2021 Top 10 Solo Skirmish Games Countdown : #3!

#3 - Sellswords & Spellsingers

Otherwise known (to me) as “Spellswords”. This game is another one that’s been on my hard drive for ages. And even after I’d printed out and sleeved the cards… I still didn't play it. Until now.

And oh my goodness. This game is what I wanted 5 Leagues From the Borderlands to be. Gameplay is engaging, sometimes genuinely tough. It’s built for narrative missions so a mini campaign play is rewarding.

Like any good minis agnostic game, you choose your mini, make up your own character (WYSIWYG please) and then unleash them. Once you kill the bad guys, you need to make a choice: stay and loot or run off the table (which is usually the victory condition). Loot gives you gold that allows you to buy better gear to level up. Killing bad guys gives you XP to level up. Stay on the table too long doing both and hordes of enemies might pop up to finish off your war band.

It’s a delicate balance, and in my games I’ve found I’ve never been able to do all I want.

I think the only real downside is that the way skills and abilities are written… a magic user with a fireball spell is an almost auto-include as you can usually take out masses of lowly minion hordes with one spell. And you need a lot of minis for the minion hordes.

I’m seriously considering using the narrative structure of 5 Leagues to form a framework for my campaign… then play out the tabletop encounter using Spellswords.

Or this is the alternative ruleset hack I might use for my planned Barsoom (Dejah Thoris!!!) skirmish game that I bought the minis for during a sale last year.

Whichever way I go, get ready for more Spellswords fun in 2022!