves and Undead clash in melee

The Duergar rear guard wouldn't take to the harassment well. Elven arrows rained down on them to little effect, but providing cover fire to the gigantic Frost Wasp. One of the Slayers spotted this monster and knew it would make a fine notch on his axe. He tugged at the chain leash attached to his Goblin pet to urge him on, then the Slayer headed straight for his prey.

Splat! Bug juice flies as the Slayer swats down the Frost Wasp


Both Ice Elves and Undead get 'stuck in'

The combat between the Ice Elves and the Djedetians came to a furious climax. Opponents were outnumbered and allies worked back-to-back fending off blows. The Liche himself, after chasing off the Elemental closed on the Ice Elf leader, a female scout. She was considerably less experienced than the Liche, but her drive was stronger and she eviscerated his withered torso. Spurred on by her victory, the warriors at her side swept aside their skeletal opponents. One skeleton archer remained nearby on the hilltop, which the scout charged.

The stout-legged Duergar pressed on like a juggernaut


The lone zombie met its demise at the end of a Duergar axe

The Undead found it too hard to fight capable enemies on both fronts and with their numbers decimated and leader slain, they quickly lost their ability to effectively influence the battle. As the Duergar rolled through the remaining ranks of skeletons they set their sights on the Ice Elves, confidence building with each step. What little skeletons remained were outright ignored by the Duergar as they closed with the Ice Elven warband.

• On the other side of the field, the lone Slayer and Goblin pet cross another bridge
• The Elven scout eviscerates one of the Slayers, causing a "gruesome kill"
• The Duergar is unaffected by the morale check thanks to their "fearlessness"
• The mighty Duergar Slayer Commander easily dispatched the scout leader
  

• An Ice Elf warrior is bested in melee by the Veteran Duergar female
• Ice Elves test for morale with half their original numbers slain, and pass
• The Veteran and her Commander fight in tandem against the Elemental
• One of the Duergar warriors slays the remaining Ice Elf warrior
  
• The Elemental, while knocked down, is wounded by the ferocious Veteran
  

Once the full might of the Duergar found its way to the field, the fate of the Ice Elves was as sealed as the undead before them. Duergar warrior, veteran, and commander alike cut a swath through the fairer-skinned opponents. What remained was the mighty Elemental, bellowing its challenge to the short folk. The outcome would be obvious, but the Elemental wouldn't yield so easily. It gave as good as it got, but in the end it was overwhelmed by its foes.

The sole surviving Ice Elf, the archer, hid among the forest before making his escape. His last act of spiteful vengeance was striking down the pet Goblin slave of one of the slayers. He did this on the move, without slowing, and made it to the bridge. He took once last look at his ally, the elemental, as it was overwhelmed. The archer swore an oath on the bridge that the Duergar would pay dearly for their transgressions. He spat into the freezing water, sneering toawrds the dark dwarves, then took off into dusk.

Fracas at Finn Elva

A River Runs Through It...

The settlement of Finn Elva lies where the Livwald River meets the mountain range. It is a place of idyllic beauty and although the weather ranges from cool summers and much colder winters, it maintains a healthy population. A Vargr expedition into a series of ruins in the mountains turned up many forgotten treasures, most of which made their way back to other settlements. Some of the items were hidden away in caches throughout the Livwald. One such item, a pair of magical gloves, the Amazing Technicolor Dreamgloves, was sealed in a chest and placed in a sacred Tuskgaarde shrine on the outskirts. Tragically, the Dawnrunner patrol that had stashed the item away was intercepted by a vile Duergar band. Although their resolve was strong, they eventually broke under the wicked blades of their torturous captors. The Duergar learned of the magic gloves and gathered their brothers to make for the shrine. A Vargr Dawnrunner had escaped the Duergar camp, mortally wounded, she made for the mountains. As luck would have it, she stumbled into a Dwarf camp. They made her comfortable, but could not fully heal her. She told them of her fallen friends and of the Duergar en route to the shrine to recover the gloves. Dwarven relations had been a budding prospect with those of Hjorvard's lineage. That, coupled with the racial hatred the Dwarves have for their former kin, prompted the proud warriors to beat the Duergar to the shrine and retrieve the gloves for the Vargr. His presence unknown to anyone, the Lich Kaphiri gazed into his reflecting pool as all of these events unfolded. Knowing the recovery of these gloves would bring great favor to him from his god, Nesut Ammon, he began scheming. He would raise his own undead minions to accompany him through a Djedetian portal to recover this artifact.


This is the second battle report from the other night of gaming with the Song of Blades and Heroes (SBH) rules. Not just the rules, but we're also using the collaborative world we put together using the excellent (and free!) Dawn of Worlds system.

I gotta hand it to the SBH rules yet again, they're very easy, but not dumbed down, they just facilitate quick play. You focus less on the rules being used and more on the narrative taking place, and since your turns aren't guaranteed to go according to plan from one phase to the next, there's enough of a unknown element to keep things interesting. As with the last SBH batrep, I took a lot of pics, so I'll make this mostly a visual report with some narrative. We went all out with the terrain this time around, and it really shows!


A Druidic Circle of Power made of ancient black, basalt stone...


