Resources
FAQ thread where you can ask to Joseph A. McCullough, Frostgrave designer (forum handle joe5mc)
http://www.lead-adventure.de/index.php?topic=80477.0
Online warband creator
http://www.battletortoise.com/frostgrave/roster.html
Rulebook:
https://mega.co.nz/#!CVF3GTIS!i0V9IaACpjj1s1Bq2wqvZII5T5ad8UULZYWW3mpefc0
Lich+Golem+Sellsword:
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1e68645496dga//Frostgrave
Warhammer Townscapes: old school Warhammer Fantasy print buildings
https://mega.co.nz/#F!OgpwzAKS!a5eVE6pOagTTOWEr5tEaEQ
Official Miniatures
20x Soldiers and a lot of bits
http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=7467
20x Cultists, and a lot of bits
http://www.northstarfigures.com/prod.php?prod=7731
Wizard sheet
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwx8Os21jzeXdkRYZlM5TjhRSDA/view?usp=sharing
spell cards
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwx8Os21jzeXV3psZ0hOT1AwMEE/view?usp=sharing
Don't forget - you can use any miniatures from any manufacturer, regardless of their race - just make them obvious what they are.
"Required" scenery
>6x6 mausoleum
>6 special treasure token - 3 per player
>Various spooky skeletons
>A Genie
>10 inch+ high tower and enough broken wall sections to make a 12x12 ruined building
>Zone mortalis kind of board + 4 doorways
>6x statues
>1x giant worm
>6 small buildings without roof
>6 wraiths
>a well
>4x 2" diameter discs
>6 columns or ruined columns (or re-use the statues)
TOPIC OF THE THREAD:
Post your dudes. Gimme ideas, and a few minutes to post mine.
>>45233503
Alright. First warband is... Orcs. Apologies on the potato quality for the wizard and apprentice.
The orcs are from the WGF orc warband, with their crossbowman, apprentice, and pack mule being kitbashed. Frostgrave soldiers sprue for the crossbow, and a few spare parts from a WGF viking box, for the others. Their leader is a Reaper mini.
>>45233863
>>45233880
Next, a band without much of a plan behind a colorscheme. Its range ability is a javeliner, and that's it. I'll probably upgrade it, when I start playing with it.
>>45233936
Note the work on the apprentice. He's a conversion from, you guessed it, a WGF kit. Irish warband, with a cape from Fireforged Teutonic Infantry.
>>45233970
The mooks are all from the same WGF kit, and the Teutonic infantry one.
Probably gonna add a dog and something else, when I get them together. Maybe a Captain.
Last, but not least, my main group. Necromancer and apprentice are Bones. Troops are from a(WGF)viking kit.
>>45234008
I've got two thieves, two trackers, a treasure hunter, and an infantryman. If I remade 'em, I'd add a Captain and maybe another treasure hunter, and let them rip across the battlefield en-masse.
What I've got now is my treasure tokens, made from some Hirst Arts casts I picked up on ebay for cheap, and some excess heads/weapons from my bits drawer. Overall, well, decent looking, if I say so myself.
Annnd I may as well post the wolves. Bought when I bought in for the Thaw Nickstarter.
Gentlemen, behold!
This is the 'Toy Castle' I found ... made of balsa wood, it comes in two sections (front and back) joined together with cheap hinges. The towers are 12" tall at their highest, and it retails for about $25 US (although the store I go to often prints out 40% off coupons on their receits - I just waited until I got one then snagged it for about 17).
The interior of it is layed out with a few peices of wood to form floors and some really bad stairs - unsuitable for Frostgrave but that can be easily remedied by some cutting and ripping off of cheap wood. I've yet to do anything with the front (it's a good front peice, and has a lot of potential once I decide to get it fixed up). As for the back....
>>45234220
Michaels, huh?
Dead thread, dead game.
>>45234220
12" is the height you need for the tower scenario. I cut off one of the towers from the main body of the back, giving me a 3-sided tower for the moment.
On the inside, I glued in some of the scrap wood gathered when I tore off the original wood they'd placed for floors and some extra that I had left over from cutting up birdhouses for other terrain peices.
