Frostgrave First Play

Today was the big day I've been working towards since returning home from Fall Con. The table was set (see previous post) the food/munchies bought, & a last minute run to the game store to pick up a Giant Worm figure & then getting it painted up...just in case.

Four of the fella's came out for today's fun. From left to right - Jonathan, Steve, Bruce & Scott.

After spending some time getting our warbands sorted, we launched. For our first scenario we just played a treasure grab.

 On the first turn Scott Cursed my Elementalist. I then launched a couple of Elemental Ball's in return &  my apprentice 'Spark' took down his Necromancer.

This of course led to more bloodshed between Scott & my groups. Below my Magic casters are hunkering down behind some cover as Scott took potshots at me with his Crossbowman

Eventually Jonathan's warband started to encroach & our forces were spread out.

My force dwindling fast, I managed to snag 1 treasure urn.

My Elementalist 'Fizzle' was taken out by a Zombie that had spawned ( can't do much about a natural 20) & yes we were playing with the critical rules. Then a Medium Construct appeared & proceeded to move towards my now 3 person party.

A short-lived act of defiance by the Templar. Now it was just my Apprentice that remained & lugging a treasure. He managed to break the LOS of the construct & it proceeded to wander off.

My warband lost the Templar, an Archer & the War Dog in the followup phase. My 1 treasure netted me 50gp & 2 scrolls (which I sold to replace my fallen soldiers). Jonathan, Bruce & I think Steve were the big winners, walking off with 4 treasures each.

The game took more time than anticipated ( usually all games take longer the first time thru as everyone grapples with the rules). At this point both Bruce & Steve had to head out. So the remaining 3 of us prepared for the next foray.

This time we did the Well of Sorrow scenario. Jonathans warband snagged some early treasure.

My Elementalist Fizzle & the Templar move towards the well.

Scott set his Necromancer up to cast spells at anyone approaching the well. His one archer got plugged though, hence the base sticking into the air.

Fizzle made it to the well & took a drink (earning 100xp)

There were a lot of failed spells for all of the players. In fact I had only 2 successful spells cast the entire battle. One of Scotts Men at Arms had worked his way around & was closing on my wounded Apprentice & an Archer. This fella did manage to take down the archer & my apprentice escaped with a single wound point remaining.

Jonathan did manage to summon an Imp which was heading towards my Elementalist.

The battle ended with Scott having everyone taken out of action. In fact Jonathans Wizard earned 150xp for a Wizard kill.

My Templar & Elementalist were taken out of the battle, though both survived the after game procedure. It was now closing in on 8pm  & we decided to forgo playing any further games.

So what were my thoughts on the game?

1) Fair bit of prep to get the warband ready. This was mainly due to reading through the various spells & trying to decide which would work best. This isn't something that goes quick. As Scott found out, apart from Curse & Life Steal, he really didn't have any spells that were damage causing. I guess the prep is on par with creating a Mordheim Warband.

2) The battles are quick & deadly. Usually players had their soldiers removed after a single well placed hit. Don't get too attached to a soldier. Usually once a player rolled a 17 or higher you could pretty much write your soldier as either wounded (1 action) or dead.

3) Casting spells successfully. As your spell casters earn xp for successfully casting spells, be sure to choose 1 or 2 that have low casting  scores. Use them to reap xp. Its easy to forget that the Wizard is the primary character for you to make xp with...he needs to get the kill shots as often as possible. Your soldiers are just pawns to aid him in this endeavor.

4) Some interesting mechanics..ie: the roll in the fight also attributing to the damage vs armour totals. The spell casting numbers & effects of trying to cast those not of your school.

So I know I had fun & hope those who attended also enjoyed our introduction to this game system. Hopefully they will chime in with their thoughts as well.

 I think we will be running this at our next club night as Kevin wanted to give this a go.