Some weeks ago, Winner Dave made the startling observation that he, Dr Adam and myself may be friends who game together fairly often, but we never actually play the same games. Winner and myself have Dead Man's Hand and Infinity, Winner and Adam have Flames of War, and Adam and I play Dropzone Commander. We had first met many years ago playing Warhammer 40,000 together, but since then gone our separate ways - perhaps it was time to change that.
Many games were brought up, some dismissed and others considered somewhat more seriously. One game that Dave brought up was Frostgrave by Osprey Publishing, High Fantasy adventure, a skirmish game heavy on magic and with a solid campaign system. Cool. Here's the official synopsis...
Amidst the frozen ruins of an ancient city, wizards battle in the hopes of discovering the treasures of a fallen empire. In this fantasy skirmish wargame, each player takes on the role of a wizard from one of ten schools of magic, and builds his band of followers. The wizard's apprentice will usually accompany his master, and more than a dozen other henchman types are available for hire, from lowly thugs to heavily armoured knights and stealthy thieves. Wizards can expand their magical knowledge by unlocking ancient secrets and may learn up to 80 different spells. While individual games of Frostgrave are quick and can easily be played in an hour or two, it is by connecting them into an ongoing campaign that players will find the most enjoyment. The scenarios given in the book are merely the beginning of the limitless adventures that can be found amidst the ruins of the Frozen City.
I took one look through the model range and decided it was not for me... North Star may produce some lovely characterful models, but I wasn't feeling it. Dave was disappointed, I tried to move on and find another game for us to play, perhaps Dropfleet Commander or the Marvel Universe Miniatures Game (glad we did not go for that one in the end...).
Some time later, I was going through Facebook when I noticed one of the gamers from our local gaming club had painted up a Privateer Press model to use specifically for Frostgrave. I was intrigued, and soon realised that the "open world," deliberately vague background of Frostgrave and the online community that discussed and developed the game actively encouraged using models from whatever range people liked. This changed everything!
Plans started forming... some ancient models I had bought over ten years ago but never done anything with were suddenly shifted to the top of the painting queue. Beautiful sculpts from (now-defunct) Rackham range would make for an awesome barbarian warband!
Painting commenced immediately, and this month has seen me prepare my warband at a lightning speed. At time of writing I have only played one game, but it was a great experience and I am looking forward to the next skirmish in the Frozen City!
First up are three Drune Persecutors from the Confrontation range by Rackham - these act as my basic warriors...
George
Wonderful looking figures. And thanks for giving the game a second chance!
ReplyDeleteThey look fantastic! Great job on the skin and the blades!
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