Going Clubbing!

The other evening, folks at the Hereford Wargames Club kindly allowed me to put on an introductory game of Frostgrave.

Deciding to keep things simple, I pre-generated a couple of wizards (necromancer and elementalist) and cobbled together two warbands. I decided to start off with a standard game – no backstory or campaign (so no post-game rolling), just straight into the action.

I played the necromancer whilst my opponent Alan took the elementalist. A quick precis of the rules and away we went!

Both bands split into three. After successfully summoning a zombie out-of-game, theoretically I’d enjoy superiority in numbers. However I made a big mistake in concentrating my bands in the centre and right flank, leaving only my archers to cover the left.

The treasure immediately in front of me was easily taken, so I leaped my zombie to the right flank in order to support my approaching thief, who was after another treasure that lay amongst the ruins. Sadly one of the enemy archers one-shotted this chap (Alan getting a natural 20 critical hit on his first roll!).

To protect the rest of my band on this flank I cast a fog spell, only to have the elementalist’s Templar stride through it to send my zombie back into the grave.

On my left my opponent was grabbing plenty of treasure, but soon scurried out of the way when one of my archers caught the elementalist apprentice out in the open. The poor girl was quickly dispatched.

In the centre my thugs were also getting into gear, taking out an enemy thug while one of my band grabbed the right-flank treasure. Sadly this attracted the attention of a wandering medium construct, which staggered onto the field right next to my advancing apprentice!

The little chap was no match for this bronze statue, causing my necromancer to come to his rescue by leaping him out of harm’s way. A combination of melee and arrows eventually felled the construct.

The elementalist warband had by now taken all of the treasure on the left, leaving us in contention for the remaining treasure on the right, which my thief had nabbed. However, wounded and laden, he had to haul the loot up onto a nearby wall, where he was taken out by an archer.

As I moved my thugs in to collect the fallen prize, the opposing Templar, warhound and archer did likewise. My own archers had climbed onto the central building, but were unable to take out the elementalist who quickly appreciated the value of the wall spell (after failing to elemental bolt his way to victory).

My wizard managed to summon another zombie, but repeatedly failed to leap it into action, leaving the creature to shuffle forward as best it could. Nursing his wounds at the rear, my apprentice also tried to leap the zombie forward, but his experience with the construct must’ve left him shaken for he failed every spell – his health dwindling each time until he collapsed to the ground and could spellcast no more.

Soon my thugs had managed to gang up on the Templar and batter him out of action, before seeing off the warhound too.

Free from distractions one of them climbed the wall to finally claim the last hotly-contested treasure, whilst another took out the pesky archer that had been the author of many of my necromancer’s troubles.

And so the game ended, with Alan’s elementalists winning the game with four treasures to my two.

It was great fun, with both of us sighing with exasperation as our wizards consistently fluffed their spells, and me grimacing as the wandering construct suddenly appeared behind my apprentice (at least he lasted longer than his opposite number!)

Alan quickly got to grips with the rules, and the game also drew the interest of a few onlookers. I think I’ve converted at least one club member into the Frostgrave club!