I bought a fourth peice of balsa wood the same width of the other sides. The plan is to attach small magnets to it and the interior of the tower. When not in use, all four sides are up. When models enter, the fourth wall can be removed to allow them to easily move about (with the ability to put the wall back to check line of sight if needed).
Still some more work to be done on it of course - ladders need to be added, and some snow and detail work.
This is a terrain peice I finished this morning before work (ironicly, we just got belted with a huge amount of snow after I did it. I guess I should have worked on some more treasure tokens today).
Like the rest of my terrain, this started out as either a balsa-wood birdhouse or jewelrybox.
The wood was cut with a saw (and in some cases, just torn off with a pair of pliers) to give it a rough, ruined look. I then went over it with a heavy file to round it out to be more akin to stone - and to remove potential splinters. The sides were somewhat scored as well to give it a more stone-like feel.
It was base painted grey, then white was drybrushed over the model several times to give it a worn, white effect.
The snow I made using Elmer's Glue-all (white) and Creatology Glitter (crystal white). I would put a layer of glue down and shake the glitter on top, let it dry a bit, then apply more glue and glitter on top to build mounds out of it. I thought I'd have to use a more complex method, but this way is making a snow effect I find more than adequate to my needs (it looks like snow, and caters to me being a cheap bastard who has spent enough money on this hobby already).
>>45234235
Yes indeed.
>>45234869
Pretty cool.
If I wanted to make a druid how would I go about it?
Elementalist has weather, Thaurmagurge has healing, Witches have animal companions; "Druid Stuff," is sort of all over the place.
I had thought of using "Animate Construct," to validate having a big ent that followed him around, and then animal companion for that, and idk where else to find "druid stuff" in the spell list.
I think being an Enchanter, and then taking Witch and Elementalist spells would be the way to go; I could even take a healing spell or two if I really wanted, since Thaumaturge is just neutral.
Thoughts?
>>45236329
Find all the spells that seem the most 'druidy' to you, then find the wizard class that has access to them all. In this game you pick 3 spells from your own class, then 1 from each of your allied classes, and 2 from any 2 neutral classes. So you are getting spells from allover the place anyway.
>>45236417
I guess someone should make some sort of "ally" matrix.
>>45236441
Here you go. I just whipped this up in google docs.
Here is a wizard-related but not Frostgrave-related (it is Warmachine-related) picture I drew.
>>45236329
>If I wanted to make a druid how would I go about it?
I would start as a Witch, with the following spell list:
Animal Companion (Witch) TN 8
Curse (Witch) TN 10
Mud (Witch) TN 10
Enchant Weapon (Enchanter) TN 8+2=10
Bone Dart (Necromancer) TN 8+2=10
Plague of Insects (Summoner) TN 12+2=14
Heal (Thaumaturge) TN 8+4=12
Wall (Elementalist) TN 10+4=14
Good utility, some direct damage from Bone Dart, mostly low TNs on the spells, so pretty reliable. The combination of Mud and Wall could make life real bullshit for your opponent.
Best animal companion is either a Bear or a Snow Leopard. Wolf is a trap option.
>>45236441
>>45236838
>>I guess someone should make some sort of "ally" matrix.
Way ahead of you, sempai.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HrwxBLoJBZqngR5BQFI6Gh0NWj0yvZlIHuepxJMj30A/edit?usp=sharing
>>45236916
Had my first game of Frostgrave on Tuesday. Just trying out the system, so we didn't have any scenario. Game seems kind of dull without a scenario - we just grabbed what treasure we could, took some potshots, and scooted. Definitely going to do a scenario next time.
Notes:
- Next time I'll build a wizard with more low-TN spells, it really sucked whiffing so many of them.
- Sending a Fleet Foot'd warhound to go hassle the opposing wizard for a turn or two is legit af.
- Wall is a bullshit spell for assholes.
- Movement-enhancing and board control spells are really important.
- Also really important that your spell list has at least one direct-damage spell.
- Wizard Eye seems really cool but I don't know if I'd ever have the time to properly set it up.
