Bones Return to Frostgrave: A Battle Report

  This past Sunday I got to try out the new Frostgrave rules again, this time with real opponents.  Two of my friends came over and we got to play a couple games. The first game we played was a three way battle between a Necromancer band controlled by me, an Illusionist party controlled by Buck, and a Chronomancer group controlled by Greg.  Greg and I had talked a while back how much the Chronomancer type of wizard reminded us of a Time Lord like Dr Who.  So, sure enough, for his faction Greg brought the Eleventh Doctor, and River Song, as his Wizard and Apprentice, which I thought was mighty cool.  He also brought three pieces of the rare material, Jethrik, as his treasure tokens.

Team Illusionist: The Wizard, Apprentice, Templar, Archer, Archer, Thief, Thief, Thief, Thug, Thug

Team Necromancer: Wizard, Apprentice, Man-at-Arms, Infantry, Archer, Treasure Hunter, Thief, Thug (Yes, he's a goblin thug). The Necromancer was also able to raise a Zombie before the game began.

Team Chronomancer: Wizard (The Doctor), Apprentice (River Song), Infantry, Treasure Hunter, Crossbow, Crossbow, Crossbow, Thug

 We played a straight up game with no optional rules, and no campaign goals, as we all were still getting a feel for the rules.  While this was the first game for my two friends, I had played a solo match a week ago. As there was no chance of eliminating both enemy factions in a three-way match, claiming treasure became the primary goal of the game.

A view of the table near the beginning of the game. Buck entered his Illuisonist group from the far long side of the table, Greg from the near long side, and I entered from the short far side.

    As can be imagined, the action was chaotic.    The beginning level wizards were not having a good day as lots of spells failed. My Necromancer and his Apprentice tried numerous times to launch Bone Dart spells but they always seemed to miss, they soon were dubbed the "rubber chicken" bone darts. However, this made the spell successes all the more memorable.  The highlights being a well tossed grenade by the Illusionist; and the Illusionist's apprentice managing to mind control the Chronomancer's thug, with the sacrifice of some health to empower the spell. The Thug had just picked up a treasure, and was forced to carry it across the board; and as the game neared the end, the Illusionist Apprentice did a spectacular Push spell on him that shoved him over a foot and off the table edge with his treasure.

A swirling battle developed in the middle of the table between the Chonomancer's forces and the Illusionist's 

    As the game neared the end, my Necromancer had removed 4 treasures, the Illusionist 3, and the Chronomancer had 1.  There was one more treasure left, and my infantry woman was climbing down from the third floor of a ruined building with it. She had been wounded on top of the building by one of the Illusionist's archers and now he finished her off with a spectacular shot through one of the buildings windows as she climbed down.  The Chronomancer teleported to the spot where the treasure now lay, as my Necromancer and his Apprentice moved up to claim it as well. My Apprentice finally managed a successful Bone Dart attack against the Chronomancer, putting him out of the game, just as the Illusionist successfully teleported to the spot as well.  I had a chance to Bone Dart him as well, as he picked up the treasure, but failed; and the next activation he teleported away.  The game ended in a tie of 4 treasures each for my Necromancer and Buck's Illusionist, and one for  Greg's Chronomancer. Everyone had a great time.

My Infantry lies dead next to the treasure as the Illusionist and the Chonomancer teleport in to claim it, as my Necromancer (visible in the lower left of the photo) moves up.  Out of view is my Apprentice who is on the other side of the rocky otcrop that the Necromancer is standing by, taking aim at the Chronomancer.

 At this point Buck had to leave, so Greg and I reset the terrain a bit and prepared to fight another game; this time with the plan to use the campaign rules and wandering monster rolls.   I took the Illusionist group this time, and Greg re-ran his Chronomancer gang.  Again, another good game was had.  The addition of the creatures was fun, especially when a ghoul appeared directly on the table edge behind my Illusionist. The creature badly injured my illusionist, before my wizard could teleport out of the engagement, and my archer then quickly finished off the Ghoul.

My Apprentice teleports to the top of the tower to retrieve a treasure (The treasure is a piece of jethrik.   To go along with the Dr Who figures, Greg used three pieces of this rare stuff as his treasure tokens. :)  )

    Another highlight included the same Chronomancer's thug that got mind controlled in the first game getting mind controlled again with a treasure in his hands, this time by the Illusionist himself. Much humor ensued at the expense of this poor weak-minded thug.

As if from nowhere, a Ghoul appears and makes a dash for my wizard.  Luckily the nearby archer is able to dispatch the foul creature. 

 Best of all was a spectacular battle atop some tower ruin, as my Apprentice teleported up there to grab a treasure, followed by the Chronomancer infantry soldier who began to climb the tower after her.  The Chronomancer himself then teleported up to the tower's top on the Wizard phase of the next turn. Desperate, the Apprentice tried a Push spell on the Chonomancer and succeeded spectacularly pushing him 9 inches back and off the tower.  The 6 inch drop then did 9 points of damage to the Chronomancer as he fell. The next turn my Apprentice picked up the treasure, and as the infantryman neared her, she teleported off the tower the following turn.

Duel atop the tower. The Doctor and my Apprentice face off

      The game ended soon after that, with the movement of the last of my soldiers off the table after retrieving 4 of the treasures.  Both wizards were badly battered but not dead.  While I had managed to get four of the treasure again, Greg got two this time.   We then spent a few minutes to run through the after-game book keeping.  I had lost two thugs and a thief during the game, and while one of the thugs and the thief were quick to recuperate my other thug was injured badly enough to have to miss the next encounter. Treasure wise, I got a nice pile of gold coins and a pair of grimoires.  I earned 240 experience points, going up two levels.  I used these to increase my health by one, and my skill at teleporting by one.

The result of the duel: The Doctor lay badly hurt where he fell into a ruin, after being pushed 9" off the tower.

     Both games were a lot of fun, and there are a lot of nuances to the game which will be fun to learn and experiment with.  My Illusionist, now named Nikon, and his trusty apprentice, named Cherowyn, are now settled in an old abandoned inn on the edge of the city; fixing it up and preparing for their next excursion. They have put out a call for a Ranger to join their ranks, since they have so much extra space at the inn; and can afford his fes now with the treasure they recovered; he should be here in time to join the next adventure.  It will be just in time too, as the poor injured thug will not make the next outing.