Song of Ruins and Ratmen

Ever since I first encountered miniature gaming in the mid-eighties, I've been fascinated with it. And although I have actually gamed precious little - a bit of 3rd ed. Warhammer Fantasy Battles, even less Rogue Trader, Blood Bowl, Space Hulk or Car Wars - it's a hobby I always seem to return to. However, despite searching far and wide, I haven't found a niche or a ruleset I'm comfortable with.

Or maybe I should say that I had not found it. One of the reasons I think is my eclectic taste in miniatures. I might like the odd figure from certain range, but not enough to start collecting a faction. Or then the ruleset has problems that would require some extensive reworking, something that despite my tinkering nature I was not ready for in the scale needed.

I knew there were some generic systems, but I initially thought them too simplistic to fulfill my needs. That is, until I actually decided to bite the bullet, and downloaded the basic rules for Song of Blades and Heroes by Ganesha Games. I had read some good reviews and battle reports, and was just in time for the new, revised edition of the basic rules. I have to say I was instantly hooked. Simple, yes, but deceptively so, with enough variation and fiddly bits to satisfy the tinkering heart of mine. And although you can play SoBaH straight from the book, since it contains ready-made roster of common fantasy figure profiles and a limited campaign system, I saw it as a toolkit for creating a really personal game. And since I've alway liked the theme if not the execution of a skirmish-level game about a certain ruined city wherein several small bands of warriors seek treasure and battle each other - well, you probably can guess where this is heading...

Future posts containing the Ruins & Ratmen vignette will follow my efforts to develope this idea further. I have no intention to attempt a 1:1 conversion, but rather an 'inspired by' -version. Also I have no commercial aspirations whatsoever with this project, everything presented here is ultimately done for my personal enjoyment. Which is a strange word to use, as in the next post in this series, we will be taking a look into OpenOffice Calc. Song of Spreadsheets and Data merge? Stay tuned!