Normally introducing just one or two new players to miniatures gaming is a weighty task — there's the rules overview, the introduction of the miniatures and the explanation of the stats, plus turn-by-turn questions about various situational stuff.
Last month I introduced not one or two, but FIVE new players to Song of Blades & Heroes in one epic slugfest game. It's a testament to the strength of the SBH rules engine that the game 1) played fast 2) didn't bog down despite most of the players being relatively new to tabletop minis gaming and 3) gave us the kind of "oooooh man, did you SEE that?!" moments that really define a fun miniatures game.
Anyway, we threw together a quick encounter pitting three undead warbands against an alliance of two human and one elven warband. The classic good guys vs. bad guys scenario. As for terrain, we just threw everything I had on the table without much consideration to the layout. It was no big deal, but one look at these photos and you'll agree that our terrain didn't really make sense. Walls led to forests, which were on top of hills and linked by bridges. Ha! It was a glorious mess, and we had fun.
The game ended early, but the players all got a good taste for how the system runs. Outnumbering and swarming your opponent is key! When we stopped playing, the undead had scored an impressive series of victories against the elves and were threatening to surround the beleaguered humans. In short, it was the perfect fantasy storyline!
