Songs of Blades & Heroes vs Skulldred

[ogryn]

So what do you guys think. Who likes what and why.
Both have their pros and cons.
I am not sure which on I like better.

[LeadAsbestos]

Like em both, but we've been playing Skulldred a lot recently. Love the use of the Skull counters, seems like a more tactical game, but still easy enough that my 7yr old gets what is going on.

[Thantsants]

Massive fan of Skulldred - just got a load of lads at our Explorer unit into wargaming on the strength of it and it adapted well to using with Dr Who minis for a Unit V Daleks game as well!

Having never gotten around to playing SOBH can't comment on that but Skulldred is indeed excellent!

[Kanvass]

Never having played Skulldread I cannot comment on it, however SOBH is a really solid ruleset, its really hard to make broken lists, you can use any minis you want, and the games are fast and easy to learn. Plus if you get snagged on a rukle and cannot come to an agreement, theres a yahoo group you can post any inquiries on and the actual creator of the game will get back to you within a day or two, plus hes on facebook and very approachable and always willing to help.

on a side note, the above posts have convinced me into looking into this skulldread game as its always good to have a few different rulesets to use.

Hope this was at least in some way helpful mate.

[Delaney]

Dave here- writer of Skulldred.  Missed this post looking at all the pretty pictures.

Main differences are...

  You are more in control of your warbands activation and routing- (never loose a turn or loose a game because your army chain reacted to a kill near the edge of the board.)
  Ranged combat and spells are deadlier.
  No maths.  No numbers held in head.  No roll, then add, then subtract, then compare, then divide.  Its tot up dice, roll and compare.  Hence playable when drunk.
  You can make strategic resource management decisions during opponents turn, saving lives, buffing rolls or sacrificing wounded troops.
  More variation in troop values - ranged is separated from hand to hand, for example.
  A little faster to play, so can have more miniatures.

Similarities are...
  Measuring sticks.  Great idea definitely borrowed from SOBH- brilliant idea that makes movement much more friendly for kids and less cheaty (nice one A.S)
  Multiple actions per model, generally between 1 to 3 action points- which is similar.
  Leader / troop distance strategy- keeping leaders in positions of command is vital in both systems.
  No distinct phases.
  Opposed rolls.
  Not forced to use any specific companies miniatures.
  Lots of fun

Voodooink want to wade in with a Havoc Comparison?

[ogryn]

Yes, please chime on on Havoc.
As I know nothing about it and want to learn.
Thanks

[VoodooInk]

Thanks for the invite Dave.

I'll start echoing something I read in this post here on the forums.
I think comparing HAVOC to either Skulldred or SBH is like comparing apples to oranges. While all these games are fun, HAVOC delivers a very different play experience from the other two. I want to stress the word different (not better), because I think they all are great depending on your taste, gaming group, or even your mood that day.

Some highlights of my design philosophy for HAVOC...

1. Simple (and unique) mechanics, that are layered/coupled within the turn architecture to open up endless tactical choices.
2. No straight line probabilities. This is a game of bending and breaking dice curves based on tactical position, unit match-ups, abilities, and support dice.
3. Alternating activations and opposed dice rolls with no tables.
4. Organic formation system that allows you to not only mimic any formation seen historically, but allows you to make custom formations on the fly, regroup, reform, morph, with NO complicated rules.
5. Rules of Form that give in game advantages for sporting play and fully painted forces.
6. Cut-Scene mechanic that allows for Matrix inspired mini-phases.
7. Melee combat is like a game in and of itself. It gives you the ability to simulate a variety of attack options ensuring that no two combats are the same.
8. Magic is not overpowering.
9. Heroic models can enter Challenges! for truly epic combat.
10. People seem to really like the rules for the Giant and Zombies.  
11. The rules for the Wound trait on my website can drop the model count down and really change the metagame. Injured models are actually less effective!
12. All models in The One List have specific abilities and multiple damage profiles making them better suited for some roles: offense, defense, anti-infantry, anti-cavalry, anti-beast, etc.
13. Use any companies miniatures- even Dave's Bederken! http://www.bederken.blogspot.com/

Ogryn- if you have any specific questions, then I'll be more that happy to answer. You can also check out a ton of bonus content on my website by clicking on the HAVOC, or RULES, tag.
http://bombshell-games.com/

Thanks again for the invite Dave!

[Thantsants]

Nearly mentioned Havoc - but as VoodooInk says there are some significant differences.

I'd certainly reccomend it though - loads of fun and quite cinematic in the way games play out thanks to the melee combat and cut scenes in particular.

I've done battle reports for both Havoc and Skulldred which might help give you a feel for both systems - probably should have mentioned that before! 

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=28795.0

http://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=26345.0