Tried out the post-game stuff. Had a lot of KOs in my party, but the only casualties were the death of a thief and a dog getting put on the disabled bench. Death rates for minions were lower than I expected. My wizard was injured so I had to go into medical debt. Playing Traveler has taught me that medical debt is one of the most engaging roleplay experiences possible (dat verisimilitude, tho).
I enjoyed the game and am looking forward to playing it again. I think we'll try some scenarios out and then start up a campaign.
Here's a picture I drew about wizards.
Here is another wizard picture I drew.
Here's my last wizard picture. I think it is my favorite?
I used mostly Warmachine Cygnar models I already had in my case for my warband, with Rifleman = Crossbowman.
We used Mantic Warzone clip-together terrain, originally for Deadzone/Warpath. It's modular sci-fi terrain. So in our interpretation of the narrative, Frostgrave is the ruins of a hyper-advanced civilization whose acheotech is regarded by the primitive races of the current era as magical. Rival bands of "wizards" and the rogues and enforcers in their employ scour the ruins of the ancient megastructure for artefacts of power and tomes of lore, contending with the mutated and malfunctioning guardians that still reside within it.
>>45234220
I dunno mane, for $25 I can make a much nicer terrain piece with even basic effort. I mean it's easy but that's about it.
Here's a tutorial for making some buildings out of cork floor tiles from the hardware store: http://www.matakishi.com/toastermedieval.htm
Much more effort than off the shelf but $25 will buy you enough cork floor tiles for an entire table.
Here's a tower: http://www.matakishi.com/conanscenery.htm
Got some Knights and Templars built.
Kitbash of Fireforge games teutonic knights, Perry foot knights, and Anvil Industries hooded heads and purity seals.
Not got anything else done this week because I had a kidney stone (it was great), I guess I could re-post my warband for anyone who cares but I've posted them before and don't want bury the thread in old content.
Anyway first the knights.
>>45238087
And the Templars.
>>45237153
>>45237282
>>45237434
These are pretty good. The bulges on the first are cracking me up.
>>45237657
I definitely see the appeal with the wooden scenery, in that it takes minimal effort to build and paint, not to mention wood is crazy durable and doesn't wear or chip easily compared to cork, which is very important for wargaming.
>>45237657
That looks pretty neat - I'm still going through the list but the construction itself looks nice.
While I'll admit it will almost certainly come out better than mine, I'll also admit I don't have the technical skill to make such things yet...I'm not a bit model-scenery Anon, and this is my first major foray into making it. So I picked the 'bird house' theme simply because the things were already built, and I could just tear away at them to make them look like ruins rather than build them from the ground up myself.
If I make a second set, I'll certainly try to apply moreeffort and skillto it. But for right now, just getting enough of it made to get some people gaming in my area is my main goal.
>>45238195
Dude, the birdhouse buildings are fine, and frankly pretty genius. You always want to be aware of what material your terrain is made of because it will always take a beating due to the nature of wargaming. Anything that chips or tears easily is poor terrain, which is why I abandoned papercraft terrain long ago.
Resin and plastic are ideal
Then I would go to wooden terrain for practicality
Next would be plaster cast, like hirst arts because those have a decent weight to them.
Closely next would be foamcore and insulation foam board because even though the material is light, it stays together well.
Finally under those I would group the cork board and papercraft terrain because they just don't seem to last long enough, and cork is expensive compared to foam.
>>45238648
The flooring cork has urathane embedded in it and is really quite durable. My buildings are just kind of tossed in a box for storage and haven't had one damaged yet. Notice the tutorial says to not use the urathane tiles but I haven't had a problem with them.
>>45234484
Consider taking some thin card like from a box of cereal and cut some long rectangles out. Glue these below the windows for a windowsill. Learning how to details will improve your terrain. You might look at the tutorials here for further info: http://www.terragenesis.co.uk/infopages/index.php it's kinda dated anymore but you might get a useful idea.
>>45238195
i think your birdhouse conversions are pretty inspiring. not necessarily blow my mind inspiring, but a really good idea and alternative to other wargames products. having everything precut with some minor assembly, then some tricks to 'ruin' it can be more attractive than creating ruined buildings from scratch
Does anybody actually play this IRL? Or is it one of those games that has a big following online, but nobody plays it?
