Frostgrave - First Game Impressions

Introduction

So my first game of Frostgrave is over and I can see this is going to be fun in a campaign game. This was not a campaign game just an initial basic game with no scenario.

Warbands

I played my Enchanter Warband (previously posted) against a my opponent's Thaumaturge. We both had seven Warband soldiers and an apprentice. It worked well as the wizard and apprentice activations occur first most of the action was happening in these phases keeping our Warband soldiers close by them. I found starting with lots of low cost soldiers (as recommended by the book) hugely advantageous to fewer but higher cost soldiers, especially when I looked at the other games being played.

Table Top

The size of table top I found a bit small (2' x 4'). I would have preferred something more of a square 4'x4' as it would have added better options for treasure placement. As it was all the treasure was in a strip down the centre of the board. Also our terrain was far too sparse, although initially it felt like a lot. We did not have enough levels the highest buildings being a single story.

Overview

So for starters I really like my Warband set up and was pleased with my choices in game. For the board set up we used I found my Warband was balanced for my purposes but I massively overpowered my opponent. I felt sorry towards the end as I had killed a number of his warband (including the apprentice) and the survivors ended up retreating off the board. I lost none of my own men (although one of my thugs took some damage at the beginning). Had this been a campaign game it would have been a crippling defeat.

I had two archers and a crossbowman which were integral to my victory. In addition I also had the Grenade and Telekinesis Spells (both Enchanter spells). This meant I could pull the treasure tokens towards me whilst picking him off at long range. We didn’t even get a chance for a single melee combat.

I did get some very lucky rolls and my opponent had some unlucky ones when casting magic, taking damage for miscasting on two occasions.

Suggestions

It was mentioned that in a campaign the wizard gets experience for killing things. This heavily weights the gaining of experience to those wizards with cheap and effective offensive spells. These include such wizards as Elementalist and Necromancer. Whilst a more buffing spell wizard like a Thaumaturge is less likely to kill things playing more of a support role to his warband soldiers.

Overall

Really great game that I'm glad to have invested in. There are answer to the FAQ's already posted and it is dirt cheap to get into. The community seems to be growing rapidly and campaign expansions are coming out soon (November I believe). I will try to steal the Wizard sheets from my fellow players and post them for perusal (if they let me) so we can all get a balanced view on what makes a good starting wizard.

 Any additions, experiences or suggestions you have let me know. We are constructing our own in house rules for the a campaign and any help is welcome.