Raedwald’s Frostgrave Dwarves (23Jun2025: Second Battle Report)

[Raedwald]

Hi all,

A bit late to the party here, but having pre-ordered the first edition of Frostgrave back in 2015, my warband finally made it to the top of the leadpile this year… and I might even play a game soon!

When Frostgrave first came out I immediately thought of the Oldhammer dwarf adventurers I’d bought on a whim back in the early ‘90s (if only I’d had more such whims back then!).

I’ve combined them with the treasure lugging dwarf from the Green Dragon set from the same era, a spare Marauder Hammerer, a dog from Crooked Dice, and spellcasters from Foundry.

I also took the opportunity to try out the so called ‘Slap Chop’ painting method for the first time. I quite like the grimdark, ‘28 movement’-style results.

Cheers,
Raedwald

[OSHIROmodels]

Very nice 

[giles the zog]

some classic Citadel Dwarves there !
well done with the paint jobs.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Looking good!

[Bloggard]

brilliant.
gosh, the character in those old sculpts.

[Raedwald]

Thank you all.

@Bloggard - You said it! They’re really packed with character. I ought to have taken some shots of the back too, as they’re all laden with backpacks, crossbows, axes, pouches, etc. really ideal for Frostgrave. Wonderful classic sculps.

I’ll share some more piccies once I’ve played a game.

Cheers

[snitcythedog]

I really like these.

[Raedwald]

Got my treasure tokens ready last week too. These are the well known ones that came with the original rulebook.

A satisfyingly quick job. 

[Raedwald]

Had my first ever game last weekend - wow! Now I really understand what all the fuss is about. It was great fun!

I used some of my Night Goblins to oppose the Dwarves, and rather than stress about choosing decent disciplines and spells, I completely randomised it for both warbands.

I ended up with a Dwarf Elementalist, with powerful, high cast-value spells, against a Goblin Witch, with weaker, but easier to cast spells.

Below is a battle report of the game. Apologies for the poor in-game photos and for the unpainted ogre and imp, I didn’t have suitable painted options in my collect, yet.

Premise
When the powerful Baba Toedu exploded during a magical ritual gone wrong, the shockwaves in astral space were felt well beyond the bounds of Orphans Wood. Knowing that the reclusive witch’s hut had been packed with magical treasures, Skalf Cloudmover gathered his retinue and headed into that dread forest. Overcoming several perils on the journey, they eventually entered the witch’s glade, only to see the infamous Goblin Witch of Troll’s Tusk emerging from the wood at the opposite, eastern side, of the clearing. Battle ensued.

Turn 1
Both warbands advanced towards each other and the treasures that had scattered in and around the ruined hut. The only successful spell was from Skalf, who obliterated the goblin barbarian and a thug with an explosive ball of elemental air.

Turn 2
In need of reinforcement to the north, the Goblin Witch drained a chunk of lifeforce, empowering the summoning of a grotesque Imp behind Skalf’s position. Skalf’s animal companion Bear intercepted it, exchanging blows, but suffering a terrible bite from the demon.

Both sides began snatching up the littered treasures, the dwarves getting three, the goblins two. The last item, in the burnt out hut, was contested by Haki, the dwarf thief, and a sneering goblin thief, who stabbed at Haki, causing a deep wound.

Meanwhile, an ogre (proxy ‘snow troll’) had lumbered in from the south. The goblin in front of it scampered away quickly, so it ambled on towards Kragg, a dwarf thug who’d just encumbered himself with some loot. Nearby, the Crow Knight and Baldrikk the thug engaged with a goblin wielding a two-handed axe, while thug Trygg took on a goblin with a club, taking damage and a push back from a blow to his arm.

A wolf also briefly came sniffing around in the south-east, but scenting the ogre, left the scene again.

Turn 3
The Goblin Witch boldly walked up close to Skalf, preventing his use of another ball of air, and flicked out a poison dart that stuck in Skalf’s belly (taking him to one action per turn). Skalf looked to Alaric Drakesbane, the treasure hunter, enchanting his axe with glowing strength. Alaric stepped forward and cut down the wide-eyed Witch with one mighty strike.

Down on the road, Arngrim the apprentice began pulling back with some of the treasure bearing dwarves. He empowered an elemental ball of his own, killing the club armed goblin and injuring the Witch’s apprentice. The two-handed axe goblin was cut down in combat by Baldrikk.

Back in the hut, the thieves continued their knife fight. The wounded Haki took another cut from the goblin, but wounded it in return, sticking his own knife in its side.

