Execution

Deployment

Firstborn Warband

Devout Warband

As I did not pay attention, I deployed one more Archer than I
should have - so the Devout actually played with 324 points. Shame on
me. Two archers was one of the variations I toyed with when designing
the warband, somehow I still had two in my mind...

The battle took place in a small village the Devout tried to
raid.

The defenders deployed first.

The attackers deployed second.

Turn 1

Firstborn Turn

The Firstborn won the initiative roll. The Enlightened, Mounted
Axeman and one Swordman moved boldly forwards, but the second
Swordsman stumbled over his own feet, which somehow was a setback
for Firstborn morale, and initiative passed to the Devout.

Devout Turn

The Devout advanced on the village. The Cursed took position on
the hill, but the second to climb it fell into a hole in the ground,
vanishing from view. The Skeletons advanced, but the scond failed
two activation rolls and the turn passed to the Firstborn
again.

Turn 2

Firstborn Turn

The Firstborn continued their advance, the Paladin and Mounted
Axeman trying to flank the Devouts.

Devout Turn

The Devout attack also faltered again and again, but the
Necromancer managed to keep his warband together, more or
less.

Turn 3

Firstborn Turn

Looks like last turn? Yep, that happens when the first
activation roll fails miserably...

Devout Turn

The two Skeleton Archers took up position on the hill, luckily
avoiding the hole the Cursed fell into.

Turn 4

Firstborn Turn

Noticing that the Swordmen were seriously lagging behind,
Richard declared the direction of movement taken so far by the
Enlightened and the Mounted Axeman had been a ruse actually, and
they moved onto the bridge to the other Firstborn flank.

Devout Turn

The Archers fired the first arrows of the battle, but on 3xLong
they missed of course.

Turn 5

Firstborn Turn

The Swordsmen formed a shieldwall. The Enlightened moved
towards the attackers, while the Mounted Axeman moved around the
house to attack them from the other flank.

Devout Turn

The Devout warband advanced further towards the village, under
the covering fire from the Skeleton Archers - which this time missed
the Double-Handed Swordsman twice. The Necromancer felt save behind
the broad back of the Harbinger.

Turn 6

Firstborn Turn

The Mounted Axeman rolled three actions, and Richard had the
cunning plan to storm through the Devout ranks to attack the
Necromancer. Unfortunately, the roll while crossing the stream
failed, and horse and rider were floating down with the hardly
existing current, out of sight...

Devout Turn

The turn started with one of the archers activating on 3 dice,
two of which failed. This made the one available action even more
important, the arrow flew straight towards the Enlightened - and
straight past him...

Turn 7

Firstborn Turn

The Enlightened managed to cross the stream without any mishap
and engaged the Harbinger. The Double-Handed Swordman was supposed
to cross the stream as well and engage the Skeleton opposite him,
but, you know, the water being so cold and ... wet... he just
remained where he was and it was the Devout's turn again.

Devout Turn

The Devout's turn was over very quickly though, as the Cursed who
activated first to charge the Enlighened failed two of his three activation
dice - thus he was only able to charge in before the initiative passed to
the Firstborn again.

Turn 8

Firstborn Turn

The Enlightened attacked the Harbinger, but due to being
outnumberd was beaten and had to recoil into the stream. The
Double-Handed Swordman worked up the courage to put his foot into
the water... and wuickly waded through.

Devout Turn

The Skeleton Archers both hit the Enlightened in the stream,
the first arrow had him recoil, the second pushed him over and he
fell to the ground. The Cursed then charged the Enlightened, and
nearly was also swept away, but managed to pull through the stream.
He was hampered by his wet robe, though, and the Enlightened pushed
him even while being prone.

The Skeletons ganged up on the Double-Handed Swordman, the
first two distracting him which allowed the third one to push him
over as well.

The Harbinger then charged the Enlightened, and nearly got
stuck in the river, with his weight and all, but managed to free his
feet. The Enlightened manages to archive a tie in the melee, being a
superior fighter allows you to fight from any position
apparently.

The Necromancer send a cloud of necromantic magick the
Swordsmen's way, and managed to score 1 higher then them, but the
shieldwall negated this small success.

Turn 9

Firstborn Turn

The Enlightened stood up and attacked the Harbinger, all blows
from both sides were parried, though. The Double-Handed Swordman
also tried to stand up kill... destroy some Skeletons, but rolled
three fails on his activation roll.

Devout Turn

Smiling on the bad luck of the Double-Handed Swordman's
activation roll, the first Skeleton rolled two dice to get at least
one success to attack the Firstborn - and rolled two fails! The
smile changed owner...

Turn 10

Firstborn Turn

The Enlightened finally landed a telling blow on the Harbinger
and toppled him. The Double-Handed Swordman managed to stand up, but
had no actions left to attack. One of the Bowmen missed the Cursed.
The Swordsmen in the shieldwall rolled two fails and one move
action.

(The Enlightened in the picture above has been moved down the
bank as the mini was prone to fall over there.)

Devout Turn

A Skeleton Archer was activated first with three dice, which rolled two
fails. The one success was used to shoot at the Paladin, but
missed.

Turn 11

Firstborn Turn

Firstborn Turn

The Enlightened scored a kill result versus the helpless
Harbinger, but the Tough Trait saved the Devout beast. Still, his Q
was raised by one.

The Doubled-Handed Swordman pushed back one Skeleton, the
Swordsmen on the other flank advanced and one of them attacked the
Cursed, but was only able to score a draw.

One Bowman scored two fails and one success on his activation
roll, using the success to shoot an arrow at the Necromancer. The
attack was a draw, though.

Turn 12

Devout Turn

The Double-Handed Swordman was attacked by one Skeleton and
managed to crumble his attacker to dust. The second Skeleton that
attacked him rolled two fails, and was pushed back for his
efforts.

Firstborn Turn

The Enlightened again landed a hevy blow on the Harbinger which
would have killed a human being, but the Harbinger again was saved
by his Tough trait, raising his Q to 6+.

The Swordsmen kill the Cursed.

The Double-Handed Swordsman rolled three activation dice,
scoring two fails ending the turn. The one success though, was worth
it as he scored a gruesome death on a Skeleton. The Harbinger failed
his morale test on three dice (vs. 6+, what have you expected...)
and ran away. All Skeletons passed their moral test, the Necromancer
had to withdraw one move.

Devout Turn

He decided that this was a good idea seeing his decimated forces, and
orderd all remaining Skeletons to retreat.

Debriefing

Victory Points

Firstborn

Richard

17

Devout

Matthias

3

Devout (Matthias)

Song of Blades and Heroes is a fun game. It has very easy mechanics but
still provides tense games. The activation roll is a bit of a gamble, and
makes the whole battle a bit unpredictable - not everyone's cup of tea but I
enjoyed the tension created by this. It really does matter who you activate
first. With this being our first game ever, I am sure we just scratched the
surface of the system can offer, but I definitely look forward to more songs
:-)