Doest Frostgrave second edition include rules for captains?

[Porsenna]

As the title asks, does the second edition of frostgrave include rules for captains? And if not, is the 'sell sword' supplement for the first frostgrave compatible with the second edition?

[Ogrob]

No and yes. I believe there is an appendix with a brief explanation of how to integrate 1st ed expansion soldiers into 2nd edition.

[Porsenna]

Thank you for the quick reply!

Do you think the 'frostgrave folio' is worth getting?

[Porsenna]

And, as a general question - for people with a melee 'main character' in mind for games, would you sooner recommend Frostgrave the soldiers supplement, or Ghost Archipelago as the better game experience?

[Chief Lackey Rich]

Do you think the 'frostgrave folio' is worth getting?

Unless you bought the individual mini-supplements it compiles, yes.

And, as a general question - for people with a melee 'main character' in mind for games, would you sooner recommend Frostgrave the soldiers supplement, or Ghost Archipelago as the better game experience?

Neither.  Go with Rangers of Shadow Deep for that.  Ghost Archipelago would be my second choice if you want competitive play rather than Ranger's primarily co-op or solo.

[Grumpy Gnome]

I am one of the newer folks to Frostgrave but I think the Folio is worth the money.

And you can create a melee focused Wizard (think Jedi) but if you want more hero and less Wizard you may prefer Ghost Archipelago “straight out of the box” so to speak.

Edit: Rich makes an excellent point about Rangers of Shadow Deep.

[Chief Lackey Rich]

And you can create a melee focused Wizard (think Jedi) but if you want more hero and less Wizard you may prefer Ghost Archipelago “straight out of the box” so to speak.

It's tricky to do a really effective melee wizard due to the inability to cast spells while in melee.  By the time you get whatever array of personal buffing spells you favor in place so much of the game has gone by your caster's going to struggle to have enough impact to make up for whatever the enemy caster has been doing in the interim.  Gets easier over time as your apprentice becomes more reliable at casting buffs for you, but it's still hard compared to (say) doing a melee captain in Stargrave where you can use powers while in melee, or Ghost Archipelago where your heritor is easily turned into a badass with a buff or two from your warden and the right power usage (usually Mystic Energy, which is just plain mean).

The lack of armor doesn't help melee wizards any either.  They're really better at supoorting their soldiers (and captain, if they have one) than doing the heavy lifting themselves.  Heritors are pretty much the opposite, they can handle most foes and their soldiers are more along to provide support bonuses and play the loot game.  Rangers can be built to do whatever you want them to do, of course.

[Darkson71]

If you want the true Mystic warrior experience Stargrave is the way to go, but if you want to keep to a fantasy theme, GA will give you that more than FG.

[Porsenna]

For me personally I want less 'mystic warrior' and more just 'warrior' full stop. I'm much more of a Conan or an Aragorn fan than of Gandalf, but I like how Frostgrave has built up a strong reputation and seemingly, a player base. (Not that any of it is existent in Taiwan from what I know, but I can ever get some other expats onboard than maybe some locals will hop onto the train as well one day)

[Darkson71]

If you just want warrior then Rangers or Stargrave is probably your best bet.

Be aware (if you're not already) the Captain is really just a better soldier, it doesn't replace the wizard or even the apprentice. Without house-ruling you HAVE to have a wizard to lead the band, and although the apprentice is optional, you would be severely handicapping yourself to go to battle without one.
There are no official rules to play Felstad without a wizard.

[Chief Lackey Rich]

For me personally I want less 'mystic warrior' and more just 'warrior' full stop. I'm much more of a Conan or an Aragorn fan than of Gandalf, but I like how Frostgrave has built up a strong reputation and seemingly, a player base. (Not that any of it is existent in Taiwan from what I know, but I can ever get some other expats onboard than maybe some locals will hop onto the train as well one day)

Rangers of Shadow Deep, then.  You can build a non-magical ranger with ease, and you have a bit more versatility in how you build their retinue as well.  Plenty of co-op and solo material out there for it at this point.  For competitive there's probably something I've missed, but you could just play more-or-less "normal" Frostgrave or Ghost Archipelago scenarios with both sides running a Ranger warband, that should be fairly even.  Ranger versus wizard probably not so much, I'd expect that to end badly for the ranger side.

[Porsenna]

That's a darn shame.