Swords & Sorcery (1978)

This fantasy wargame is really two games in one. The Army game uses SPI zones-of-control and a combat results table. Forces include elves, dwarves, orcs, spiders, swamp creatures and a host of others set in a fictional valley on a fictional world. Some of the more exotic inclusions are memorable for their pun value: Unamit Ahezredit, Logarithm Son of Algorithm; places such as the Evelyn Woods and the Stream of Consciousness, as well as the notorious Hills of Avalon; and peoples such as the Corflu (Correction Fluid) Cultists, the (communist) Orcish Revolutionary Council, and the dreaded Killer Penguins. X the Unknown could potentially conjure the SS Wiking Division. The Quest game is concerned exclusively with characters and is akin to a role-playing game.

Credited developer is Eric Goldberg.

The game appeared with two covers: a blue box with a Tim Kirk illustration and a red box with a John Butterfield illustration. The games are otherwise identical.

Game Contents

• Rules
• Errata
• 2 x Charts & Tables
• Game map, 22" by 34"
• Diplomacy display / solar display / personal combat display
• 2 6-sided dice
• 56 cards:
  • 40 character cards, numbered 1-40
  • 10 item cards, numbered 41-50
  • 6 monster cards, numbered 51-56
• 400 counters:
  • 76 Imperial Army (white on blue)
  • 34 O.R.C.(black on yellow)
  • 24 Elves (yellow on green)
  • 14 Swamp-Creatures (black on light green)
  • 18 Cronks (yellow on red)
  • 34 Conjured Units (black on red)
  • 15 Krasnia (white on red)
  • 17 Independent Humans (black on blue)
  • 11 Konvivia (grey on dark red)
  • 17 Zirkast (blue on grey)
  • 12 Mercenaries (red on grey)
  • 9 Goblin (black on orange)
  • 15 White Orcs (blue on white)
  • 16 Corflu Cultists (black on mauve)
  • 11 Spider Folk (white on black)
  • 77 Markers:
    • 12 letters A-L
    • 19 Vortex
    • 2 Bridge
    • 9 Diplomacy markers
    • 3 Suns (Dis, Orb, Sphi)
    • 2 Demons / Penguins
    • 5 Dragons / Penguins
    • 5 Tyrannasauri / Penguins
    • 1 Troll / Yrgild
    • 10 Emissaries / Quest Objects
    • 1 Continental Siege Machine
    • 1 SS Wiking Division
    • 1 Legions of the Dead
    • 4 Sorcerors (X the Unknown, The Dark Lord, Talerren, Narklath)
    • 2 (Dragonkind Gilith, Gygax Dragonlord)
  • 3 blanks