Battlelore are a Finnish heavy metal band from Lappeenranta, founded in 1999 by guitarist Jyri Vahvanen and bassist Miika Kokkola. The name derives from the union of the words 'battle' and 'folklore'. Many of Battlelore's lyrics concern J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth sagas and their stage costumes and live shows are largely inspired by the themes and characters of fantasy literature. The band had many changes of personnel during their twelve years of activity and is currently on hiatus, after the completion of the tour supporting their latest release Doombound in 2011.
Battlelore's first demo Warrior's Tale was released in late 1999, the same year of the founding of the group, but Battlelore attracted the attention of the Austrian record label Napalm Records only after the publication of the second demo Dark Fantasy in late 2000, which featured for the first time long standing members Kaisa Jouhki as female singer, Henri Vahvanen on drums and Maria Honkanen on keyboards. Under request from the label, the band recorded an untitled 3-tracks demo before finally signing the contract.
BattleLore is a strategy board wargame for two players, created by Richard Borg and initially published by Days of Wonder in 2006 (and later by Fantasy Flight Games). The game is based on the same mechanics as Battle Cry, Memoir '44 and Commands & Colors: Ancients, but has a fantasy and medieval theme.
BattleLore debuted at the 2006 Spiel game fair in Essen, Germany and was released worldwide on November 30 of that year.
Typical setup for a game is 10–15 minutes. Beginning players can expect a 45-60 minute duration game, but experienced players can usually finish a game in about 30–45 minutes. Each player has a set of quick reference cards to help him keep rules in mind. Experienced players will rarely have to pull out the rulebook for clarification. The scenario book that comes with the basic box is organised as a tutorial sequence that introduces concepts one adventure at a time, making the game very easy to learn.
Each adventure in Battlelore is pre-constructed, leaving the work of creating armies to the scenario author. Although with the Call to Arms Expansion (released May 2007) the players have (limited) control on deploying units to any given scenario. The Battlelore website offers an online scenario builder that helps fans create their own adventures.
Screaming and shouting, yearn for blood
Servants of Melkor the evil god
Riding with wolves, runners of night
Horders of the eye, the black blades of might
They shall raze your villages, destroy your camps
Rape your cattle and slaughter your wives
Under the darkness they shall arrive
Hear the screams, prepare for war
Black skin, sharp teeth, bestial eyes
Perverted mind, there's no ine like their kind
No mercy, no prisoners, death is the way
With fire and steel they will slay
Troops of the Red Eye, the horders of the Witch
Trust your sword throught the heart of betrayals
Great enemy from west, the servants of the sun
Kill for your lord, the darkest one
Men of Gondor! Elves of Lothlorien!
Dwarves from the north now be strong!
Keep your lines and hold on tight!
Prepare your weapons and strike!
Like a wave they approach
Bash their way through your lines
Many of them
Evil in flesh
Feel no fear, just pray
Mockery of elves now our enemy
Brothers of starfolk against us
What kind of evil that they have seen