This is a great entry to fantasy skirmish gaming. It simplifies the rules so even younger gamers can join in. The simplified magic system might be a turn-off for some, but it keeps things breezy. Activation mechanic is pretty neat though, and adds to the unpredictability of battle.

My son and I play this all the time. Rules lite but very deep with other books and adventures

The sibling to Mighty Monsters, of which a good 50% of the text is copy/pasted from one to the other. To copypaste a part of my own review: "A modification of the rules typically used with Ganesha games, upsizing a unit to be multiple parts and having a lifebar that makes things riskier for the monster the more damage it has. With the emphasis being on body parts, the creation of a monster is very flexible and grants plenty of variety. They have been kind enough to include lots of archtypes implemented to create most of the classic giant monsters." Replace "monster" with "giant robot" and you'll get most of the gist.

The biggest key difference here is that mechas take damage differently, suffering more immediate effects and risking their pilot being knocked out. That said, there's plenty of bits and pieces tailored specifically to the mecha genre to give this its own feel from its sibling book.

A modification of the rules typically used with Ganesha games, upsizing a unit to be multiple parts and having a lifebar that makes things riskier for the monster the more damage it has. With the emphasis being on body parts, the creation of a monster is very flexible and grants plenty of variety. They have been kind enough to include lots of archtypes implemented to create most of the classic giant monsters. The damage system is pretty good too for emulating monsters stumbling and struggling to stay up after being worn down. The only gripe I have is that it it is sadly pretty easy to end up in a slugfest where two monsters get stuck together trading blows until one gets lucky and sends the other flying or something else interferes.

A fantastic introductory solo fantasy skirmish game. Simple enough that kids can learn to play it, yet has enough interesting depth for most wargamers.

One point deducted for two reasons. One, you NEED the card deck (free to download but adds an extra cost if you're getting it printed and made at home or bought via drive-thru-cards). Second is for some of the haphazardly organized information. This is sort of similar to my issue with Andrea's other games (Four Against Darkness for example). Some information just isn't where you expect them to be. For example, when going to party creation where it explains how to make a crew, there is no mention of starting HP or speed. That is mentioned under "Movement and Terrain" as well as under "Hit Points". Magic and spellcasting is in a section AFTER the campaign scenarios. Jumping back into the game after a while and just quickly building a crew turned out to be a bit more effort than it needed to be for such a relatively simple game.

There are also a few instances where I had to make judgement calls about what to do (when a monster's behavior conflicts with the activation card's instructions). This is sort of expected in some solo wargames where you're reliant on an AI system to drive the opponents.

Overall, I've had a LOT of fun with SS&SS and it has been my go to for getting some some quick solo games on the table.

A great supplement for the 4 Against Darkness solo rpg. In this book there is a good amount of unique classes including the chaos warden, a polar opposite of the "classic" druid class and also the Kukla, a living doll class that could use its hair to pick locks. Even better, there is a random dungeon section which involves a desert city sewers providing hours of play. Highly recommended if you want to expand your play from the core book.

Simple but elegant shirmish wargame that you can play even with your kids!

I'm big fan of this system and all its expansions.

Extremely bare bones product.

It is literally two dice, with a total of 12 rooms showing. I think maybe 3 of them are ones included In the 4AD booklet. For whatever reason, there are pips on some of the faces of these dice, but not all of them.

This looks like something you can create on Tinkercad in a few minutes, and is definitely not worth five dollars.

I'm fairly booty blistered that I spent money on this.

This is a real giggle of a game. First scenario is a bit hard but a whole lot of fun to get any of your old minis back on the table.

For those not familiar with Ganesha games's other series (such as "Song of Blades and Heroes" or "Flying Lead"), ToBaH is a tactical-skirmish-game-turned-rpg with tiny character sheets. Characters can be summed up as a few core stats, a short list of traits and maybe a magic word list for magic users. These simplified characters lend themselves to a lightweight system that is (generally) easy to pick up and play. Because this focuses on individual characters rather than a warband, the rules are a step more detailed and complex than its wargame relatives.

For those familiar with SoBaH and whatnot: this takes the current systems you would be familiar with and makes them more interesting by upping the complexity. Quality rolls are done differently, making use of multiple (potentially exploding) dice and traits boosting individual dice rather than the stat itself. Damage is taken a step further, with an additional roll applying additional effects on top of whether a character recoils or is wounded. For example, a character may drop their weapon or give opponents a free hack on a recoil. Also, characters roll for initiative, which determines when they get their chance to roll for activation, and rather than ending their turn outright, they risk a critical fumble.

Most of the traits supplied are tailored towards a stock medieval fantasy setting with some primitive firearms. The magic system is centralised around magic words: combine two or more to create a spell and describe its intended effects, with the ensuing roll determining its capabilities and strength. The flexibility is great but customising a spell on the fly will be a little rough on beginners.

I found the game to be pretty neat, but I found some rules as written to be convoluted or confusing. Also, I made the mistake of thinking this was the only book you'd need to play, finding it lacking at times: Some topics are touched upon but never elaborated and although example characters are supplied outisde the book, it is devoid of any example creatures or monsters. Turns out you will want Tales of Beasts and Perils (aka the GM guidebook) as well.

Pretty much a MUST-HAVE for GMs intending to handle Tales of Blades and Heroes games. The original ToBaH tells you how to play but skimps on a lot of core details (particularly experience), and this book picks up ALL the slack. The description clearly tells you everything it does, and it delivers on each of them.

Tales of Blades and Heroes is an RPG based on Andrea Sfiligoi's excellent Song of Blades and Heroes fantasy wargame.

This book adds a full suite of RPG flavored special rules to Song of Blades and Heroes. The result is what I will call an RPG wargame.

The RPG elements are well-thought-out, and I think they would play well.

Will I use it? If I were going to play an RPG with other people, this would be at the top of my list. It has integrated combat balance, which makes it far superior to most other RPG's I've tried. I mostly play solo RPG's, and I think it'll work just fine in that context using the Mythic GM Emulator to automate the RPG elements of the game, and Lone Blade to handle combat AI. I think I'll try it.

Pure fun. There are typos and small errors and... but it does not matter. This is pure fun, with beutiful artworks and it has more theme than all new games released. Besides autor is great person!

What a beutiful old school book. What a beutiful artworks. My soul sings. We are playing in a group and we love this to bits. This will bring memories, beutiful memories of Conan and red Sonja of old school posters and life as it used to be, normal, natural, easy. Well done! Do not stray from this path. You are a shining example of how it should be done Ganesha games!