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Miniatures Adventure => Fantasy Adventures => Frostgrave => Topic started by: Thargor on February 21, 2016, 02:56:45 PM

Title: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Thargor on February 21, 2016, 02:56:45 PM
Hi All

A member of our club has decided to start up Frostgrave.  Having watched the threads on here for a while I said that I'd help him get it up and running at the club.

I picked up a rulebook and Thaw of the Lich Lord from Annie the Dice Bag Lady at the Beachhead show on Saturday.

So, I know it says that you should have an apprentice, but do you all agree or would I be better off spending the 200 GCs on extra Soldiers?
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: jp1885 on February 21, 2016, 03:49:51 PM
Personally I'd go for an apprentice - gives you a second chance to cast spells (especially out of game spells like brew potion) and earn experience from in-game castings.
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: tyrionhalfman on February 21, 2016, 04:23:13 PM
And do anything during the apprentice phase including three soldiers within 3" of your apprentice. To miss that just allows your opponent to outmanoeuvre you
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Azzabat on February 21, 2016, 05:21:00 PM
Plus later on your opponent will accrue more gold and buy the better soldiers you started with ... but have a 2nd spell caster. I'd always take an apprentice.
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Drachenklinge on February 21, 2016, 05:44:03 PM
I think, if the limit of soldiers weren't 10 the 200 bucks might be worth considering, but the limit IS 10 therefore all the points said above are good.
Even more so in single matches.

Later in a campaign gold is most likely not a problem, so use the app and go for it.

But then ... test it your way and live to tell it here.  :D
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Thargor on February 24, 2016, 11:29:14 PM
Thanks for the advice guys.  For our first game (rule shakedown) I will go for:

Witch
Apprentice
Tracker
2x Infantryman
2x Archer
Thief

Bang on 500 GCs, a fair spread of ranged attacks and melee.

I'll let you know how it goes.
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Digitarii on February 25, 2016, 01:25:39 AM
Based on my experience with the game,here's my suggestion:

Since you have 6 soldiers, keep 3 soldiers near each spellcaster at the beginning of the game so you can activate them in the wizard and apprentice phase. Move your thief and tracker out to claim treasure quickly and get them moving off the board as soon as possible. Remember that once they pick up a treasure token, their move drops by half. Keep the infantryman near enough to your casters to be able to intercept any model that tries to get close enough to force combat. Make sure your archers have a clear a line of sight as possible to pick off the opposition. If the archers don't have targets, move them to try to claim treasure tokens or just get better line of sight. Keep your casters casting. Every spell you get off is experience for your wizard, but remember if you muck up the casting roll, you take damage. Remember that if the soldiers move more than 3 inches away from the caster, they do not activate until the Soldier phase. That can actually be to your benefit.

The rules shakedown game should just be the two warbands trying to claim treasure and get it off the table and casting spells. No optional rules (wandering monster comes to mind) or weird scenarios (the silent tower).

Good luck, young wizard!
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Nooblord on February 25, 2016, 01:37:32 AM
As you have a couple of spare warband slots and your wizard is a witch, Animal Companion may be an idea to get an extra body on the table. A wolf might not look all that impressive stats-wise but numbers are important in hand-to-hand combat and any attack on the animal is an attack one of your more valuable band members isn't taking.
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Bishop Cockthrottle on February 25, 2016, 08:04:21 AM
As you have a couple of spare warband slots and your wizard is a witch, Animal Companion may be an idea to get an extra body on the table.

We debated this the other day - you can have 2 x Animal Companions in a warband right? One for the wizard and one for the Apprentice?

Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Timeshadow on February 25, 2016, 11:57:41 AM
No only one but you can roll twice (once for Wiz and once for App) to get him.
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Darkson71 on February 25, 2016, 01:14:04 PM
No only one but you can roll twice (once for Wiz and once for App) to get him.

I don't think that's correct.
The spell doesn't say "one per warband", it say's "one per spellcaster" so RAW I'd say you can have two IF you have the slots free.
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Thargor on February 26, 2016, 11:51:08 PM
Animal Companion was the first spell on the list for my Witch.