A hearty mushroom grove on the banks of the Livwald River...


The Dwarf captain, veteran Gromhammer was the first to reach a treasure chest, buried in the silt beneath the cold waters. He pried it open, but found it empty! There were two other chests in the area, but Duergar forces were already on the march.


The Duergar leader stands in awe at the threshold of the Tuskgaarde shrine. A place of power such as this impresses even his evil nature. Within, at the foot of the statue, lies another of the chests. He smashed the chest to splinters, and howled in frustration as he found it empty as well, everyone within earshot knew then that the third remaining chest must contain the magic gloves. All eyes turned to the horizon just then as Lich Kaphiri and his undead minions emerged from the edge of the woods, advaning on the last chest.


Two Duergar Painseekers cross the stone bridge...


All pretense of recovering the last chance were lost when both Dwarf (good and evil) locked eyes across from one another. As fate would deem it, their titanic clash would take forth in the center of the Circle of Power. Challenges were bellowed from both sides, and their loyal troops rushed to watch. The undead sought to use this distraction to make for the last chest. A cunning plan, but would it hold? The two Dwarves charged in...


Hammer and axe collided with a thunderous roar that shook the earth itself. Centuries of anger and hatred poured out of each of the stout warriors and they rang blow after blow against one another. As many swings hit as did not, and the ground was covered in their blood. Defeat was not an option for either, only one would walk away.


Gromhammer struck the mortal blow, felling the Duergar leader. As he looked up, he saw the shriveled husk of Lich Kaphiri bearing down on him with a skeletal guard. There would be no respite for the Dwarf captain, and he engaged the undead.


You know it's funny, I had no idea this picture was taken of me until I uploaded the photos to my computer. I've got to hand it to Andy, he was quick on the draw here. Anyway, what you're witnessing is my utter lament (and subsequent laughter) of miserably failing a very important roll. We have a houserule regarding die rolls, and that's if any die falls off the table while rolling, it's an automatic miss/failure/fumble/etc. This had happened a couple of times during the night, thus my little dice rolling basket you can see on the corner. As my captain was rolling for a crucial attack I missed the basket entirely!


The errant die roll, curses!


Seeing Gromhammer, umm, flounder, the Duergar Painseekers charged in to finish him off, avenging their own. Gromhammer wasn't without his own troops, who counter-charged their twisted cousins. This allowed the Dwarf captain to regain his composure and focus on the Lich Kaphiri, who was no match for the martial prowess of Gromhammer.


Dwarven troops lay waste to the animated skeletons...


In the end the honor duel between the Dwarves and Duergar in the Circle of Power proved to be the very distraction the undead needed. Although their Lich Kaphiri fell in battle, his phylactery located back in Djedet was not destroyed, he would one day rise again. The third chest contained the magic gloves the Vargr sought to hide away, and the last skeleton took flight with it. Gromhammer made an unprecedented pursuit, but it wasn't enough in the end, and he watched helplessly as the skeleton fled the field.

Confrontation in Kustaa

The town of Kustaa sits on the southeastern edge of the Livwald Forest

The other night we were able to play a little Song of Blades and Heroes, and it was quite a blast. Prep time was minimal and the rules were very easy to pick up; being my first time to play. We fought a three-way battle with the game objective being that of a 'king of the hill' situation, but instead we used one of Andy's craters for the 'hill'. I used my Wood Elf band, Andy went with his Djedetians, and Chri3 fielded Nezumi (Skaven).


Lady Talon's Livwald Delegation was in Kustaa...


...as were the minions of Djedet


Lady Talon and her Wood Elf Companion defeat Magus Skulk...


...and in short order, his Rat Ogre bodyguard, Kingsley


Djedetian monsters attack the Tree Man in the streets...


...and with support from their masters, slay him


The sultry Sylph and giant hornet outflank the Djedetians


The Elves brace for a fly-by attack from the giant bat...


...who is subsequently laid low by their steel and magic


The Livwald Delegation bravely hold their ground, surrounded by foes

Lady Talon's life force was crushed by the mandibles of the giant scarab


The Nezumi attack the giant scorpion en masse, scoring a victory


The last seen of the lone Wood Elf Warrior was the flash of his twin blades as he cut a swath through the ranks of the Nezumi. He would fall later in the battle. The Livwald Delegation was wiped out, every last one, and what Nezumi managed to survive, fled from Kustaa and into the woods beyond the town's perimeter. Although the giant monsters (bat, scorpion, and scarab) were all killed, the Djedetians' mage-leader still lived, as did his bodyguard. Their stone golem was too slow to ever see combat, but it didn't matter. With the Elven host slaughtered, and the Nezumi fleeing in fear, the Djedetians clearly held the higher ground, err, crater in this case and were the victors of the confrontation.

I've gotta say, these SBH rules were very easy to hit the ground running with. The game moved at a quick pace, and nothing seemed too out-of-whack or unbalanced. The turn sequence was kind of neat too, and made for some tension to see if all of your forces would get to go or not (if they roll too many failures your turn ends immediately). I thought the magic was a little weak sauce at first, but it grew on me, I'll have to play it some more to really see. Overall the game had that elusive "fun" factor that's been rumored to exist.