>>45247099
I've got a group that sorta... Splintered, like the D&D group I had did.
I'm trying to get some more people interested in it around where I live, too. Hopefully, I'll have a good game going...
>>45247099
I think it's somewhere in- between. I've never seen a group in the real world, but I've never haf6 someone with minis from something else turn down a game when offered.
6mm anon here. Working on a board, and I'm gonna print off some buildings.
Sandgrave is more likely than Frostgrave, though, since the buildings I found were adobes.
>>45247099
At least one store in my area has an active crowd.
How are the gripping beast Arabs?
>>45251836
I have no experience with gripping beast, but I just had a look on some LotR minis on ebay.
Seems aside from the game slowly dying off, the second hand market isn't as big either.
If you are lucky you might find some cheap Haradrim or Corsairs to use.
>>45249428
I think very few people bother with actual winter terrain or basing.
I'm going to make a board over the coming months and it's just going to be generic as snow is a pain in the arse.
>>45252899
>and it's just going to be generic as snow is a pain in the arse.
Dunno. Just gotta add a few spots of snow and icicles here and there and you got the theme down.
Been debating wether or not I want to do that myself. I'm a sucker for snow scenery and I based my fantasy orcs with snow already, but it would limit the reusability of certain pieces of scenery.
It isn't really worth it's own thread, so I'll just ask here:
I need some models I can use to make an ent. I want it to be like it's top half is a pine/evergreen tree, or it's like got that cone-shape of a pine on top of it, like a hat or mushroom cap almost, but I can mod a lot of stuff if I can find a good base model for the posture I'm looking for, which would be extremely hunched and/or like neck-less/face-on-the-chest type of situation, but I don't want it to look too silly/very goofy, just kind of an "it's so ugly it's cute," situation, but like 20' tall in scale.
If I google ent models, or variations there of, I get mostly LotR ents or 3D computer renderings of ents.
>>45253121
>but like 20' tall in scale
At that size you could almost use actual pieces of wood with some filler to make your figure.
I also have a hard time picturing exactly what you are after.
Ultraforge miniatures had a tree man that sounds kinda like that.
Except he wasn't cute and I doubt he was 20 inches high.
>>45253476
No, I mean like, if i t were real it would be like 20' tall; representing something that would be 20' tall in scale to the other figures, which would be ~5" in-scale to 5'/6' tall humans being ~an inch and a half tall.
>>45252927
See, a bunch of snow terrain is the next natural step for me. We own the snow fat mat, my duardin are snow based, I have some Christmas village snow trees.
It would be stupid for me to not make some snow buildings
>>45253816
Sorry, I'm used to the metric system.
But yeah, the LotR ents or Wood elf spirits by GW should be about the right size.
I think reaper has a few minis that might be somewhat similar to what you are looking for too if you look for elementals and golems.
Otherworld minis have a nice looking Treant too. Which is if I'm not mistaken a D&D term. Galeforce 9 do D&D minis though I don't think they have treants yet.
But you might find something if you look into other D&D ranges. Maybe even klix or some of the old Ral Partha.
>>45247099
>>45248510
>>45250202
Because of the amount of terrain you want to play it "properly" and the special terrain for the scenarios, it's not very practical to have a table for it set up for pickup games in a store.
For me it's very much a play at home with friends game, that I enjoy a lot. Which makes sense because you need a bit of a gentleman's agreement and spirit of fun to play it, I would probably not be super thrilled to play with strangers.
>>45254040
I think it could work well in organized play as-is, but there needs to be some sort of one-off-game rules for pickups.
I could totally see some event where like a dozen or two players come together and they track the events/rewards of a score of matches and the the winner wins the campaign and transcends.
>>45254040
I'm working with blue foamboard 1" thick in 1' squares, with a few 1-1/2" ans 2" thick squares for variety. The taller tiles will be textured or tapered down the sides to reach the 1" tiles. A 3' square board with some elevation variance becomes easy to transport. A second tub will have the buildings.
