Skulldred Solo Test Drive

Hello!

Long time no post! I do most of my sharing nowadays with Facebook or G+. I just don't seem to have that much to say. But when I want to share gaming stories or interesting creations, this is my favorite place for them. I know it'll last and that someday somebody might find it and think it's interesting or useful.

Today I played a solo game of a fantasy miniature skirmish game called Skulldred. The game is in beta, and has been for quite a while. I've been interested in it for some time, but never took the steps to get into the beta. I'm kicking myself now, cause I don't know when or if a new beta is coming out. What I played today are the freely available 2.05 rules, but the creator is talking about 3.3 on her website. I've got my fingers crossed, cause this game seems like it'll be worth the wait.

I failed to take pictures cause I can't find my camera. It was not anything big, just a little Orcs vs Dwarves skirmish by a ruined cabin in the woods. Both forces used the same stats, since that's what it suggests in the book and I decided to try it this time. (In the past, I've gone crazy making multiple forces and one wipes the other out. Then I wonder why the game is so unbalanced. I'm trying to correct myself, here.)

Forces are as follows:

Leader (Dwarven Shieldmaiden vs Orc Taskmaster)
Hero (Dwarf w/ Longpick vs Armored Orc Knight)
3 Veteran Warriors (Dwarves w/ Axes vs Orcs w/ Hammers)
3 Archers (Dwarven Musketeers vs Goblin Archers)
Big Thing (Steam Brawler vs Bugbear Warrior)

Each figure has a number of dice they roll in combat (attacking or defending, combat is simultaneous) and a target number for success. Ranged attacks use the targets size as the TN to hit, rather than anything on the shooter's card. Most things that modify your result in other games add a dice to one players hand or the other, meaning your real hurdle is the target number. Each d6 you roll only counts as a hit if you roll the target number or lower. The side with more successes knocks the opponent back or down. Or, if you hit hard enough, you can take them out instantly.

Heroes and Leaders were both 4 Combat Dice 4 Combat Level (a little difficult to process the meanings of those numbers from the names, but once you understand it makes sense). Veteran Warriors were 3/3, and the Big Things were 5/2 (Roll 5 dice, only succeed on 2 or lower). This made the leader and Hero the heavy hitters, and the rest of the group were mostly to help provide gang-up bonuses.

On to the battle!

The forces started out really close to each other. The Leader starts out 9" (crap, I made the stick 8" long...) from the edge (Called a Long Span, as opposed to a Span which is 3 inches.). Then the rest of their army starts out within one Long of them. So you can have a guy 19" deep into the table during deployment! I had a 19" x 39" section of table for this small battle, and there were attacks on turn 2. The two forces started on opposite sides of the ruined cabin and came around politely to beat each other up in the middle.

The Dwarves lost a key figure, the Hero, pretty early on. He attacked the Orc Hero and rolled really bad. When you get beaten in combat by more than 1, you're down. You have to pay a Dreadskull (kind of like extra lives, but you decide who gets them). to revive the figure, or sacrifice the figure to keep the Dreadskull. You can leave them down and perform either action later at any time, which adds another interesting decision to the process. Anyway, the Orc Hero beat him by his To Kill value (another stat that, if you're ever beaten by, instantly kills you without the chance to spend a Dreadskull to revive yourself.

The Dwarves tried, but they just couldn't come back from that initial setback. Small melees were joined and broke up and wandered around the battlefield. The rules say they like to promote a swashbuckling feel and I think they succeed. When you get a chance to push someone back and then either follow them up or not, I think it make for interesting gameplay. You don't just lock in your opponents and swing until they're dead - you have lots of chances for getting out of their reach and it can be rewarding to do so.

The Dwarves lost their Leader, Hero, Steam Brawler, and all three Dreadskulls while the Orcs still had all three of those and 1 Dreadskull left to boot. I imagine the Dwarves left behind, eager to avenge their compatriots, will get to safety and then raise a small army to defeat this orc warband.

I'm really psyched about this game - it addresses most of the issues I've had with Song of Blades and Heroes. I'm going to play a bigger practice game soon, then start trying to run demos of it in town to prepare for Gamestorm. Alright, sleepy medicine's kicking in. Time for beds.