The Crow Knight moved alongside Kragg, to face the advancing ogre as it moved to attack them both. Meanwhile, Skalf’s bear battered down the Imp, which, clinging to existence, struck back with supernatural fury, killing the bear, before setting its sights on Snorri, a thug backing down the road with some loot.

Turn 4
Skalf sent a ball of elemental air at the Imp, finishing it off spectacularly, while Alaric Drakesbane moved to save thief Haki, by intervening in the hut. The Witch’s apprentice had similar plans, moving in that direction while casting Mud, to literally bog down apprentice Arngrim and the dwarves facing the ogre.

Back in the hut, Haki’s and the goblin thief’s blood mingled on the muddy floor as they eyed each other groggily. As they lunged at one another, Haki was the faster, and the goblin’s impaled corpse slid down him into the dirt. Haki wearily picked up his hard won treasure.

The two goblins with treasure continued towards the eastern exit, while the flail-armed goblin who’d fled from the ogre earlier now emerged from the nearby wood to menace Arngrim. Snorri and Baldrikk ran back and intercepted, but Baldrikk took a wounding blow from the flail as he neared.

The Crow Knight and Kragg both landed effective hits against the ogre, and as it lifted its mace to flatten the Crow Knight, that impassive dwarf struck again, felling the huge brute with a bone crushing smack from his own mace.

Turn 5
Skalf, lagging from the Witch’s poison, nevertheless summoned the strength for another elemental ball, and launched it at the Witch’s apprentice, blowing the goblin off its feet, but not quite finishing it.

Dragging itself up, and seeing Alaric with his glowing axe heading its way, the battered creature scrambled away, towards the relative safety of the woods.

Back on the road, Arngrim enchanted Trygg’s axe, and Trygg also entered the combat with the, flail-waving goblin. Trygg struck with a brutal, wounding hit, but took the flail in his face as he did so, and fell dead. The goblin continued its desperate defence, also wounding Snorri, before Baldrikk finally dealt it the death blow.

Here the game ended, with the wounded Witch’s apprentice and two goblins getting away with two treasure tokens, and Skalf Cloudmover’s dwarves taking four, for the loss of the bear and Trygg the thug.

Thanks for reading.
Raedwald

[Raedwald]

Hi all,

Played my second game last week; a three player (nine treasures) game. My opponents were completely new to wargaming, but everyone got into it quickly and a good time was had by all.

The three warbands, Dwarf Elementalist (Paul), Elf Thaumaturge (Trish), and Goblin Witch (me), converged on a woodland village, recently razed by a passing undead horde.

Trish, who's something of a maestro at all boardgames, quickly mastered the rules and her varied spell deck, and the elves started hoovering up treasure. Paul's more cautious advance secured him two pieces, while half of his dwarves became pin cushions to elven archery, and the other half waded in to the goblin Witch's retinue.

I lost three goblins here, and the heroic dwarf thief also took out a wandering giant rat, before the goblin barbarian chopped his way through the warhound, a thug, the knight and the thief, and made off with the single treasure I took. The rest of my goblins ended up in a big melee against the elves in a ploughed field and came off very much the worse. Only the witch's apprentice limped away alive, to be rushed by a boar that had charged on to the scene. A long bloody slog followed in which, against the odds, the apprentice chipped away before finishing the boar, and Paul celebrated the prospect of a hog roast.

The dwarf apprentice, with four or five arrows in him was finally taken down by a critical, the final arrow going between his eyes and out the other side! The elves had secured about five treasures by now, and manoeuvred well despite elemental balls, pools of mud, poison darts, summoned imps, and a wandering skeleton and ghoul. The goblin apprentice was also shot down, and by the end Paul and I only had our wizards left.

We continued to throw what we could at the elves, and did take down their apprentice. The elf ranger found himself encumbered with the last treasure, stuck in some mud and poisoned, as another imp materialised nearby. However, passing the loot to another elf it was run off the board and the game ended. Elves: 6, Dwarves: 2, Goblins: 1.

I only took a few photos, before we started and during a break about half way through. Hopefully the upload will shrink them, if not, bear with me while I seek technical assistance to get them to display.

Cheers,
Raedwald

[Raedwald]

More photos.

[Bloggard]

great stuff.

Really nice looking old school set-up too.
I'm aspiring to that kind of thing with some units-based shenanigans I might get up to...

[Raedwald]

Thanks @Bloggard, look forward to seeing it. I'm also hoping to (one day) have enough for some unit based games. Cheers

[joe5mc]

Loving your warband!

[Raedwald]

Holy smokes, you're Joseph McCullough! 

Thank you sir, you have brought a lot of joy to a great many people, myself included. Many thanks!