Song of Bricks and Minifigs

I've already written about Ganesha Games' Song of Blades and Heroes, and what a terrific set of all-purpose skirmish games rules Andrea has put together. In addition there are now versions for modern combat, horror, science fiction, Arthurian mythos, swashbuckling and piracy, and more are coming out every month.

Since the game is designed to be used with any and all miniature lines and scales, there really is no limit to what figures you can use. Since my painting and modelling time is somewhat limited, one of the ways I play SoBH is with Lego minifigures.

I've been a Lego fan for a long time, and the variety, quality and just plain "coolness" factor of their figures has been increasing year after year. Minifigures are totally customizable. Want to give your fighter an axe instead of a sword? Go right ahead. Don't like his expression? Change his head! The possibilities are endless. The one downside is that after Lego retires a theme or a set, the prices can skyrocket on the secondary market. My suggestion is if you see a set with cool figures, buy it. You won't regret it.

Recently, Lego began releasing sets of individually bagged minifigures, priced at $3 each. They are currently about to release series 6. These come in a polybag, and you don't know which of the 12 in the series you are getting... unless you get to be an expert at feeling for particular components through the bag. My kids and I are now experts at identifying what makes each figure unique, and feeling for it. Lizardman - feel for the tail. Cavewoman - the club. Dwarf - short legs and winged helmet. We can go through a bin of these guys in record time and pick out exactly what we want.

I've gone ahead and created a couple of SoBH warbands, using some of Lego's recent releases and the stats in the Ganesha books. I have plans for many more, and I will share them here as I get them done.

For now, we have Lizardmen, Elves and Dwarves.

First up: the Lizardmen, evil minions of the Dark Elves. I envision these guys as supporting Dark Elf warbands, while at the same time being able to field a small band of raiders on their own.

We start with the grunts - they're armed with clubs and shields, as well as some missile troops with javelins and shields.

Lizardman Warrior (w/hand weapon & shield) - 52 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Amphibious, Tailslap

Lizardman Skirmisher (w/javelins & shield) - 46 points
Quality: 3+
Combat:3
Special: Amphibious, Shooter: Short, Tailslap

We've also got a guy who can act as leader (if the raiding party is on its own) or as a champion if they are part of a larger Dark Elf force. They're both personalities, and they cost the same. The only difference is one has the leader ability and one has the tough ability.

Lizardman Leader (w/hand weapon & shield) - 82 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Amphibious, Leader, Tailslap

Lizardman Champion (w/hand weapon & shield) - 82 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Amphibious, Tailslap, Tough

With either a leader or a champion, the full warband of six models comes in at  330 points, with 25% personality points.

Next we have some Elves. These figures came out in series 3, and my regret is that I was not able to find more of them. Initially, Walmart was the only place we found them. With each succeeding series, they've been in more and more stores, and new we can get them at the grocery store, the drugstore, Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, and more...

Elf Warrior (w/spear & shield) - 38 points
Quality 2+
Combat 3

Elf Archer (w/longbow & dagger) - 55 points
Quality 2+
Combat 3
Special: Shooter: Long

Elf Mage (dagger) - 63 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 2
Special rules: Magic-user

Elf King: (sword and shield, chainmail) - 100 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 5
Special rules: Leader

The Elf King is a customized minifigure my son made for me. Thanks Lucas!

Elf Swordmaster (twin duelling swords) - 88 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 5
Special: Combat Master

I am still working on getting the components to put together a full warband of Elves.

This brings us to my personal favorites - the Dwarves! I was lucky enough to get a bunch of the earlier, and now discontinued, Lego Dwarves at a decent price, plus the last batch of minifigures, Series 5, had a Dwarf character, and I was able to get a lot of those as well.

Dwarf Warrior (w/hand weapon & shield) - 34 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Short Move

Dwarf Lord (w/two-handed weapon) - 88 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 4
Special: Fearless, Leader, Short Move

Dwarf Elite Warrior w/two-handed weapon)- 50 points
Quality: 2+
Combat: 4
Special: Short Move, Steadfast

Dwarf Gunsmith (w/two handguns) - 40 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 3
Special: Sharpshooter, Shooter: Medium, Short Move


Dwarf ThunderGunner (w/blunderbuss) - 41 points
Quality: 4+
Combat: 3
Special: Blast,Short Move

Dwarf Berserker (w/hand axes) - 48 points
Quality: 3+
Combat: 4
Special: Berserk, Fearless, Short Move

I am still working on equipping some with crossbows (I'll name them Quarrellers because I love the pun!), as well as a bear-drawn chariot for my noble.

My son has put together quite a force of undead Egyptian mummies, including flying mummies, scarab-riding mummies and more. I will dedicate a whole post to his army in the near future!

As for me, I will be working on adding more variety to my current warbands, as well as putting together my Dark Elves. I am especially eager to see if I can use some of the raptors from the new Lego Dinosaurs theme to make lizard-mounted Dark Elf cavalry!

'Til next time!