>>45254470
That won't work because the game is very imbalanced when you have a minmaxer who knows how to game the xp system, spec in damage spells, and concentrates on killing the enemy warband over gathering treasure
>>45255559
A broader campaign play houserule that tweaks how XP is rewarded would be ideal. I've seen two kinds of tables: ones that nerf wizards' on-kill XP, and gentlemen who are purely in it for fun and only take elemental stuff as a handy 1- or 2-of answer to shit hitting the fan.
Personally, I'm considering removing wizard's murder XP completely and doubling XP for scenario-specific objectives.
>>45255559
Part of being competitive is making use of such exploits in the understanding that other competitive players will too; not that that's an ideal situation, but it's 1ed of a vs game; there are bound to be exploits. If this sees 2nd I'm willing to bet there will be balancing for long-term play and an emphasis on either nerfing damage-spells and/or buffing non-damage/utility magic.
>>45257068
I'd try making kills worth half the XP, and then making completing the objective worth 4 of those kills.
>>45258514
That's a pretty rigid fix, because different objectives are written with different xp rewards to manipulate the experience. If observing a pillar gives the same XP as having your warband attack a golem, I'm observing the pillar hands-down.
Removal of wizard killing xp would help. I'd go as far as if a piece of treasure if not held by a model by game's end, then nobody gets it. This would force players to make that their goal, instead if simply killing the opponent so you can get it all by default without picking it up
So I just got the Frostgrave book for my birthday, and I want to start it up. For a wizard, I've gone for the lotr fig Floi Stonehand, looking like the old wise dwarf enchanter I want. I need your help to find out what his apprentice could be, however, the only idea I've had is the reaper dwarf arcanist, which probably won't fit with my warband theme. I'm gonna go for a mix of lowlife hired mercs, an elite soldier bodyguard and some confrontation constructs.
>>45259191
Many of the Reaper Dwarves are not going to be in scale with the LotR line, sadly.
Exactly how varied can the warbands be? Could something with the variety of say, the Fellowship of the Ring be made?
>>45259349
Scale is not the most important, I just want the "correct feel" for it, maybe a likeness in costume, it doesn't even need to be a dwarf.
>>45259441
That sounds plausible.
Gandalf - Wizard
Hobbits - Thieves/Thugs
Legolas - Archer/Ranger
Aragorn - Ranger
Gimli - Templar
Boromir - Knight
>>45259527
So it could be done? I'm not expecting the power-levels to match up (for obvious reasons), but so long as everybody could what they can do in the books/movies I'm cool.
>>45259559
Sure, with the lineup I gave, 2 thug hobbits, 2 thief hobbits, and lego/ara as rangers, it gives a full warband with 20 gc left over. No apprentice though.
>>45259829
If Aragorn and Legolas are both Rangers, do they play the same? Because I always saw Aragorn as being closer to Boromir in fighting style, rather than Legolas.
>>45259559
And as for movie roles, hobbits thugs\thieves are quick and small, but not the best in a fight unless they gang up on you, aragorn/legolas rangers are good in both shooting and combat, gimli templar and boromir knight are both heavy hitters in cc who can take a punch and dish it out. Gandalf is the archetypical staff wizard.
>>45259910
Under new rules you could run Boromir or Aragorn as a captain so you aren't completely gimped with no apprentice
>>45255559
This becomes way, way less of a problem when you play with the recommended amount of terrain. Massacres should be hard to pull off with so little line of sight, and stealing loot and running off should be a viable strategy.
With the amount of terrain we use it's often not only difficult to grab more than one loot piece with the same guy, it's some times impossible, except for some of the scenarios. Lots of narrow alleys and 3-5 story buildings.
It's also way different when you play more than 2 people games.
With 3 or 4 people at the table you add another layer of strategy since nobody wants to just end up brawling with one player all game while the others either jump their weakened warbands or go for the treasure.
The worst thing about the book is how little it emphasizes the recommended terrain amount, the pictures are all really sparse terrain wise, and you get a lot of first impressions and reviews that are complete shit because it just turns into a turkey shoot for the guy with more ranged guys and a missile wizard on a table that would be okay for 40k, but definitely not frostrgrave.