If I've read it correctly though, the Animal Companion takes up a Soldier slot and I get a Wizard and up to 8 other miniatures.  So taking 2 Animal Companions will reduce my Soldiers by 1.
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Timeshadow on February 27, 2016, 12:02:58 AM
Animal Companion was the first spell on the list for my Witch.

If I've read it correctly though, the Animal Companion takes up a Soldier slot and I get a Wizard and up to 8 other miniatures.  So taking 2 Animal Companions will reduce my Soldiers by 1.

Each companion takes a soldier slot....I'm not sure why but I always thought it was one per warband but guess I was wrong.
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Nooblord on February 27, 2016, 01:31:25 AM
Yes, each companion takes up a slot. The good news though is that with a wizard and an apprentice trying you have a very good chance of getting an animal companion if you only have space for one.
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Thargor on March 02, 2016, 12:27:22 AM
Well, that was fun!

My Warband:

Witch
Apprentice
Tracker
Infantryman x 2
Archer x 2
Thief

Both the Witch and the Apprentice cast Animal Companion successfully bringing a Snow Leopard and a Wolf and as I only had 8 figures, they both fit into the warband.

My opponent:

Elementalist
Apprentice
Tracker
Infantryman
Archer x 2
Thug x 2
Thief
Warhound

The treasure tokens closest to me were on first floors of buildings on either flank and almost in the centre of the table on an open ruined tower, so I elected to split my warband into 3 .  On the left I deployed the Apprentice, an Infantryman, an Archer and the Snow Leopard.  In the centre was an Infantryman, the Thief and the Wolf.  On the right was the Witch, the remaining Archer and the Tracker.

Getting Archers, the Tracker and the Witch onto the first floor on either flank gave me a good view of the centre of the table.

Admittedly, I had some unusually good dice rolls and my opponent had the opposite.  But my plan seemed to work and when we decided to call it a day I had 3 Treasure tokens and was making my way off the board with them unopposed.  Both of my Infantrymen and the Snow Leopard had taken some wounds and I'd lost the Wolf.  The apprentice had managed to give himself 4 wounds due to miscasts.  My opponent had lost his Apprentice, both Thugs, the Tracker, the Thief, the Infantryman and the Warhound.  He did not have any Treasure tokens.

I think we go the combat, shooting and spellcasting sorted out.

We did come across a few questions:

1.  Compulsory movement action - can you choose not to move and just surrender this action?

2.  You decide to activate your Wizard and 3 figures within 3" - do you have to declare this before taking any actions?  Does movement have to be the first action for all of the figures?

3.  If you take somebody out in melee, do you get to move back 1" just as you could if you had beaten them and they had not died?
Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: tyrionhalfman on March 02, 2016, 07:35:00 AM
Sounds like you had fun.

1 yes you can choose not to move

2 yes you can do anything first but if you want two actions one has to be move. So you could move and then shoot or shoot and then move, but you can't shoot and then shoot again. Only the crossbowman can use two actions without moving by shooting then reloading.

3 no I think the 1" move is just an option if both survive the combat as away of disengaging. If you kill your opponent I think you just continue your turn as normal

Title: Re: Thargor starts Frostgrave
Post by: Darkson71 on March 02, 2016, 08:45:38 AM
1.  Compulsory movement action - can you choose not to move and just surrender this action?

2.  You decide to activate your Wizard and 3 figures within 3" - do you have to declare this before taking any actions?  Does movement have to be the first action for all of the figures?

3.  If you take somebody out in melee, do you get to move back 1" just as you could if you had beaten them and they had not died?
1. Yes.

2. There are two types of activation in this case:
a) you decide to activate upto 3 soldiers with the wizard in the wizard's phase - you can activate these models one-by-one, each model takes both it's actions but does NOT have to make it's movement action first
b) you decide to activate the wizard and upto 3 soldiers as a Group Activation - in this case each model must take one action then each can take it's second action in any order you choose. This first activation HAS to be movement action first.

3. RAW I'd say yes - the push back rule says "once a winner has been determined", and a model that kills it's opponent has obviously "won", and the model can't push it's opponent back nor stay in combat (as they're not there) but it there is nothing to forbid it stepping back itself.
However, if the model was out-numbered in combat and defeated one opponent note it can't step out of combat with the other enemy (in the FAQ).