>>45259877
They would. You could do Lego as an archer, gives him less movement and a dagger, that means he'd be as good as Aragorn with a bow, but weaker in mobility and cc, but that doesn't really jive with my account of Legolas though. You could make Aragorn a man-at-arms or something though, that does however remove his shooting, which he is very good at in the movie as well. You could do Aragorn as a more close support ranger, gettinh him more into cc, and hang Legolas back and shoot.
OP here. Sitting down and building a pair of Captains to fill out my above forces. I'm thinking knight-style for the Necromancer, and a Treasure Hunter type for the one with the spearmen. Any suggestions?
>>45258656
well there'd be some math involved I guess.
Average together the XP rewards, find the one closest to the middle, make it worth 4 kills, scale the others to that one by an equal %.
So, I'm thinking about getting league play together at my local store. The manager is cool with me advertising for it, though he doesn't really keep minis or paints in stock.
What would be a good plan for, well...
Rules?
I'm seeing a lot about cutting out Wizard Xp for kills. Should I allow for the soldiers from Thaw, and the Captain?(I'd print off the relevant pages to provide the latter, of course)
What about loot rolls, and the like?
What do, anons?
I've been reading through the gorkamorka book, and they have the underdog bonus. How do you guys feel about something like that? When there's a big difference between wizard levels, the underdog gets an xp bonus
>Should I allow for the soldiers from Thaw, and the Captain? (I'd print off the relevant pages to provide the latter, of course)
Why wouldn't you?
>>45263960
Necromunda and mordheim have similar mechanics.
Would be worth checking out for inspiration.
>>45263978
Keeping it simple.
Probably should toss together some homebrew items, and make my own loot/encounter/scenario tables too, huh?
Does anyone know if Reaper's Pathfinder models are in scale decently with other ranges?
>>45267609
Generally a bit bigger. They fit well with GW, but other then that best for heroes only if you're mixing them. Of course, varies from model to model.
>>45263978
Lack of physical product in one case, I would think. Convincing the store to actually carry stuff to allow players some impulse buying is tough when some significant parts are PDF only.
>>45268696
Actually, that, too, yeah. If I can convince the manager that selling a few boxes of minis would be profitable/worth the small amount of space they and paints would takeup, it'd be better.
And since Sellsword is digital only....
>>45267666
Cool. I was thinking about picking one up to use as my wizard.
>>45270014
They make for good wizards. Look up near the top of the thread.
>>45263738
Nobody have ideas for loot rolls?
>>45273371
The game already has loot rolls just use those they're fine.
I'd remove wizard XP for killing anything but other spellcasters and I'd cut that in half.
Double the XP for casting spells.
>>45259191
>>45259460
Some of the Wild Men or whatever the pseudo vikings in LotR are called also have these kind of scale mail coats.
I think they might have great axes, but you should be able to convert that into a staff pretty easily if you don't want an apprentice with handweapon.
Failing that I'd also have a look at some of the other LotR minis. I think they have at least one unit that looks similar, can't remember the name though.
>>45269298
Sellsword and the other micro-releases will be compiled for print in 2017. At the moment you have two game books, a book of fiction, two boxes of minis, a small pile of blisters, and a baggie of undead.
I just finished a Captain for my new Dwarf Frostgrave warband.
I'm thinking- 'mail', 'crossbow' (the pistol), hand weapon, and either dagger or shield (Again, counting pistol as such).
>>45280444
Then I just need his bonus. I'm deciding between health and fight at the moment.
>>45259191
You could try this guy from hf, their dwarves tend to be pretty small:
http://hfminis.co.uk/shop?product=heyu%2C-wizards-apprentice~hfd021&category=fantasy-%26%0D%0Asteampunk~fantasy-dwarves
>>45282486
Thanks for the tip! For a dwarf enchanter/blackmith I think this little lady will do nicely as an apprentice!
>>45285583
Looks good.
Damnit, the weather needs to warm up. I'm anxious to start painting again.
>>45285583
>>45282486
Kev of Hasslefree also did the Dwarves in the Celtos line currently sold by Brigade. Some of those are classic short Vikings, while others are clearly Scots and/or Irish. Some good barbarians and other lightly armored types all around.
